Reincarnation & The Karmic System

This article is still incomplete and under construction. Any questions or comments at this time would be greatly appreciated!

"You reap what you sow." or "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". These are probably the two most common interpretations of what karma is. Though this may be sufficient to most, it doesn't quite do karma justice. Hopefully this article will. Most people at some point have heard of karma. Many have used the word. It may very likely be used mostly as a threat. "Don't worry - Karma will come for him". "Come for him."? Likely this usage of the word "karma" comes from the misconception that karma is some retributive, punishing force exerted by God upon those we don't like. Fortunately (or unfortunately) that is not the case. For the time being, understand that karma is not a punishing force motivated by God's anger or desire to harm us.

Let's talk about reincarnation. Hindus believe in reincarnation. Every living thing has a soul. This soul is a consciousness and a fraction of God's infinite energy. The soul resides in a body until a certain time, at which the body dies and the soul moves on - eventually to another body. This transferring of the soul from body to body continues for many millions of years. Bodies initially start off as basic organisms in the animal kingdom, and finally work their way up the evolutionary ladder (for about 8 million years) to human (or superior) life. With each successive life in any given body, the soul's spiritual evolution continues, and the soul learns many lessons of spiritual significance. At some point after what's estimated to be 1 million years of life in human form, the soul finally attains liberation, and is freed from this cycle of birth and death. The liberated soul reunites with God and experiences eternal bliss. This basically, sums up the concept of reincarnation.

Now a common question that arises at this point, is "Why? Why all this? Why not just allow one to go to heaven after death?" A simple answer is that a lifetime is simply not enough. Reincarnation is a very controversial belief. Why it's so controversial is beyond me. It seems to me that it makes more sense than any other existing theory. Aside from reincarnation the other most common belief is that life is a test. If we're good, we pass and we go to heaven and enjoy a beautiful scenic afterlife. If we're bad, we have the pleasure of enjoying an eternity of burning and torture. Well, there's motivation to behave. My question is: Do you really believe that the most supreme being in all existence - God - the epitome of mercy, love, wisdom and understanding would condemn his children to an eternity of hell and torture? Seems a bit petty for someone of God's stature. I think this argument was best put by author and yogi Paramahansa Yogananda is his book "Karma and Reincarnation". One day debating with an old man (also a believer in hell), the topic of the old man's son came up. His son, was wild, misbehaved and otherwise intolerable. Yogananda proposed a solution. He suggested that the old man get 2 strong friends he could rely on. Find his son, throw him in the oven, and roast him to death. Surely this was the only solution. The old man was furious at such a horrifying suggestion. "What kind of father would do that to his own son?" he demanded. Yogananda replied: "What makes you think God would do that to you?" God, he explained, was the Creator of love and all his children. Could any father, let alone the Heavenly Father, condemn his children to such torture? This doesn't seem very God-like. So some may ask: "Well if there's no hell than what does come of those who fail the test of life?". The problem lies within the question itself. Why would one believe that life is even a test? Is the omniscient and omnipotent God so limited in his power that he's been reduced to testing us to find out what we're capable of? To see if we're good or bad? Wouldn't the omniscient God (who should be able to see the future and see deep into the human psyche) be able to know the results of such a test ahead of time? And if he does know, then he's obviously not testing us. Knowing our tendencies he's rewarding us with heaven, or condemning us to hell! How awful!

To answer the question "Why are we here" it seems the best available answer is that the desire for individuality from God or the desire for inferior pleasures in a conscious spirit require the soul to reevaluate its entire understanding. This reevaluation requires the cycle of birth in death in many lives to prove to the soul that it's desire was not in its best interest.

It seems far more logical, for this reason, that life is not a test at all. Life is, on the other hand, a lesson. A schooling. An education. Knowing our tendencies, God puts us on earth to learn. To make mistakes, and then to learn from them. The multitude of lessons that must be learned before one is suitable for liberation, can only manifest in a multitude of lives. Liberation is not granted to those who follow some vague definition of "good". Liberation is granted to those who have no desire for anything except God. This unparalleled desire for God, overshadows and nullifies desire for anything else. Detached from any other thing a man finally gives up on everything and returns home - to God. Every new life serves as a new platform or environment (just like every successive school grade is a new, fresh platform) upon/within which in new circumstances the soul sits as a silent spectator and watches the drama that unfolds in every life, learning each time from it. Given your new understanding of life as a lesson, consider what would happen to those who die prematurely, such as infants who die? Or those who die older but are far from spiritual? The only way to continue the learning process is through reincarnation. After death, a new birthplace and circumstance is set for the soul who's body died, and the soul takes birth again in a new situation. Which situation? What circumstances? This is where karma comes in.

