Ancient Wisdom for Today Read Online Free PDF Page B

will eventually learn from Its experience. It is rare for an individual who has attained the human
    state of consciousness to be reborn as an animal. This would slow the ability to learn, to unfold, and to graduate from the school of life.
    We’ve Been Here Before
    Most of us have lived before. Soul
    reincarnates on the physical plane again and again until It graduates from the
    school of physical life.
    50
    By choosing different bodies and dif-
    ferent life experiences, Soul learns to view life from all sides. Living as male or female, as black or white, as rich or poor, for example, Soul tests and purifies Itself.
    There Is a Reason for the Veil
    Separating Us from the Past
    If we could remember all of our previ-
    ous lives, the confusion would be overwhelming. To survive on this earth, we must be able to focus on our current
    identity and deal with day-to-day events.
    Divine Spirit protects us from confusion by pulling the veil over our memory when we are reborn.
    We Often Return to Be with
    Family and Friends from Before
    The patterns of karma often bring us
    into contact with those we have known
    before. This is a thread which runs between family and friends, neighbors and business associates. Your sister from
    ancient Egypt may be your father-in-law 51
    today. Your adversary from the Civil War may be your friend in this life.
    Past-Life Memory Is Accessible
    Through the Spiritual Exercises of
    ECK, you can remember past lives. You
    would remember those which have a
    bearing on this life, the ones which give you insight into your current spiritual problems. These records are stored on
    the Causal Plane. They can be viewed as easily as you would visit a library on the Physical Plane, as long as you are detached enough to handle the information.
    The Physical Plane
    Is a School of Life
    We often return to the school of life on earth, or some other physical arena, to continue our spiritual education. Soul, in harmony with the Law of Karma, chooses Its next incarnation. We choose our parents and our circumstances because they 52
    suit our spiritual needs. From this perspective, Soul is not concerned with pain or pleasure, riches or power. It simply is looking for Its next spiritual experience and is compelled to balance Its karmic account.
    Similarly, those of us who find our-
    selves on a spiritual quest have probably pursued these interests before. Many on the path of Eckankar have studied with previous ECK Masters. We find a glint of recognition in this life. Others have led lives committed to spiritual unfoldment and now find themselves ready to continue with the next step.
    ECKists are not frantic to escape this world or avoid rebirth. As a Co-worker with God, Soul is never finished with Its work. But at a certain point It may no longer need to inhabit a physical body.
    Reincarnation will only continue for those who need or choose it. The Mahanta can guide Soul out of the worlds of illusion and help It rise above the laws of karma and reincarnation.
    53

    It is through these worlds that you take the journey to Self- and God-Realization.
    54
    6
    The God Worlds of ECK
    he best hotels and the most luxu-
    Trious accommodations on earth
    seem like dark huts compared to the things you see on the inner planes. The worlds of God are light and spacious, and the joy that Soul experiences there is beyond human understanding. This is what Soul is trying to get to, and it comes through the spiritual exercises.
    Harold Klemp
    Cloak of Consciousness
    Years ago, a lone ECKist stood on a
    bridge over a river in Wisconsin. His story is a dramatic example of the ultimate
    experience of the Light and Sound, God-Realization. “From out of the night,” he 55
    recounts, “as if from a distant lighthouse, came a searing bolt of blue-white light that pierced my heart. . . .
    “A heavy roll of thunder shook the
    bridge, as if a locomotive were sweeping past a railroad crossing at high speed. I trembled at the power of the sound. . .