On Karma and Reincarnation | Ask Swami Shuddhidananda

[00:00:00]A devotey asks, "How can I have firm conviction in the doctrine of reincarnation?"

[00:00:10]The doctrine of karma [snorts] and reincarnation.

[00:00:16]They are the two important pillars of Vic system of thought.

[00:00:24]Reincarnation depends upon karma.

[00:00:28]So as an answer to your question that how do we have faith in this reincarnation or rebirth we can understand the subject from multiple standpoints.

[00:00:43]First of all, our reason will make us understand that reincarnation, rebirth is a necessity to explain many things which we experience in our life.

[00:00:59]Our own experiences in life also will point at the fact of reincarnation and rebirth.

[00:01:08]Even the words of the shastras scriptures they will point out at the fact of rebirth. And the last one is the words of the great masters. Let us take up all these four points one after the other.

[00:01:24]our reasoning.

[00:01:26]If we just look into this world and if we believe that this world has been created by a just and compassionate ishwara or god. This is what usually we live with. This is the faith and belief with which most of the people live with that this world has been created by a god or ishwara who is just and who is compassionate.

[00:01:54]And if this is the case then how do we explain the kind of inequalities and discrepancies which we find around us in the society. That is the first question.

[00:02:08]We find that one child is born with some serious disabilities perhaps blind or dumb or deaf and the other child is born perfect in health and sound. One child is born to a very rich family and the other baby is born in abject poverty. How do we explain these discrepancies? If this creation has been brought about by a just and a compassionate God. So to explain this so-called inequalities which we find in and around us our reason demands and points out the fact of rebirth and reincarnation.

[00:02:59]Why? The principle of karma is that as we do so we reap.

[00:03:11]This is the great principle of the upett of the vedas.

[00:03:16]So karma demands the existence of the individual over several lifetimes because karma has to give the fruits. Our actions have to bear its fruits and our fruits all the fruits of our karma doesn't fractify in one lifetime.

[00:03:41]Therefore, it demands that an individual has to exist in several lifetimes for him or her to to uh experience the fruits of one's own actions. This is the reason why one baby is born fit and sound and healthy and the other child is seen to be uh born with several physical disabilities.

[00:04:07]It is the karma of that individual which makes that individual take birth in a certain circumstances and a certain situation. So our reasoning points out at the fact of rebirth and reincarnation if it is only one lifetime ideology then this can never be reconciled. Our idea of a just and compassionate God cannot be reconciled with the kind of discrepancies and inequalities which we find around us. So this reasoning points out at the need of or the fact of rebirth and reincarnation. Number one.

[00:04:50]Second point is our own experiences.

[00:04:53]It is very interesting that when a child is born, the child does not only inherit the physical traits.

[00:05:03]The baby inherits many tendencies and some scaras.

[00:05:08]For example, a child who is born sometimes is found to be uh born with some extraordinary talents. Maybe at the age of three or four, the child is exhibiting extraordinary capability to sing or to perform certain certain kinds of acts which usually happens or which usually becomes even very difficult for even for the grown-up people to perform. How do we explain this talent which we which we find in a uh in a baby of maybe of a very young age? This explanation lies in the fact that that the baby had acquired those tendencies in the last birth. So our own experience also points out at this fact that there has to be a rebirth. So when a baby is born, the baby is not only inheriting the physical traits.

[00:06:04]It is also inheriting many tendencies, its certain very unique likes and dislikes, its fears, its moral or immoral inclinations, the different dispositions, these are all acquired from the last birth. So it is not only the question of the surrounding what the baby learns from the surrounding or the upbringing but the inherent tendencies which the baby had acquired in the last birth is what actually going uh in the form of certain traits which we find in that baby or the individual.

[00:06:44]So our own experience also points out at this fact of reincarnation.

[00:06:50]The third testimony is the testimony from the scriptures.

[00:06:55]If you really have faith in the Vedas and if you believe in scriptures then that itself is a sufficient ground for you to have shreddha or faith in the phenomenon of rebirth and reincarnation because in the Vedas and in the shi and in the smiti also it is very unequivocally stated that rebirth and reincarnation is a fact. For example, Bhagat Gita says that just like we discard a worn out garment and we take up new garments, similarly this individual discards the worn out body and takes up a new body. And the last point is the testimony of the great people. Now reincarnation is spoken about or spoken by great masters like the rishies of the upanishads.

[00:07:53]Sri Krishna talks about reincarnation.

[00:07:56]Buddha the great talks about his 500 past lives. Shankarachara talks about reincarnation. Swami Viveananda elaborately discusses this phenomenon of reincarnation and rebirth in his talks and writings. So this is also a ground for us to have faith in this so-called phenomenon of reincarnation and rebirth.

[00:08:22]One more point before I wind up which is important more important than thinking about reincarnation and rebirth is to focus upon the real nature of the human being. Actually the real nature of the human being is eternally unborn at which our upanisha so beautifully teaches us. We are all mity budda.

[00:08:51]So this so-called phenomenon of rebirth and reincarnation it is only in the state of ignorance. So we should be uh instead of focusing upon or worrying about whether reincarnation is a fact or not, we should be as spiritual aspirants focusing upon finding out our true nature which is beyond birth and which is beyond death. That should be the emphasis.

[00:09:21]I hope it's clear.