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RE-INCARNATION.
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our race is the attainment of happiness by the conquest of death, it follows that the only practical thing in the world is the 'path' which leads us to the realization of our high ideal. There is no man who, in his heart of hearts, does not cherish this great ideal, though there be some, who, from a superficial analysis of their feelings, or from fear of ridicule, might refuse to credit their souls with this noble and ennobling aspiration. Such being the high aspiration of the soul, it is evident that no means which do not bring it nearer to realization can be térmed practical. Mankind, however, generally lavish all the praise they can on those who amass large fortunes, who move in high society, who are companions of kings and potentates, and who possess hereditary or personal titles conferred on them by their fellow beings, but who, in spite of all their wealth, companions and distinctions, are not a bit nearer the attainment of the ideal of their soul. Can we call these men, or their admirers, practical ? Which is more practical, the pursuit of ideals which must invariably lead to regions of pain and torture after death, followed by subsequent incarnations in undesirable surroundings in this world, or of the Ideal which confers immortality and bliss on the soul? There can be only one answer, and that in favour of the latter alternative. If any one still think that this world is going to afford him lasting joy, let him bestow a glance at the picture of human misery and woe so vividly drawn by Mrs. Besant (the Use of Evil):--
“Look at the men and women around you, look at their faces; see how they are full of anxiety and of desire, of trouble and of injustice; and see how men's hearts are pierced by pain and laid desolate by catastrophes, by miseries, by hopes and by fears; how they are
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