Hazrat Inayat Khan now gives a subtle explanation of the exchanges in the plane of the jinns which sometimes result in the appearance of reincarnation. The previous post in the series is here.
The soul, arriving on its return towards the goal in the sphere of the jinns, has collected during its life on the earth some riches in the form of merits, qualities, experiences, convictions, talents, and a certain outlook on life. The belongings of the earth it has returned to the earth on its passing, but in the spirit world the soul offers these riches or allows them to be taken from it, and it imparts them to the souls coming from their source who are on their way to the earth. These souls on their way to the earth, full of heavenly bliss but poor in earthly riches, purchase with the current coin of the plane of the jinns guarantees, contracts, mortgages, and all the accounts that the spirit had left unfinished on the earth; these they have to undertake to pay when coming on the earth. Among these souls there are some who take from one spirit all they can as their heritage from the spirit world; some take from many. Yet the souls who absorb, attract, conceive and receive all that is given to them on the spirit plane have perhaps received more from one spirit than all the gifts they have received from other spirits they have met.
Does this exchange rob the spirit on his way to the goal of his merits and qualities? No, not in the least. The riches that the soul can take to the sphere of the jinn are safe and secure. Any knowledge or learning, merit or talent given to another person is not lost by the person who gives; it only makes the giver richer still. When the Hindus in ancient times told to a wicked person, ‘Next time you are born it will be as a dog or monkey,’ it was to tell him who did not know any thing of life except himself, that his animal qualities would come again as the heritage of the animal world, so that he would not be known again to his human friends as a man, but as an animal. When they said, ‘Your good actions will bring you back as a better person,’ it was said so that the man who did not know the two extreme poles of his soul might understand that no good action could be lost; and for the man who had no hope in the hereafter, and who only knew of life as lived on the earth, it was a consolation to know that all the good he had done would come again. The theory which was thus explained was true in that sense.
It is only a difference of words; the soul who comes from above has no name or form, no particular identity. It makes no difference to the soul what it is called; since it has no name it might just as well adopt the name of the coat which was put on it, as that is the nature of life. The robe of justice put on a person makes him a judge, and the uniform of a policeman makes him a constable; but the judge was not born a judge, nor the constable a policeman; they were born on earth nameless, if not formless. Distinctions and differences belong to the lower world, not to the higher; therefore the Sufi does not argue against the idea of reincarnation. The difference is only in words; and it is necessary that a precaution be taken that the door may be kept open for souls who wish to enter the Kingdom of God; that they may not feel bound by the dogma that they will be dragged back after having left the earth-plane by their karma. The soul of man is the spark of God. Though this spark is limited on the earth, still God is all-powerful; and by teaching the prayer ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’, the Master has given a key to every soul who repeats this prayer; a key to open that door behind which is the secret of that almighty power and perfect wisdom which raises the soul above all limitations.
To be continued…