133 
 P2 R35 
 'opy 1 
 
 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 REINCARNATION 
 
 THREE LECTURES BY 
 
 swAmi abhedAnanda 
 
 OF INDIA 
 
 Published^ by the Vedanta Society 
 New York 
 

V : - : 'i ■■:'- 
 
 Copyright, ixm, by H. J. Van Raagen. 
 
VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 THREE LECTURES 
 BY 
 
 SWAMI ABHEDANANDA 
 
 REINCARNATION 
 
 DELIVERED UNDER THE AUSPICES OP THE " 
 VEDANTA SOCIETY, IN ASSEMBLY HALL, 
 NEW YORK, 1898-1899 
 
 t£r* t£r* Jr* 
 
 Published by the Vedanta Socie^y^" \ ; r \ \ • n N. 
 
 New York /\P'^ , r>E Qf ^^X 
 
 <* * * [341:11 iut 221899 j 
 
 FOR SALE BY \ fc ^ ^ 
 
 HENRY J. VAN HAAGEN, 1267, BroadwaV^TC^. r ^ ^\S 
 
 And Booksellers Generally ^-.w ' ^ ^ c OQr^'^ ** 
 
 Price, 25 Cents 
 

 'A'':\:\ 
 
 Copyright, 1899 
 
 by swami abhedananda 
 
 New York 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. — Reincarnation 
 
 II. — Evolution and Reincarnation 
 
 III. — Which is Scientific, Resurrection or 
 Reincarnation 
 
 e^* V* Jr* 
 
VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 REINCARNATION 
 I. 
 
 The visible phenomena of the universe are bound 
 by the universal law of cause and effect. The effect 
 is visible or perceptible, while the cause is, invisible 
 or imperceptible. The falling of an apple from a 
 tree is the effect of a certain invisible force called 
 gravitation. Although the force cannot be perceived 
 by the senses, its expression is visible. All percepti- 
 ble phenomena are but the various expressions of dif- 
 ferent forces which act as invisible agents upon the 
 subtle and imperceptible forms of matter. These 
 invisible agents or forces together with the imper- 
 ceptible particles of matter make up the subtle states 
 of the phenomenal universe. When a subtle force 
 becomes objectified, it appears as a gross object. 
 Therefore, we can say, that every gross form is an 
 expression of some subtle force acting upon the sub- 
 tle particles of matter. The minute particles of 
 
6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 hydrogen and oxygen when combined by chemical 
 force, appear in the gross form of water. Water 
 can never be separated from hydrogen and oxygen, 
 which are its subtle component parts. Its exist- 
 ence depends upon that of its component parts, 
 or in other words, upon its subtle form. If the 
 subtle state changes, the gross manifestation will 
 also change. The peculiarity in the gross form of a 
 plant depends upon the peculiar nature of its subtle 
 form, the seed. The peculiar nature of the gross 
 forms in the animal kingdom depends upon the 
 subtle forms which manifest variously in each of the 
 intermediate stages between the microscopic unit of 
 living matter and the highest man. Gross human 
 body is closely related to its subtle body. Not only 
 this, but every movement or change in the physical 
 form is caused by the activity and change of the 
 subtle body. If the subtle body be affected or 
 changed a little, the gross body will also be affected 
 similarly. The material body being the expression 
 of the subtle body, its birth, growth, decay and death 
 depend upon the changes of the subtle body. As 
 long as the subtle body remains, it will continue to 
 express itself in a corresponding gross form. 
 
 Now let us understand clearly what we mean by a 
 subtle body. It is nothing but a minute germ of a 
 living substance. It contains the invisible particles 
 of matter which are held together by vital force, and 
 it also possesses mind or thought-force in a potential 
 state, just as a seed of a plant contains in it the life 
 
REIN C A RNA TION 7 
 
 force and the power of growth. According to 
 Vedanta, the subtle body consists of Antahkaranam, 
 that is, the internal organ or the mind substance 
 with its various modifications, the five instruments of 
 perception : the powers of seeing, hearing, smelling, 
 tasting and touching ; the five instruments of action 
 such as the powers of seizing, moving, speaking and 
 so forth, and the five Prdnas. Prdna is a Sanskrit 
 word which means vital energy or the life sustaining 
 power in us. Although Prdna is one, it takes five 
 different names on account of the five different func- 
 tions it performs. This word Prdna includes the five 
 manifestations of the vital force: First, that power 
 which moves the lungs and draws the atmospheric 
 air from without into the system. This is also called 
 Prdna. Secondly, that power which throws out of 
 the system such things which are not wanted. It is 
 called in Sanskrit Apdna. Thirdly, it takes the name 
 of Samdna, as performing digestive functions and 
 carrying the extract of food to every part of the 
 body. It is called Uddna when it is the cause of 
 bringing down food from the mouth through the 
 alimentary canal to the stomach and also when it is 
 the cause of the power of talking. The fifth power 
 of Prdna is that which works in every part of the 
 system from head to foot, through every canal, 
 which keeps the shape of the body, preserves it from 
 putrefaction, and gives health and life to every cell 
 and organ. These are the various manifestations of 
 the vital force or Prana. These subtle powers 
 
8 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 together with the non-composite elements of the 
 gross body, and also with the potentialities of all 
 the impressions, ideas and tendencies which each 
 individual gathers in one life, make up his subtle 
 body. As a resultant of all the different actions of 
 mind and body which an individual does in his pres- 
 ent life, will be the tendencies and desires in his 
 future. Nothing will be lost. 
 
 Every action of body or mind which we do, every 
 thought which we think, becomes fine, and is stored 
 up in the form of a Sanskdra or impression in our 
 minds. It remains latent for some time, and then it 
 rises up in the form of a mental wave and produces 
 new desires. These desires are called in Vedanta, 
 Vdsands. Vasanas or strong desires are the manu- 
 facturers of new bodies. If Vasana or longing for 
 worldly pleasures and objects remains in anybody, 
 even after hundreds of births, that person will be 
 born again. Nothing can prevent the course of strong 
 desires. Desires must be fulfilled sooner or later. 
 
 Every voluntary or involuntary action of the body, 
 sense or mind must correspond to the dormant im- 
 pressions stored up in the subtle body. Although 
 growth, the process of nourishment and all the 
 changes of the gross physical body take place accord- 
 ing to the necessarily acting causes, yet the whole 
 series of actions, and consequently every individual 
 act, the condition of the body which accomplishes it, 
 nay, the whole process in and through which the 
 body exists, are nothing but the outward expressions 
 
REINCARNA TION 9 
 
 of the latent impressions stored up in the subtle 
 body. Upon these rests the perfect suitableness of 
 the animal or human body, to the animal or human 
 nature of one's impressions. The organs of the 
 senses must therefore completely correspond to the 
 principal desires which are the strongest and most 
 ready to manifest. They are the visible expressions 
 of these desires. If there be no hunger or desire to 
 eat, teeth, throat and bowels will be of no use. If 
 there be no desire for grasping and moving, hands 
 and legs would be useless. Similarly it can be shown 
 that the desire for seeing, hearing, etc., have pro- 
 duced the eye, ear, etc. If I have no desire to use 
 my hand, and if I do not use it at all, within a few 
 months it will wither away and die. In India there 
 are some religious fanatics who hold up their arms 
 and do not use them at all ; after a few months their 
 arms wither and become stiff and dead. A person 
 who lies on his back for six months loses the power 
 of walking. There are many such instances which 
 prove the injurious effects of the disuse of our limbs 
 and organs. 
 
 As the human form generally, corresponds to the 
 human will generally, so the individual bodily struc- 
 ture corresponds to the character, desires, will and 
 thought of the individual. Therefore the outer 
 nature is nothing but the expression of the inner 
 nature. This inner nature of each individual is what 
 re-incarnates or expresses itself successively in vari- 
 ous forms, one after another. When a man dies the 
 
io VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 individual ego or Jiva (as it is called in Sanskrit), 
 which means the germ of life or the living soul of 
 man, is not destroyed, but it continues to exist in an 
 invisible form. It remains like a permanent thread 
 stringing together the separate lives by the law of 
 cause and effect. The subtle body is like a water- 
 globule which sprang in the beginningless past from 
 the eternal ocean of reality; and it contains the 
 reflection of the unchangeable light of Intelligence. 
 As a water-globule remains sometime in an invisi- 
 ble vapory state in a cloud, then in rain or snow or 
 ice, and again as steam or in mud, but is never 
 destroyed, so the subtle body sometimes remains 
 unmanifested and sometimes expresses itself in gross 
 forms of animal or human beings, according to the 
 desires and tendencies that are ready to manifest. It 
 may go to heaven, that is, to some other planet, or 
 it may be born again on this earth. It depends on 
 the nature and strength of one's life-long tendencies 
 and bent of mind. This idea is clearly expressed in 
 Vedanta. "The thought, will or desire which is 
 extremely strong during lifetime, will become 
 predominant at the time of death and will mould the 
 inner nature of the dying person. The newly 
 moulded inner nature will express in a new form." 
 The thought, will or desire which moulds the inner 
 nature has the power of selecting conditions or envir- 
 onments which will help it in its way of manifesta- 
 tion. This process is expressed by the evolutionists 
 as the law of " natural selection." 
 
