Entrance to Elysium, painted by Sebastian Vrancx (1573–1647)
Reincarnation and Karma
By Manly P. Hall
The one great test of an adequate background in thinking is that the thinker is sufficient to himself in times of personal crisis. The problem of being sufficient in the abstract is not enough, we must be conditioned for concrete expression of our convictions. In war, as in times of peace, there are moments in the life of every individual when that which he believes is called upon, there comes a time when we must apply our doctrines and our philosophies, apply them to a real problem now, a problem which we do not fully understand, but which confronts us with crisis and pain. It is only under such stress that the development which we have achieved can actually be established. We are tested and tried and our reaction to these tests and trials is the visible proof of the years of effort we have expended in the desire to become stronger and better.
Now when some form of this problem strikes directly at us, the first reaction is usually one of resistance to a fact. We are told something is gone, our first thought is, “I do not believe it.” We take refuge always in the familiar, and we like to assume that that which we most fear is less likely to occur. In some cases our attitude is correct, but our first resistance to change, our first resistance to the breaking up of patterns within ourselves, bears witness to the old traditional way of living and thinking which we have inherited, which is in our blood, and has belonged to our ancestry since the beginning of time. Then gradually the old primordial resistance, the desire to deny, to ignore, to escape, gives way to a sober realization that this thing is probably true. The moment we estimate the probability of the truth of an unpleasant thing, then immediately our emotions go to work...
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Now when some form of this problem strikes directly at us, the first reaction is usually one of resistance to a fact. We are told something is gone, our first thought is, “I do not believe it.” We take refuge always in the familiar, and we like to assume that that which we most fear is less likely to occur. In some cases our attitude is correct, but our first resistance to change, our first resistance to the breaking up of patterns within ourselves, bears witness to the old traditional way of living and thinking which we have inherited, which is in our blood, and has belonged to our ancestry since the beginning of time. Then gradually the old primordial resistance, the desire to deny, to ignore, to escape, gives way to a sober realization that this thing is probably true. The moment we estimate the probability of the truth of an unpleasant thing, then immediately our emotions go to work...
Subscribe to the New PRS Journal to read on...
Nothing comes from nothing. Manly Hall’s vision for the All-Seeing Eye was entirely supported by contributions from its readers who paid for their subscription with gifts made according to their means. Manly Hall wrote,
“This magazine is published and distributed privately to those who make possible with their financial support its publication. The magazine cannot be bought and has no fixed value. Like all of the ancient teachings which it seeks to promulgate, it has no comparative value, but the students must support it for its own intrinsic merit.”
