Concepts and Beliefs Related to The Idea of Reincarnation

Introduction

Reincarnation refers to the philosophy or a belief that after the death of an individual, there is a part of his soul or his entire life energy that gets transmuted to other body. The concept of reincarnation is prevelant amongst various major religions that are being practices and followed. Almost all the major religions of the east and south east asia believes in the concept of afterlife or reincarnation. Amongst the religions there are believers as well as non believers and amongst the believers also there is a lot of disparity as to the beliefs which are being held by them. Islam does not endorse the belief of afterlife. Apart from that all the major religions have their own theories of reincarnation. Christianity also endorse their own belief of reincarnation. Among the various concepts and beliefs held regarding afterlife, the single common theme is that of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

The basic premise of reincarnation is that the soul is indivisible, indistructible and after the death of individual it looks for or rather finds a new body where it can live and try to achieve the moksha or liberation. It is said that after the liberation the soul get free from the cycle of rebirth because it has achieved god or the supreme being. Another important concept which is related to reincarnation is ‘karma’. In many religions, especially hinduism, it is said that being born as human is the highest virtue and is the doorway to achieve moksha. Based on how your deeds were in the past life, you are given a body based on that. And human body is given to those who had done good deeds in their past life.

Important concepts related to re-incarnation

The soul refers to something which gives life to the body. It is a concept which is discussed in almost all the religions. It is something which is invisible yet it is the basis of our life. It is considered as something which gives life to our body. Without soul our body is lifeless. Even among the athiests, there are a lot of people who belive in the concept of soul.

There are many philosophers and believers who think that soul like all the things in the world is made up of the five basic elements namely air, water, earth, fire and space. It is also believed that soul is the basis of our emotions, without soul our body will be like a machine. Even amongst animals which are also believed to have a soul, they also have emotions.

Some people also considers soul to be a form of energy or the energy itself, an energy which makes us move, which makes us do things and is considered as the basis of our existence. Soul is generally compared with energy and is associated with numerous electrochemical processes which can be sensed by the human body such as warmth and light. The comparison is wrong because energy changes from one form to another while the soul, which is pure remains unmodified or changed no matter what. When we say soul, we do not distinguish between the universal soul or the individual soul. For the latter is a superset of the former. Or we can say that the individual soul is a part of the universal soul. We can also say that there is no difference between the two and what we perceive is just an illusion.

The Consciousness

The word consciousness often finds different interpretations amongst scientists, psychologist and those who are into spirituality. There is no one fixed definition of consciousness, yet is assumed to be the basis of how we think, how we perceive and how we react. Some people relate it to be the part of our nervous system and some say it is something which controls the neurons that are there in our brain. But this hypothesis is not supported by reliable claims. Some of the scientific studies have shown neural connection which might be relate to the working of consciousness. This area is still unexplored from the scientific point of view and a lot of research is going on in this topic.

Going by the common theme, consciousness can be related to the activities of our brain and the growth and development of our personality is very much related to our personality. It is also said that through regular practice we can evolve our consciousness and evolve it into superconsciousness. This can be considered as a way to achieve the status of highly evolve human being. As we progress in the chain of evolution, we become more aware about what is the body and what are our surroundings. As we descend from the human to the higher animals and below in the chain of evolution, the self-consciousness slowly disappears. Thus, level of consciousness is a product of the vehicle the soul possesses in the physical world. In human form, the state of selfconsciousness many differ and can be increased by logic and the understanding of the absolute. Although it would be wrong to attribute intelligence with self-consciousness. Intelligence can be a tool in the process of knowing the absolute. From the discussions of the three concepts which are the soul, body and the consciousness we can analyse why reincarnations take place. Rebirths occur in an onward journey or for the evolution of the physical body shell to make it more aware of the self and then about the idea of consciousness as something that comes before the uncaused. It is often said amongst the practicioners of spirituality that if you want to get into the higer dimensions of consciousness it is important that you pay attention to the subtle aspects of ‘being’.

