in ideas or in characters that represent those ideas in their expressions as one to another. As in all forms of communicative influences from one entity or soul to another—in a look, in an expression of some portion of the anatomical influences or form, or from word, or from the turn as from the cut or form of eye, shape or form of mouth, the rising of the brow, or in any communicative influences—these either bespeak of those things that are for the aggrandizement of self’s own motives or impulses, or are the expressions of that purpose, that desire, whereunto such a soul or expression or entity has been called. These are forms or manners through which such are written, as in the Book of Life; and may be read and known of men.
757-8
In essence, life is an adventure of experiences whereby an individual is challenged to become a better person for having had those experiences. An experience alone doesn’t determine who the individual is as a person, rather it is how the individual chooses to face those experiences. From the perspective of reincarnation, an individual’s growth is predicated primarily upon how well he or she deals with the opportunities and circumstances that present themselves in daily life.
Unfortunately, rather than seeing that individuals are very much active “cocreators” in the unfoldment of their life journeys, too often reincarnation has been misinterpreted as a fatalistic journey through experiences and relationships that belong to an individual because of her or his “karma.” With this approach, choices made in the past have somehow etched in stone the future, and life is simply a process of going through the motions. This is definitely not the Cayce approach to reincarnation and karma in which each lifetime is one of nearly limitless opportunities. At one point, Edgar Cayce stated that approaches to reincarnation that do not take into account the importance of free will, created what he called a karmic “bugaboo” (136-18)—a total misunderstanding of the laws at work. From his perspective, individuals are very much active participants in their life journeys and not simply sometime-reluctant observers.
The word karma is a Sanskrit term that means work, deed, or act. It can also be interpreted to mean “cause and effect.” Although agreeing with this concept, the Edgar Cayce readings make perhaps one of the most intriguing and unique philosophical contributions: the idea that karma can be defined as memory. It is not really a debt that must be paid, nor is it necessarily a set of specific circumstances that must be experienced because of deeds or misdeeds from the past. Karma is simply patterns of memory. It is a pool of information stored in the Akashic Records that the subconscious draws upon in the present. It has elements that are positive as well as those which seem negative. For example, an immediate affability toward an individual just met is as likely to be “karmic” as is an immediate animosity toward someone else. To be sure, this subconscious memory has an effect and an influence upon how we think, how we react, what we choose, even how we look! But the component of free will is ever within our grasp.
In one respect, this idea of “karma as memory” can be broken down even further so that we possess memory in terms of desires that we’ve brought with us from the past, memory in terms of situations that may still need to be learned, and even memory in terms of patterns that we keep choosing to experience, but in simplest terms it can be understood as memory. Although the memory is there, freedom of choice allows an individual to determine the path he or she takes in this present life. In practical terms, we may not always be able to understand why a certain situation was drawn to us, and in fact the why may not be of primary importance; what is important is how we choose to respond.
In 1944, while giving a reading to a forty-year-old fireman, Cayce discussed the fact that the past-life information he was drawing upon was specifically related to the life cycle that the individual presently faced. The suggestion given by Gertrude Cayce for accessing the information from the Akashic Records and a portion of the reading follows:
Gertrude Cayce: You will give the relations of this entity and the universe, and the universal forces; giving the conditions which are as personalities, latent and exhibited in the present life; also the former appearances in the earth plane, giving time, place and the name, and that in each life which built or retarded the development for the entity; giving the abilities of the present entity, that to which it may attain, and how. You will answer the questions, as I ask them:
Edgar Cayce: Yes, we have the records here of that entity now known as or called [3902].
In giving the interpretations of the records, written or imposed or impressed upon the skein of time and space, or the Akashic records in God’s book of remembrances, these we find:
We would choose from these records that which if applied in the experience will bring a better interpretation of the how and why that there are certain latent and manifested urges in the abilities of the entity in the present, which if applied in a constructive, creative way may bring a better ability of the entity to apply itself in being a channel, a manifestation of those divine influences that are the cause and purpose of the entity’s appearance in the earth in the present . . .
As to the appearances in the earth, we find that these have been quite varied. Not all may be given by any means but these that are a part of the awareness or consciousness of the entity in the present cycle of its experience. And these are at that period that they may be applied. As indicated the mental is to be applied for the development of the material as well as the mental and spiritual self. Keep self from condemnation ever. [Author’s emphasis]
3902-2
Regardless of which cycle has surfaced in one’s life, the soul constantly experiences the consequences of its previous choices. This concept is expressed in biblical terminology as “What you sow you must reap” and is generally labeled as “Like attracts like” by students of reincarnation. This essentially means that individuals get to experience for themselves the effects that their previous choices have had upon others. Rather than being predestined, individuals continue to be in control of their lives (and their perceptions) through how they choose to respond to the situations they’ve drawn to themselves. Ultimately all experiences are for one’s personal growth.
It is worth noting that soul growth can occur even when an individual has made the “wrong” choice. For example, in one case which will be explored in greater depth in the next chapter, one woman (1523) had obviously made the wrong choice when she married her first husband. However, that choice enabled her and her husband both to overcome certain patterns that had originated two hundred years earlier. Although the memory (or the karma) from the past had to be dealt with, it might have been overcome in an easier fashion. It is interesting to note that the readings often suggested it was better to make an erroneous choice than it was to be idle and to do nothing, because soul development was only possible through movement, growth, and activity.
In Cayce’s cosmology, each soul’s wealth of experiences from the past acts as subconscious memory in the present. By coming to terms with that memory—which manifests through such things as one’s desires, feelings, attributes, even fears—faults and shortcomings can be overcome and talents and abilities expressed.
In terms of personal relationships, Edgar Cayce stated that we never meet anyone by chance, nor do we ever have an emotional connection (positive or negative) to another individual for the very first time. Relationships are an ongoing learning and experiential process. In other words, we pick up our relationship with another person exactly where it was left the last time around. As one example, two individuals from the Cayce files (cases 288 and 294) were told that “These two have ever been together,” (294-9) and have experienced every imaginable relationship from father and daughter, employee and employer, mother and son, to husband and wife. In another instance (1222-1), a woman was told that part of the reason her husband was so controlling and demanding was because he had purchased her in a previous life. Cayce stated, “He bought you! Doesn’t he act like it at times?” to which the woman responded, “He sure does!” The nature and ongoing development of all relationships are a portion of that which is recorded by the Akashic Records.
An interesting twist on the idea that individuals are constantly meeting the memory they have previously built in relationships with one another is that there really isn’t karma between people; instead,