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 CYAN YELLOW
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Pro PHP and jQuery

■■■

JASON LENGSTORF
 Pro PHP and jQuery
Copyright © 2010 by Jason Lengstorf
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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ii
For Nate. It's 2-1 now.
 Contents at a Glance

■About the Author ....................................................................................................... xii

■About the Technical Reviewer .................................................................................. xiii
■Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. xiv
■PART 1: Getting Comfortable with jQuery....................................................................1
■Chapter 1: Introducing jQuery .....................................................................................3
■Chapter 2: Common jQuery Actions and Methods .....................................................25
■PART 2: Getting Into Advanced PHP Programming ...................................................85
■Chapter 3: Object-Oriented Programming .................................................................87
■Chapter 4: Build an Events Calendar .......................................................................119
■Chapter 5: Add Controls to Create, Edit, and Delete Events ...................................167
■Chapter 6: Password Protecting Sensitive Actions and Areas ...............................199
■PART 3: Combining jQuery with PHP Applications ..................................................233
■Chapter 7: Enhancing the User Interface with jQuery ............................................235
■Chapter 8: Editing the Calendar with AJAX and jQuery...........................................263
■PART 4: Advancing jQuery and PHP.........................................................................309
■Chapter 9: Performing Form Validation with Regular Expressions .........................311
■Chapter 10: Extending jQuery..................................................................................345
■ Index.......................................................................................................................361

iv
Contents

■About the Author ................................................................................................... xii

■About the Technical Reviewer .............................................................................. xiii
■Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. xiv
■PART 1: Getting Comfortable with jQuery................................................................1
■Chapter 1: Introducing jQuery .................................................................................3
Choosing jQuery over JavaScript.......................................................................................3
Understanding JavaScript Libraries ......................................................................................................... 3
Understanding the Benefits of jQuery....................................................................................................... 4
Understanding the History of jQuery......................................................................................................... 4
Setting Up a Testing Environment .....................................................................................4
Installing Firefox ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Installing Firebug...................................................................................................................................... 5
Including jQuery in Web Pages ..........................................................................................7
Including a Downloaded Copy of the jQuery Library................................................................................. 7
Including a Remotely Hosted Copy of the jQuery Library ......................................................................... 8
Using the Google AJAX Libraries API ........................................................................................................ 8
Setting up a Test File .........................................................................................................8
Introducing the jQuery Function ($) .......................................................................................................... 9
Selecting DOM Elements Using CSS Syntax ........................................................................................... 10
Summary .........................................................................................................................23
■Chapter 2: Common jQuery Actions and Methods .................................................25
Understanding the Basic Behavior of jQuery Scripts .......................................................25

v
 ■ CONTENTS

Understanding jQuery Methods .......................................................................................25

Traversing DOM Elements ...................................................................................................................... 26
Creating and Inserting DOM Elements.................................................................................................... 36
Accessing and Modifying CSS and Attributes......................................................................................... 53
Affecting Result Sets .............................................................................................................................. 62
Using Animation and Other Effects......................................................................................................... 65
Handling Events...................................................................................................................................... 71
Using AJAX Controls ............................................................................................................................... 78
Summary .........................................................................................................................84
■PART 2: Getting Into Advanced PHP Programming ...............................................85
■Chapter 3: Object-Oriented Programming .............................................................87
Understanding Object-Oriented Programming.................................................................87
Understanding Objects and Classes ................................................................................87
Recognizing the Differences Between Objects and Classes .................................................................. 88
Structuring Classes ................................................................................................................................ 88
Defining Class Properties ....................................................................................................................... 89
Defining Class Methods.......................................................................................................................... 90
Using Class Inheritance .......................................................................................................................... 99
Assigning the Visibility of Properties and Methods .............................................................................. 103
Commenting with DocBlocks................................................................................................................ 110
Comparing Object-Oriented and Procedural Code .........................................................112
Ease of Implementation........................................................................................................................ 112
Better Organization............................................................................................................................... 117
Easier Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 117
Summary .......................................................................................................................117
■Chapter 4: Build an Events Calendar ...................................................................119
Planning the Calendar....................................................................................................119
Defining the Database Structure .......................................................................................................... 119

vi
 ■ CONTENTS

Creating the Class Map ........................................................................................................................ 119

Planning the Application’s Folder Structure ......................................................................................... 120
Modifying the Development Environment............................................................................................. 122
Building the Calendar ....................................................................................................124
Creating the Database .......................................................................................................................... 124
Connecting to the Database with a Class ............................................................................................. 125
Creating the Class Wrapper.................................................................................................................. 127
Adding Class Properties ....................................................................................................................... 127
Building the Constructor....................................................................................................................... 129
Loading Events Data............................................................................................................................. 136
Outputting HTML to Display the Calendar and Events .......................................................................... 143
Outputing HTML to Display Full Event Descriptions.............................................................................. 160
Summary .......................................................................................................................166
■Chapter 5: Add Controls to Create, Edit, and Delete Events ...............................167
Generating a Form to Create or Edit Events...................................................................167
Adding a Token to the Form ................................................................................................................. 169
Creating a File to Display the Form ...................................................................................................... 171
Adding a New Stylesheet for Administrative Features ......................................................................... 172
Saving New Events in the Database ..............................................................................176
Adding a Processing File to Call the Processing Method ..................................................................... 179
Adding a Button to the Main View to Create New Events ..................................................................... 181
Adding Edit Controls to the Full Event View...................................................................185
Modifying the Full Event Display Method to Show Admin Controls ...................................................... 187
Adding the Admin Stylesheet to the Full Event View Page................................................................... 188
Deleting Events..............................................................................................................190
Generating a Delete Button .................................................................................................................. 191
Creating a Method to Require Confirmation ......................................................................................... 192
Creating a File to Display the Confirmation Form................................................................................. 195

vii
 ■ CONTENTS

Summary .......................................................................................................................198
■Chapter 6: Password Protecting Sensitive Actions and Areas ...........................199
Building the Admin Table in the Database.....................................................................199
Building a File to Display a Login Form .........................................................................200
Creating the Admin Class ..............................................................................................202
Defining the Class................................................................................................................................. 202
Building a Method to Check the Login Credentials............................................................................... 203
Modifying the App to Handle the Login Form Submission.................................................................... 213
Allowing the User to Log Out .........................................................................................218
Adding a Log Out Button to the Calendar ............................................................................................. 218
Creating a Method to Process the Logout ............................................................................................ 220
Modifying the App to Handle the User Logout ...................................................................................... 221
Displaying Admin Tools Only to Administrators.............................................................223
Showing Admin Options to Administrators........................................................................................... 223
Limiting Access to Administrative Pages ............................................................................................. 228
Summary .......................................................................................................................231
■PART 3: Combining jQuery with PHP Applications ..............................................233
■Chapter 7: Enhancing the User Interface with jQuery ........................................235
Adding Progressive Enhancements with jQuery ............................................................235
Setting Progressive Enhancement Goals.............................................................................................. 236
Include jQuery in the Calendar App ...............................................................................236
Create a JavaScript Initialization File ................................................................................................... 237
Creating a New Stylesheet for Elements Created by jQuery................................................................. 238
Creating a Modal Window for Event Data ......................................................................240
Binding a Function to the Click Event of Title Links ............................................................................. 240
Preventing the Default Action and Adding an Active Class................................................................... 240
Extracting the Query String with Regular Expressions......................................................................... 241

viii
 ■ CONTENTS

Creating a Modal Window..................................................................................................................... 243