The realm of conscious is said to have an answer to all the questions that we want and is considered as the doorway to everything. The way to achieve moksha and the freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

Karma

Karma is the most fundamental aspect of the spiritual world. It is something which determines the fruit of our deeds. The concept of karma can found its reference in all the major religion be it Hinduism, Christianity, buddhism or jainaism. But amongst all the religion, it is Hinduism which has laid most emphasis on this concept. Karma works the same way as the law of conservation of energy works in the most places in the physical world. The law of Karma maintains balance by using its elements; love and justice. The law of karma neither rewards nor punishes, it simply creates situations from the soul can learn.

Karma in very simple terms can be called as the law of cause which in turn define or determines the effect or result which you get for your karma. So if you have done good karma in your life, you will be rewarded for it through good results or good outcomes in your life. On the other hand if you have done some dab karma or bad actions , you will be punished for the same. So it is an ongoing chain of accruing and balancing your deeds or the debt which we have to ultimately repay. It is the most basic law of spirituality. Harvest what you will sow they say. It determines how you will enjoy the course of not just this life but also of the next lives. It is said that the universe is governed with the will of the absolute. However, this pure form of consciousness which is before the uncaused does not interfere with the will of the less consciousness living beings. The living beings have their own will, which however cannot function outside of the divine will. As all living beings have will, they will have thoughts. Thoughts are the primary causes of all actions. The actions have reactions. Thus, we can trace all the reactions or effects to the will, will of the divine or of a less conscious beings who are unaware of the divine will.

Karma as a concept does not apply to just an individual but it can also apply to communities, country, religion, sect, etc. One of the great spiritual guru Paramhansa Yogananda gives example of crashing of a plane as the the repayment of bad karma by a group of people. Similarly what happens to a group of people or to a whole country can be attributed to their group karma.

So where does karma comes in reincarnation? It’s simple, the kind of karma which you have performed in your present life will determine the effect i.e how your rebirth will be in your next life. It is your karma which influences your consciousness which in turn gives way to some new karma, which in turn determined how your debt will be paid. So karma forms an important aspect of reincarnation.

It is said that the soul which is indestructible gets passed along to new body upon the death of an individual. The body which you get again has consciousness of his own. And based on the body you get and the type of consciousness that you have, you do your karma. And based on your karma you get bear the consequesnces. It is said that the human form is the best form as the human consciousness is of highest form. And the so called liberation is possible only in the human form as the consciousness which is needed to get to higher form is possible only if you are born as human.

The type of karma determines what you will bear in your next life. So your reincarnation, what you will be, how your life is going to be and what you will get depends on the interplay of these 3 things.

Religions and their beliefs in Reincarnation

Hinduism

Reincarnation is one of the most popular belief or philosophy amongst hindus. It is one of their central belief. It is not just the ordinary humans but also the gods have been show to have reincarnated in Hindu mythology. A very strong focus is given to karma and its affects on afterlife which is used as a way of achieving a disciplined way of life in Hinduism.

This whole journey from birth, death and ultimately rebirth is governed by “Karma” and it’s mostly referred as Samsara. Karma is a very important aspect in Hinduism and plays a very crucial role in deciding what will be the form of the person after rebirth. Karma of a person can be good or bad and based on this action subsequent life of the individual is decided. For example if a person has done a lot of good, divine services during his lifetime and at the time of death he/she wants to do more such service then the soul will choose a family that is capable of doing this service or will be in support of this service.

In the case of Hindu Gods this concept of reincarnation is not always applicable as many gods have been incarnated in Hinduism. An example of this is God Vishnu who is known to have been incarnated 10 times, popularly knowns as Dasavataras. Rigveda also has mentions about the rebirth. Bhagavad Gita states that- our body continuously moves from birth, youth to old age and in this way our soul also gets transferred to other body after the death.

Jainism

Jainism is known to have a conventional association with Sramana, these are a portion of the authentic notices of the rebirth. Jainism thinks about spirits as unceasing and interminable. They think about it to be uncreated. There is a ceaseless amalgamation between these components and thus there is a inestimable appearance that triggers our passionate and clairvoyant circles around us. This amalgamation helped in making the speculations with respect to transmigration and resurrection. The hypothesis of the essential Jainism religion did not depend on all out demolition of issue however dependent on the changes. The life as we realize that it is moved from one body to other dependent on the activities of our past birth.