REINCARNA TION i 1 
 
 We shall be better able to understand that process 
 by studying how the seeds of different trees 
 select from the common environments different 
 materials, and absorb and assimilate different quan- 
 tities of elements. Suppose two seeds, one of an 
 oak and the other of a chestnut, are planted in a pot. 
 The power of growth in both the seeds is of the same 
 nature. The environments, earth, water, heat and 
 so forth are the same. But still there is some peculi- 
 arity in each of the seeds, which will absorb from the 
 common environments different quantities of ele- 
 ments and other properties which are fit to help the 
 growth of the peculiar nature arid form of the fruit, 
 flower, leaves of each tree. Suppose the chestnut 
 is a horse-chestnut. If, under different conditions, 
 the peculiar nature of the horse-chestnut changes 
 into that of a sweet chestnut, then, along" with the 
 changes in the seed, the whole nature of the tree, 
 leaves, fruits will be changed. It will no more 
 attract, absorb or assimilate those substances and 
 qualities of the environments which it did when it 
 was a horse-chestnut. Similarly, through the law of 
 "natural selection' ' the newly moulded thought-body 
 of the dying person will choose and attract such 
 parts from the common environments as are helpful 
 to its proper expression or manifestation. Parents 
 are nothing but the principal parts of the environment 
 of the re-incarnating individual. The newly moulded 
 inner nature or subtle body of the individual will by 
 the law of "natural selection" choose, unconsciously 
 
12 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 as it were, its suitable parents and will be born to 
 them. As, for instance, if I have a strong desire 
 to become an artist, and if, after a life-long struggle 
 I do not succeed in being the greatest, after the death 
 of the body, I will be born of such parents and with 
 such environments as will help me to become the 
 best artist. 
 
 The whole process is expressed in Eastern philoso- 
 phy by the doctrine of the Reincarnation of the indi- 
 vidual soul. Although this doctrine is commonly re- 
 jected in the West, it is unreservedly accepted by 
 the vast majority of mankind of the present day, as 
 it was in past centuries. The scientific explanation of 
 this theory we find nowhere except in the writings 
 of the Hindus, still we know that from very ancient 
 times it was believed in by the philosophers, sages and 
 prophets of different countries. The ancient civiliza- 
 tion of Egypt was built upon the crude form of the 
 doctrine of Reincarnation. Herodotus says: "The 
 Egyptians propounded the theory that the human 
 soul is imperishable, and that where the body of any 
 one dies it enters into some other creature that may 
 be ready to receive it." Pythagoras and his disciples 
 spread it through Greece and Italy. Pythagoras 
 says: "All has soul; all is soul wandering in the 
 organic world, and obeying eternal will or law." 
 
 In Dryden's Ovid we read: — 
 
 1 ' Death has no power the immortal soul to slay, 
 That, when its present body turns to clay, 
 Seeks a fresh home, and with unlessened might 
 Inspires another frame with life and light." 
 
REINCARNATION 13 
 
 It was the keynote of Plato's philosophy. Plato 
 says : * * Soul is older than body. Souls are contin- 
 ually born over again into this life." The idea of Re- 
 incarnation was spread widely in Greece and Italy by 
 Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Virgil and Ovid. 
 It was known to the Neo-Platonists, Plotinus and 
 Proclus. Plotinus says: "The soul leaving the 
 body becomes that power which it has most devel- 
 oped. Let us fly then from here below and rise to 
 the intellectual world, that we may not fall into a 
 purely sensible life by allowing ourselves to follow 
 sensible images, etc." It was the fundamental prin- 
 ciple of the religion of the Persian Magi. Alexander 
 the Great accepted this idea after coming in contact 
 with the Hindu philosophers. Julius Caesar found 
 that the Gauls had some belief regarding- the pre- 
 existence of the human soul. The Druids of old 
 Gaul believed that the souls of men transmigrate 
 into those bodies whose habits and characters they 
 most resemble. Celts and Britons were impressed 
 with this idea. It was a favorite theme of the Arab 
 philosophers and many Mahomedan Sufis. The 
 Jews adopted it after the Babylonian captivity. 
 Philo of Alexandria who was a contemporary of 
 Christ, preached amongst the Hebrews the Platonic 
 idea of the pre-existence and rebirth of human souls. 
 Philo says: "The company of disembodied souls 
 is distributed in various orders. The law of some of 
 them is to enter mortal bodies, and after certain pre- 
 scribed periods be again set free." John the Baptist 
 
i 4 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 was according to the Jews a second Elijah; Jesus 
 was believed by many to be the re-appearance of 
 some other prophet. (See Matt, xvi., 14, also 
 xvii. , 12.) Solomon says in his book of wisdom i€ I 
 was a child of good nature and a good soul came 
 to me, or rather because I was good I came into an 
 undefiled body." 
 
 The Talmud and Kabala teach the same thing. 
 In the Talmud it is said that Abel's soul passed into 
 the body of Seth, and then into that of Moses. 
 Christianity is not exempt from this idea. Origen 
 and other church fathers believed in it. Origen 
 says: "For God justly disposing of his creatures 
 according to their desert, united the diversities of 
 minds in one congruous world, that he might, as it 
 were, adorn his mansion (in which ought to be not 
 only vases of gold and silver, but of wood also and 
 clay, and some to honor and some to dishonor) with 
 these diverse vases, minds or souls. To these causes 
 the world owes its diversity, while Divine Provi- 
 dence disposes each according to his tendency, mind 
 and disposition." He also says: "I think this is a 
 question how it happens that the human mind is 
 influenced now by the good, now by the evil. The 
 causes of this I suspect to be more ancient than this 
 corporeal birth." The idea of Reincarnation spread 
 so fast amongst the Christians that Justinian was 
 obliged to suppress it by passing a law in the Council 
 of Constantinople in A. D. 538. The law was this: 
 "Whoever shall support the mythical presentation 
 
RE INC A RNA TION 1 5 
 
 of the pre-existence of the soul, and the conse- 
 quently wonderful opinion of its return, let him be 
 Anathema." The Gnostics and Manichseans propa- 
 gated the tenets of Reincarnation amongst the 
 mediaeval sects called Bogomiles, Paulicians, and so 
 forth. Some of the followers of this so-called erron- 
 eous belief were cruelly persecuted in 385, A. D. 
 
 In the seventeenth century some of the Cambridge 
 Platonists, as Dr. Henry More and others, ac- 
 cepted the idea of rebirth. Most of the German 
 philosophers of the middle ages and of recent days 
 have advocated and upheld this doctrine. Many 
 quotations can be given from the writings of great 
 thinkers, as Kant, Scotus, Schelling, Fichte, Leibnitz, 
 Schopenhaur, Giardano Bruno, Goethe, Lessing, 
 Herder and a host of others. The great skeptic 
 Hume says in his posthumous essay on "The Im- 
 mortality of the Soul," "The metempsychosis is 
 therefore the only system of this kind that philos- 
 ophy can harken to." Scientists like Flammarion 
 and Huxley have supported this doctrine of Reincar- 
 nation. Professor Huxley says': "None but hasty 
 thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent 
 absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, 
 that of transmigration has its roots in the world of 
 reality." (' Evolution and Ethics', p. 61.) 
 
 Some of the theological leaders have preached it. 
 The eminent German theologian Dr. Julius Miiller 
 supports this theory in his work on ' ' The Christian 
 Doctrine of Sin." Prominent theologians such as 
 
16 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 Dr. Dorner, Ernesti, Rlickert, Edward Beecher, 
 Henry Ward Beecher, Phillips Brooks, preached 
 many a time touching the question of the pre-exis- 
 tence and rebirth of the individual soul. Sweden- 
 borg and Emerson maintained it. Emerson says in 
 his essay on Experience, ' ' We wake and find our- 
 selves on a stair. There are stairs below us which 
 we seem to have ascended; there are stairs above 
 us, many a one, which go upward and out of sight." 
 Almost all of the poets, ancient or modern, profess 
 it. William Wordsworth says in "Intimations of 
 Immortality" — 
 
 " The soul that rises with us, our life's star, 
 Hath had elsewhere its setting, 
 And cometh from afar." 
 
 Tennyson writes in the "Two Voices." 
 
 " Or, if through lower lives I came — 
 Tho' all experience past became, 
 Consolidate in mind and frame — 
 I might forget my weaker lot; 
 For is not our first year forgot ? 
 The haunts of memory echo not." 
 
 Walt Whitman says in " Leaves of Grass." 
 
 ' 4 As to you, Life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, 
 No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before." 
 
 Similar passages can be quoted from almost all 
 the poets of different countries. Even amongst the 
 aboriginal tribes of Africa, Asia, North and South 
 America, traces of this belief in the rebirth of souls 
 is to be found. Nearly three-fourths of the popula- 
 
REINCA RNA TION 1 7 
 
 tion of Asia believe in the doctrine of Reincarnation 
 and through it they find a satisfactory explanation 
 of the problem of life. There is no religion which 
 denies the continuity of the individual soul after 
 death. 
 
 Those who do not believe in Reincarnation, try 
 to explain the world of inequalities and diversities 
 either by asserting that the omnipotent will of God 
 has made these inequalities or by the theory of hered- 
 itary transmission . Neither of these theories, how- 
 ever, is sufficient to explain the inequalities that we 
 meet with in our everyday life. If omnipotent per- 
 sonal God created this universe out of nothing, could 
 he not make all things good and all beings happy ? 
 If God creates each individual soul before its birth 
 why does He make one happy and another un- 
 happy ? Why is one man or woman born with good 
 tendencies and another with evil ones ? Why is 
 one man virtuous throughout his life and another 
 bestial ? Why is one born intelligent and another 
 idiotic ? If God out of His own will made all these 
 inequalities, or, in other words, if God created one 
 man to suffer and another to enjoy, then how partial 
 and unjust must He be! He must be worse than" a 
 tyrant. How can we worship Him, how call Him 
 merciful and just ? 
 
