What is reincarnation and is it true!

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

How many of us believe in reincarnation and is it actually true.  This depends on each

individual’s belief.  There are many religions and cultures who may not agree with this.  

Maybe some may have experienced it in their lives.

Reincarnation is the belief that the soul is reborn repeatedly. When one body wears out,

it is cast off like a garment and soon another one is put on. You will find a thorough

discussion of reincarnation in the Bible, the Jewish Kabbalah and early Christianity.

What is reincarnation?

We know of five ways how to prove the existence of reincarnation to ourselves.

Through a very specific training of the mind, we shall be able to train our mind to

the phase, where we are able to recall memories from past life of ours, or of

somebody else.

The point is, in accordance with the law of karma, we shall be able to gradually increase our mental capacity to the level, where we are able to directly perceive not just our past, but even future life.

If we deny the existence of rebirth and reincarnation altogether, and we don’t put any effort into discovering whether it’s true or not, we will never achieve the same that has been already achieved many times.

Reincarnation definition, the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or form. That is, at least according to dictionary.com the definition of reincarnation. We think, that reincarnation or rebirth isn’t really a thing that you could define and in the end, it’s entirely up on you.

How can we understand Reincarnation?

Although we cannot see our past and future lives, we can nevertheless infer them through logical reasoning.

The Charavakas (means asking difficult questions) materialistic school claims, that if something exists it can be seen by the five senses, therefore they concluded reincarnation doesn’t exist. Many people nowadays refuse to believe in anything that cannot be seen, which is extremely superficial. The whole historical knowledge is rather based on experiments.

We cannot directly see atoms, distant galaxies, or events in the past, however, we all do know that they exist. We don’t necessarily claim that reincarnation does exist. We though strongly believe so.

Is reincarnation real? Is reincarnation true?

It is obvious to us that everything in nature moves in cycles. We have the cycle of the seasons complete with birth, growth, fruition and death – spring, summer, fall and winter. There is the daily cycle of day and night. The planets cycle about the sun and the sun revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. We see cycles in the process of our own daily lives – what goes around comes around. These cycles are referred to as God breathing – and, oh yes, there is the cycle of our own breathing and the beating of our heart. In a recent Discover magazine, such a cycling of the universe from Big Bang to death and then another Big Bang rebirth was proposed as the occurrence of one parallel universe bumping into another with the cycle continuing without end. We can see that reincarnation appeals to old fashioned common sense.

We are Not the Body

Reincarnation is easier to grasp if we understand that we are not our bodies. However, the mind is in the habit of thinking the reverse. Thus it is difficult for us to imagine departing with one body and then assuming another because we blindly and habitually have come to identify ourselves with the body – this body – the one we see in the mirror everyday. It is correct to say, “My body.” This reveals that the body is distinct from the owner. In fact, our true nature is pure awareness. We cannot be the observer (awareness) of an object (the body) and also be that object. In the equation of our own personal existence, we are that which is aware. Our true nature is awareness itself.

It is our desires that fuel our rounds of births and deaths. Our desires continue through death and demand another body to act as the instrument for the fulfillment of our desires. Thus spiritual wisdom is often referred to as the end of desires.

1. Life in this world is suffering (mental and emotional suffering; separation and isolation; fear and anxiety)

2. Desire is the cause of suffering

3. Ending desires brings an end to suffering

4. The Eightfold Path brings and end to desires

Is Reincarnation Possible?

One way to gain an understanding of past and future lives is to examine the process of sleeping, dreaming, and waking, because this closely resembles the process of death, intermediate state, and rebirth. When we fall asleep, our gross inner winds gather and dissolve inwards, and our mind becomes progressively more and more subtle until it transforms into the very subtle mind of the clear light of sleep. While the clear light of sleep is manifest, we experience deep sleep, and to others we resemble a dead person. When the clear light of sleep ends, our mind becomes gradually more and more gross and we pass through the various levels of the dream state. Finally, our normal powers of memory and mental control are restored and we wake up. When this happens, our dream world disappears and we perceive the world of the waking state.

What happens when we die?

A very similar process occurs when we die. As we die, our winds dissolve inwards and our mind becomes progressively more and more subtle until the very subtle mind of the clear light of death becomes manifest. The experience of the clear light of death is very similar to the experience of deep sleep. After a few days or weeks, the intermediate state ends and we take rebirth.

The only significant difference between the process of sleeping, dreaming, and waking and the process of death, intermediate state, and rebirth is that after the clear light of sleep has ceased, the relationship between our mind and our present body remains intact, whereas after the clear light of death this relationship is broken. By contemplating this, we will gain conviction in the existence of past and future lives.

A FINAL WORD

I would also add one more correction to certain teachings: souls do not normally reincarnate instantly after death. Usually there is a period of several years or decades between one life and the next, during which the soul recuperates, considers the lessons learned from the last life and plans its next one.

Parsan Narang

17th November 2016