The Western world has been made familiar with the idea of the re-birth of souls into new bodies, under the term of “Re-incarnation,” which means “a re-entry into flesh,” the word “incarnate” being derived from the words “in,” and “carnis,” meaning flesh—­the English word meaning “to clothe with flesh,” etc.  The word Metempsychosis, which we use in this lesson, is concerned rather with the “passage of the soul” from one tenement to another, the “fleshly” idea being merely incidental.

The doctrine of Metempsychosis, or Re-incarnation, together with its accompanying doctrine, Karma, or Spiritual Cause and Effect, is one of the great foundation stones of the Yogi Philosophy, as indeed it is of the entire system of systems of Oriental Philosophy and Thought.  Unless one understands Metempsychosis he will never be able to understand the Eastern Teachings, for he will be without the Key.  You who have read the Bhagavad Gita, that wonderful Hindu Epic, will remember how the thread of Re-Birth runs through it all.  You remember the words of Krishna to Arjuna:  “As the soul, wearing this material body, experienceth the stages of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, even so shall it, in due time, pass on to another body, and in other incarnations shall it again live, and move and play its part.”  “These bodies, which act as enveloping coverings for the souls occupying them, are but finite things—­things of the moment—­and not the Real Man at all.  They perish as all finite things perish—­let them perish.”  “As a man throweth away his old garments, replacing them with new and brighter ones, even so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its old mortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly prepared for it.  Weapons pierce not the Real Man, nor doth the fire burn him; the water affecteth him not, nor the wind drieth him nor bloweth him away.  For he is impregnable and impervious to these things of the world of change—­he is eternal, permanent, unchangeable, and unalterable—­Real.”

This view of life gives to the one who holds to it, an entirely different mental attitude.  He no longer identifies himself with the particular body that he may be occupying, nor with any other body for that matter.  He learns to regard his body just as he would a garment which he is wearing, useful to him for certain purposes, but which will in time be discarded and thrown aside for a better one, and one better adapted to his new requirements and needs.  So firmly is this idea embedded in the consciousness of the Hindus, that they will often say “My body is tired,” or “My body is hungry,” or “My body is full of energy,” rather than that “I am” this or that thing.  And this consciousness, once attained, gives to one a sense of strength, security and power unknown to him who regards his body as himself.  The first step for the student who wishes to grasp the idea of Metempsychosis, and who wishes to awaken in his consciousness a certainty of its truth, is to familiarize himself with the idea of his “I” being a thing independent and a part from his body, although using the latter as an abiding place and a useful shelter and instrument for the time being.