Retrieve and Display Event Information with AJAX .............................................................................. 247
Add a Close Button ............................................................................................................................... 253
Add Effects to the Creation and Destruction of the Modal Window...................................................... 254
Summary .......................................................................................................................262
■Chapter 8: Editing the Calendar with AJAX and jQuery .......................................263
Opening the Event Creation Form ..................................................................................263
Adding an AJAX Call to Load the Form ................................................................................................. 264
Modifying the AJAX Processing File to Load the Form ......................................................................... 265
Making the Cancel Button Behave Like the Close Button..................................................................... 268
Saving New Events in the Database ..............................................................................269
Modifying the AJAX Processing File to Handle New Submissions ....................................................... 271
Adding Events Without Refreshing ................................................................................273
Deserializing the Form Data ................................................................................................................. 274
Creating Date Objects........................................................................................................................... 279
Appending the Event to the Calendar ................................................................................................... 283
Getting the New Event’s ID ................................................................................................................... 286
Editing Events in a Modal Window.................................................................................290
Determining the Form Action................................................................................................................ 291
Storing the Event ID if One Exists ......................................................................................................... 292
Remove Event Data from the Modal Window ....................................................................................... 294
Ensuring Only New Events Are Added to the Calendar......................................................................... 296
Confirming Deletion in a Modal Window........................................................................298
Displaying the Confirmation Dialog ...................................................................................................... 298
Configuring the Form Submission Event Handler for Deletion ............................................................. 301
Remove the Event from the Calendar After Deletion ............................................................................ 304
Summary .......................................................................................................................307
■PART 4: Advancing jQuery and PHP.....................................................................309

ix
 ■ CONTENTS

■Chapter 9: Performing Form Validation with Regular Expressions .....................311

Getting Comfortable with Regular Expressions .............................................................311
Understanding Basic Regular Expression Syntax ................................................................................. 311
Drilling Down on the Basics of Pattern Modifiers................................................................................. 316
Getting Fancy with Backreferences...................................................................................................... 318
Matching Character Classes................................................................................................................. 320
Finding Word Boundaries ..................................................................................................................... 323
Using Repetition Operators................................................................................................................... 323
Detecting the Beginning or End of a String .......................................................................................... 324
Using Alternation .................................................................................................................................. 324
Using Optional Items............................................................................................................................. 325
Putting It All Together........................................................................................................................... 326
Adding Server-Side Date Validation...............................................................................328
Defining the Regex Pattern to Validate Dates....................................................................................... 328
Adding a Validation Method to the Calendar Class............................................................................... 333
Returning an Error if the Dates Don’t Validate...................................................................................... 334
Adding Client-Side Date Validation ................................................................................338
Creating a New JavaScript File to Validate the Date String.................................................................. 338
Including the New File in the Footer..................................................................................................... 339
Preventing the Form Submission if Validation Fails ............................................................................. 339
Summary .......................................................................................................................343
■Chapter 10: Extending jQuery ..............................................................................345
Adding Functions to jQuery............................................................................................345
Adding Your Date Validation Function to jQuery ................................................................................... 345
Modifying the Include Script................................................................................................................. 348
Modifying the Initialization Script......................................................................................................... 348
Adding Methods to jQuery .............................................................................................350

x
 ■ CONTENTS

Building Your Plugin ............................................................................................................................. 351

Implementing Your Plugin .................................................................................................................... 357
Summary .......................................................................................................................360
■ Index...................................................................................................................361

xi
 About the Author

■ Jason Lengstorf is a web designer and developer based in Big Sky

country. He specializes in content management software using PHP,
MySQL, AJAX, and web standards.
He spends most of his time running Ennui Design: a collection of
web designers and developers from all over the world specializing in
premium custom websites. In his off hours, he runs a clothing
company called Humblecock™ and tries to make time for hobbies
including golf, travel, and hunting down new beers.

xii
 ■ CONTENTS

About the Technical Reviewer

 Robert Banh is an accomplished developer, working in

code since the existence of Pluto. He's known for hacking core
systems and deploying websites over the weekends. He
specializes in building custom PHP/MySQL web applications
using technologies such as Zend framework and CodeIgniter.
Depending on the project, he’s known to jump from content
management systems of Wordpress, Drupal, and Expression
Engine to e-commerce solutions of Magento and Shopify.
When he's not coding, he's playing with Adobe Photoshop
and aligning hand drawn boxes into a 960 grid. He also
dreams in hex colors.
His passion lives on the web, designing and building
custom solutions for clients stemming from IBM, HP, Unisys,
and KLRU, to small mom and pop shops and non-profit organizations. He is currently employed at the
University of Texas at Austin where they let him run free and code in multiple frameworks and
experiment taking over the world with unorthodox designs for the web.
Robert has a Computer Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin. If he's not
mentoring or tweeting, you can find him attending Refresh Austin each month.

xiii
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
irritation. Again, after a short rest, the signs of fatigue were found to
disappear in animal muscle and in metal alike, their sensitiveness
being fully restored. This last fact is known to many of us who
constantly use a razor and find it losing its keen edge and growing
duller and duller, despite vigorous stropping, and spontaneously
recovering its original keenness by being laid aside for a few days.

Professor Bose's process of registering the deflections of the needle

of the galvanometer is this: By a mechanical device the point of the
needle is photographed on paper, which is moved along at a
constant rate, the needle's point tracing out a series of zig-zag lines
on the paper, when the needle is oscillated by an electric current.
The width of the zig-zags corresponds to the amount of the
deflection of the needle, therefore the strength of the electric
current. If there be no current, and consequently no deflection of
the needle, its point will remain stationary and merely trace a
straight line on the moving paper.

This book of Prof. Bose's, "Response in the Living and the Non-
Living," is full of still more wonderful revelations. He has found and
shown, to the satisfaction of European scientists through
experiments, that metals do not only go to sleep, but can be
poisoned and killed like human beings and animals. Like an unused
animal muscle showing signs of sluggishness and appearing to be in
a kind of torpor, then gradually seeming to waken up under
irritation, and finally returning to full activity, Professor Bose proves
that metals behave in exactly the same way and process of
gradation. He also proves that the effects of extreme cold and
extreme heat produce exactly similar conditions in both animals and
metals.

But men or animals can be drugged and made drunk. Can metals
likewise be drugged and made drunk? Yes, says Prof. Bose, and he
proves it absolutely. He proves that metals show the same increase
of irritability under the influence of stimulants and narcotics as the
human body. Moreover, even as different animals are affected
differently by the same dose of a stimulant, so also are different
metals. Under the influence of carbonate of sodium, irritability of
platinum is increased threefold, while the irritability of tin is less.

Still more significant is the action of anaesthetics and narcotics.

Under their action the sensitiveness of metals can be reduced to any
desired degree, exactly as is the case of human beings. A more
striking parallel between animal matter and metals is established by
Prof. Bose. The action of some narcotics on the human frame is
known to be paradoxical under certain conditions. While a large dose
of opium, for instance, decreases the sensitiveness of the human
body, a very minute dose has exactly the opposite effect, that is to
say, acts as a stimulant. This anomaly has been found by Prof. Bose
to have a parallel in metals, tin being found to show that its
sensitiveness is increased half as much again by being treated with a
minute dose of potash (3 parts in 100), but the sensitiveness begins
to decrease when the dose is increased.

Now the question suggests itself that if metals are as much alive as
animals, then they must also be as liable to die as animals. Prof.
Bose has found this to be a fact, too. Metals not only die; but they
can be poisoned and revived, and poisoned and killed.