 Some people try to save God from this charge of 
 partiality and injustice by saying that all good 
 things of this universe are the work of God, and all 
 evil things are the work of a demon or Satan. God 
 
18 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 created everything good, but it was Satan who 
 brought evil into this world and made everything 
 bad. Now let us see how far such a statement is 
 logically correct. Good and evil are two relative 
 terms ; the existence of one depends upon that of the 
 other. Good cannot exist without evil, and evil can- 
 not exist without being related to good. When God 
 created what we call good, He must have created 
 evil at the same time, otherwise He could not 
 create good alone. If the creator of evil, call him 
 by whatever name you like, had brought evil into 
 this world, he must have created it simultaneously 
 with God; otherwise it would have been impossible 
 for God to create good, which can exist only as 
 related to evil. As such they will have to admit that 
 the Creators of good and evil sat together at the 
 same time to create this world, which is a mixture of 
 good and evil. Consequently, both of them are 
 equally powerful, and limited by each other. 
 Therefore neither of them is infinite in powers or 
 omnipotent. So we cannot say that the Almighty 
 God of the universe created good alone and not the 
 evil. 
 
 The argument which the supporters of the theory 
 of hereditary transmission advance, does not explain 
 satisfactorily the cause of the inequalities and 
 diversities of this universe. Why is it that the 
 children of the same parents show marked dissimi- 
 larity to their parents and to each other? Why do 
 twins develop into dissimilar characters and possess 
 
REINCA RNA TION 1 9 
 
 opposite qualities, although they are born of the 
 same parents at the same time and brought up under 
 similar conditions and environments? How can 
 heredity explain such cases? Suppose a man has 
 five children ; one is honest and good, another is an 
 idiot, the third becomes a murderer, the fourth goes 
 to church and is devotional and the fifth is a cripple 
 and diseased. Who made these dissimilarities? 
 They cannot be accidents. There is no such thing as 
 an accident. Every event of the universe is bound 
 by the law of cause and effect. There must be some 
 cause of these inequalities. Who made one honest 
 and good, and another an idiot, and so forth? 
 Parents? That cannot be. They never dreamed that 
 they would beget a murderer or a villain or an idiot. 
 On the other hand, almost all parents wish their 
 children to be the best and happiest. But in spite 
 of their desires they get such children. Why ? 
 What is the cause ? Does the theory of heredity 
 explain it? No, not at all. In the first place, there is 
 a great dispute amongst the advocates of the heredity 
 theory whether or not one inherits the acquired 
 characters of the parents. Dr. August Weismann 
 and the followers of his school deny that the heredi- 
 tary tendencies of the parents predominate in one, of 
 the grandfather in another, those of the grandmother 
 in the third, while the tendencies of the great- 
 grandfather or of the great-great-grandmother in the 
 fourth, and so on. But Weismann says that the 
 acquired characters are never inherited. The indi- 
 
20 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 vidual inequalities are caused by the differences of 
 germ-cells. He believes in the " continuity of the 
 germ-plasm." We will be able to understand his 
 theory better from the following quotations, which 
 give his own words. He says, "I have called this 
 substance ' germ-plasm,' and have assumed that it 
 possesses a highly complex structure, conferring 
 upon it the power of developing into a complex 
 organism. " (Weismann on " Heredity," Vol. I., p. 
 170.) Again he says: " There is, therefore, con- 
 tinuity of the germ-plasm from one generation to 
 another. One might represent the germ-plasm by 
 the metaphor of a long, creeping root-stock from 
 which plants arise at intervals, these latter repre- 
 senting the individuals of successive generations. 
 Hence it follows that the transmission of acquired 
 characters is an impossibility, for if the germ -plasm 
 is not formed anew in each individual, but is derived 
 from that which preceded it, its structure, and above 
 all, its molecular constitution, cannot depend upon 
 the individual in which it happens to occur, but such 
 an individual only forms, as it were, the nutritive 
 soil at the expense of which germ-plasm grows, 
 while the latter possessed its characteristic structure 
 from the beginning, viz. : before the commencement 
 of growth. But the tendencies of heredity, of 
 which the germ-plasm is the bearer, depend upon 
 this very molecular structure, and hence only those 
 characters can be transmitted through successive 
 generations which have been previously inherited, 
 
REINCARNATION 21 
 
 viz. : those characters which were potentially con- 
 tained in the structure of the germ-plasm. It also 
 follows that those other characters which have been 
 acquired by the influence of special external condi- 
 tions, during the life-time of the parent, cannot be 
 transmitted at all." (Vol. I., p. 273.) In conclusion, 
 Weismann writes: "But at all events we have 
 gained this much, that the only facts which appear 
 to directly prove a transmission of acquired charac- 
 ters have been refuted, and that the only firm 
 foundation on which this hypothesis has been 
 hitherto based, has been destroyed." (Vol. I., p. 
 461.) 
 
 Thus Dr. Weismann has subverted the old theory 
 of heredity, and has pushed it so far that it has come 
 almost to the door of the doctrine of Reincarnation. 
 According to Weismann's theory, the character of 
 each of those five children is not the result of a 
 hereditary transmission, but a manifestation of 
 11 those characters which were potentially contained 
 in the structure of the germ-plasm." Secondly, if 
 this be the case, the question arises, where did the 
 potential characters or tendencies of the germ- 
 plasm originally come from ? Weismann's answer 
 is " from the common stock." But what and where 
 that common stock is, Dr. Weismann does not tell 
 us, so the solution is only half satisfactory. 
 . Vedanta explains this difficulty by saying that each 
 of these germ-plasms or bioplasms is but a rein- 
 carnating subtle body, containing potentially all the 
 
22 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 experiences, characters, tendencies and desires which 
 one had in one's previous life. At the time of 
 death the individual soul contracts and remains in 
 the form of a germ of life. It is for this reason, 
 Vedanta teaches, that it is neither the will of God nor 
 the fault of the parents that has formed the 
 characters of those children, but each child is respon- 
 sible for its tendencies, capacities, powers and 
 character. It is its own " Karma" or past actions 
 that make a child a murderer or a saint, virtuous or 
 sinful. The stored-up potentialities in a subtle body 
 manifest in the character of an individual. The 
 doctrine of Reincarnation alone can explain most 
 satisfactorily and rationally many instances of 
 uncommon powers and genius displayed in childhood. 
 The theory of heredity has up to this time failed to 
 give any good reason for them. Why is it that 
 Pascal, when twelve years old, succeeded in dis- 
 covering for himself the greater part of plane 
 geometry. How could the shepherd Mangiamelo, 
 when five years old, calculate like an arithmetical 
 machine. Think of the child Zerah Colburn. When 
 he was under eight years of age he could solve the 
 most tremendous mathematical problems instantly 
 and without using any figures. " In one instance 
 he took the number 8 and raised it up progressively 
 to the sixteenth power and instantly mentioned the 
 result which contained 15 figures — 281, 474, 976, 710, 
 656." Of course he was right in every figure. 
 Asked the square root of numbers consisting of six 
 
REINCARNA TION 23 
 
 figures, he would state the result instantly with 
 perfect accuracy. He used to give the cube root of 
 numbers in the hundreds of millions, the very 
 moment when it was asked. Somebody asked him 
 once how many minutes were there in 48 years, he 
 answered, 25,288,800, and so on. 
 
 Mozart, the great musician, wrote a sonata when he 
 was four years old and an opera in his eighth year. 
 Theresa Milanolla played the violin with such skill 
 that many people thought that she must have played 
 before her birth. There are many such instances of 
 wonderful powers exhibited by artists and painters 
 when they were quite young. Sankaracharya, the 
 great commentator of the Vedanta philosophy, 
 finished his commentary when he was twelve years 
 old. How can such cases be explained by the theory 
 of hereditary transmission . Joseph Hofmann showed 
 wonderful genius and complete mastery of the piano 
 when he was ten years old. When they were quite 
 young, Homer, Plato, Shakespere, Beethoven, 
 Raphael, showed extraordinary powers which could 
 not be traced back to any members of their 
 ancestral line. No other theory than the doctrine 
 of Reincarnation can explain satisfactorily the causes 
 which produce genius and prodigies. 
 
 Another argument which the Vedantists advance 
 in support of the theory of Reincarnation is that 
 1 ' Nothing is destroyed in the universe. " Destruction 
 in the sense of the annihilation of a thing is unknown 
 to the Vedantic philosophers, just as it is unkown to 
 
24 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 the modern scientists. They say "non-existence 
 can never become existence and existence can never 
 become non-existence; " or, in other words, that 
 which did not exist can never exist, and conversely 
 that which exists in any form can never become 
 non-existent. This is the law of nature. As such, 
 the impressions or ideas which we now have, 
 together with the powers which we possess, will not 
 be destroyed but will remain with us in some form 
 or other. Our bodies may change, but the powers, 
 Karma, Sanskaras or impressions and the materials 
 which manufactured our bodies must remain in us 
 in an unmanifested form. They will never be 
 destroyed. Again science tells us that that which 
 remains in an unmanifested or potential state must 
 at some time or other be manifested in a kinetic or 
 actual form. Therefore we shall get other bodies, 
 sooner or later. It is for this reason said in the 
 " Bhagavad Gita" — " Birth must be followed by 
 death and death must be followed by birth." Such 
 a continuously recurring series of births and deaths 
 each germ of life must go through. 
 
