had a marvellous knowledge of those secrets of psychological science for which the self-complacent savants of Europe profess such profound contempt. For them the Hindoo trinity of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer, instead of being the visible emblems of a subtle religious system, are merely the proof of a gross idolatry. Thanks to my Indian blood, my initiation into the secret brotherhood, and my acquaintance with the learned yoghi, Lai Chunder, I was enabled to pierce the painted veil which hid the shrine from the eyes of the common people and participate in the wonderful secrets of metempsychosis won from the spiritual world through long centuries of patient work.

"I remained a long time with Lai Chunder, submitted myself to prolonged fastings, to terrible ordeals which required a soul of iron to withstand, and after years of self-torture, months of motionless contemplations, and long weeks of ardent study, I arrived at a profound knowledge of the hidden mysteries of the spiritual world. The ordeal was a frightful one, physically as well as mentally, but thanks to the tremendous vital powers I inherited from my father, and the subtle intellect which was the gift of my mother, I survived years of anguish and suffering, attaining at last the wished-for goal. I could leave this tenement of clay at will, and could send my astral body whither I desired.

"I could indulge in the dreams of a god, and partake of the joys of Paradise even before my body had perished from this earth. Willingly would I have remained away for ever and let my pain-twisted, scarred body return to the earth from whence it originally sprung, but the laws of the Universe prevented me; my time had not yet come, and I was forced to return at certain intervals and re-incarnate myself in this body which I now wear.

"One secret Lai Chunder withheld from me—a secret which I ardently desired to learn, namely, how to incarnate my own soul or that of another human being's in a separate body. I have seen my master leave his own body apparently lifeless, and re-incarnate his soul in a corpse; the dead arose, walked, talked, and lived under the animating influence of the soul of Lai Chunder, and then returned to its former lifeless condition when the animating soul came back once more to its accustomed tenement. This secret was withheld from me, as Lai Chunder considered I had not achieved a sufficient degree of purification to be blessed with such a boon, so in order to gain this last secret I travelled to Thibet and took up my abode with the mystic brotherhood who have their home in those distant wilds. I remained some 

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