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The Right Spirit of Reincarnation 

 

 

Barry Benson, in The Century Magazine, May, 1894, quoted by William Atkinson in The Secret of Mental Magic, A Course of Seven Lessons 

 

         “A boy went to school. He was very little.  All that he knew he had drawn in with his mother’s milk.  His teacher (who was God) placed him in the lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing.  Thou shalt not steal.  So the man did not kill, but he was cruel, and he stole.  At the end of the day (when his beard was gray -- when the night was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou has learned not to kill.  But the other lessons thou hast not learned.  Come back tomorrow.   

 

         “On the morrow he came back, a little boy.  And his teacher (who was God) put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing.  Thou shalt not steal.  Thou shalt not cheat.  So the man did no hurt to any living thing; but he stole and he cheated.  And at the end of the day (when his beard was gray -- when the night was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned to be merciful.  But the other lessons thou hast not learned.  Come back tomorrow. 

 

         “Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy.  And his teacher (who was God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal.  Thou shalt not cheat.  Thou shalt not covet.  So the man did not steal; but he cheated, and he coveted.  And at the end of the day (when his beard was gray -- when the night was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to steal.  But the other lessons thou hast not learned.  Come back, my child, tomorrow. 

 

         “This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the book of the world, and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ with stars.” 

 

 

 

 

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