Reincarnation or rebirth in Hinduism

As per Hinduism, just as you move from one house to another house, the soul passes from one body to another to gain experience. Just as a man casting off worn-out garments, takes new ones, so the dweller in this body, casting off worn-out bodies, enters into others which are new. Death is not the end of life. Life is one continuous never-ending process. Death is only a passing and necessary phenomenon, which every soul has to pass to gain experience for its further evolution.

There are two kinds of souls, viz., the individual soul or Jīvātman or the human soul, and the Supreme Soul or Paramatman. Soul is spirit. It is immaterial. It is intelligence or consciousness. Individual soul is reflected Chaitanya. It is this individual soul that departs from the body after its death and goes to heaven, with the senses, mind, Prana, impressions, desires and tendencies. It is endowed with a subtle astral body when it proceeds to heaven.

The soul accompanied by the chief vital air (Mukhya Prana), the sense-organs and the mind and taking with itself Avidya, good and evil actions and the impressions left by his previous existence, leaves its former body and obtains a new body. When the soul passes from one body to another he is enveloped by the subtle parts of the elements which are the seeds of the new body. When the Karma, which gave the soul a birth as a god in heaven, is exhausted, the remaining Karma, good or bad, brings him back to the earth. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the happiness or misery of a new-born child.

Shri Krishna tells Arjuna in Shrimad Bhagwad Gita “Those who remember me at the time of death will always come to me. Whatever occupies the mind at the time of death determines the destination of the dying. Therefore, remember me at all times. “ There is no concept of punar janma in any other dharma outside Hinduism. Hinduism is the original and only reliable source on the matter. It is mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, as well our shastras. For the most reliable information on reincarnation, read Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, the authentic words of Shri Krishna paramatma who declared that “I am the supreme intelligence”. That declaration exists nowhere else. Only in the Hindu dharma is that direct clear declaration made. Period.

We didn’t receive information second hand, third hand from the son of, the uncle of, or the prophet of. We received direct first hand information from the mouth of the supreme intelligence, and it is supremely logical by any standards, with advice that is as relevant today as it was when it was first spoken. Stunningly logical by comparison to any other so called ‘religious scripture’. ?But the ancient Vedic spirituality did not have a reincarnation concept. There is no direct and explicit mentioning of reincarnation in Vedas. And to understand this reality it is not necessary to read the Vedas. I tis an evident fact from the universal, human practical spiritual point of view.

The practical spirituality is not about concepts and about future visions, which never can be subjected to life experience. It is about actual stage of experience, actual character, values, moral, and first of all the responsibility. It is about patient growing towards the real, not philosophical or conceptual, but spiritual maturity. The concept of reincarnation is practically not helpful to the seekers. Contrary to that, it often or mostly makes people passive in implementation of the momentary activities leading to goodness for humankind and servile about the societal challenges.

Many negative aspects of religious superficiality and superstition of Hinduism were supported by the concept of reincarnation. In addition, the nurturing of this concept will play not a good role in challenging the negative issues of Hinduism related with castes, poverty, illiteracy, blind beliefs, and empty devotions. All those readers, who read my answers on Hinduism, know well that I do not criticize the Hinduism for the sake of criticism. Contrary to the, I always underline the heritage of India′s ancient practical spirituality, which was not philosophical and conceptual but daily practical. It was a spirituality, implementing the spiritual wisdom into the daily life of the society.

Hinduism was the first coming with the concept. Anyhow, Hinduism is in no way the only religion that did it. It is a usual concept of Eastern mind, generally, and it is a concept even in Western mysticism. Actually, in all cultures and all ages people were dreaming about the future life, thus, the reincarnation is like to be dormant in all human civilizations, although, probably not explicitly expressed in a particular concepts similar to the concept of reincarnation known in Easter Mind.

Shrimad Bhagwad Gita very clearly and scientifically states what determines our destination after leaving this body is our state of mind. So there are many examples. If one is very much attached to swimming and surfing in the ocean then the human form of body is not very good for that. So if at the time of death one is dreaming about swimming and surfing in the ocean then Krishna may mercifully award him the benediction of getting the body of a fish in his next life. In that way he can swim in the ocean to his hearts content.

So the human form of life is a great facility which we can use to raise our consciousness form the material platform to the spiritual platform. And from reading this verse we can understand if we die in Krishna consciousness then after death we will certainly attain the state of Krishna consciousness. Reincarnation, rebirth, transmigration, metempsychosis or whatever else you want to call it is a fundamental teaching in the Dharmic religions. It is based on the concept of consciousness. Is consciousness a by-product of the brain like bile is a by-product of the liver or does it exist independently of the brain like software and a computer?

This is called the “Hard-problem” of physical science which is largely based on an outdated mechanistic model of the Universe. The big difference between the occident and the orient is in the investigation of consciousness which is the forte of the orient. The ancients of the orient were exploring the mind while the occidentals were focused on understanding the material world. Science knows more about the external universe than it does about consciousness - which some scientists go so far as to claim is an illusion.

There is a tendency nowadays in science towards investigating panpsychist or biocentrism in which consciousness is being considered as essential to the universe itself and not a product. The inquisitive reader can google these to find out more. All religions believe in the continued existence of the “soul” after death but the Abrahamic have a vague and confused notion of what exactly the soul is. So they agree that the soul continues to exist and goes “somewhere” to heaven or hell. But they refuse to accept that the “somewhere” may include back to earth as well or into other realms of existence. Their problem with reincarnation is based on their doctrinal confusion and conflation of the material body and the spirit soul. So the investigation of consciousness is invariably linked to reincarnation. Jay Shri Krishna