REBIRTH AND THELAW OFCONSEQUENCE 149
ascribe s ome of the facts and p hases of ex ist ence to a super-
physical, invisible state, but they differ widely on other
points.
Bringing the materialistic theory into comparison with
the known laws of the universe, we find that the continuity
of force is as well established as the continuity of matter and
both are beyond the need of elucidation. We also know that
matt er and force are ins eparable in the P hysica l World. This
is contrary to the materialistic theory, which holds that mind
perishes at death. When nothing can be destroyed, mind
must be included. Moreover we know that mind is superior
to matter, for it molds the face, so that it becomes a
reflection or mirror of the mind. We have discovered that the
particles of our bodies are constantly changing; that at least
once in seven years there is a change in every atom of matter
composing them. If the materialistic theory were true, the
consciousness ought also to undergo an entire change, with
no memory of that which preceded, so that at no time could
man remember any event more than seven years. We know
that is not the case. We remember the events of our
childhood. Many of the most trivial incidents though
forgotten in ordinary consciousness, have been distinctly
recalled in a swift vision of the whole life by drowning
persons, who have related the experience after resuscitation.
Similar experiences in states of trance are also common.
Materialism is unable to account for these phases of sub-
and super-consciousness. It ignores them. At the present
stage of scientific investigation, where leading scientists
have established beyond a doubt the existence of these
phenomena, the policy of ignoring them is a serious defect
in a theory claiming to solve the greatest problem of life—
Life itself.