ion must
arise whether man, on entering this life at birth, brings with him any
results from the events described by occult science as having taken place
between his last death and re-birth. If one finds the shell of a snail in
which there is no trace of the animal he will, in spite of that, recognize
that this snailshell was formed by the activity of an animal, and he
cannot believe that the shell constructed a form for itself, by means of
mere physical forces.

In the same way one who studies a man during life, and finds something in
him which cannot be due to _this_ life, might reasonably admit that it
arises from what occult science describes, if by doing so an explanatory
light is thrown on what is otherwise inexplicable.

Here, too, the unseen causes might appear intelligible to rational
sense-observation from their visible effects, and whoever observes life
with absolute impartiality will find that, with every fresh observation,
this appears to be more and more true. The important question, however, is
how to find the right point of view from which to observe their effects in
life. Where, for example, are the effects of that to be found which occult
science describes as incidents of the time of purification? How are the
effects of the experience which, according to occult investigations, man
undergoes in purely spiritual regions, manifested after this time of
purification?

Problems enough press upon every serious and profound student of life in
this domain. We see one man born in want and misery, endowed only with
inferior abilities, so that on account of these facts, which are incident
to his birth, he appears predestined to a miserable existence. Another,
from the first moment of his life, is tended and cherished by loving hands
and hearts; brilliant talents are unfolded in him; his gifts point to a
successful and satisfactory career. Two opposite views may be taken when
met by such questions as these. The one will adhere to what the senses
perceive and what the understanding, relying on these senses, is able to
comprehend. This view will admit no problem in the fact that one man is
born fortunate and the other unfortunate. Even if the word "chance" is not
used, there will be no question of thinking that such things are brought
about through any law of cause and effect. And with regard to talents and
abilities, such a view will consider them as "inherited" from parents,
grandparents, and other ancestors. It