 One objection that is often raised against the 
 doctrine of Reincarnation is this : If we had previous 
 births, why do not we remember them ? This ques- 
 tion prevents many people from accepting this doc- 
 trine. But they do not realize that even during our 
 life-time we forget many things which we did in 
 our infancy or childhood. I do not remember what 
 I did when I was a baby, but shall I deny my exis- 
 
REINCARNATION 25 
 
 tence as a baby ? Certainly not. Do you remember 
 what you did on the afternoon of the 24th of March, 
 1887 ? Certainly, you do not. Would you say 
 that you did not exist on that day because you 
 do not recall it ? That cannot be. Our memories are 
 very poor and imperfect. If we can recall to our 
 minds all the thoughts, ideas we had in our in- 
 fancy and all the dreams which we dreamed at that 
 time, then it will be quite easy to remember cor- 
 rectly what we were before. There are instances of 
 Yogis who do recollect their past lives and can tell 
 those of others too, and they can be verified in many 
 ways. The Yogis know how to develop memory 
 and how to read past lives. They say, time and 
 space exist in relation to our present mental con- 
 dition ; if we can rise above this plane, our higher 
 mind sees the past and future just as we see things 
 before our eyes. Buddha remembered many of his 
 past births. Those who wish to satisfy the idle curi- 
 osity of their mind may spend their energy by 
 trying to recollect their past lives. But I think it 
 would be much more helpful to us if we devote our 
 time and energy in moulding our future and in try- 
 ing to be better than we are now, because the 
 recollection of our former condition would only force 
 us to make a bad use of the present. How unhappy 
 he must be who knows that the wicked deeds of his 
 past life would surely react on him and would bring 
 distress, misery, unhappiness or suffering within a 
 few days or few months. Such a man would be so 
 
26 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 restless and unhappy that he would not be able to do 
 any work properly ; he would constantly think in 
 what form misery would appear to him and so forth. 
 He would not be able to eat or sleep even. He 
 would be most miserable. Therefore we ought to 
 think that it is a great blessing that we do not recollect 
 our past lives, and past deeds. Vedanta says, do not 
 waste your valuable time in thinking of your past 
 lives, do not look backward during the tiresome 
 journey through the different stages of evolution, 
 always look forward and try first to attain to the 
 highest point of spiritual development ; then if you 
 want to know your past lives you will recollect them 
 all. Nothing will remain unknown to you, the 
 Knower of the universe. When the all-knowing 
 Divine mind will manifest through you, time and 
 space will vanish and past and future will be changed 
 into the eternal present. Then you will say as Sri 
 Krisna said to Arjuna, in the "Bhagavad Gita:" — 
 
 "Both you and I have passed through many 
 lives; you do not recollect any, but I know them 
 all." (Ch. iv., 5.) 
 
EVOLUTION AND REINCARNATION 
 II. 
 
 The amazing achievements of modern science 
 have been opening every day new gates of wisdom 
 and slowly bringing human minds nearer and nearer 
 to the ultimate reality of the universe. The fire of 
 knowledge kindled by science has already burnt 
 down many dogmas and beliefs held sacred by the 
 superstition of the past, which stood in the way of 
 truth-seeking minds. In the first place science has 
 disproved the theory of the creation of the universe 
 out of nothing by the action of some supernatural 
 power. It has shown that the universe did not 
 appear in its present form or come into existence 
 all of a sudden only a few thousand years ago, but 
 that it has taken ages to pass through different 
 stages before it could reach its present condition. 
 Each of these stages was directly related to a pre- 
 vious stage by the law of causation, which always 
 operates in accordance with definite rules. The 
 phenomena of the universe, according to science, 
 are subject to evolution, or gradual change and 
 progressive development from a relatively uniform 
 condition to a relative complexity. From the 
 greatest solar system down to the smallest blade 
 of grass, everything in the universe has taken 
 
28 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 its present shape and form through this cosmic 
 process of evolution. Our planet earth has gradually 
 evolved, perhaps out of a nebulous mass which existed 
 at first in a gaseous state. The sun, moon, stars, 
 satellites and other planets have come into existence 
 by going through innumerable changes produced by 
 the evolutionary process of the Cosmos. Through 
 the same process plants, insects, fishes, reptiles, 
 birds, animals, man, and all living matter that in- 
 habits this earth have evolved from minute germs of 
 life into their present forms. The theory of Evolu- 
 tion says that man did not come into existence all 
 of a sudden, but is related to lower animals and to 
 plants, either directly or indirectly. The germ of 
 life had passed through various stages of physical 
 form before it could appear as a man. That branch 
 of science which is called Embryology has proved 
 the fact that "man is the epitome of the whole cre- 
 ation/' It tells that the human body before its birth 
 passes through all the different stages of the animal 
 kingdom — such as the polyp, fish, reptile, dog, ape, 
 and at last, man. If we remember that nature is 
 always consistent, that her laws are uniform and that 
 whatever exists in the microcosm exists also in the 
 macrocosm, and then study nature, we shall find 
 that all the germs of life which exist in the universe 
 are bound to pass through stages resembling the 
 embryonic types before they can appear in the form 
 of man. 
 
 In explaining the theory of Evolution, science says 
 
E VOL UTION A ND REINCA RNA TION 29 
 
 that there are two principal factors in the process of 
 evolution; the first is the tendency to vary, which 
 exists in all living forms whether vegetable or 
 animal; the second is the tendency of environment 
 to influence that variation, either favorably or 
 unfavorably. Without the first, evolution of any 
 kind would be absolutely impossible. But the cause 
 of that innate tendency to vary is still unknown to 
 science. Upon the second depends the law of 
 natural selection. The variation must be adapted to 
 favorable conditions of life ; consequently, either the 
 germ of life will select suitable environments or 
 vary itself in order to suit the surrounding conditions, 
 if they are unfavorable. But the agent of this 
 selective process is the struggle for existence which 
 is a no less important factor. Thus Evolution 
 depends on these three laws : Tendency to vary, or 
 variation, natural selection, and struggle for exist- 
 ence. Science tries to explain through these three 
 laws the physical, mental, ' intellectual, moral and 
 spiritual evolution of mankind. But the theory of 
 Evolution will remain unintelligible until science can 
 trace the cause of that innate " tendency to vary" 
 which exists in every stage of all living forms. 
 
 If we study closely we find that man's "self" 
 consists of two natures, one animal and the other 
 moral or spiritual. Animal nature includes all the 
 animal propensities, desire for sense enjoyments, 
 love of self, fear of death and struggle for existence. 
 Each of these is to be found in lower animals as well 
 
3 o VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 as in human beings, the difference being only in 
 degree and not in kind. In a savage tribe the 
 expression of this animal nature is simple and natural 
 while in a highly civilized nation it is expressed not 
 in a simple and straightforward manner, but in an 
 artistic and refined way. In a civilized community 
 the same nature working through varied device, 
 policy and plan, brings the same results in a more 
 polished form. In the struggle for existence 
 amongst lower animals and savage tribes, those who 
 are physically strong survive and gain advantage 
 over those who are physically weak; while in the 
 civilized world the same result is obtained, not by 
 displaying physical force but by art, diplomacy, 
 policy, strategy and skill. Various kinds of 
 defensive and offensive weapons have been invented 
 to conquer those who are less skillful in using them, 
 although they may be physically stronger. The 
 simple expression of animal nature which we notice 
 in savages and lower animals, by the natural process 
 of evolution has gradually become more and more 
 complex, as we find in the civilized nations of the 
 world. The energy of the lower human nature is 
 spent chiefly in the struggle for material existence. 
 But there is another nature in man which is higher 
 than this. It expresses itself in various ways, but 
 on a higher plane. Love of truth, mastery over pas- 
 sion, control of the senses, disinterested self-sacri- 
 fice, mercy and kindness to all creatures, desire to 
 help the distressed, forgiveness, faith in a Supreme 
 
EVOL UTION AND REINCARNA TION 31 
 
 Being and devotion; all these are the expressions 
 of that higher moral and spiritual nature. They 
 cannot be explained as developed from animal 
 nature by means of the struggle for material exist- 
 ence. For these qualities are not to be found in 
 lower animals, although the struggle for existence 
 is there. The moral and spiritual nature of human 
 beings cannot be traced as the outgrowth or gradual 
 development of the animal nature. There is a dis- 
 pute among the Evolutionists as to the method of 
 explaining their cause. Some say that these higher 
 faculties have evolved out of the lower ones and 
 have developed by variation and natural selection; 
 while others hold that some other higher influence, 
 law or agency is required to account for them. 
 
 Professor Huxley says: "As I have already urged, 
 the practice of that which is ethically best — what we 
 call goodness or virtue — involves a course of conduct, 
 which in all respects, is opposed to that which leads 
 to success in the cosmic struggle for existence. In 
 place of ruthless self-assertion, it demands self- 
 restraint; in place of thrusting aside or treading 
 down all competitors, it requires that the individual 
 shall not merely respect, but shall help his fellows ; 
 its influence is directed not so much to the survival 
 of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many as possible 
 to survive. It repudiates the gladiatorial theory of 
 existence. It demands that each man who enters 
 into the enjoyment of the advantages of a polity 
 shall be mindful of his debt to those who have 
 
32 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 laboriously constructed it, and shall take heed that 
 no act of his weakens the fabric in which he has been 
 permitted to live. Laws and moral precepts are 
 directed to the end of curbing the cosmic process, 
 and reminding the individual of his duty to the com- 
 munity, to the protection and influence of which he 
 owes, if not existence itself, at least the life of some- 
 thing better than a brutal savage." (' Evolution and 
 Ethics', pp. 81-82.) 
 