Jain writings have four gatis, these are essentially classes of presence and with the assistance of this gatis the spirit moves. The four gatis are Devas, tiryanka, manusya and naraki. All these four gatis have distinctive routine presence in the Jain universe. Demi-divine beings are known to involve the upper degree of the vertical level, this is the spot were great bodies are arranged. The plant, creatures and human are arranged in the center level while the appalling creatures are arranged in the last level and at this level seven damnation is arranged.

Buddhism

The idea of rebirth for Buddhist individuals will vary from Jainism and Hinduism as there is no spirit, self or soul there in the idea of life's association. It is only the inward awareness of oneself that issues in Buddhism. The real change that occurs from one life to other in Buddhism it is known as Punarbhava. It implies that one is actually rehashing himself once more. Early messages of Buddhists center around the procedures used to review past births and it posts a high weightage to the intensity of reflection to review this past life. There was a notice with this idea by Buddha, he told that translation of this ought to be done cautiously as it very well may be deceiving.

The significant subject in Buddhism is simply the idea of cognizance or mindfulness that makes the significant commitment to existence in the wake of death birth of an individual. After the demise of one individual another life appears which is same as the perishing fire that can be utilized to light another flame before it dies.

Sikhism

The thought behind Sikhism for resurrection is that it lectures the way of Bhakti to accomplish salvation. The conviction that Sikhism follows is that spirit is moved from one body to other till the time it accomplishes freedom. On the off chance that we generally perform great activities and recollect the maker, we will have a great life however on the off chance that carry out wickedness things, at that point we should confront its repercussion and we will be resurrected in the lower types of life. God has ability to absolve the wrongs and discharge one from its awful deeds. Generally resurrection is only the circumstances and logical results connection between the numerous deeds it doesn't make any distinctions in standings among individuals.

Christianity

The focal conviction of the Christianity is that at whatever point an individual bites the dust their spirit or soul will stay in their graves with the carcass. This spirit stays with carcass until the last known as the last day of atonement. In any case, a portion of the proof could be found about the rebirth in Bible of Jesus. There was some distinction in sentiments about the comprehension of Jesus himself. Was he a god or would he say he was a man before he became God?

The thing that matters was between the Church set up in Rome and the congregation in Jerusalem. After the intrusion by Rome in Israel the distinction in supposition was made among the leftovers of the Jerusalem church.

The Roman doesn't have confidence in the idea of rebirth and their conviction was Jesus was one who was God after which he became man. As indicated by the Jerusalem group Jesus accomplished penance, which is the ultilmate objective of everybody which would assist them with escaping rebirth also, accomplish the endless life.

Islam

Rebirth as an idea is for the most part denied by all the monotheistic conviction of the world. It is totally against their essential conventions of their religion for which individuals are compensated and judged in like manner. In the event that the individuals experience one life after other, at that point in what manner will he/she be judged, in view of which life? Subsequently Quran dismisses the idea of resurrection in spite of the fact that it instructs the presence of soul. The main conviction of Islam is that it has confidence in just life. After the passing doomsday come and afterward the judgment depends on the way that whether he goes to hellfire or joins together with the Gods in paradise.

My opinion on Reincarnation

As per the current scientific developments or limitations, the appropriate response is no. But science is still under development to come up with resons for things which seems unreal, hence as indicated by the future science the correct answer might be yes. How would you realize that? All things considered, such a large number of instances of rebirth have been accounted for also the a huge number of paranormal and ghost occasions. They can not all be deceptions, falsehoods and CGIs and so on and so on, can they? Profound world isn't a long way from the physical reality. They appear to exist together with the physical world next to each other.

References

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reincarnation-and-karma-h_b_5661208
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/
• https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/21/-sp-why-cant-worlds-greatest-minds-solve-mystery-consciousness
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/karma