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1. "A few things may be said with accuracy about The Law of Rebirth, and these few warrant no contradiction:
a. The Law of Rebirth is a great natural Law upon our planet.
b. It is a process, instituted and carried forward under The Law of Evolution.
c. It is closely related to and conditioned by The Law of Cause and Effect (The Law of Karma).
d. It is a process of progressive developement, enabling men to move forward from the grossest forms of unthinking materialism to a spiritual perfection and an intelligent perception which will enable a man to become a Member of The Kingdom of God (The Spiritual Hierarchy).
e. It accounts for the differences among men and, in connection with The Law of Cause and Effect, it accounts for differences in circumstances and attitudes of life.
f. It is the expression of The Will Aspect (1st Ray) of The Soul and is not the result of any form decision. It is The Soul (Higher Self) which reincarnates, choosing and building suitable physical, emotional, and mental vehicles through which to learn the next needed lessons.
g. The Law of Rebirth, as far as Humanity is concerned, comes into activity upon The Soul Plane (5th Density). Incarnation is motivated and directed from The Soul Level upon The Mental Plane.
h. Souls incarnate in groups, cyclically, under The Law and in order to achieve right relations with God and their fellowmen.
i. Progressive unfoldment under The Law of Rebirth is largely conditioned by the mental principle, for 'as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he'.
j. Under The Law of Rebirth man slowly developes mind, then mind begins to control the feeling, emotional nature, and finally reveals The Soul and its nature and environment to man.
k. At that point in his developement, the man begins to tread The Path of Return and orients himself gradually, after many lives, to The Kingdom of God (The Spiritual Hierarchy).
l. When through a developed mentality, wisdom, practical service, and understanding a man has learned to ask nothing for the separated self, he then renounces desire for life in The 3 Worlds (Physical, Astral, Mental) and is freed from The Law of Rebirth.
m. He is now group conscious, is aware of his Soul Group and of The Soul in all forms (lifetimes) and has attained a stage of Christlike perfection, reaching unto the 'measure of the stature of the fullness of The Christ'."
2. "Civilizations, cultures, races, and nations appear and disappear, but the same Individualities (Souls in incarnation) come and go with them, garnering the fruits of experience and progressively marching on to fuller Self-government and group organization and synthesis."
3. "Basically, it is not desire which prompts the return of an Ego (Soul) to physical incarnation but will and knowledge of The Plan (of Sanat Kumara and The Planetary Logos). It is not the need for achieving an ultimate perfection which goads The Ego on the experience in form, for The Ego is already perfect. The main incentive is sacrifice and service to those lesser lives that are dependent upon the higher inspiration and the determination that they too may attain planetary status equivalent to that of The Sacrificing Soul."
"In themselves, rebirth and reincarnation are misleading terms, and 'cyclic impulsion', 'intelligent purposeful repetition', and 'conscious in-breathing and out-breathing' would describe more accurately this cosmic process. Esoterically speaking, it is group rebirth which is taking place all the time, and the incarnation of the individual is only incidental to this greater happening. Egos come into incarnation, therefore, not singly but according to group urge and thus collectively."
4. "A particular incarnation is not an isolated event in the life of The Soul but is a part and an aspect of a sequence of experiences which are intended to lead to one, clear, definite goal -- the goal of free choice and a deliberate return out of matter to Spirit and eventual liberation."
5. "Man has consciously to bring about his own liberation. These results are self-induced by the man as he is emancipated from The 3 Worlds (Physical, Astral, Mental) and has broken The Wheel of Rebirth himself instead of being broken upon it."
6. "All incarnations on The Physical Plane are not of equal importance, but rather some are of more moment than others. Some, from the point of view of The Ego, are practically negligible."
7. "If The Solar Angel (Higher Self) is as yet in love with manifestation and has a desire for objective existence, thus identifying Himself voluntarily with substance, there ensues the phenomenon of reincarnated physical life."
8. "Some Egos cycle through their incarnations and their pralayas very rapidly. Others spend untold eons, and hence it is impossible to say that there are even 'averages' connected with the appearance of Egos on The Astral Plane (following physical incarnation)."
