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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.
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a compound but a simple substance. Soul is, therefore, immortal by nature. It is also easy to see that true happiness only signifies perfect freedom, and that we are truly happy only when freed from the weight, or burden, of all extraneous relations and worries and desires. Hence, soul is also blissful by nature. Thus, the three characteristics of the soul are (1) knowledge, (2) immortality, and (3) bliss. Now, since God cannot have any greater or more fascinating attributes in Him, it follows that every soul is a God in potency. The difference between God and man, therefore, only lies in respect of perfection, not in that of any thing else.
Hence, God is the great ideal of Perfection which has already been attained by a number of Perfect Souls, the Holy Ones, as Religion points out. In respect of power, also, it can be seen that the soul, as a substance, must be endowed with the same attributes as appertain to God. Hence, even in respect of power there is no difference between man and God, except that between an unevolved and a fully evolved being.
The capacity for infinite knowledge, infinite bliss and infinite power, which is inherent in the soul, renders it necessary that some at least, if not all the souls, should perfect themselves sooner or later; and since one earthlife does not suffice for the purpose, it logically follows that there should be as many re-incarnations as are necessary to enable one to attain perfection. In each earth-life certain experiences are undergone by the soul, and the sum-total of them is carried over in the form of character, i.e., disposition, tendencies, and the like. This quintessence of character is carried over
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