________________
DOCTRINE OF KARMA
that they, themselves, have selected the rôles which they are impersonating, that by their own choice they have assumed these characters. They fancy, on the contrary, that some invisible being has forced them to fill these parts; and whenever they achieve a gratifying result, they imagine that that unseen being is pleased; while, if the result be painful, they weep and wail and blame the same invisible power. Occasionally some of the actors or actresses, disliking their own parts, try to change with others whose parts seem more attractive, because they show a little merriment in their play; so they pass from one rôle to another. Always, however, they continue to act on this world stage, gaining experience at every step, as they move onward toward the fulfilment of the purpose of the drama. This purpose is the emancipation of the soul from slavery to the laws of nature and from the bondage of ignorance, selfishness, ambition, and all imperfections which hold it down on
76
