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.