 Prof. Calderwood says: " So far as human organ- 
 ism is concerned, there seem no overwhelming 
 obstacles to be encountered by an evolution theory, 
 but it seems impossible under such a theory to 
 account for the appearance of the thinking, self- 
 regulating life distinctly human." Thus, according 
 to some of the best thinkers, the explanation of the 
 moral and spiritual nature of man as a development 
 of the animal nature, is quite insufficient and unsatis- 
 factory. The theory of natural selection in the 
 struggle for existence cannot explain the cause of 
 the higher nature of man. We cannot say that a 
 theory is complete because it explains many facts. 
 On the other hand, if it fails to explain a single 
 fact, then it is proved to be incomplete. As such ? 
 the theory that cannot explain satisfactorily the 
 cause of the moral and spiritual nature of man can 
 not be accepted as a complete theory. That explana- 
 tion will be considered as complete which will 
 explain most satisfactorily all the various manifesta- 
 tion of the animal, moral and spiritual nature. 
 
E VOL UTION A ND REINCA RNA T10N 33 
 
 Moreover, supposing the "tendency to vary " has 
 evolved into the moral and spiritual nature of man, 
 science does not explain the cause of that tendency 
 to vary, nor how animal nature can be transformed 
 into moral and spiritual nature. Is that " tendency 
 to vary " indefinite, or is it limited by any definite 
 law ? Science does not say anything about it. 
 
 The explanation of the theologians, that the 
 spiritual nature has been superadded to the animal 
 nature by some extra-cosmic spiritual agency is not 
 scientific, nor does it appeal to our reason. 
 
 Now let us see what Vedanta has to say on this 
 point. Vedanta accepts evolution and admits the 
 laws of variation and natural selection, but goes 
 a step beyond modern science by explaining the 
 cause of that " tendency to vary." It says, " there 
 is nothing in the end which was not also in the 
 beginning." It is a law which governs the process 
 of evolution as well as the law of causation. If we 
 admit this grand truth of nature, then it will not be 
 difficult to explain by the theory of evolution the 
 gradual manifestation of the higher nature of man. 
 The tendency of scientific monism is towards that end. 
 
 Some of the modern scientists who hold the mon- 
 istic position have found out the same truth which 
 was discovered long ago by the Vedantic philosophers 
 in India. J. Arthur Thomson, an eminent English 
 scientist of the present day, says, in " The Study of 
 Animal Life," that "the world is one, not two-fold, 
 the spiritual influx is the primal reality and there 
 
34 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 is nothing in the end which was not also in the 
 beginning. " But the evolutionists do not accept 
 this truth. Let us understand it clearly. It means 
 that that which existed potentially at the time of the 
 beginning of evolution has gradually manifested 
 in the various stages and grades of evolution. If we 
 admit that a unicellular germ of life or a bioplasm, 
 after passing through various stages of evolution, 
 has ultimately manifested in the form of a highly 
 developed human being, then we shall have to admit 
 the potentiality of all the manifested powers in that 
 germ or bioplasm, because the law is "that which 
 exists in the end existed also in the beginning." 
 The animal nature, higher nature, mind, intellect, 
 spirit, all these exist potentially in the germ of life. 
 If we do not admit this law then the problem will 
 arise : How can non-existence become existent ? 
 How can something come out of nothing? How 
 can that come into existence which did not exist 
 before ? Each germ of life, according to Vedanta, 
 possesses infinite potentialities and infinite possibili- 
 ties. The powers that remain latent have the 
 natural tendency to manifest perfectly and to become 
 actual. In their attempt they vary according to 
 the surrounding environments, selecting suitable con- 
 ditions or remaining latent as long as circumstances 
 do not favor them. Therefore variation, according 
 to Vedanta, is caused by this attempt of the potential 
 powers to become actual. When life and mind began 
 to evolve, the possibilities of action and reaction 
 
E VOL UTION A ND REINCA RNA TION 3 5 
 
 hitherto latent in the germ of life became real and all 
 things became, in a sense, new. Nobody can imagine 
 the amount of latent power which a minute germ of 
 life possesses until it expresses in gross form on the 
 physical plane. By seeing the seed of a Banyan tree, 
 one who has never seen the tree cannot imagine 
 what powers lie dormant in it. When a baby is born, 
 we cannot tell whether he will be a great saint, or a 
 wonderful artist, or a philosopher, or an idiot, or a 
 villain of the worst type. Parents know nothing 
 about his future. Along with his growth, certain 
 latent powers gradually begin to manifest. Those 
 which are the strongest and most powerful will 
 overcome others and check their course for some 
 time; but when the powers that remain subdued by 
 stronger ones get favorable conditions they will 
 appear in manifested forms. As, for instance, 
 chemical forces may slumber in matter for a thou- 
 sand years, but when the contact with the re-agents 
 sets them free, they appear again and produce cer- 
 tain results. For thousands of years galvanism 
 slumbered in copper and zinc, which lay quietly 
 beside silver. As soon as all three are brought 
 together under the required conditions silver is 
 consumed in flame. A dry seed of a plant may pre- 
 serve the slumbering power of growth through two 
 or three thousand years and then reappear under 
 favorable conditions. Sir G. Wilkinson, the great 
 archaeologist, found some grains of wheat in a her- 
 metically sealed vase in a grave at Thebes, which 
 
36 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 must have lain there for three thousand years. When 
 Mr. Pettigrew sowed them they grew into plants. 
 Some vegetable roots found in the hands of an 
 Egyptian mummy, which must have been at least 
 two thousand years old, were planted in a flower-pot, 
 and they grew and flourished. Thus, whenever the 
 latent powers get favorable conditions, they manifest 
 according to their nature, even after thousands of 
 years. 
 
 Similarly, there are many instances of slum- 
 bering mental powers. After remaining dormant 
 for a long period in our normal condition, they may, 
 in certain abnormal states — such as madness, delir- 
 ium, catalepsy, hypnotic sleep and so forth — flash 
 out into luminous consciousness and throw into abso- 
 lute oblivion the powers that are manifesting in the 
 normal state. Talents for eloquence, music, paint- 
 ing, and uncommon ingenuity in several mechanical 
 arts, traces of which were never found in the ordinary 
 normal condition, are often evolved in the state 
 of madness. Somnambulists in deep sleep, have 
 solved most difficult mathematical problems and per- 
 formed various acts with results which have surprised 
 them in their normal waking states. Thus we can un- 
 derstand that each individual mind is the storehouse of 
 many powers, various impressions and ideas, some of 
 which manifest in our normal state, while others re- 
 main latent. Our present condition of mind and 
 body is nothing but the manifested form of certain 
 dormant powers that exist in ourselves. If new 
 
E VOL UTION A ND RE1NCA RNA TION 3 7 
 
 powers are roused up and begin to manifest the 
 whole nature will be changed into a new form. The 
 manifestation of latent powers is at the bottom of 
 the evolution of one species into another. This idea 
 has been expressed in a few words by Patanjali, the 
 great Hindu evolutionist who lived long before the 
 Christian era. * In the second aphorism of the fourth 
 chapter (see ' Raja Yoga/ by Swami Vivekananda, 
 p. 210) it is said, ' ' The Evolution into another species 
 is caused by the in-filling of nature." The nature is 
 filled not from without but from within. Nothing 
 is superadded to the individual soul from outside. 
 The germs are already there, but their development 
 depends upon their coming in contact with the nec- 
 essary conditions requisite for proper manifestation. 
 We sometimes see a wicked man suddenly become 
 saintlike. There are instances of murderers and 
 robbers becoming saints. A religionist will explain 
 the cause of their sudden change, by saying that the 
 grace of the Almighty had fallen upon them and trans- 
 formed their whole nature. But Vedanta says that the 
 
 *The reader ought to know that the doctrine of Evolution was known 
 in India long before the Christian era. About the 7th century, B. C, 
 Kapila, the father of Hindu Evolutionists, explained this theory for the 
 first time through logic and science. 
 
 Sir Monier Monier Williams says : " Indeed if I may be allowed the 
 anachronism, the Hindus were Spinozites more than 2,000 years before 
 the existence of Spinoza ; and Darwinians many centuries before 
 Darwin; and Evolutionists many centuries before the doctrine of Evolu- 
 tion had been accepted by the scientists of our time and before any word 
 like Evolution existed in any language of the world." (P. 12, ' Hinduism 
 and Brahminism.') Prof. Huxley says : " To say nothing of Indian 
 Sages to whom Evolution was a familiar notion ages before Paul of 
 Tarsus was born." (P. 150, ' Science and Hebrew Tradition.') 
 
