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The second sort of believers in reincarnation affirm the existence of the other world, and they consider reincarnation the means of becoming perfect-- that is, they think that man, by going from and coming again to this world, will gradually acquire perfections, until he reaches the inmost perfection. In other words, that men are composed of matter and force: matter in the beginning-- that is to say, in the first cycle-- is imperfect, but on coming repeatedly to this world it progresses and acquires refinement and delicacy, until it becomes like a polished mirror; and force, which is no other than spirit, is realized in it with all the perfections
(282:4)
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