In order to find out these facts, Prof. Bose took a piece of metal
which showed full vigor of sensitiveness and so was considered
healthy, and treated it with a moderate dose of oxalic acid, which is
a powerful poison. The needle of the galvanometer instantly
indicated a spasmodic flutter; the sensitiveness of the metal more
and more feeble, till it seemed almost to die away. At this stage, a
powerful antidote being applied, slowly and gradually the
sensitiveness began to revive, and in time became as active as when
the metal was not poisoned. The treatment of another piece of
healthy metal with a strong dose of the same poison resulted in
violent spasms, with rapid enfeeblement of sensitiveness, which
soon vanished altogether. After a proper interval the antidote was
tried in vain; the piece of metal was killed forever. The results of
experiments with different metals and different poisons were the
same; but all poisons not being alike in their action upon animal
matter, the same is true of their action on metal, absolutely and
undoubtedly. In some cases, however, after all traces of poison had
been removed by the counteracting influence of stimulating acids,
the poisoned metal was eventually reanimated; which meant that
the metal was not really killed, but was merely in a state of
suspended animation. The most striking feature of the discovery in
this connection is, that the very poison which kills both animal and
metal is itself endowed with life, which shows itself by indications of
irritability and sensitiveness, and which can itself be killed.

Here is another significant point in regard to the operation of poison

on both an animal and a metal. In the case of an animal the
operation is twofold; first, the actual death process, lasting from a
few minutes to several hours; secondly, the purely nervous effect
which manifests itself in the form of spasms, paralysis or other
symptoms, and which is developed much sooner, sometimes
instantaneously. Prof. Bose has discovered the same phenomenon in
metal. Under the effect of some powerful poisons there was
instantaneous spasm shooting through the metal long before the
corrosive action of the acid could penetrate beyond the surface.

Professor Bose has proved in his book that all these phenomena with
every single variation exist as much in the vegetable kingdom as in
the animal and mineral. Indeed, the three kingdoms of matter, the
animal, the vegetable and the mineral, are, says the Professor, but
one in essence and the physiological distinction between so-called
organic and inorganic matter, of which man and metal are but types,
is based upon a false and unscientific assumption. Prof. Bose
dedicates his book to his countrymen, the Hindoos, because, he
says, his discovery is a discovery made millions of years ago by the
Hindoo sages, who proclaimed the unity of the universe in essence
and construction, as well as in the laws that govern it.
SECTION XV. SCIENCE UPHOLDS
SHASTRAS.
Now let us consider the main points of this great epoch-making
scientific discovery by the light of the truths of Nature and the laws
of matter discovered countless ages ago by the illuminated sages of
India, and handed down through the corridors of time. Every
discovery of modern science has tended to establish the principles of
Hindoo religion and philosophy, by furnishing practical testimony to
what were so long considered as their mystic teachings. But this
discovery of Prof. Bose's is an unexpected stumble of a purely
objective method of investigation upon the truths and laws of the
subjective realm. The evidence which Prof. Bose's experiments afford
is of course indirect; but this indirect evidence is startlingly direct in
its pointed and unmistakable suggestions. It is therefore most
opportune at the present moment, when the human mind the world
over is striving, impelled by a natural hunger, to get at the facts back
of the physical shroud of the universe.

The Hindoo sages say that the universe is one whole, huge being, of
which the high heavens are the head, the sun and the moon the
eyes, space the body, and the earth the feet. Every inch, nay, every
point, of this universe-body is alive as a healthy human body. The
composing principles of this body are twenty-four, as I have already
explained. These twenty-four principles are therefore present in
every atom of it, in every speck of earth, the last principle in
creation. This speck or molecule of earth has, however, no opening
for any of its composing principles; whereas vegetable and animal
life-forms have many of these passages of their composing principles
more or less open. As a tortoise puts forth its body out of its shell
and again draws that body into it, so out of Love the twenty-three
principles are projected, and drawn, in the fullness of time, back into
its bosom again. This reaction or journey of the universe back to its
source is called universal destruction, or dissolution, or
disintegration. This universal dissolution takes place when the Three
Cardinal Attributes of creation, out of which all the composing
principles have sprung, fall into equilibrium; in other words, become
equal in power or tension. This loss of tensity or equipoise in the
power of the Cardinal Attributes, viz., Sattwa (Illumination), Rāja
(Activity or Motion), and Tama (Obscuration), results in the loss of
their individuality, and their transformation into Pure Illumination. By
pure illumination is meant unmixed illumination; that is to say,
absolute illumination, having no tendency or trace in it of being
disturbed into obscuration. In short, Sattwa, Rāja and Tama are each
of them mixed with the other two, its own quality being predominant
in it. Their inequality of power brings them forth into and sustains
their being. The moment this power becomes equal and they lose
their existence, the Absolute Illumination, co-existent with Absolute
Love and Absolute Being out of which they sprung, alone remains.

This equipoise of the cardinal cosmic attributes takes place at

intervals of time, the dimension of which staggers the human mind
to imagine. But while the return-journey of the universe as a whole
takes place once in an indefinitely long period of time, the molecules
of earth, as soon as they are created, have a tendency to go back to
their original source. But the molecule's journey backward to Love is
made by a very circuitous path. That path leads through the process
of opening one by one the passages of its composing principles. By
passages is meant channels of communication and sympathy with
the main laws and vibrations of the working of the universe.

The first step the molecule takes, in this return-journey, is by

opening the passage of one principle, the sense of feeling, and
becoming a blade of grass. A blade of grass has only one sense
opened, the sense of touch, by which it draws juice from the earth
for its sustenance. After being reborn thousands of times as a blade
of grass, it draws the magnetism from the different life-forms in
Nature, which helps it to develop into a shrub. And then, after
thousands of shrub-lives, it develops into a plant, and then into tree-
life, in which it puts forth flowers and fruits. And, finally, drawing in
more and more magnetism and vibrations from the animal world, it
develops into an animal itself. At first it is but an animalcule, and
then a worm. As a worm it has opened more passages, the passage
of tasting (the palate), the passage of gripping (with the mouth), the
passage of moving (the feet), the passages of excreting and
generating, the passage of seeing (the eye), the passage of
smelling, the passage of hearing, etc. Through thousands of rebirths
in each animal form it is promoted into higher and higher animal
forms, in which more and more passages of its composing principles
are opened. The last forms of lower animals it takes are those of
monkeys and apes, the forms just before developing into human
form. In these ape forms of life it opens all principles except four;
viz., Mind, Ego, Intellect and Love. However intelligent a monkey or
a dog or any other animal may be or seem to be, the Mind principle
is not yet open in it. All its actions are prompted by instinct, which is
the natural impulse of the indirect influence of the mind on the
verge of being opened, as well as of automatic memory of past
experiences in this and previous existences, the impressions of
which are in their very blood. With the opening of the Mind principle
begins the human form. It may be the most savage man, but it is
human. He can think, is self-conscious, and acts with reasoned
decision, however crude or erroneous; because with the opening of
the Mind there are simultaneously opened the Ego and the Intellect,
they being almost on principle in three.

After these explanations of the composition, construction, and

transformation of matter, let us go back to unopened matter, in order
to explain the mysteries of Professor Bose's discoveries by the aid of
the galvanometer. The Professor has discovered that the application
of this delicate instrument reveals the fact that matter which has
hitherto been considered non-living is very much alive indeed, as
fully alive as living animals are, because they respond to external
stimulus as fully as any living being. According to Hindoo definition
and idea of construction and composition of matter, it is only natural
that this should be so. To the Hindoo sage this is not at all a wonder.
Love, Consciousness, Ego, Mind, the ten senses, the five fine
essences and the five gross forms of matter, called elements, are as
much present in minerals, which are but formations of earth, as in
animals. A lump of earth, or a piece of metal, or a vegetable, cannot
give visible, direct response to external stimulus, because they have
no openings (open physical organs) through which to manifest it. If
you can by any means feel the vibrations caused by such stimulus
within them, then only can you find the proof of the uniform
composition and construction of all forms of matter in this one whole
living universe. The galvanometer serves this purpose, and hence
the Hindoo idea stands to-day as a demonstrated fact.

