belief in a reincarnation.

The "flash of inspiration" which, for the lawyer, solves a novel legal
issue arising in the trial of a case, or, for the surgeon, sees him
successfully through the emergencies of a delicate operation, has its
origin in the forgotten learning of past experience and study.

[Sidenote: _The Totality of Retention_]

Succeeding books in this _Course_ will bring to light numerous other
facts less commonly observed, drawn indeed from the study of abnormal
mental states, indicating that we retain a great volume of
sense-impressions of whose very recording we are at the time unaware.
In other words, all the evidences point to the absolute totality of our
retention of all sensory experiences. They indicate that every
sense-impression you ever received, whether you actually perceived and
were conscious of it or not, has been retained and preserved in your
memory, and can be "brought to mind" when you understand the proper
method of calling it into service.

A vast wealth of facts is stored in the treasure vaults of your mind,
but there are certain inner compartments to which you have lost the
combination.

[Sidenote: _Possibilities of Self-Discovery_]

The author of "Thoughts on Business" says: "It is a great day in a man's
life when he truly begins to discover himself. The latent capacities of
every man are greater than he realizes, and he may find them if he
diligently seeks for them. A man may own a tract of land for many years
without knowing its value. He may think of it as merely a pasture. But
one day he discovers evidences of coal and finds a rich vein beneath his
land. While mining and prospecting for coal he discovers deposits of
granite. In boring for water he strikes oil. Later he discovers a vein
of copper ore, and after that silver and gold. These things were there
all the time--even when he thought of his land merely as a pasture. But
they have a value only when they are discovered and utilized."

"Not every pasture contains deposits of silver and gold, neither oil
nor granite, nor even coal. But beneath the surface of every man there
must be, in the nature of things, a latent capacity greater than has yet
been discovered. And one discovery must lead to another until the man
finds the deep wealth of his own possibilities. History is full of the
acts of men who discovered somewhat of their own capacity; but history
has yet to record the man who fully discovered all that he might hav