QUESTION: “I cannot visualize how the law of karma and heredity works and how the process of birth takes place. The baby, being born, and the soul — does the soul exist before the baby is being born? How does that work?
ANSWER: “Perhaps the best way for you to perceive these principles would be to think that the human body is a direct result of the personality, which of course exists previous to the baby’s birth. The personality’s thinking, attitudes, emotions, actions, all of these have their result in effects. The body with its environment, the life and life situation, the personal “fate” — all these are effects of the mentality and personality and character. Not only your body, but your life conditions are a result of what you are. If you look at the question from this point of view, you will avoid a great deal of confusion. Karmic law, heredity, and specific conditions of birth are then no longer a problem. The way you now perceive it is something like this: a body is built by forces outside the personality. This creates confusion because such thinking occurs in a spirit of duality rather than the spirit of unity, where you perceive that you are an immediate result of yourself, including your body, your country, as well as every other factor in your life.” (PL #132)