The Purpose of Life is Not HappinessThe "Soul" gathers up all the experiences of each earth life, through which it passes to be transmuted within itself, by its own divine alchemy, into that essence of experience and knowledge which is called Wisdom. Even in this present earth cycle we distinguish between the knowledge we acquire and the wisdom we rarely distill from that knowledge. The Soul, or individual, is not a thing complete at first, plunging like a diver into the ocean of Matter. Wisdom is the fruit of experience, the crowning possession of the aged. In a much fuller and richer sense, Wisdom is the fruit of many incarnations, the product of many experiences and the knowledge obtained therefrom. Within the Soul is a storehouse of experiences, reaped from all our past incarnations, harvested through many "rebirths".
Why Are We Here?This consideration of the Soul brings us to a most puzzling question, why are we here? At some point every human being on this planet must ask this question, it seem almost a natural and inevitable inquire. Let us realize that the purpose of life is not happiness, but experience.EXPERIENCE is “knowledge of the effects which follow acts.” This is the object, and the purpose, together with the development of the "Will"“,” which is the force where by we apply the results of experience. Experience must be obtained, but we have the choice whether we gain it by the hard path of personal experience or by the observation of other people’s acts, reasoning and reflecting thereon, guided by the light of whatever experience we have already had. This is the method by which we should learn, instead of requiring the lash of adversity and pain. This is what our scriptures, with the various stories or myths and allegories are trying to convey to the consciousness of those who read these sacred books. The Wheel of NecessityThe more willing we are to learn in that way, the less we shall feel the stinging thorns of “the path of pain” and the more quickly shall we gain “ the path of peace.” The book of Proverb is full of example relating to the learning from the knowledge and wisdom of those who have experienced life and the constructive way of living. However there are certain experience which the soul is compelled to experience for itself, these experiences the soul cannot avoid. They are too high to go over, too low to get under, and too wide to go around; that leaves only one avenue-the soul must go through the experience to gain the knowledge that is required to master that situation. In a word the experience is necessary.The choice is ours, but so long as we have not learned all there is to learn in this world, we must come back to it. We cannot stay in the higher worlds and learn there until we have mastered the lessons of earth life. That would be as sensible as to send a child to kindergarten one (1) day and to college the next. The child must return to the kindergarten day after day and spend years in the grammar school and the high school before its study has developed its capacity sufficiently to enable it to understand the lessons taught in college. Man is also in school, the school of life experience. The world is our school room, and our learning is ever incomplete. We must return many times before we can hope to master all the knowledge in the world of sense. No one (1) earth life however rich in experience, could furnish all the knowledge that is needed. So, nature decrees that we must return to Earth, after intervals of rest. We take up our work where we dropped it. Just as a child takes up its work in school each day, after the intervening sleep of night. We have three reasons for the incarnation of the Soul into a Body. 1. The soul is to have certain earthly experiences, 2. The physical, human body is to have the advantage of spiritual knowledge and illumination in addition to its mundane knowledge, 3.The character and personality of man may be perfected.
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