Karma

Author(s): Annie Besant
Publisher: Theosophical Publishing House

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The Working out of Karma
When the soul has lived out its devachanic life, and has assimilated all that it can of the material gathered during its last period on earth, it begins to be drawn again towards earth by the links of desire that bind it to material existence. The last stage of its life-period now lies before it, the stage during which it re-clothes itself for another experience of earthly life, the stage that is closed by the gateway of birth.
The soul steps over the threshold of devachan into what has been called the plane of reincarnation, bringing with it the result, small or great, of its devachanic work. If it be but a young soul, it will have gained, but little; progress in the early stages of soul evolution is slow to an extent scarcely realized by most students, and during the babyhood of the soul life-day succeeds life-day in wearying succession, each earth life sowing but little seed, each devachan ripening but little fruit. As faculties develop, growth quickens at an ever increasing rate, and the soul that enters devachan with a large store of material, comes out of it with a large increase of faculty, worked out under the general laws before stated. It issues from devachan clothed only in that body of the soul that