Let us analyze the tests and proofs of the galvanometer a little more
closely, and understand them according to the Hindoo doctrine of
the construction and organization of what is called organic or
inorganic matter. The Hindoo doctrine does not recognize the nerve
or the brain as any of the principles which compose what is called
the living body. The nerve is but a mere physical vehicle of the
sensation of the mind (which includes the Ego and the Intellect, the
part of universal consciousness in individual souls), and the brain is
the physical centre of these physical channels of the mind's
sensation and experiences. The mind feels the sensation of the
external stimulus through its channels, the five cognizing senses,
and the mind's sensations are carried through the nerves to the
brain. This is in regard to animal life, which has brains and nerves
formed fully or partially. The vegetables and minerals have neither
brains nor nerves. How, then, do they show the same irritation as
animals do to external stimulus, as shown by the galvanometer?

The answer is simple. Because they have the psychic vehicles, the
five cognizing senses, by which to convey the sensation of the
external stimulus to the mind, and therefore they need no physical
brain or nerve. Only, having no physical openings, they cannot
manifest the effect of those sensations outside themselves, as
animals do; and only an instrument, like the galvanometer, is able to
detect the sensations and indicate them by the deflection of its
needle. Mineral and vegetable matter having all the twenty-four
principles in them, have the mind and the senses, too. Only, they are
in a shut-up, undeveloped state, and perform their undeveloped,
crude functions like an unconscious mechanism.

It is through the senses that sensations are perceived; and had not
the senses been present within a piece of metal or a vegetable,
there would be no sensation in it, and therefore the galvanometer
would have been useless in its application and results, because,
there being no sensation, there would be no deflection of the
needle. Professor Bose's experiments conclusively prove not only the
unity, but the uniform composition and construction of the whole
universe; that all its composing principles are present everywhere;
that in some phases they are in a latent and in others in manifest
state. The tests of the galvanometer also prove that what is true of
the whole universe is true of a particle of earth; that the whole
universe is one whole living mass, like a single living being, and that
every molecule of its composition is a universe in embryo; because
every molecule is instinct with all the forces and properties of the
twenty-four principles, which are the materials as well as the
attributes of the cosmos.
SECTION XVI. PHYSICAL AND
ASTRAL BODIES.
It is the ignorance of the knowledge of the constitution of the
universal and human bodies that forms one of the chief obstacles of
a correct study of the laws operating behind external Nature, It is
the general belief of modern humanity that the human body is made
up of flesh and blood alone. This is true so far as the physical body
is concerned. But there is another body within us finer than the
physical which is the real body and of which the physical body is the
outer encasement. This real body is called the Astral Body. The
whole human body is like a clock of which the physical covering is its
case and the astral body its works. As the mechanical part of a clock
is the real clock and its case with its dial and hands forms its
covering by which it indicates its working, so the astral body is the
mechanical part of the human body and the physical is its case
through which it indicates its operations. Though far from perfect,
the analogy is very suggestive. For instance, the mechanical part of
the clock cannot serve its purpose without the aid of the case, dial
and hands. The astral body likewise cannot be of any use without
the co-operation of the physical body.

The mechanism of the astral body is composed of eighteen

Principles, viz., Consciousness (Intellect), Ego, Mind, the Ten Senses:
the Powers of Seeing, Hearing, Smelling. Tasting, Feeling, Speaking,
Holding, Moving, Excreting and Generating; and the five attributes of
the Elements: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell. These Principles
work through their counterpart-organs of the physical body which is
composed of the five remaining Principles, viz., the Five Elements—
Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.
Now let us see how the physical body is composed of the five
Elements. The vigor of our father and the blood of our mother, of
which our physical body is made, are formations of assimilated food.
Every kind of foodstuff, vegetable or animal, is but condensed form
of earth's juice; earth-juice is earth. Now Earth is composed only of
its five attributes: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell, the first
four of which compose Water, the first three compose Fire, the first
two Air, and the first, Sound, is the Attribute of Ether (Akās).
Therefore the other four Elements are present in earth on account of
their respective attributes being contained in it. Our physical body,
therefore, being made of formations of Earth, is composed of the
Five Elements.

The material of the physical body is supplied by our parents and the
astral body we supply ourselves. The astral body is our permanent
body. It puts on new flesh-garments from time to time. When it slips
into a new flesh-garment it is called birth; when it slips out of it, it is
called death. But really the astral body lives on forever and ever and
never ceases to exist unless we find the means and take measures
to destroy it. The extinction the astral body is brought about by the
mind's absolute dissociation from the bondage and influence of
matter and material ideas, and absorption into the Divine Essence,
Mukti.

The earth and the visible sky form the physical body of the Universe
and the upper six spheres form its astral body which includes still
subtler bodies. This means that both the universal and the human
bodies are constructed on the same principle. Both are formed of
seven bodies, encased like a sheath within a sheath. These are
called the Food-made (physical) body, the Vital body, the Mental (or
Astral) body, the Psychic body, the Wisdom (or Causal) body, the
Blissful body and the Soul body.
SECTION XVII. KARMA.
The Universe is one whole manifestation of Cause and Effect. All
Nature is manifested and materialized forces of Action and Reaction.
The Doctrine of Karma is based upon the natural law by which action
produces reaction, the law of cause and effect. It holds that every
action is the cause of every reaction as well as the effect of the
action which is its producing cause. The doctrine of Reincarnation
specifies the different physical forms in which groups of accumulated
causes of reaction manifest themselves in Nature. The laws of Karma
are the regulated blendings of the subtle forces of the finer
principles of Nature which, operating from within, shape these outer
physical forms.

Karma begins with the creation of the Universe, and Creation begins
with the loss of equilibrium of the three Cardinal Attributes while
dwelling in a quiescent state in Absolute Love—Krishna. This
inequilibrium develops the germ of the Past Universe, which the
Attributes hold within them, and manifests itself as a New Universe
—a new Creation. The word Karma is derived from the Sanscrit root
Kri, to act. Karma means action. Action means the motion of the
operating forces of Nature. The Karma of the past Creations, stored
up as ideation within the even forces of the Attributes, works itself
out in the form and phases of a new Creation. Every succeeding
Creation therefore is the reactive result of all previous creations. This
reaction of the accumulated action-potencies of the past creations
produces the uniform dimensions and the principal features of the
cycles, so that the history of every cycle, from the smallest to the
largest, repeats itself in its chief points in naturally regulated
succession.
As in the great universe, so in its epitome, man. The microcosm is
ruled by the same laws as the macrocosm, the laws of cause and
effect, of action and reaction. Man is the conscious embodiment of
the blended forces of his past actions, actions of previous conscious
embodiments born of the forces of still more previous embodiments.

Action proceeds from thought. Thought is the source and spring of

action. No action is possible without its producing cause, thought,
which is a phase of the mind's volition. All our thoughts are
impressed on the mind, the moment they form themselves, in
condensed pictures. The more powerful a thought, the deeper the
impression on the mind. Weak, undeveloped thoughts make
superficial impressions and are liable to wear off. The impression of
a powerful thought is likewise rubbed off by the force of a strong
counter-thought. An angry thought, for instance, prompts us to do a
bad action, but before it is reduced to action, our reason sometimes
intervenes, argues against it, convinces us of its error which induces
repentance. The stronger the counter-thought of repentance, the
more quickly and effectively it rubs off the impression. But if the
thought is reduced to action, its impression is deep and enduring,
and requires the aid of absolutely sincere, burning repentance to
destroy that impression.

These thought-impressions on the mind are called seeds of Karma.

