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Hinduism and the belief in Rebirth
“According
to Hinduism a soul reincarnates again and again on earth
till it becomes perfect and reunites with it Source. During
this process the soul enters into many bodies, assumes many
forms and passes through many births and deaths. This
concept is summarily described in the following verse of the
Bhagavad gita:
"Just as
a man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the
soul discards worn out bodies and wears new ones." (2.22)
According
to Hinduism a being has to live many lives and under go many
experiences before it attains perfection and becomes one
with the Divine. The Hindu theory of creation suggests that
creation begins when the individual souls becomes separated
from the undifferentiated One. It continues as the evolution
of life and consciousness in matter progresses. During this
process some of souls journey back to God through the
transformation of matter or prakriti in which they were
hidden. The remaining souls continue their existence and
rejoin Him in the end, not through transformation but
through a process of great destruction. Thus the great cycle
of creation, stretching over millions of years, comes to its
logical end.
Once the
creative process is switched on, the individual soul hides
behind the false personality called jiva, the subtle body
and an outer personality called the mind and the body or the
ego. The is made up of the subtle body, the subtle mind and
a little bit of discretionary intelligence called buddhi.
The ego is made up of the gross physical body, the surface
consciousness consisting of innumerable desires and
impulses. Since the Jiva and the ego have no idea of Truth
or reality, they suffers from ignorance and illusion. They
succumbs to illusion and suffer from the delusion of the
outer mind. They behave selfishly as if they are different
from the rest of creation and end up with suffering,
indulging in acts of self perpetuation.
At the
end of each life, the physical body and the gross mind
return to the elements of the earth. But the Jiva and the
soul survive death. Depending upon the nature of their past
deeds, and the number of subtle bodies it has developed, the
Jiva either ascends to the heaven or descends into the hell.
Hiding the indwelling spirit in its core, the Jiva stays in
these worlds till it exhausts the fruits of its good or bad
actions. Having learned some new lessons, it then returns to
the earth again to take another birth.
Thus the
Jiva undergoes innumerable births and deaths. It becomes
bound to the mortal life and the laws of nature. Death
provides temporary relief, but exposes the individual Jiva
to the risk of falling into greater depths of suffering.
Even the
Buddha who founded Buddhism did not discard this theory,
though he was silent on the existence of God and did not
confirm the existence of soul. The Buddha preached that not
soul but the ever changing individual character, which moves
from one birth to another birth, till all changing and
becoming comes to an end, through the transformation of
character on the lines of the Eightfold path.
Hinduism
speaks of the existence of heavens above and hells below.
The former are sun filled, inhabited by gods and innumerable
divine souls. The latter are dark worlds (asurya lokas) and
populated by all the dark and demonic forces. The individual
souls go into these worlds according to their deeds. But
they do not stay there permanently till the end of
destruction. They go there basically as a consequence of
their actions, either to enjoy or to suffer. In either case
they learn the lesson and come back to earth to start a new
earthly life all over again.
Thus
according to Hinduism, life in heaven may be longer, but
still it is a mortal life only. There, a Jiva may enjoy
extreme pleasures, but it would not last for ever. Once its
karma is exhausted, the Jiva is thrown back from the heights
of heavenly glory into the turmoil of unstable earthly life
.
The Hindu
concept of reincarnation is alien to western people. It is
mostly misunderstood and misinterpreted, partly because of
ignorance and partly because of some inherent mental
blockage natural to the single minded pursuit of religious
faith along rutted paths. It generated a lot of controversy
because it directly challenges the western notion of one
life, one heaven and the final day of judgement.
Today
this fundamental concept of Hinduism is finding many new
adherents and believers all over the world. The reasons are
many. Firstly, a great mass of evidence is gathering in
favour of reincarnation through the personal experiences of
many who chanced to remember their past lives and were able
to record their experiences in stunning details for the
posterity. Secondly the modern theories of hypnotic
regression are gaining acceptance in many parts of the
world. There are now many institutions, which help
interested individuals to remember their past lives as a
part of their spiritual awakening. Thirdly many enlightened
psychic masters like Edgar Cayce confirmed beyond doubt that
reincarnation is not just a theory or imagination, but a
definite reality.
The Hindu
concept of reincarnation is based upon the logical notion
that life on earth did not emerge suddenly, but evolved
gradually, involving great epoch of time and a vast
multitude of beings. During this process the static and
inert consciousness of matter yielded place to the dynamic
movement of life and consciousness. The animal tendencies
gave way to human reason and humane thoughts. Extending the
same logic we may further say that in future, from this part
animal, part human and part divine being, there would emerge
a spiritual man of divine consciousness, the Superman of Sri
Aurobindo, with supra mental consciousness.”
Hinduism and the belief in Rebirth
http://hinduwebsite.com/reincarnation.htm
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