THE MYSTERY OF LIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 123, 27 May 1930, Page 6

THE MYSTERY OF LIFE.

' (By BERNARD MAOTADDEN.) There is no problem that is more bewildering than that which is associated with ourselves. Try to analyse your own personality! One's life falls into certain grooves. We are all impelled by certain desires —ambitions; Ave want to achieve the success for which we all strive. . ' But what is this mysterious being within our body ? What is ' the you within you ? The innate personal ego? What do you know about yourself ? The. more you study this problem the less you will seem to know about it, the more confused you will become. Some people believe in the transmigration of souls, that individual ego is passed from one being to another, or even from animals to human, beings. That is simply an effort to solve this intricate problem, the" source of our individuality. Dr. R. J. Berry, dean of the faculty of medicine in the University of Melbourne, Australia, author of a book on."Brain and Mind," says that no student of the marvels of the human brain can be a pessimist; there is a greater power even than man, and that greater power is slowly but surely fashioning a mighty implement —the human brain and mind. Perhaps some day, in future generations, we may find out whence we came. It is hard to believe that the individuality ;

that inhabits the body is something of gradual development. Most of us like to think that it existed before —somehow, somewhere. And all this reasoning brings up the theological promise of immortality—the resurrection of the soul. But whether or not we accept this doctrine, the mystery of our own individual ego is still buried deep in the unfathomable depths of abstruse psychology. Dr'. Berry believes that with the passage of a few more geological ages the brain will doubtless be perfected, and we will cease to talk nonsense, and ultimately discover the truth. The doctor promises little for this generation. A thousand years is perhaps just a short time in the world's history. ! :<■ One generation more ok less makes very little difference, and we secure but little satisfaction from the fact that the more wo study these mysterious problems the more we realise how little we know about them, thus giving considerable emphasis to the quotation, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."