They are exactly like seeds of trees in their potencies and
operations. As a seed of a tree, when planted in the soil, germinates,
grows, flowers and bears fruit, so does a Karma-impression
germinate, grow, flower and bear fruit. As the germ of a seed, in
process of development, produces the events called sprouting,
putting forth leaves and branches, flowering and fruiting, lo, a man's
mental thought-impressions of previous lives, in almost the self-
same way, sprout, put forth leaves and branches, flower and fruit in
the shape of events, inside and outside of him. The thought-
impressions are reflected upon the aura. "Aurā" is a Sanscrit word,
its transliterated form being "Arā," from "Ar" which means the spoke
of a wheel. "Arā" means full of spoke-like shoots of radiance from
any centre. This centre of our aura is our mind. Aura, therefore, is
the radiance of, the mind which permeates and envelopes our body
in an oval shape and generally extends one cubit outside of our
body. The aura and reflections of these thought-impressions on the
aura are visible only to the spiritual and psychical sight. The
illuminated saints and yogis who have developed this sight, not only
see this aura, but also the reflections of the thought-impressions
which they can read and interpret as we read and interpret words.
These reflections are called the characters of the mind—the Hidden
Pictures (Chitra-Gupta) of Human Conduct—which reveal the past,
present and future history of a human soul to those who can
decipher them.

From the aura these characters are reflected again upon the Ether
which receives the impression and keeps the record of each external
and internal event in Nature. The Ether is the storehouse of the
records of all human and natural happenings and vibrations. And it is
from this storehouse of all mental records that true clairvoyance
draws its inspired messages and revelations, A fully developed Yogi
can learn the details of an event which occurred ten thousand years
ago or of any time, and can tell of any present or future occurrence
in any part of the world by concentrating upon the Ether, the all-
knowing Ether.

Thus the records of the causes of human actions are kept in

triplicate, so that there is no escape from the potencies of their
merits and demerits, unless the main records (those on the mind)
are melted away by the fire of absolute, all-absorbing spiritual
consciousness.

Actions (Karma) are of two kinds, white and black. White Karma
springs from the Sāttwic state of mind, and Black Karma from its
Tāmasic state. The color of Sattwa (Illumination) is white, the color
of Tama (Darkness) is black, hence Karma is white or black. Rāja is
the attribute of Activity, the working principle, the motive power of
action. Without the aid of Rāja no action is possible. When Rāja
works with dominant Sattwa the result is white Karma, when it
works with dominant Tama, the result is black Karma. The white and
black actions are commonly called good and bad. What is a good
action? It is an action whose ultimate reaction produces harmony
and happiness and illumines the mind. What is a bad action? It is an
action which, however enjoyable or otherwise while it lasts,
produces a reaction of inharmony, pain and misery, causing darkness
of the mind.

In respect to the law according to which they come to be worked out

in their turn, the Karma-seeds, white and black, are of three classes
—Sanchit, Prārabdha and Kriyamān or Agāmi. Sanchit means stored-
up. Prārabdha means Karma the reaction of which has begun or that
which is working now. Kriyaman means Karma-seeds originating out
of the Prārabdha Karma now being worked out, but which will form
the seeds of future (Agami) actions. Sanchit Karma includes the
seeds of all the actions of past existences stored up as impressions
on the mind. Out of this storehouse of Karma-seeds that, white or
black, which is the most powerful asserts itself to be worked out
first, drawing to itself, by the law of affinity. Karma-seeds of minor
power, but of a nature similar to its own. This most powerful Karma-
seed, lumped up with small Karma-seeds of similar character, forms
the Prārabdha Karma, Karma which is in the process of being worked
out. And in its process of working the fresh thought-impressions
which the mind is registering are called Kriyamān (Karma being
born), also called Agāmi (future) Karma, Karma seeds which, after
being deposited in the storehouse, will come to be worked out in
their turn in future, either as main or minor Prārabdha, according to
their potency.

This is the law of working of human Karma, the inexorable law which
shapes our life and destiny, which fills existence with joy or sorrow.
Karma is unending unless we learn the mysterious law which works
it and grasp the still more mysterious Law behind that Karmic law
and by its practice destroy its roots and prevent its present and
future actions within us. I will speak of this Law and of its ways of
practice later on.

We often see a man, who has lived a good, pure and harmonious
life, suddenly, through circumstances or bad associations, changed
into a bad man. He becomes worse in habits and conduct and dies in
that degraded mental state. Similarly we find some one very bad up
to a certain period of life; he suddenly turns good and, before death,
develops into an angelic character. This law of Karma is behind this
change of character. Good Prārabdha influences one into good life
and actions while it is working. But if some black Karma-seed is the
most powerful of all Karma-seeds in the mind's storehouse, after the
good Prārabdha has been worked out, it asserts itself to be worked
out next and, lumped up with the minor seeds, forms his Prārabdha
which changes the whole complexion of his character and conduct.
The case of a bad man becoming good is subject to the same law; a
white Prārabdha, owing to its predominant power, succeeds a bad
one. The liability of alternate succession of bad and good Karma
producing the actions of human beings is expressed in the
metaphoric saying that the action of Karma in man is like a revolving
wheel.

As a seed of a tree takes time to bear fruit, grow old and die, so a
Karma-seed takes time to develop and die. As the periodical putting
forth of leaves, flowers and fruits are the events in the life of a tree,
so the experiences of a man's life represent the development of his
Prārabdha Karma-seed. The time a Karma-seed takes to work itself
out is measured by the duration of the sustaining power of its
potentialities. One Prārabdha Karma may embrace two or three or
more births if it is very powerful, or may end in the middle of one
birth, if it be not so powerful. An extraordinarily powerful Karma may
extend for a long, long time, covering many, many births, suicide for
instance. The thought which leads to suicide makes the deepest
impression on the mind, far deeper, in fact, than even the thought
which commits murder. Why? Because we love our own life more
than anybody else's or than anything else on earth. It, therefore,
requires an extraordinarily powerful thought to overpower that
innate, intense love of our life and incite us to destroy it. The
thought back of this self-murder, therefore, makes the deepest
impression on, our mind and thus becomes the most powerful
Karma-seed of all Karma-seeds. This being so, it asserts itself to
form the Prārabdha, every time it is worked out, to the exclusion of
all other Karma-seeds, for a long series of births, in every one of
which that soul commits suicide, sometimes, as it is often found,
without any apparent reason. It is divine mercy alone that saves a
suicide from committing suicide in every birth ever afterwards.
Hence suicide is the greatest sin, greater than even murder.

To the average Western mind this Karma philosophy strikes as

intolerably pessimistic on account of the inexorableness of its laws.
There is, however, no help for it. These laws rule us all whether we
believe in it or not. They are no man-created laws, they are laws
which operate throughout Nature, as much within a white man as
within a brown, yellow or black man, of all stations of life, of all
grades of consciousness. Yet it need not strike anybody, who has
found the easy and rosy path out of the woods of Karma, as
pessimistic at all. But he or she must ever keep to that path and
never stray out of it from sheer wilfulness, or else there certainly is
no escape out of the labyrinth of Karma.
SECTION XVIII. REINCARNATION.
Reincarnation, as I have said, is the physical form in which groups of
accumulated causes (Karma) of reaction manifest themselves in
Nature. Reincarnation means rebirth. Rebirth means, to be born
again in flesh after death. In order, therefore, to know what is
rebirth, we must know what is death. To know what is death, we
must know what is life.

Let us see what life really is. Human life is conscious mentality
encased in flesh. To be briefer, human life may be summed up in one
word—consciousness. Life of lower animals is negative
consciousness, while human life is positive consciousness.

