Reincarnation is called samsara in
the classic Vedic texts of India. The word samsara is Sanskrit and means being bound to the cycle of repeated birth and death
through numerous lifetimes. How this works is that those who are materially conditioned transmigrate through different bodies
according to one’s desires and past activities (or karma) and familiarities. Their desires, if materially motivated,
requires a physical body to enable them to continue to work out their material longings in various conditions of life.
Generally, in the Eastern traditions it is considered that all forms of life or
species have souls, which is the entity who reincarnates. Previous to when an entity is ready to incarnate as a human being
on Earth, the soul may have gone through a whole series of lives in order to experience various levels of existence and consciousness.
The principle is that an entity may actually progress through the different species of life, gradually working their way up
until they reach the human form. Of course, the body is only the covering of the soul in which it appears. The living being
will continually move upward in its cycles of reincarnation until it has experienced all the main varieties of existences
that the material realm has to offer. This way the living being is fully experienced in working out material desires or longings
in all kinds of forms by the time it reaches the human stage. Of course, not every being may have to go through all of this.
How reincarnation works is most elaborately described in the Vedic texts of India.
The Bhagavad-gita (8.6) explains that whatever state of consciousness one attains when he or she quits this body, a similar
state will be attained in the next life. This means that after the person has lived his or her life, the numerous variegated
activities of the person forms an aggregated consciousness. All of our thoughts and actions throughout our life will collectively
influence the state of being we are in at the time of death. This consciousness will determine what that person is thinking
of at the end of one’s life. This last thought and consciousness will then direct where that person will most likely
go in the next life because this state of being carries over from this life into the next.
As it is further explained, the living entity in the material world carries the different
levels of consciousness from one body to another in the same way the air carries aromas. In other words, we cannot see the
aromas that the air carries, yet it can be perceived by the sense of smell. In a similar way, we cannot see the types of consciousness
that the living being has developed, but it is carried from this body at the time of death and proceeds to another body in
the next life to take up where it left off from the preceding existence. Of course, the next life may be in another physical
body or in a subtle body in between births, or even in heavenly or hellish states of being.
After death, one continues the consciousness that was cultivated during life. It is our
thought patterns that build the consciousness, which then directs us toward the required experience after death. One’s
state of consciousness or conception of life exists in the subtle body, which consists of mind, intelligence and false ego.
The soul is covered by this subtle body, which exists within the gross material form. When the physical vehicle can no longer
function, the subtle body and soul are forced out of it.
Then, when the time is right, they are placed in another physical frame which properly accommodates the state
of mind of the living entity. This is how the mental state which attracts the dying man determines how he begins his next
life. If the dying man is absorbed in thoughts of material gain or sensual pleasures of wife, family, relatives, home, etc.,
then he must, at some point, get another material body to continue pursuing his worldly interests. After all, how can one
satisfy his material desires without a material body?
For
this reason, it is best that a person always cultivate pious activities and spiritual thoughts to help him or her enter a
better life after death. If a person has tried to cut the knots of attachment to materialistic life, and engaged in spiritual
activities, to the degree of advancement the person has made, he or she can go to a heavenly realm after death, or even reach
the kingdom of God.
In any case, we can begin to understand that dying
in the right consciousness in order to become free from the cycle of birth and death is an art that takes practice. We have
to prepare for the moment of death so that we are not caught off guard or in an unsuitable state of mind. This is one of the
purposes of yoga.
After what can be millions of births and deaths through
many forms of life, trying to satisfy all of one’s material desires, the soul may begin to get tired of these continuous
attempts for happiness that often turn out to be so temporary. Then the person may turn toward finding spiritual meaning in
life. In one’s search for higher meaning, depending on the level of consciousness that a person develops, he or she
can gradually enter higher and higher levels of development. Finally, if a person detects that he is actually not this body
but a spiritual being within it, and reaches a spiritual level of consciousness, he can perfect his life so that he will enter
the spiritual strata and no longer have to incarnate in the physical world. Thus, liberation is attained through Self-realization
and the development of devotional service to God, which is the perfection of the spiritual path. Through human existence on
Earth, the doorway to many other planes of existence is possible, including entrance into the spiritual world. It only depends
on how we use this life.
The idea that a person has only one life to either
become qualified to enter heaven or enter eternal damnation offers the soul no means of rehabilitation and only endless misery.
This is not reasonable. The doctrine of reincarnation gives anyone ample scope to correct and re-educate himself in future
births. An eternity in hell means that an infinite effect is produced by a finite cause, which is illogical. God has not created
men to become nothing more than ever-lasting fuel to feed the fires of hell. Such a purpose in His creation would not come
from an ever-loving God, but comes from the faulty ideas of man and his imperfect conceptions of God. After all, how many
spotless men could there be in this world? Who has such a pure character to receive an immediate pass to heaven? The Bhagavad-gita
explains that even the worst sinner can cross the ocean of birth and death by ascending the boat of transcendental knowledge.
We simply have to be sincere in reaching that boat.
Furthermore,
a person reaps the results of his sinful deeds for a limited amount of time. After being purged of one’s sins, meaning
suffering the painful reactions from one’s bad activities, a person, knowing right from wrong, can have a fresh chance
to freely work for his emancipation from further entanglement in material life. When he deserves and attains such freedom,
the soul can enjoy perfect and eternal bliss in its devotional union with the Supreme Being. This is why it is always encouraged
for one to strive for spiritual knowledge and the practice of enlightenment. By developing sincere and purified devotion for
the Lord, one does not have to worry about one’s future birth. Once a person has started this path of devotion, each
life will take one closer to spiritual perfection, in whatever situation one finds him or herself.
So a person is encouraged to repent for one’s sins or ill choices that were
made while under the influence of lust, anger or greed, and cultivate forgiveness, purity and generosity. A person should
also engage in charity, penance, meditation, japa (personal chanting of the Lord’s holy names), kirtan (congregational
singing of the Lord’s holy names), and other spiritual practices, which destroy all sins and removes all doubts about
spiritual knowledge. Then through steady practice one can gradually reach the spiritual world and be free from any further
entanglement in reincarnation.
Hare Krishna ...
