ng arises from ignorance and egoism.

"Yes, the law is powerful enough to prevent the man from drowning, and
also to prevent the possibility of his being saved by some passer-by,
who has been moved to pity by the sight; to doubt this were to doubt
the power of God. In the work of evolution, however, God does more
than supply man with means of developing his intelligence; in order to
enrich his heart, he offers him opportunities of sacrificing himself.
Again, the innumerable problems set by duty are far from being solved
for us; with difficulty can we distinguish a crime from a noble
action; very often we do wrong, thinking we are doing right, and it
not unfrequently happens that good results from our evil deeds; this
is why God sends us experiences which are to teach us our duty.

"The soul learns not only during its incarnations, but even more after
leaving the body,[32] for life after death is largely spent in
examining the consequences of deeds performed during life on earth.

"Whenever, then, an opportunity for action offers itself, let us
follow the impulse of the heart, the cry of duty, and not the sophisms
of the lower nature, the selfish "ego," the cold brain, which knows
neither compassion nor devotion. Do your duty, whatever happens, says
the Law, _i.e._, do not allege, as your excuse for being selfish, that
God, if He thinks it best, will help your brother in his trouble; why
do you not fling yourself into the fire, with the thought that, if
your hour has not yet come, God will prevent the flames from burning
you? Does not the man, who commits suicide, himself push forward the
hand on the dial of life, setting it at the fatal hour?

"The threads of karmic action are so wonderfully interwoven, and God,
in order to hasten evolution, makes such marvellous use of human
forces, both good and bad, that the first few glances cast at the
_melee_ of events are calculated to trouble the mind rather than
reveal to it the marvels of adjustment effected by divine Wisdom, but
no sooner does one succeed in unravelling some of the entanglements of
the karmic forces, and catching a glimpse of the harmony resulting
from their surprising co-operation, than the mind is lost in amaze.
Then, one understands how the murderer is only an instrument whose
passions are used by God in carrying out the karmic decree which
condemned the victim long before the crime was committed; then, too,
one knows that capital punishment is a legal