Human consciousness is subject to three states. The Waking state,

the Dream state and the Dreamless Sleep state. In the waking state
all our inner and outer senses work. The inner senses are; The
Intellect, the Ego and the Mind. The outer senses are the five
cognizing and the five working senses. These senses are fully active
during our waking state. So long as the mind thinks, the intellect
decides, the Ego is self-conscious, the eye sees, the ear hears, etc.,
they are acting. And activity (Rāja) brings about the reaction of
weariness (Tama). In other words, the senses become tired out,
owing to incessant work and need rest. It is the state of weariness
of the senses that makes us feel exhausted and seek rest. But the
senses cannot have full rest as long as we are in a waking state, for
their activity never ceases while we are awake. Here Nature's law
steps in and draws a veil between the senses and their objects, the
veil of Tama, born out of the excessive work of Rāja. We fall asleep.

But in the first stage of sleep our senses still sustain their activity,
though in a lesser degree than in the waking state, owing to their
still cognizing reflections of the objects, and scenes impressed on
our mind while we are awake. This is called the dream state of
consciousness, Dreams are of three kinds. The ordinary dream is
made up of the blended reflections of impressions of scenes and
thoughts ill natural or fantastic shapes. The second kind of dream is
a clear unmixed reflection of the mind's impressions of some of our
experiences in a previous birth. The third kind of dream is a
reflection cast upon our pure consciousness of coming events from
their Karmic impressions on the Ether or on our own aura. The
ordinary dreams belong to the dream state. The other two classes of
dreams are experiences during the dreamless state of sleep,
generally in the morning just before awaking.

The dreams in the first stage of our sleep keep our senses still
employed and the mind active on that account, for the activity of the
mind is generated by the operations of the senses with their objects.
Hence neither the tired mind nor the tired senses derive the
complete rest they need, until gradually the veil of Tama grows
dense and shuts out even the mental reflections of objects from
their view. This stops the operations of the senses which then are
absorbed by the mind whose offsprings and agents they are, for the
senses cannot exist when they are deprived of their function of
cognition. The same thing occurs with the mind, for its activity,
caused and sustained by the activity of the senses, is the only
reason for its separate existence. With the loss of its function,
therefore, the mind loses this separate existence and is absorbed by
the Ego. The Ego is in the same way absorbed by Consciousness, for
the Ego is dependent on the Mind which sustains its existence of
self-consciousness. And then Absolute Consciousness, with the
passive germs of the Ego, Mind and Senses merged in it, is absorbed
in its turn by the Soul and dwells in its realm until the senses have
rested sufficiently.

In the depth of this dreamless sleep state of our consciousness,

Tama gives place to the reaction of Sattwa which is very pure during
this state. This dreamless sleep may be called a negative trance
state. When we awake, through development of the Rāja Attribute,
we feel not only thoroughly refreshed but also in a state of mental
harmony, a happy mood of mind. We also feel that we were, during
that dead sleep, in a state of utter oblivion of everything. We feel we
forgot then even our own existence, feel that we were not conscious
even of our own self, that we were in an absolutely happy state,
happy with happiness itself. We know of this condition, when we
awake from it, by inference from the happy state of our mental
mood, induced by the abstract impression of it upon our
consciousness which was present then in its pure state. The cause of
the refreshment and new strength of our body and senses is this dip
in the Essence of the Soul, the source of all energy. The physicians
try to put their patients into this deep sleep in serious cases of
illness, knowing by experience that deep sleep is a quicker and more
powerful restorer of health than any medicine, but they do not know
where lies the balm of sound sleep.

The activity of Rāja brings about the awakening from this state by
causing the unfoldment of the infolded Ego, mind and senses which
resume their operations with external and internal objects as before.
The difference between death and sleep lies here. After sleep we
resume the functions of our senses, but death is caused by the
confusion of our mind, on account of the senses not being able to
resume their functions, owing to the disorder of the physical
counterparts of the sense-organs through disease. Disease belongs
to the physical body, and the senses with the mind and Ego belong
to the astral body which we are. The pains we feel are caused by
our identifying ourselves with our physical encasement. If we keep
the fact constantly alive in our mind that our physical body is the
earthly home of our soul, which is the centre of our astral self, we
will not only not feel physical pain but prevent or do away with such
pain even in the physical body. To know ourselves as nothing but our
physical body is the densest, narrowest and the most mischievous
ignorance. We often find proofs of this separateness of the physical
and mental bodies from acts which present themselves in our daily
life; we fail to cognize the experiences of our body or even of our
senses when our mind absent from them and absorbed in some
other direction. It is the mind that feels pain pleasure, not the body,
neither the senses.

The physician, through the action of drugs, causes the attribute of

Tama to assert itself and cover the mind's perception with its dark
veil, so that the patient may not feel the pain of a serious operation
on the body, while we feel no pleasure in eating or drinking if our
mind is away from them.

The Yogi who has, by practice, developed unbroken consciousness of

the separatness of the mental and physical body not only enjoys,
when the consciousness is absolute, immunity from physical diseases
and mishaps, but also does not feel the throes of death when he
leaves his worn-out or diseased physical tenement. But the
generality of mortals who cannot think of themselves as anything
else but their physical bodies, owing to ignorance, suffer from all
physical diseases. When these physical diseases put the physical
counterparts of sense-organs into disorder, it confuses the mind
when it finds that its channels of outward communication, the
senses, can no longer work through them. In that confusion it loses
its balance and is strongly swayed by the desire to again see and
hear and feel and taste, etc.

But finding it impossible to do so in the present body any more, it

tries to find some vehicle through which it can resume its functions.
The pain of the worst stage of the physical disease distracts it more
and more so that it thinks it would be more comfortable in any other
body than its present one. In confusion, this central force of the
astral body enters with that body into the volume of air which fills
the physical body, thinking it will gain relief from the unbearable
pain. And no sooner the astral body, which is very subtle and finer
than the air, enters into it, than it passes out, thus air-encased,
through the mouth, causing the death of the physical body. This is
the common process of death. Some astral bodies enter the air-body
unconsciously if the mind has been benumbed by pain or covered by
the influence of excessive Tama. But this is certain of every ordinary
soul that it goes out of the body encased in air.

The thought predominant in this supreme moment of human life

decides the destination of the human soul encased in the astral body
when it leaves its physical home. If we think of nothing but of
Krishna at this moment we go to Krishna and live in His Abode,
Goloka, the Abode of Absolute Love. If we think of Christ we go to
Christ in His Father's Kingdom of Heaven. If we are filled with the
conception of Nirvāna—extinction of all individuality—we go to
Nirvāna. If we desire for higher life above the earth we go to the
higher spheres. But if our earthly attachment having their influence
on our thoughts at that moment, fill us with regret for being taken
away from them or make us desire for earthly life, we return to
earth-life again, but not necessarily to a joyful or comfortable life. A
life of worldly joy and comfort is due to good Karma and self-denial
in some previous existence. A life of sorrow and hardship is due to
bad Karma.

The earth-bound soul, on leaving the physical body, feels overcome

by the shock of its final trouble with and severance from that
physical body and remains in an inert state for a time. When it
recovers from that shock, it finds that it has been transferred to a
worse state. Although the air-body in which it encased is not
diseased, it has, however, no openings for its senses to perform their
respective functions. It finds it cannot see or hear or smell or touch
or taste anything and yet the desires for these objects of the senses
are as strong as when it was in the physical body. This makes it
weep for the loss of its dear physical body and it hovers about in
space sad and restless. It has no stomach, yet is filled with mental
hunger and thirst which grow intense because it has no means of
satisfying them. Indeed, finding this astral life to be of greater
torment, the unhappy earth-bound soul longs to have a flesh
covering again, to be reborn, and flies hither and thither blindly,
because of the want of physical organs, and some day gains this
object. It enters, through the vigor (Sanscrit Virga, 'virjya,' force,
power) of a man into a woman's womb. This causes conception. No
conception can take place without a disembodied spirit entering the
womb. Vigor mixed with the mother's blood supplies the physical
body which is mere dead matter without the vivifying astral soul. It
is only when an astral soul enters it that the womb closes and
conception takes place. The incoming soul then feels itself confined
within its scope and cannot go out of it by its own effort or will.

