Theos-Talk Archives (February 1998 Message tt00341)

<< Unquestionably that Ego (the triple Monad:
 Atma-Buddhi-Manas) is the immortal and the common base for such a
 remarkable event as using a "borrowed body." >>

<<you will find the material that he gave to Jasper Niemand concerning his
experiences in a "borrowed body." Of this strange event he spoke to several
friends >>

I have trouble with the "borrowed body" concept. It smacks of that New Agey
flap some years ago about "walk-ins", the idea that a higher being can come in
and take over the body already inhabited by some soul. A "walk-in" is
presumably invited to complete a life in progress by an Aego who wants out or,
is perhaps fed up with life itself. This idea was made popular in the late
Seventies by Ruth Montgomery, a well-known writer on New Age themes. For some
time now, the walk-in notion has been expropriated by UFO groups where claims
have been made about extraterrestrial "take-overs" of bodies of selected human
beings. This usually tickles the ego of the person imagining that he/she is
now some lofty being from God knows where.

A well-known example of the "borrowed body" idea is that of a British
plumber from Plympton who claimed to have been taken over by an entity called T.
Lobsang Rampa. This famous literary scandal produced a series of popular, and
some say well-researched books, which made the author quite wealthy..

It's my understanding of the ageless wisdom, however, that the physical body
is the result of the past karma of the occupant. This would include the body's
condition, health, longevity, etc. I don't see how that Karma could be worked
out or even abrogated by another entity. The law of karmic responsibilities
and evolutionary advancement through self-devised efforts is very specific in
the classical writings of theosophy.

My two cents.
Lmhemm111