accidents. There is no such thing as an accident. Every event of the
universe is bound by the law of cause and effect. There must be some
cause of these inequalities. Who made one honest and saintly, another
an idiot, and so forth? Parents? That cannot be. They never dreamed
that they would beget a murderer or a villain or an idiot. On the
contrary, all parents wish their children to be the best and
happiest. But in spite of such desires they get such children. Why?
What is the cause? Does the theory of heredity explain it? No, not at
all. Suppose a man, twenty-four years old, who has certain traits,
like musical or artistic talents, such as painting and so on, has a
crooked nose and other peculiarities, like cross-eyes, which resemble
those of his grandfather. Suppose his grandfather died six years
before he was born. Now, those who believe in the theory of heredity
will say that this young man inherited all these peculiarities from
his grandfather. When did he inherit? His grandfather had died six
years before he was born. He inherited, of course, in the form of that
germ. What is that germ like? A minute protoplasm, a jelly-like
substance, and if you examine it with a powerful microscope you will
hardly find any difference between it and the proto-plasmic germ of a
dog, or of a cat, or of a tree. It is smaller than a pin's head. And
in that state this young man inherited all these peculiarities from
his grandfather; or, in other words, before he had a nose, he got a
crooked nose; before he had eyes, he inherited cross-eyes, and before
he had any brain, he inherited all the wonderful powers-his musical
and artistic talents. Does it not seem absurd to you? Even if we admit
this theory of heredity, then what do we understand? That the whole of
this young man existed in the form of a protoplasm before he was
born. His cross-eyes, his crooked nose, his artistic talents--all
these pre-existed in the form of a protoplasmic cell. This leads up to
the same thing which is taught by the theory of Reincarnation, or, in