nsequence
is not only that, by their means, life becomes intelligible, but that
through admitting these hypotheses into the thought-world, experiences of
quite a new kind are induced.

Take the following case. Something befalls a man which causes him
extremely painful sensations. He may meet the situation in one of two
ways. He may submit to the occurrence as something affecting him
painfully, and abandon himself to the painful sensation, even becoming
absorbed in his grief; or he may meet it in another way. He may say: "It
is really I myself who in a former life set the force in motion which has
brought me into contact with this thing. I have really brought it on
myself." He may then awaken in himself all the feelings which such a
thought brings in its train. It goes without saying that the thought must
be entertained with perfect seriousness, and with the utmost possible
force, if it is to have such consequences in the life of sensation and
feeling. One who succeeds in this will meet with an experience which may
be best illustrated by a comparison. Let us suppose that two men have each
a stick of sealing wax in his hand. One begins reflecting upon its inner
nature. These reflections may perhaps be very wise, but if the "inner
nature" did not show itself in any way, some one might easily retort:
"That is all imagination." The other, however, rubs the sealing wax with a
woolen rag, and then shows that it attracts small particles. There is an
important difference between the thoughts which have passed through the
first man's head and his reflections, and those of the second. The
thoughts of the first man had no actual result; those of the second have
called out a hidden force, consequently something real.

The same thing happens with regard to the thoughts of a man in whose mind
the idea arises that in a former life he has set going within himself the
force which causes him to experience a certain event. The mere conception
of this stirs up strength within him which enables him to face the event
in quite a different manner from that in which he would have met it
without entertaining such an idea. It dawns upon him that an event which
he would otherwise have looked upon as an accident was really a necessity
and he will immediately see that he had the right thought, because this
thought had the power to reveal the facts to him. If such inner processes
are repeated they will grow into a source of inner power and thus prove