An astrologer was walking with his apprentice near the town of Bethlehem one day, and the astrologer told his apprentice that he had found the place he had been looking for. His apprentice asked what he was talking about. The astrologer said, "This is where the messiah will be born! The messiah will be born here, in the town of Bethlehem!" His young apprentice asked how he knew this.

The astrologer said that the law of Karma dictates certain things, and this is one of those things. He said, 'You don't know it, like a fact, it's more like a feeling. You can feel it in your soul!" The apprentice asked what the law of Karma was. The astrologer answered that it was one of the natural laws that the ancient Indians believed in. He explained, "All of us Gypsies came from India, that's why we look dark-skinned compared to Europeans, it's becuase we have Indian blood in our veins! The Indians had spiritual beliefs that were totally different from the beliefs of the Arabs, Jews, and Europeans. They believed in Yoga, the great book written about Yoga was called the Yoga Sutra. They also believed in Karma, the great book written about it was called the Karma Sutra."

His apprentice said,"That's very interesting, but..." The astrologer laughed,and said, "Like any good apprentice, you are impatient! You are eager to get to the truth!" The old man explained to his young apprentice that Karma was the law of punishment and reward. It was the Iron Law of God that could not be broken. The belief in Karma also involved a belief in reincarnation. If you died, your soul floated around in heaven for a while, and then you were reincarnated. When you were reincarnated, you were born again, as a little baby. You lived as a baby, grew up, went through childhood and became a man, then you died again. Reincarnation meant that your soul would go through many lifetimes, and in each lifetime you were properly equipped with a human body. The cycle of being reincarnated over and over meant you had to have another lifetime, to pay for the sins you committed in the previous lifetime.

As an example, the astrologer said, "Suppose you were soldier in one lifetime, and you were in a battle. During that battle you used your sword to cut off the arm of an enemy soldier. Then, after you died, you are reincarnated as  a man with a crippled arm. It's like God's way of saying to you: 'how do you like going through life without an arm?', or if you cut off a man's leg in battle, you would be born again as a man with a crippled leg, as if God was saying: 'how do you like it, to limp around on one leg? In other words, the punishment fits the crime. If you cut off a man's arm, you are reincarnated as a man without an arm. If you cut off a man's leg, you are reincarnated as a man without a leg."

The apprentice said, "I see. And if you are born blind, if means you probably poked out somebody's eyes in a previous lifetime, and God punished you by causing you to be reincarnated as a blind man". The astrologer said, "Yes, that is right. You have learned well. Karma also provides rewards to those who are faithful and good. There was a man named Moses, and he tried to promote the basic religious laws, which were called the ten commandments, but people all over the world ignored his teachings, and they laughed at the ten commandments. After Moses died, he went to heaven, and God said, 'Moses, I am going to reincarnate you as a man named Noah. The sinners laughed at you when you brought them the ten commandments, so in your new life as Noah, you will watch all the sinners die!' Moses was shocked by this, and he said, 'Why, dear God? Why must I watch sinners die?' God said, It's an important lesson for your soul! You will watch all the sinners on earth drown in a great flood! They laughed at you once, when you tried to bring them the ten commandments, but now you will watch them die in the flood!"

The apprentice was impressed at this story. He said, "Yes, I see. The story of Noah's ark is well-known. He sailed along in the ark, while all the sinners drowned all around him. So Moses and Noah were the same person?" The astrologer said "Yes. They were the same person, or actually they were the same soul, they were just different incanations of the same soul, and they lived at different times, for different reasons. Moses was humiliated by sinners, when he tried to teach them the ten commandments, but later Moses was reincarnated as Noah, and he watched the sinners drown in the flood. It's almost like Moses got revenge against the sinners." The apprentice asked how that related to Bethlehem.

The astrologer said, "There was once a man named Adam who lived in the garden of Eden. He disobeyed God's commandments, and he became a sinner. The soul of Adam floated around in heaven for a long time, but now it is time for the soul of Adam to return. Adam will be reincarnated as a man named Jesus, and Jesus will pay for the sins of Adam!" The young apprentice asked how Adam would pay, and the old astrologer said, "He will be crucified! His life will end in bloody, painful torture! Screaming, agonizing pain will snuff out his life! And Jesus will be born right here!" The apprentice said, "Here? In the town of Bethlehem?" The astrologer said, "Yes! This is where it all begins!"