9. "The factors governing the appearance in incarnation of a disciple (accepted disciple to a Master) are as follows:
a. First, his desire to work off karma rapidly and so liberate himself for service. The Ego (Soul) impresses this desire upon the disciple during incarnation. The whole objective of the disciple after death is to get rid of his subtler bodies and acquire new ones. There is no desire for a period of rest. The man, therefore, absents himself from The Physical Plane for a very brief time and is driven by his Ego into a physical body with great rapidity.
b. Second, to work out some piece of service under direction of his Master. This will involve some adjustments and occasionally the temporary arresting of his karma.
c. Third, a disciple will return into incarnation occasionally so as to fit into the plan of a Greater One than himself. When a Messenger of The Great Lodge needs a vehicle through which to express Himself and cannot use a physical body Himself, owing to the rarity of His Energy, He will utilize the body of a disciple. We have an instance of this in the manner that The Christ (Lord Maitreya) used the body of The Initiate Jesus, taking possession of it at the time of The Baptism (at The River Jordan).
d. Fourth, a disciple may, through the lack of rounded developement, be very far advanced along certain lines but lack what is called the full intensification of a particular principle. He may, therefore, decide (with the full concurrence of his Ego and of his Master) to take a series of rapidly recurring incarnations with the intention of working specifically at bringing a certain quality or series of qualities to a point of higher vibratory content, thus completing the rounding of his sphere of manifestation. This accounts for the peculiar yet powerful people who are met at times. They are so one-pointed and apparently so unbalanced that their sole attention is given to one line of developement only, so much so that the other lines are hardly apparent.
Occasionally a variation of this reason for rapid and immediate incarnation is seen when an Initiate Who has nearly completed his cycle (of incarnations) appears in incarnation to express almost entirely one perfected principle. This He does for the good of a particular group which, though engaged in work for Humanity, is failing somewhat in its objective through the lack of a particular quality or stream of force. When this becomes apparent on The Inner Side, some advanced Disciple puts the energy of that particular quality at the disposal of The Hierarchy and is sent forth to balance that group and frequently to do so for a period of rapidly succeeding lives."
10. "All Souls incarnate and reincarnate under The Law of Rebirth. Hence each life is not only a recapitulation of life experience but an assuming of ancient obligations, a recovery of old relations, an opportunity for the paying of old indebtedness, a chance to make restitution and progress, an awakening of deep-seated qualities, the recognition of old friends and enemies, the solution of revolting injustices, and the explanation of that which conditions the man and makes him what he is."
11. "The Law of Rebirth has never been grasped or properly understood in The West, and in The East where it is acknowledged as a governing principle of life it has not proved useful because it has been soporific in its effect and a detriment to progress. The eastern student regards it as giving him plenty of time. This has negated the driving effort to achieve a goal. The average Christian confuses The Law of Rebirth with what he calls 'the transmigration of souls' and frequently believes that The Law of Rebirth signifies the passing of human beings into the bodies of animals or of lower forms of life. Such is by no means the case. As The Life of God progresses onwards through form after form, that Life in the subhuman Kingdoms of Nature proceeds progressively from mineral forms into plant forms and from these plant forms into animal forms. From the animal form stage, The Life of God passes into The Human Kingdom and becomes subject to The Law of Rebirth and not The Law of Transmigration."
12. "Man reincarnates under no time urge. He incarnates under the demands of karmic liability, under the pull of that which he as a Soul has initiated, and because of a sensed need to fulfill instituted obligations. He incarnates also from a sense of responsibility and to meet requirements which an earlier breaking of the laws governing right human relations have imposed upon him. When these requirements, Soul necessities, experiences, and responsibilities have all been met, he enters permanently into the clear cold Light of Love and Life and no longer needs the nursery stage of Soul-experience on Earth. He is free from karmic impositions in The 3 Worlds (Physical, Emotional, and Mental) but is still under the impulse of karmic necessity which extracts from him the last possible ounce of service that he is in a position to render to those still under The Law of Karmic Liability."
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