38 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 moral and spiritual powers that remained latent in 
 them have been roused up, and the result is the 
 sudden transformation. None can tell when or how 
 the slumbering powers will wake up and begin to 
 manifest. The germ of life, or the individual soul 
 as it is ordinarily called, possesses infinite possibili- 
 ties. Each germ of life is studying, as it were, the 
 book of its own nature by unfolding one page after 
 another. When it has gone through all the pages, 
 or, in other words, all the stages of evolution, per- 
 fect knowledge is acquired, and its course is finished. 
 We have read our lower nature by turning each 
 page, or, in other words, by passing through each 
 stage of animal life from the minutest bioplasm up 
 to the present stage of existence. Now we are 
 studying the pages which deal with moral and spirit- 
 ual laws. If any one wants to read any page over 
 again he will do it. Just as in reading a book, if any- 
 body feels particularly interested in any page or 
 chapter he will read it over and over again and will 
 not open a new page or a new chapter until he is 
 perfectly satisfied with it. Similarly, in reading the 
 book of life; if the individual soul likes any partic- 
 ular stage, he will stay there until he is perfectly 
 satisfied with it; after that he will go forward and 
 study other pages. One may read very slowly, and 
 another very fast; but whether we read slowly or 
 rapidly each one of us is bound to read the whole 
 book of nature and attain to perfection sooner or 
 later. 
 
E VOL UTION AND REINCARNA TION 39 
 
 According to Vedanta, the end and aim of Evolu- 
 tion is the attainment of perfection. Physical 
 evolution of animal life reached its perfection in 
 human form. There cannot be any other form higher 
 than human on this earth under present conditions. 
 It is the perfection of animal form. From this we 
 can infer that the tendency of the law of Evolution 
 is to reach perfection. When it is attained to, the 
 whole purpose is served. Do we see in nature any 
 other higher form evolved out of the human body? 
 No. Shall we not be justified if we say that the end 
 of physical evolution is the attainment of the per- 
 fection of animal form. Again as the purpose and 
 method of natural laws are uniform throughout the 
 universe, the end of intellectual, moral and spiritual 
 evolution will be attained when intellectual, moral 
 and spiritual perfection are acquired. Intellectual 
 perfection means perfection of intellect ; and intellect 
 is perfect when we understand the true nature of 
 things and never mistake the unreal for the real, 
 matter for spirit, non-eternal for eternal, or vice 
 versa. Moral perfection consists in the destruction 
 of selfishness ; and spiritual perfection is the mani- 
 festation of the true nature of spirit which is 
 immortal, free, divine and one with the Universal 
 Spirit or God. Evolution attains to the highest fulfil- 
 ment of its purpose when the spirit manifests per- 
 fectly. The tendency of nature is to have perfect 
 manifestation of all her powers. When certain 
 powers predominate they manifest first while the 
 
4 o VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 others remain dormant. As we find in the process 
 of evolution, when animal nature manifests perfectly 
 the moral and spiritual nature remain latent. Again 
 when moral and spiritual nature manifest fully, the 
 animal is in abeyance. It is for this reason we do 
 not find expressions of moral and spiritual nature in 
 lower animals or in those human beings who live 
 like them. Man is the only animal in whom such 
 perfect expressions of moral and spiritual nature are 
 possible. 
 
 When the individual soul begins to study its 
 spiritual nature, its lower or animal nature is gradu- 
 ally eclipsed. As the higher nature becomes power- 
 ful the lower nature dwindles into insignificance; 
 its energy is transformed into that of the higher 
 nature, and ultimately it disappears altogether and 
 rises no more. Then the soul becomes free from the 
 lower or animal nature. There are many stages in 
 the higher nature, as well as in the lower. Each 
 of these stages binds the individual soul so long as it 
 stays there. As it rises on a higher plane the lower 
 stages disappear and cease to bind. But the moment 
 any individual, after passing through all the stages 
 of the spiritual nature, reaches the ultimate point of 
 perfection, he realizes his true nature which is 
 immortal and divine. Then his true individuality 
 manifests. For want of true knowledge, he 
 identified himself with each stage successively and 
 thought that his individuality was one with the 
 powers which were manifested in each stage. Con- 
 
E VOL UTION AND REINCARNA TION 41 
 
 sequently he thought by mistake that he was affected 
 by the changes of each stage. But now he realizes 
 that his real individuality always remained unaffected. 
 He sees that his true individuality shines always in 
 the same manner although the limiting adjuncts 
 may vary. As the light of a lamp appears of 
 different colors if it passes through glasses of 
 different colors, so the light of the true individual 
 appears as animal or human when it passes through 
 the animal or human nature of the subtle body. The 
 subtle body of an individual changes from animal 
 nature through moral and spiritual into divine. As 
 this gradual growth cannot be expected in one life 
 we shall have to admit the doctrine of Reincarnation, 
 which teaches gradual evolution of the germ of life 
 or the individual soul through many lives and various 
 forms. Otherwise the theory of Evolution will 
 remain imperfect, incomplete and purposeless. The 
 doctrine of Reincarnation differs from the accepted 
 theory of Evolution in admitting a gradual but con- 
 tinuous evolution of the subtle body through many 
 gross forms. The gross body may appear or disap- 
 pear, but the subtle body continues to exist even 
 after the dissolution of the gross body and re-mani- 
 fests in some other form. 
 
 The doctrine of Reincarnation when properly 
 understood will appear as a supplement to the theory 
 of Evolution. Without this most important supple- 
 ment the Evolution theory will never be complete and 
 perfect. Evolution explains the process of life, 
 
42 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 while Reincarnation explains the purpose of life. 
 Therefore, both must go hand in hand to make the 
 explanation satisfactory in every respect. 
 
 James Freeman Clarke says: "That man has come 
 up to his present state of development by passing 
 through lower forms, is the popular doctrine of 
 science to-day. What is called Evolution teaches 
 that we have reached our present state by a very 
 long and gradual ascent from the lowest animal 
 organizations. It is true that the Darwinian theory 
 takes no notice of the evolution of the soul, but only 
 of the body. But it appears to me that a combina- 
 tion of the two views would remove many difficulties 
 which still attach to the theory of natural selection 
 and the survival of the fittest. If we are to believe 
 in Evolution let us have the assistance of the soul 
 itself in this development of new species. Thus 
 science and philosophy will co-operate, nor will 
 poetry hesitate to lend her aid." (P. 190, 'Ten 
 Great Religions, ' II. ) Evolution of the body depends 
 upon the evolution of the germ of life or the indi- 
 vidual soul. When these two are combined the 
 explanation becomes perfect. 
 
 The theory of Reincarnation is a logical necessity 
 for the completion of the theory of evolution. If we 
 admit a continuous evolution of a unit of the germ of 
 life through many gross manifestations then we un- 
 consciously accept the teachings of the doctrine of 
 Reincarnation. In passing through different forms 
 and manifestations the unit of life does not lose its 
 
E VOL UTION AND REINCARNA T10N 43 
 
 identity or individuality. As an atom does not lose 
 its identity or individuality (if you allow me to 
 suppose an atom has a kind of individuality) although 
 it passes from the mineral, through the vegetable, into 
 the animal, so the germ of life always preserves its 
 identity or individuality although it passes through 
 the different stages of evolution. 
 
 Therefore it is said in c< Bhagavad Gita," as in our 
 ordinary life the individual soul passes from a baby 
 body to a young one and from a young to an old, 
 and carries with it all the impressions, ideas and 
 experience that it has gathered in its former stage 
 of existence and reproduces them in proper time, so 
 when a man dies the individual soul passes from an 
 old body into a new one, and takes with it the subtle 
 body wherein are stored up all that it experienced 
 and gathered during its past incarnations. Knowing 
 this, wise men are never afraid of death. They 
 know that death is nothing but a mere change from 
 one body into another. Therefore, if any one does 
 not succeed in conquering the lower nature by the 
 higher, he will try again in his next incarnation, 
 after starting from the point which he reached in his 
 past life. He will not begin again from the very 
 beginning, but from the last stage at which he 
 arrived. Thus we see that Reincarnation is the 
 logical sequence of evolution. It completes and 
 makes perfect that theory and explains the cause of 
 the moral and spiritual nature of man. 
 
WHICH IS SCIENTIFIC— RESURRECTION OR 
 REINCARNATION ? 
 III. 
 
 Historically, it is interesting to know where the 
 idea of resurrection first arose and how it was 
 adopted by other nations. If we read carefully the 
 writings ascribed to Moses and other writers of the 
 Old Testament we find that the ancient Israelites 
 did not believe in the Christian heaven or hell, nor 
 in reward or punishment after death. It is doubt- 
 ful whether they had any clear conception of the ex- 
 istence of soul after the dissolution of tfie human 
 body. They had no definite idea of the hereafter. 
 They did not believe in the resurrection either of 
 the soul or body. Job longed for death thinking 
 that this would end his mental agony. In Psalms 
 we read "Wilt Thou shew wonders to the dead? 
 Shall the dead arise and praise Thee?" (Ps. lxxxviii, 
 10.) "In death there is no remembrance of Thee ; 
 in the grave who shall give Thee thanks. " (Ps. vi, 
 5.) Again (Ps. cxlvi, 4) it is said about princes and 
 the son of man, — " His breath goeth forth, he return- 
 eth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts 
 perish." "The dead praise not the Lord, neither 
 any that go down into silence." (Ps. cxv, 17.) 
 