(You may have noticed that in this picture there was no heaven or hell mentioned. This is because Hindu's don't believe in hell at all, and do not believe in the common definition of heaven either. For more information, see my article on "Heaven and Hell".)

As you may have understood from the first paragraph of this article, karma is a non-punishing force that acts on a living entity based on it's previous actions. This counteraction allows the individual to be placed in a situation where he understands why his previous choices and actions were mistakes. We learn best through experience, and that is the purpose of karma. To place us in circumstances where we experience these lessons of life first hand. Allow me to present you with an oversimplified example. Let's say I steal $100 from you. I've made a mistake. I must learn the wrong in this action. Next lifetime, I will be placed in a situation where someone will steal from me. Not for the sake of punishment, but to teach me the damages that theft cause a person and how it feels to be in that situation. Being in that situation will allow me to learn why my mistake was wrong, and the lesson is now complete. Some will argue "But this doesn't make sense! I can't even remember my previous life to begin with!" Nor do you need to. The reason people pose this argument is because they are making the error of confusing the soul with the mind. The mind dies at every birth. The soul is the permanent consciousness that resides within the body and acts as a spectator. The flawed understanding of the soul manifests itself through desires, and misjudgments of the mind. Very few men actually reached the point of spiritual growth where the consciousnesses of the mind and soul unite and at once the individual can remember every past life. It is not necessary that one remembers his past life mistakes in order to compare to his present life karmic reactions. Experiencing them is enough for the mind to understand why a certain act (theft in our example) is wrong. The ever conscious soul will put 2 and 2 together even if the mind can not.

Continuing on, karma can act in two ways. It can act within the same lifetime, or it can act on an individual in another lifetime. If the karmic reaction is simple and manifestable in the present life it will do so. If not, it will be one of the criteria based on which the circumstances of the next life will be determined. We act. We err. Karma teaches us. We learn. Next lesson. Does this mean that our lives are predetermined? No, they're not entirely predetermined. For more information on this, refer to my article on "Jyotish - Vedic Astrology".

It is said that every desire an individual has must be granted by karma. Anything you truly desire or want will in one lifetime will eventually be granted. This is a necessary part of the karmic system. One of the main points of life is to see that there is no lasting happiness except unity with God. A soul must not return to God with unfulfilled desires. God should not be one of the desires of a soul. It should be the only desire. Any doubt that some other object could bring more happiness than God should be eliminated. Thus, in order to taste everything and see that it cannot be as sweet as God, He has created the karmic system such that we get to have any desire fulfilled and see that the happiness it brings us is incomparable to God.

So the understanding you should have by now is that we live, and we act. We err, and according to our mistakes we face certain hardships or rewards in this life. Some hardships and rewards must wait until the following life to manifest. In our next lifetime we face the karmic reactions of our previous lives. With each successive life we learn new things, and eventually progress to a point where we see that enjoyment of anything in this material world is petty and pointless compared to enjoying the oneness with God. When we internally understand this in thought and in action, we are ready to be liberated. At this point we shed our bodies and reunite with God.

Due to the immense depth and complexity of this topic, this section will be constantly updated as my readers read it and ask questions. Some frequently asked questions are answered below. To be notified of updates, email me at himmy85@hotmail.com to be added to my mailing list.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1) If reincarnation is true, how do you explain that the population of the world is increasing?
    The problem with this argument is that you're failing to consider the population of all living things. Do you know that this population is increasing?      You're also failing to consider that there may be worlds other than ours? This sounds ridiculous to some, but of the trillions of planets in the universe, we only know the nature of 9. It would be sheer stupidity beyond deserving the dignification of an argument to insist that there is no life on other planets.

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