The strongest point which the reincarnationists hold in support of their doctrine is the traces of unusual genius or gift found in a child who does not seem to inherit the same from his ancestors, nor can he learn from his surroundings. The soul before its coming on the face of the earth for a very, very long time on its way to manifestation, gathers the impressions of those souls whom it meets on its way and takes on their attributes. In this way the attributes of the past ones are manifested again, it may be the impressions of one soul or of a few souls or of many souls.

Sometimes in the slums a child is born which has great poetical genius which could not be found in its father or mother nor in its forefathers, or a great musical gift which could not be found in its father or grandfather or ancestors.

The soul on its way toward manifestation may meet the soul of a genius in poetry or music, and take with it these impressions.

When some very great, or very good, or philanthropic person has died, you will find that soon after a child of like qualities will be born, to balance the world.

A child may be born with the qualities of Alexander the Great. This is because the new soul, coming out towards manifestation, has met the soul of Alexander, and has become impressed with all his qualities or part of his qualities as much as it could absorb. Such a one may claim, "I am the reincarnation of Alexander." But it is not that the soul of Alexander returns.

If it were so, then every soul that has left this life would return, everyone would know of his former lives. Much of the difference of understanding is the difference of words. If someone says that the soul is the world of impressions which the consciousness holds before it, and spirit is the consciousness, then he may say that the soul returns.

When the child of the unpoetical sings, making up words of its own, this shows the impression of the poetical soul. The soul that comes to the surface is responsive. It is not creative, because it has nothing to give. The soul on its return is creative; it gives its experiences there. For instance, an unused photographic plate is ready to respond to the object before it, but the used plate gives its impression on the paper.

Suppose the soul of Vishnu meets a soul on its way to manifestation, this powerful soul might impress the other with all its attributes. Then that soul may say, "I am Krishna, the reincarnation of Vishnu."

Whatever comes before the soul, with that it is impressed. Sometimes children of quite ordinary parents may be so impressed by a great person in whose presence they are that they themselves become great, and as man's personality is nothing but an agglomeration of his thoughts and impressions, the inheritor of that may be called the reincarnation of the past one, although his soul is his own.

Sometimes a child appears to see and understand very much of what is going on in his surroundings, from his infancy. Sometimes a young man sees and understands more than an old person. These are supposed by the average person to be old souls, and the reincarnationists take it as a proof of the doctrine of reincarnation. But, really speaking, knowing and understanding do not depend upon learning; knowledge is the soul's quality. The knowledge of the spirit has been man's in all ages. An old person does not need to read many books in order to know that he was once a little child; he has experienced it. So the soul knows its own experience; it needs only a little awakening to make it self-conscious. And if God wishes to awaken the soul, He can do so directly.

When the Shah of Persia wished to have the History of Persia written by some literary person, there was no one found who could do it, until the mystic poet Firdausi said that he would write it. And he wrote from his inner knowledge the Shahnamah, the history of the Shahs of Persia. If he has this knowledge from the recollection of his own previous lives, he must have reincarnated repeatedly in Persia and in Persia only, uninterruptedly, endowed each time with the same degree of intelligence, so as to acquire and retain all this knowledge.

There is nothing which the soul cannot know, for the whole objective existence is made by the soul for its own use, and therefore it is not astonishing if man possesses great qualities without inheritance, and if everything is revealed to him without learning. It is astonishing only when he lacks the same, and this is owing to the globes upon globes of the objective world covering the light of the soul.