46 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 Solomon speaks boldly: " All things come alike to 
 all ; there is one event to the righteous and to the 
 wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the 
 unclean * * * as is the good, so is the sinner." (Eccl. 
 ix, 2.) "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and 
 drink thy wine with a merry heart. * * * Live joy- 
 fully with thy wife * * * for there is no work, nor 
 device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, 
 whither thou goest." (Eccl. ix, 7, 9, 10.) Again in 
 verse 5 it is said, "The dead know not anything, 
 neither have they anymore a reward, for the 
 memory of them is forgotten." Solomon says, 
 " For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth 
 beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one 
 dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one 
 breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a 
 beast." "All go into one place; all are of the dust 
 and all turn to dust again. " * ' Who knoweth the spirit 
 of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast 
 that goeth downward to the earth?" (Eccl. iii, 19-21.) 
 There are many such passages which show clearly 
 that before the Babylonian captivity the Israelites had 
 no belief in reward or punishment, neither in heaven 
 nor hell nor in the resurrection of the soul. Some 
 say that they had a belief in a sheol or pit where de- 
 parted souls remained after death, but were never 
 resurrected. But when the ancient Jews were con- 
 quered by the Persians, 536, B. C, they came in con- 
 tact with a nation which had developed a belief in one 
 God, in a heaven and a hell, in the resurrection of the 
 
RESURRECTION OR RE1NCARNA TION 47 
 
 dead, in reward and punishment after death, and in 
 the last day of judgment. Under the dominion of 
 Persia, whose rule began with the capture of Babylon 
 and lasted from 536-333, B. C, the Jews were greatly 
 influenced by the Persian religion. They gave up 
 their idolatry, gradually developed social organiz- 
 ation and had considerable liberty. About that time 
 the Jews were divided into two classes, the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees. Those who adopted the religious 
 ideas of the Parsees were called Pharisees (according 
 to some authorities the word Pharisee was the 
 Hebrew form of Parsee), and those who followed 
 strictly the Jewish ideas, ceremonies, rituals and be- 
 liefs were called Sadducees. The former were 
 sharply opposed to the latter in their doctrinal beliefs. 
 They believed in angels and spirits, they expected 
 the resurrection of the dead and believed in future 
 reward and punishment and also in Divine pre-ordin- 
 ation. The Sadducees did not step beyond the 
 bounds of ancient Judaism. They were Orthodox 
 and very conservative in their views. They denied 
 the existence of angels and spirits, the resurrection 
 of the dead, and reward and punishment after death. 
 In Matt, xxii, 23, we read, "The same day came 
 to him the Sadducees which say that there is no 
 resurrection." The Sadducees were fewer in number 
 than the Pharisees. Gradually the latter grew very 
 powerful and after the death of Jesus their doctrines 
 of the resurrection of the dead, and of reward and 
 punishment after death, and the belief in angels and 
 
48 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 spirits, became the cardinal principles of the new 
 Christian sect. 
 
 Thus we see that the idea of resurrection first 
 arose in Persia and afterwards took a prominent 
 place in the writings of the New Testament, and 
 since then it has been largely accepted by the Christ- 
 ians of the Western countries. The Zoroastrians 
 believed that the soul of the dead hovers about the 
 body for three nights and does not depart for the 
 other world until the dawn after the third night. 
 Then the righteous go to heaven and the wicked to 
 hell. There the wicked remain until the time of 
 renovation of the universe, that is, the judgment 
 day. After the renovation, when Ahriman or Satan 
 is killed, the souls of the wicked will be purified and 
 have everlasting progress.* The question was 
 asked, "How shall they produce resurrection?" 
 Ahura Mazda says: "The reply is this, that the 
 preparation and production of the resurrection are 
 an achievement connected with miracle, a sublimity, 
 and afterwards also a wondrous appearance unto 
 the creatures uninformed. The secrets and affairs 
 of the persistent Creator are like every mystery and 
 secret."f 
 
 The Zoroastrians believed in the resurrection, not 
 of the physical body, but of the soul, and that it was 
 an act of miracle. Similarly miraculous was the 
 resurrection of Jesus. Although Jesus Himself never 
 
 * u Sacred Books of the East," Vol. xvii, pp. 27, 34, 46. 
 i u Sacred Books of the East," Vol. xvii, p. 80. 
 
RESURRECTION OR REINCARNA TION 49 
 
 mentioned what kind of resurrection, whether of 
 body or of soul that He meant and believed in, the 
 interpretation of the writers of the Gospels shows 
 that His disciples understood Him to mean bodily 
 resurrection and the re-appearance of His physical 
 form. The three days remained, just as the Zoro- 
 astrians believed. The miraculous and wondrous 
 appearance of Jesus before His disciples was preached 
 most vigorously by Paul. In his Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, Paul declares emphatically that the 
 whole of the Christian religion depends upon the mi- 
 raculous resurrection and re-appearance of Jesus. 
 Although Paul said the spiritual body of the risen 
 dead is not the same as flesh and blood body 
 (1 Cor., xv.), still that important point is generally 
 overlooked, and the result is the belief which we 
 find amongst some of the Christian sects; that at the 
 call of the angels, the body will rise from the grave 
 and the mouldering dust of bones and flesh will be 
 put together by the miraculous power of the 
 Almighty God. Paul says, " But now is Christ risen 
 from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that 
 slept " (1 Cor., xv. 20). He preached that Christ was 
 the firstborn from the dead, that those who believe in 
 Christ would rise as He did and that those who would 
 not believe in Him nor in His resurrection should 
 not rise. 
 
 We have already noticed that the Parsees believed 
 in a miraculous resurrection ; that the same miracle 
 became more definite in the case of Jesus; and that 
 
5o VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 the Christian faith was afterwards founded upon that 
 miraculous event. Both the Parsees and the fol- 
 lowers of Christ did not mean by resurrection any 
 universal law, but a miracle done by certain super- 
 natural powers. They did not give any scientific 
 reasons for such a miracle. 
 
 But modern science denies miracles. It teaches 
 that this universe is guided, not by miracles as the 
 old thinkers used to believe, but by definite' laws 
 which are always consistent and universal. There 
 cannot be any exception to those laws which are 
 uniform throughout. If resurrection be one of those 
 laws, then it must have existed before the birth of 
 Jesus; as such, how could He be the first born from 
 the dead, as described by Paul. Conversely, if Jesus 
 was the first who rose from the dead, then resurrec- 
 tion cannot be a universal law. Scientists would 
 not believe in anything which is not based upon 
 universal laws. Some of the agnostics and material- 
 ists have gone so far as to say that Jesus did not die 
 on the cross, but his animation was suspended when 
 his body was taken down from the cross by Joseph 
 of Arimathaea. When Joseph went to Pilate and 
 craved the body of Jesus, Pilate marvelled if He were 
 dead (Mark xv., 44), because it was only six hours 
 after the crucifixion. Some of the modern physiolo- 
 gists are of opinion that temperate and strong men 
 might live for several days on the cross. These 
 heretical agnostics and skeptical scientists say that 
 the body of Jesus revived after a few hours in the 
 
RES URRECTION OR REINCA RNA TION 5 1 
 
 cool, rock-cut tomb, that he walked out of the tomb, 
 went to Galilee and appeared before his disciples.* 
 Whatever the facts may be (nobody can now tell 
 exactly what actually happened), it is clear that the 
 scientists are not ready to take anything upon 
 authority. They do not care to believe in anything 
 because it is written in this book or that. They 
 must have convincing proofs and rational explanation 
 of every phenomenon of nature. They want to 
 penetrate into miracles in order to discover the 
 universal laws that govern them. If they do not 
 find any such laws, they will surely reject every 
 event that is supposed to be caused by miraculous or 
 supernatural powers. 
 
 The theory of a miraculous resurrection is attended 
 with the belief that the individual soul does not exist 
 before birth. The supporters of this theory hold 
 that at the time of birth, the individual, being created 
 out of nothing, comes fresh into existence. But 
 science tells us that sudden creation out of nothing 
 and a total destruction of anything are both impossi- 
 ble. Matter and force are indestructible. Science 
 teaches evolution and not creation, and denies the 
 intervention of any supernatural being as the cause 
 of phenomenal changes. The theory of Resurrec- 
 tion ignores all these ultimate conclusions of modern 
 science. On the contrary, the doctrine of Reincar- 
 nation, after accepting all the truths and laws of 
 nature that have been discovered by modern science, 
 
 *Vide u Science and Christian Tradition," by Prof. Huxley, pp. 279-280. 
 
