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RE-INCARNATION.
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the harmful infuences from without must, obviously, arise out of the differences in the quality, or quantity, or both, of the material of bodies and the structure of bodily organs and limbs, and, must, therefore, be attributable to the organising agency or power in each and every case. Thus, every organism enters into the struggle for existence with a certain amount of the vital force which represents the amount of the investment of the soul in its last incarnation. It is the balance which is placed to the credit of the individual in the Bank of Life, and which may be preserved by careful economy, or squandered speedily by reckless and riotous living.
But while the individual soul is allowed to bring the nucleus of the vital force from its past life, it is also forced, in a certain sense, to carry with it the causes that constitute a heavy drain on it. These are the seeds of desires which may be said to be the harbingers of vital poverty and decrepitude.
A very little reflection will enable us to perceive that the secret of decay lies in the desires inherent in the individual will, for the organs of action and sensation are its objectification through and through, as Schopenhauer rightly affirms. Now, the body which is at once the objectification as well as the instrument of will, for the gratification of the bodily appetites, is liable to deteriorate, and subject to wear and tear in its use for one's desires frequently become too strong for it for want of proper control, and also because they bring it into conflict with other bodies. It is easy to desire, but not so easy to gratify the senses; for their objects often lie beyond reach. Besides, every desire once
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