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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
of the soul in its own nature, that is, the purity of essence, and since every action which modifies character, the seed of rebirth, leaves its characteristic mark behind, the whole range of future rebirths must be readable in the karmic ledger of the soul. This explanation also holds good with respect to the past, which, as already stated, is likewise preserved in the shape of modifications of character. Hence, he who develops clairvoyant vision, keen and penetrating enough to perceive the modifications of the lines of force which connect an individual with his past, can easily point out the previous incarnations of the soul.
We have said that the current of the tendencies of life is, owing to the necessities of the physical environment and the ego's action therein, thinned and sharpened to a point which is constantly pressing against the future, and from which radiate motor impulses in all directions in the body, enabling it to act on the surrounding bodies in the world. But suppose this radiation is inhibited. The result of the inhibition will be the stoppage of the outgoing energy and the consequent expansion of the point. If the process were to stop short here, only a feeling of fulness and expansion would be experienced by the soul; neither action nor reflection would ensue. But if the pent-up force is allowed to escape outwards, bodily action will inevitably follow its discharge ; and if reflected back on itself, attention will travel away further inwards and will be scattered over the triangle formed by the very act of reflection. This triangle whose apex is the sensory-motor point and whose base an imaginary line drawn across the cur
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