The selection of the vigor and the womb for the astral soul is made
principally according to the subtle law of individual Karma and,
secondarily, according to the law of affinity. The mental
characteristics of the parents must be similar to those of the soul to
draw it to them. As for its physical body, it may favor in appearance
its mother or its father more or less according as their individuality
and image are stamped on the vigor and the blood through the state
of extreme mental concentration induced at the time. If the
incoming soul possesses far stronger individuality than those of the
father and the mother, it asserts this upon its body and the child
looks like neither the father nor the mother. He looks like himself—a
form and appearance born of the imagination of its own strong
individuality.

This direct rebirth from hovering in the astral body in the astral
plane for some time is not true in the case of every disembodied
soul. There are souls which, after death, may go at once to Heaven
('Swarga,' Celestial regions) or to Purgatory, the nether regions.
According to the Hindoo Scriptures, Heaven (Swarga) is not the
Abode of God, but the abode of the gods, the Swar-sphere where
the gods, the governors of the Elements and Attributes of Nature,
dwell. It is the Prārabdha Karma of the soul that determines its
translation after death to Heaven or Purgatory. The joys of Heaven
are reserved as a reward for good Karma. And yet these heavenly
joys are but finest forms of material happiness, enjoyed by merit of
good actions performed in earth-life for the sake of just such
recompense. These heaven-dwellers mentally enjoy all these
exquisite pleasures of the senses at their will, as well as the
company of celestial beings, as long as the term of their merit lasts.
At the expiration of the term they come down to earth to be reborn
again. These heavenly blessings are, therefore, but transitory.

Intensely wicked actions, in the same manner, are punished by a

term of suffering tortures in Purgatory, at the expiration of which the
purged souls may go straight to heaven, if good Prārabdha Karma
succeeds their expiatory sufferings, or be reborn again on earth. The
tendency of the pleasure-seeking, materialistic, modern mind is to
disbelieve the existence of any such place of torture as Purgatory.
They think that Heaven and Purgatory exist only on earth within
man's mind. This is true and yet it is not. If anybody develops high
spirituality he or she can taste higher, finer and more lasting joys
than even celestial pleasures. For such there is neither Heaven nor
Purgatory, for intense spirituality burns down all seeds of Karma. As
to enduring the tortures of Purgatory here on earth through
repentance, that is true too. But if the spirit of repentance is not
absolute, it fails to fully purge away the sin, so that such sinful souls
have to go to the nether regions for complete cleansing. The Hindoo
Books do not believe in such a thing as Eternal Hell or Punishment,
because it is absurd, unjust and unscientific according to the laws of
Nature. The governor of "Naraka" (Purgatory) one of the gods, the
presiding deity of (Dharmarāj) and the regions of his rule are
situated within the bowels of the earth. Human houses of correction
(prisons) tend more to corrupt than to correct, because those in
charge of them are not imbued with a perfect spirit of sympathy,
justice and mercy. In the Divine houses of correction (Purgatory)
perfect justice blends with mercy and sympathy, and the governor
thereof is the embodiment of these three attributes. He has to deal
with his prisoners according to their own records of their misdeeds,
reflected on the aura, a true copy of which is kept in the books of
Ether, from which his Recording Angel transcribes items credited to
each individual soul.

For the pious, spiritually developed soul, however, there is no

Purgatory, as I have said. It lives and breathes in a plane which is
outside of the three lower planes of selfish actions and their
reactions, outside of the jurisdiction even of the gods. To his
ensouled mind the word purgatory or heaven has no meaning
whatever. He loves spirituality for its own dear sake and feels itself
safe from all evil in the embrace of its protecting arms.

Into the vigor or the blood of such a spiritual soul, no wicked astral
spirit can enter. Its pure aura repels such spirits and admits only
kindred spirits seeking rebirth, drawn to it by Karma and affinity.

Much suffering is the lot of the ordinary soul while growing in the
womb, on account of its cramped consciousness and the narrow
space in which it is confined. After the sixth month, it has a
wonderful experience. The veil shrouding its past existence is
suddenly lifted and the memories of all of its past births rush across
its mind. It even witnesses the scenes of thousands of its previous
existences and realizes the reason of the pain and sorrow suffered
during all these existences—the reason of its having been attached
to material objects and having disregarded the development of its
spiritual self, its having been unmindful of its duty, to its Maker and
its fellow man. This realization crushes its mind with contrition and it
weeps and prays to God to forgive it and promises to live a life of
devotion to Him in the future. This goes on for three months
together until it is born, when, at the touch of the earthly
atmosphere all those memories vanish and it is once more drowned
in oblivion. It is more from the pain of this shock that it cries out at
the time of birth.
SECTION XIX. HOW TO DESTROY
KARMA.
Now comes to be considered the question of questions—How to do
away with and avoid bad Karma. If Karma is the cause of all our
sufferings in life, how to remove that cause. We have before this had
births and till actions in those innumerable births have produced
countless Karma-seeds. All these seeds are stored up in the
repository of the mind. How is it possible, it may be asked, to
destroy them all, and prevent fresh accumulation of new Karma-
seeds in the present birth?

To those who ask this question seriously, that is, with a serious
intention of acting upon any suggestion that may seem feasible to
them, the answer is pregnant with all the essentials of a true
solution. To such the answer is simple and the mode of solution
simpler. To the really serious soul, hungering for freedom from the
bondage of Karma, even the practice of the principle of the advice
may strike as Still more simple. But the practice involves the full
realization of the source of Karma, the perfect understanding of its
laws, their operations and their relations to his own individual self.

Here I will try to put the philosophy of this solution as briefly as

possible. If our actions of this life are the products of actions in
previous lives, the actions of those previous lives are the effects of
actions in still more previous lives and so on. Thus trying to trace the
causes of all our actions in all our past lives, we are bound to arrive
at the time of the Creation of the universe, when it sprang from the
Will of Krishna. We, as parts of the universe, sprang from that Will
too. Krishna's Will before Creation was; "I am One and I wish to be
the Many," and His Creation is the manifestation of His Will's motion
towards manifoldness and Karma is the law of the rhythmic steps of
that motion. The Will of Krishna, therefore, is the cause of all Karma
the entire Creation as well as of ours, because we are but parts of
that Creation. This makes it clear that, since Krishna is the cause all
Karma of the Universe, He is the Actor of all actions. This being so,
the cause of our sufferings from bondage to Karma lies in our
mistaken conception that we ourselves are the doer of our actions.
This cannot be, because all our actions proceed from our past
Karma, the roots of which are embedded in the Will of Krishna. It is
Krishna that is the whole Universe, as well as its laws and actions. It
is Krishna that suffers and enjoys in so many shapes and forms
which make up His moving Will, called Nature. All our troubles are
born of our usurping His place, the place of the Real Actor. Hence
Karma clings, by natural law, to whoever claims it. We claim the
doership of actions which manifest themselves through us, but the
real Doer is the spring of primeval action—Krishna Himself.

This belief, that we ourselves are the doers of our actions, subjects
our Ego to their reactions. If by tracing the source of Karma to
Krishna, we dispel this illusion from our mind and keep it ever out of
it, so that it may not disturb our conviction of the fact that Krishna is
the only Doer, all our past and present Karma, the stored-up and the
working—Sanchit and Prārabdha—will leave us of themselves and go
to Krishna to be absorbed by Him, while, for the same reason, the
Karma-seeds springing from our present actions will be rendered
germless like roasted seeds which never grow. But this belief needs
constant practice of this thought in order to be sustained without
interruption and involves thinking of Krishna, Absolute Love and Life,
every minute—thoughts by which the thinker absorbs the essence of
the purest spirituality whose illumination ever guides him along the
paths of Truth and Wisdom and prompts him to actions whose
results bring harmony and happiness to himself, as well as to all with
whom he comes in contact.