52 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 carries them to their proper logical conclusions. 
 Reincarnation is based upon evolution. It means a 
 continuous evolution of an individual germ of life, 
 and a gradual re-manifestation of all the powers and 
 forces that exist in it potentially. Moreover, the 
 doctrine of Reincarnation is founded on the law of 
 cause and effect. It teaches that the cause is not 
 outside of the effect, but lies in the effect. The 
 cause is the potential or unmanif ested state of the 
 effect, and effect is the actual or manifested cause. 
 There is one current of infinite force or power con- 
 stantly flowing in the ocean of reality of the 
 universe, and appearing in the innumerable forms of 
 waves. We call one set of waves the cause of 
 another set, but in fact that which is the cause is the 
 potentiality of the future effect and the actuality of 
 a previous potential cause. The underlying current 
 is one and the same throughout. Reincarnation 
 denies the idea that the soul has come into existence 
 all of a sudden or has been created for the first time, 
 but it holds that it has been existing from the begin- 
 ningless past, and will exist all through eternity. 
 The individual soul enjoys or suffers according to 
 the acts it performs. All enjoyment and suffering 
 are but the reactions of our actions. Actions are the 
 causes and the reactions are the results. Our pres- 
 ent life is the result of our past actions, and our 
 future will be the result of the present. The actions 
 which we are now doing will not be lost. Do you 
 think that the thought-forces of one life-time will end 
 
RESURRECTION OR REINCARNA T10N 53 
 
 suddenly after death? No. They will be conserved 
 and remain potentially in the center and re-manifest 
 under suitable conditions. Each human soul is noth- 
 ing but a center of thought-force. This center is 
 called in Sanskrit S&kshma Sarira or the subtle body of 
 an individual. The subtle germ of life or, in other 
 words, the invisible center of thought-forces, will 
 manufacture a physical vehicle for expressing the 
 latent powers that are ready for manifestation. This 
 process will continue until the germ can express 
 most perfectly all the powers that are coiled up in its 
 invisible form. As the doctrine of Reincarnation is in 
 agreement with all the physical laws, so it is based 
 upon psychical, moral and ethical laws. As on the 
 objective plane the law of action and reaction governs 
 the objective phenomena, so on the subjective plane 
 of consciousness, if the mental action or thought be 
 good, the reaction will be good, and the reaction 
 will be evil if the mental action be evil, because every 
 action produces a similar reaction. A good reac- 
 tion is one which makes us happy and brings pleas- 
 ant sensations or peace of mind, while an evil re-- 
 action brings suffering, unpleasant sensations, 
 and makes one miserable. Thus Reincarnation 
 makes us free agents for action, as well as for reaping 
 the results or reactions of those actions. In fact, we 
 mould our own nature, according to our desires, ten- 
 dencies and works. 
 
 The theory of Resurrection, as commonly under- 
 stood, does not explain why one man is born with a 
 
54 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 sinful nature and another with a virtuous one. It con- 
 tents itself with saying as Luther said: "Man is a 
 beast of burden who only moves as his rider orders ; 
 sometimes God rides him and sometimes Satan." 
 But why God should allow Satan to ride His own 
 creature nobody can tell. At any rate, man must 
 suffer eternally for the crimes which he is forced by 
 Satan to commit. Moreover this theory pre-supposes 
 predestination and that the individual soul is fore- 
 doomed to go either to heaven or to hell. St. 
 Augustine first started this doctrine of Predestina- 
 tion and Grace to explain why one is born sinful and 
 another sinless. According to this theory, God, the 
 merciful, favors somebody with His grace at the time 
 of his birth and then he comes into this world ready 
 to be saved, but the mass of humanity is born sinful 
 and destined for eternal damnation. Very few 
 indeed receive the gift of grace and are predestined 
 to be saved. Moreover, this doctrine tells us that 
 God creates man out of nothing, forbids him some- 
 thing, but at the same time He does not give him 
 the power to obey His commands. Ultimately God 
 punishes him with eternal torture on account of his 
 weakness. The body and soul will not be separated. 
 He will not be set free from his body, because, if it 
 be so, there will be the end of his suffering, which 
 God does not like. All these sufferings and punish- 
 ments are predestined before his birth. Thus, St. 
 Augustine's dogma of Predestination and Grace 
 instead of explaining the difficulty satisfactorily 
 
RESURRECTION OR REINCARNATION 55 
 
 brings horror and dread to human minds, while the 
 doctrine of Reincarnation teaches gradual progress 
 from lower to higher, through ages until the 
 individual reaches perfection. It holds that each 
 individual will become perfect like Jesus or Buddha 
 or like the Father in heaven and manifest divinity 
 either in this life or in some other. One span of life 
 is too short for developing one's powers into perfec- 
 tion. If you should try to train an idiot to become 
 a great artist or a philosopher, would you ever 
 succeed in your attempt to make him so during his 
 lifetime? No. And will you punish him because 
 he cannot become so? Can a man who possesses the 
 slightest common sense be so unreasonable? Simi- 
 larly what would you think if God punishes a man 
 because he can not become perfect within a life 
 time ? It is a poor argument to say that God has 
 given us free-will to choose right and wrong, and we 
 are responsible for our choice ; if we choose wrongly 
 we must be punished. The advocates of such an 
 argument forget that at the same time God has let 
 loose His powerful Satan to corrupt His creatures. 
 It reminds me of an old story. Once on a time 
 at a certain place a prisoner was released and set 
 free through the kindness of a tyrant. The tyrant 
 said to the prisoner "Look here, wicked man, I give 
 you freedom, you can go to any place ; but there is one 
 condition; if you are attacked by any wild animal 
 you will be put to the dungeon and there will be no 
 end to your torture." So saying he gave him 
 
 LtfC. 
 
56 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 freedom, but at the same time ordered his servants 
 to let loose a hungry wolf to chase the man. You 
 can imagine what became of the prisoner. Can we 
 call this an act of mercy ! 
 
 The doctrine of Reincarnation says that each 
 individual soul is potentially perfect and is gradually 
 unfolding its powers and making them actual through 
 the process of Evolution. At every step of that 
 process it is gaining different experiences which 
 last only for a time. Therefore neither God nor 
 Satan is responsible for our good or evil actions. 
 Good and evil are like the up and down or the crest 
 and hollow of a wave in the sea. A wave cannot 
 rise without making a hollow somewhere in the sea. 
 So in the infinite ocean of reality innumerable waves 
 are constantly rising. The summit of each wave is 
 called good, while the hollow beside it is evil or misery 
 and the current of each individual life is constantly 
 flowing towards the ultimate destination which we 
 call perfection. Who can tell how long it will take 
 to reach that goal? If anybody can attain to perfec- 
 tion in this life, he is no longer bound to reincarnate. 
 If he fails he will continue to progress by taking 
 some other body. Reincarnation does not teach, as 
 many people think, that in the next incarnation one 
 will begin from the very beginning, but it says that 
 one will start from that point where one arrives 
 before death and will keep the thread of progress 
 unbroken. It does not teach that we go back to 
 animal bodies after death, but that we get our 
 
RESURREC T10N OR REINCA RNA TION 5 7 
 
 bodies according to our desires, tendencies and 
 powers. If any person has no desire to come back 
 to this world or to any other and does not want 
 to enjoy any particular object of pleasure, and if he 
 is perfectly free from selfishness that person will not 
 have to come back. The theory of Reincarnation is 
 logical and satisfactory. While the theory of 
 Resurrection is neither based on scientific truths nor 
 can it logically explain the cause of life and death ; 
 Reincarnation solves all the problems of life and 
 explains scientifically all the questions and doubts 
 that arise in the human mind. 
 
 11 Reincarnation is not easily understood by a 
 thoughtless child deluded by the delusion of wealth, 
 name or fame. Everything ends with death, he 
 thinks, and thus falls again and again under ,the sway 
 of death." 
 
VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 
 
 The following- lectures by Swami Vivekananda 
 contain a comprehensive statement of the funda- 
 mental teachings of Vedanta, and furnish a clear 
 exposition of this Philosophy. (10 cents each, and 
 i cent postage. ) 
 
 The Ideal of a Universal Religion — Setting 
 forth the fundamental principles underlying all 
 religions. 
 
 The Cosmos — Two lectures describing the 
 Vedantic Conception of the Universe. 
 
 The Atman — A lecture explaining the divine 
 nature of man. 
 
 The Real and Apparent Man. 
 
 Bhakti Yoga — Religion of love as explained by 
 Vedanta. 
 
 World's Fair Addresses — Delivered before the 
 Parliament of Religion in Chicago by Swami 
 Vivekananda as the representative of the Hindu 
 religion. 
 
 The Vedanta Philosophy — An address before the 
 Graduate Philosophical Society of Harvard College, 
 followed by questions and answers, with an introduc- 
 tion by Professor C. C. Everett, of Harvard 
 University. (15 cents and 2 cents postage.) 
 
 LONDON ADDRESSES 
 
 A series of twelve lectures delivered in London by 
 Swami Vivekananda, containing some of his best 
 utterances. (15 cents each and 1 cent postage; set 
 of twelve, $1.50 and 10 cents postage.) 
 
60 VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 
 
 RAJA YOGA 
 
 Lectures by Swami Vivekananda, containing also 
 Patan jali's Yoga Aphorisms, with commentary, and 
 a copious Sanskrit Glossary. The book includes a 
 lecture on "Immortality " and the Swami's Lectures 
 on "Bhakti Yoga." A portrait of the author, 
 frontispiece . The whole handsomely bound in cloth, 
 376 pages, $1.50; by mail, $1.61. 
 
 KARMA YOGA 
 
 Eight lectures by Swami Vivekananda on the 
 practical application of the Vedanta Philosophy to 
 the affairs of daily life. Cloth, 50 cents and 5 cents 
 postage. 
 
 PERIODICALS 
 
 The Vedanta Philosophy is further set forth in two 
 Indian periodicals : 
 
 The Brahmavadin — A semi-monthly magazine 
 published in Madras, India ; edited and managed by 
 Hindu scholars, $2.00 per year; single copies, 15 
 cents. 
 
 Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India — A 
 popular monthly magazine containing articles and 
 lectures by the Swami's, $1.00 per year, single 
 copies 10 cents. The two magazines to one address, 
 $2.75 per year. 
 
VEDA NT A PHILOSOPHY 61 
 
 This literature is commended to all students of 
 Philosophy and advanced religious thought. The 
 Vedanta Philosophy largely influenced Emerson, 
 and fotmd frequent expression in his writings. 
 Net rates to the trade. For sale by 
 
 H. J. Van Haagen, 
 
 1267 Broadway, 
 
 New York. 
 And S. E. Waldo, 
 
 249 Monroe Street, 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 819 705 
 
 10 029 8