The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-06-03
DID WE LIVE BEFORE?
HOW THE THEORY OF PRE-ExlST-
ENCE HAS TAKEN ROOT.
A Talk With Believer-Every Man
What He Has Made Himself-Genius
an Inheritance From Other Lives
How to Read Past Incarnations.
Special Corrcspondence.l

How to Read Past Incarnations.
Special Corrcspondence.l
New YORK. May 1L-Re-embodiment OF
souls is a subject much talked of in New
York by those who are fond of exploring
new fields of thought. Not only is it talked |
of but believed in, by large number OF
persons whose brains command respect i'll
the practical pursuits of life. 1t is little |
startling to hear an envied bus ness man
or an liable editor" declare his belief in
pre-ex stenca, unless one is familiarlzed
with the reincarnaton doctrine. You can't
think of him as anybody but himself; but
he can, because he has accustomed hi
mind to it,
Indeed, among believers in this interesting
theory, it is quite the fashionable recreation
to give your friends the benefit of what you
think you were in the life Immediately pre-
ceding this one, and also to hazard lew
guesses as to what they were. As you can
readily see, this is a fresh and fascinating
field for conversation. 1t has extraordinary
rossi flies AMI no limitations. But here L
a queer thing in regard to it: You can tell
friend that you believe he was no end OF
scoundrel in his past embodiments, and he
never gets angry with youth all probability
he agrees with you, and admits that the
penalties imposed upon him in this life are
just Yet if you limited that he had been
wicked and worthless in this life, however
irresponsible he may have been for it, ant
that whatever trouble he is now sta@gerln'
under is the direct result of his wrongdoin;
he would most likely knock you down, L
you shoull belong to the sex that gets
knocked down. His previous existenceS'
however, you can SANDER and detract WIN
mpunity. They are long way in his rear
and neither reflect glory nor shame, for the
reason that regulations data for this exist
ence begins with this existence.
Yet the re-embodiment theory distinctly
states that we are what we have made our
selves. We suffer from ourselves. The
objective man born into the physical worlo
is the creation OF the person he last animated
Our lows, sorrows and sins are of our OWL
making. Oar life is fabric woven by our
selves. The eastern word for this is 'karma,
1t is sadly put upon word just now, reiter
ated so often that it is likely to grow httl
wearisome. We have no western equlValen
for this Hindu term, which is volume com
pressed into single word. "Anl what an
idea it CONVEYS of sowing and reaping, ant
justice|
was present where two or three wer
gathered together discussing rencarnation
recently The editor of a humorous Jourra
Joined us. Somebody repeated the CONVEX
sation to him up to the point we had carrie
it. ooh, YES, believe that 1 lived before,
he said, seriously, land that shall hv
again, and again and again"
Then. in a lighter vein 81 must have live
to very poor purpose. too when create
such a karma for myself as l am now exper
encino. Think of it, doomed to edit til
stuff they call humor. What could L hay
done to deserve its"
One man, writer whose name carrie
weight all over the American newspap'
world. told me in confidence that he had re-
son to believe he had been re-embcdied min
teen times on this planet alone, and that
one of his embodiments he had been grei
French military man.
know a woman whose friends believe ne
to have been an anchorite in some prevloi
existence. Traces of grim ascet1clsm al
still noticeable in her. Ii she were told
choose between a bed of rose leaves and
boord she would chose the board. She d
MICS herself bodily ease from curious fee
mo that she ought to which her reasc
! doesn't indorse She makes every bit OF tc
rs hard as possible ali hough she talks mut
4 about simplifying lie and labor
Another woman thinks she was man
an existence Immediately preceding this, /
= cause she doesn't care a cent for men; fin
If imnossible to love them, and is tored
the society of the handsomest and best
them in an hour or less time.
And still another admits having been
L o,ossin and taebearer in another life. Dr
i,o bar childhood she would risk breaki
her neck any tim to be the first to tell SON
> thing on somebody. However interesting
is 10 surmise what our previous lives were,
is still more interesting to shape cut
o future lives. According to the Buddhis
u theory we can be what we wish to be. '
arc creating our future lives now. In trut
} that's law which fulfills itself even in Il
le world as Stonewall Jackson, who believ
=. in il. demonstrated lIihSloOh eioO DOliON
st +hat every man could possess what he wish
N to possess if he would only pay the price.
e, Not every one who believes in re-enibo
re ,,,ont Of spirit is a Buddhist. People of
RELIGIONS and of no religion take 10 it,
least lust now when it seems to be the vog
4. il is gratifying to the ego; it makes eve
E. man his own ancestor, and ranks him N
.. matter of age and experience equal with
oldest and wisest. One Of the chief allu
" meuts of this theory is that it makes no m
dy older than the youngest infant, except in t
~ round of life. 1t Consoles the Old, for
promises them youth over again. tall
n with one of it's ,trongest adherents the oil
day-a man whose opinion ON all subJe
er- pertaining to the mundane welfare Of m
kind is honored. l asked him what was
j, strongest point he could make in favor
IL the re-embodiment theory.
"The justice of it," he answered. I'll
the only plan which promises absolute
. tics to every human being and makes e'
q. responsible for himself. l believe that
8. are the creatures of centuries, of cycles
U.s. u.s. millions AMI millions Of ages. We have
ess WAYS a future before us greater than
X. mast. Our blunders can be retrieved,
sins atoned for, our longings realized.
en-, shall reap as we have sown, and, mark }
IN this belief makes us exceedingly particl
ed il, tho sowing If | we're to play the tyI