This exposition of the truth of our utter irresponsibility of our actions

will appear strange and mischievous only to unthinking minds. The
fear that such a belief of irresponsibility may lead some people to
bad actions is entirely groundless. Such a thing can never happen
for, with such a belief firm our mind, we have to think of God always
in our daily actions, and this constant thinking induces concentration
upon the Deity whose spirit is sure to prevent and counteract all our
evil thoughts, not to speak of evil actions. A man who will do evil
actions, taking advantage of this principle, will only deceive himself.
Such evil-doing can only show that he has no belief in the principle
at all, but thinks of it only with a view to justify actions which lie, in
his heart, believes to be his own, but attributes to God to get rid of
their responsibilities, if possible. But if anyone believes firmly that
God is the Doer of all actions and yet, for want of proper culture of
this belief, he is betrayed into evil actions, be sure his belief growing
stronger will soon control his actions and lead him along the paths of
the good and the pure. God-Consciousness destroys all evils of the
mind to their very roots.

Thus Karma and its effects, which for the ignorant, unthinking, and
reckless human soul are ever interminable, can by exercise of
wisdom and mental power and discipline be absolutely done away
with. Karma belongs to Krishna and it is to Krishna that it and its
fruits should be unreservedly dedicated good. The moment this
mystery of Karma is solved and the soul that solves it acts upon its
lesson, than Krishna takes it into His arms, and the soul and its
Maker, now face to face, laugh together at this riddle of life, and in
that laugh of ecstasy all sorrow and pain of the past are forgotten by
that saved soul.
SECTION XX. THE ATOM'S RETURN
JOURNEY.
It is absolute Krishna-consciousness—or God-consciousness, if you
will, if that God is Absolute Love—that carries the atom from its
man-stage of development to its Real Home, Krishna, the Abode of
Eternal Love and Bliss. Like all roads leading to Rome, all religious
paths lead to that Home. The primeval, the most natural and the
most scientific religion, called now the Hindoo religion, has
constructed five main roads for making the return journey easy, and
the travelers can choose any of these roads, according to their
inclinations and the state of spiritual progress. One is the Path of
Light and Psychic Force, called the path of the Sun, because the Sun
is the presiding deity of the path. The second is the Path of Success
whose presiding deity is Ganapati, Bestower of Success. The third is
the Path of Destruction of Tama whose presiding deity is Shiva, the
Destroyer, one of the Hindoo Trinity and the presiding deity of Tama,
Shiva who has subdued Tama and become its lord. The fourth is the
Path of Divine Energy whose presiding deity is Durgā, the
Motherhood of God and the Universe—"Prakriti," Divine Nature. The
fifth is the Path of Spiritual Devotion whose presiding deity is
Vishnoo (Aniruddha), the presiding deity of Sattwa, out of whose
navel the universe has sprung and who is the dispenser of Moksha
to the walkers of all the other paths. In this path is included another
path, a path far superior to all the five paths, the Path of Absolute
Causeless Love which leads direct to Krishna, whose presiding Deity
is Krishna, the Deity of all the deities. These different path-walkers
are called by the names of their respective deities of worship—
Saura, Ganapatya, Shaiva, Shakta (worshippers of 'Shakti,' Energy)
and Vaishnavs, among whom are included Krishna-worshippers.
The Sun is the medium of the physical manifestation of the Divine
Light, the Light of Absolute Intelligence, the Co-existent Attribute of
Absolute Love. It is called the Parent of the gross universe, the
Outer Eye of the Deity, the passage of the First Sense of the Divine
Mind which produced Forms. The devotee of the Sun worships it as
such, as the medium of the Absolute Deity, Krishna. Some of them
concentrate their eyes upon the Sun, immersed in water up to the
neck from sunrise to sunset, others pray to it morning, noon and
evening and contemplate its power. The sun is not blazing hot as
some modern people think. It is peopled by spiritual souls who, by
the merit of soul-development, go from earth after death to dwell
there for further development. These spiritual souls are spiritually
governed by one who is most developed among them. He is called
the Sun-God, the representative of the sun. Sun-worship leads finally
to Krishna-worship in some fully developed reincarnation.

Ganapati, first-born of Shiva (Shiva means Weal, Destroyer of Ill or

Evil), is the presiding deity and bestower of Success—material, moral
and spiritual—which is the chief factor of human weal. Satisfied
material success, virtuously earned, inspires the desire for moral
development in well-ordered minds, and moral development, in turn,
leads to spiritual imfoldment. By concentration on this Central Idea
of Success itself, the mind of the devotee of Ganapati, absorbs its
essence, the force of which guides his efforts to prosperity. Earthly
prosperity, enjoyed with discrimination, impresses us with its
hollowness, its failure to satisfy the inner craving of the mind and
points to the path of solid, all-satisfying, permanent happiness.

Shiva is the Presiding Deity of the Weal of Creation, hence his name
—Shiva. He is the Conqueror and Destroyer of Darkness (Tama). He
helps his devotees to dispel the darkness of ignorance generated in
their mind by its Tama Attribute, and thus uncover its attribute of
Sattwa by the illumination of which their souls reach the state of
Moksha—Freedom from the Bondage of Matter—and finally merge in
the Divine Essence whence it originally sprang.
Durgā is Divine Energy, the Motherhood of Creation. She is the
Sāttwic force by which Shiva subdued Tama. Hence she is the
consort of Shiva, the Helpmeet of Spiritual Weal. Without Durgā, his
Shakti (Energy), Shiva is inert; with his Shakti, he is alive and rules
the universe. Shiva and his Shakti are inseparable, as man and his
mental energy, which alone he is, is inseparable. Man is moved by
his mental energy, so Shiva is moved by his spiritual energy. Durgā is
the highest spiritual phase of Kālee, Conqueress of Time and Door of
Eternity. She is the Spiritual Force of Nature (Prakriti), she is the
Mother of the Universe. Her devotees called Shaktas (Shakti-
worshippers) meditate on her as the Great Mother and pray to her
for her grace, as a child talks to its mother and looks up to her for
help, protection and sustenance. When the most spiritual of her
devotees develop the same natural love for and unshaken faith in
her as those of an innocent child to its mother, they are blessed with
her last grace. They are helped to Moksha or led into the path of
Krishna, this last the greatest of all her gifts. She, as Yoga-Māyā
(energy of the highest spiritual concentration), holds the key of the
Gate of Goloka, Krishna's Abode of Love-Bliss.

Vishnoo is the sum total of all the deities which are the
manifestations of his powers and attributes. He is the Parent of both
the Motherhood and Fatherhood of the Universe—the Spring of
Creation itself. He is the Presiding Deity of Sattwa out of which are
born Rāja and Tama. He is the Preserver, the Sustaining Power of
the Universe. He is the Way to Moksha, His Essence is the Abode of
all Salvation. He is the Outer Form of Krishna, the Form through
which Krishna manifests His Will and becomes the Many from the
One. His Abode, called Vaikuntha, the Centre of his All-Pervading
Essence, is over this universe, over Brahmā-Loka—Brahmā's Abode.
He is the last but one Goal of all spiritual aspirations. He is the Gate
of Krishna, the Last Goal.

The upward evolution of the atom from the man-stage has to pass
through many higher spiritual stages in higher and higher spheres.
Interested spiritual culture, by which I mean spiritual culture with a
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