ty pertains to the soul. It is only a
succession of thoughts, emotions, and conscious experiences. We are not
the same that we were an hour ago. In fact, there is no such thing as
being--there is only a constant _becoming_. We are ever passing from one
point to another throughout our life; and this is true of all beings and
all things in the universe. How it is that the succession of experiences
is treasured up in memory is not made clear. This is a most subtle
doctrine, and it has many points of contact with various speculations of
modern times. It has also a plausible side when viewed in the light of
experience, but its gaps and inconsistencies are fatal, as must be seen
when it is thoroughly examined.

2. The second of the cardinal doctrines is that of Trishna. Trishna is
that inborn element of desire whose tendency is to lead men into evil.
So far, it is a misfortune or a form of original sin. Whatever it may
have of the nature of guilt hangs upon the issues of a previous life.
Upadana is a further stage in the same development. It is Trishna
ripened into intense craving by our own choice and our own action. It
then becomes uncontrollable and is clearly a matter of guilt. Now, the
momentum of this Upadana is such that it cannot be arrested by death.
Like the demons of Gadara it must again become incarnate, even though it
should enter the body of a brute. And this transitional something, this
restless moral or immoral force which must work out its natural results
somehow and somewhere, and that in embodied form projects into future
being a residuum which is known as Kharma.

3. What, then, is Kharma? Literally it means "the doing." It is a man's
record, involving the consequences and liabilities of his acts. It is a
score which must be settled. A question naturally arises, how the record
of a soul can survive when the soul itself has been "blown out." The
illustration of the candle does not quite meet the case. If the flame
were something which when blown out immediately seized upon some other
substance in which the work of combustion proceeded, it would come
nearer to a parallel. One candle may light another before itself is
extinguished, but it does not do it by an inherent necessity. But this
flame of the soul, this Kharma, must enter some other body of god, or
man, or beast.

Again, the question arises, How can responsibility be transferred from
one to another? How can the heavy load of a man's sin be laid upon