why do we come back?

excerpts taken from Irving S. Cooper's book, Reincarnation: A Hope of the World, are representative of this view and are quite similar to many of the statements in the study:

"The chief purpose of reincarnation is education. To this end we are born again and again on Earth, not because of any external pressure, but because we, as souls, desire to grow.

"It is a universal process, and prevails not only in the human kingdom but also throughout the whole of nature. Whenever we find a living form, the consciousness of that form is also evolving, using temporarily for that purpose the physical form in order that it may gain physical experience. In each incarnation we have a different physical body, a different name, and may have different souls acting as parents, but these changes do not in the slightest imperil our individuality ... Reincarnation is not an endless process, and when we have learned the lessons taught in the World-School we return no more to physical incarnation unless we come back of our own accord to act as Teachers of humanity or as Helpers in the glorious plan of evolution."