Our actions though apparently disappearing, remain still unperceived and reappear in their effects as tendencies. Now if a tendency is the result of repeated actions, the tendencies with which we are born must be explained on that ground. Evidently we could not have got them in this life, we have therefore to seek for their genesis in the past. It is also evident that some of our tendencies are the effects of the self conscious efforts peculiar to man. If it is true that we are born with such tendencies, it follows that their causes were conscious efforts in the past. So far as explaining the tendencies of the present life by past conscious effort goes, the reincarnationists of India and the latest school of evolutionists are in agreement. The only difference is that the Indians as spiritualists explain it by the conscious efforts of individual souls, and the evolutionists by an hereditary physical transmission. Cellular transmission cannot be the all sufficient explanation simply because it cannot account for all the experiences that are stored up as tendencies in the individual soul. Hence the theory of an individual soul, bringing into this life the experiences of past transmitted by reincarnation of that unbroken individuality is absolutely true.
There are men who surpass the mass of humanity in every attribute of which they partake in common with their brothers. These wonderfully developed members of the human race are known as Adepts, Yogis or Masters. They testify to the existence of the higher vibrations or higher planes which account for the kingdom of Power and Glory. The average man is made aware that he is connected with a realm of higher vibrations than those with which he is familiar. On the other hand, there are those who have not reached the average standard of development, and again there are others who have deliberately chosen to accommodate themselves to the receptors of the lower vibrations of gross matter which manifest themselves in unrestrained appetites and passions. At one end of the scale is perfect love, an expansion of human capacities and at the other end is hatred, a state of contraction of capacity. Man finds himself occupying a middle position between extremes of development. Life is dynamic and there is no possibility of remaining still.
By the law of Karma or the law of causation, every movement, every thought, every action produces its own vibration in themselves and in the universe of which we are an integral part. The universe may be likened to an enormous reverberating chamber in which any whisper however faint, in any part however remote, echoes and re-echoes throughout the whole. Thus every vibration determines inevitably the thought and action of the next moment, the next day or year or of any other period of time we can imagine. The operation of the law of Karma compels us to realize the fact that every experience we encounter, every pleasure, pain, triumph or disappointment is the precise result of the cause to which it is due. Hence there is no such thing as chance, and what seems to us as mere accident springs from the deepest source of destiny. The decrees of destiny are neither more nor less than the law of karma in action.
It will be evident that man is truly either master or slave of his fate, since it has its origin in himself. In the eternal Now, Karma is continuously being realized and continually giving rise to further realizations. Life is a continual succession of opportunities to be taken advantage of or lost. Thus Karma enables us to profit by the past convincing us of the fact that the position in which we find ourselves now, whether as regards health or disease, happiness or misery must not be attributed to chance or accident but to our own efforts or errors; “With all thy getting get thy understanding.” Says the proverb. Furnished with this talisman of understanding, it only remains for us to put it into action to effect a transformation in ourselves and our environment. To do this is the whole aim of life. In consideration of this problem, it is useful to draw attention to the nature of will and will power, for in the application of power of will lies the secret of achievement. It will be granted that to manifest and exercise any power latent within us, the mind must first be focused on an object. This object must first be clearly envisaged, and in order to effect this we must call upon imagination. Imagination is brought into action by the projection of an ideal and in every man this ideal differs, yet without an ideal a human being becomes a mere automation. Having thus formulated an ideal, it is necessary to call upon the will to manifest and realize this abstraction.
To be effective the will must be trained to act steadfastly. Spasmodic and intermittent use of will power only produces momentary results. A strong will is a thing of slow growth and only to be acquired by a sustained and determined effort. Now, it is a matter of experience that in proportion to the strength of the urge that induces us to set our mind on the attainment of any object or the realization of any ideal, so is the amount of effort we are willing to exert towards that end. The stabilization and fixation of will reacts on the whole physical organism and results in polarization. The magnetic currents of the polarized human being force into harmonious adjustment, and the body becomes powerfully charged with a magnetic force. One who has developed a powerful and controlled will may be aptly described as a living dynamic. First develop the power of individual will; and then surrender it to the Divine or universal Will. The prayer, “Thy will be done”, if sincere, implies a tremendous effort of determination to make our individual will conform to the ideal we have accepted. This effort has been successfully made by every great master and by the host of saints. When Christ exclaimed in the hour of agony: “Not as I will but as Thou wilt,” in this saying is expressed the development of the master’s will power which transforms the human into the superhuman. The surrender of the individual will to the universal will wipes the slate clean of its Karma, whatever may be the cause.
Man is bound to the endless process of events called samsara, unless he subordinates his will to the universal will and gets fixed in the Divine Ground. The principle which governs this world as becoming is called Karma. There are moral and spiritual laws as well as physical laws. If we neglect the laws of health, we injure our health, if we neglect the laws of morality, we wreck our higher life. Any rational concept of the universe, any spiritual concept of God requires us to recognize the unquestionable supremacy of law in shaping our conduct and character. The law of karma is not external to the individual; the judge is not without but within. The law by which virtue brings its reward and ill-doing its retribution is the unfolding of the law of our being. The working of Karma is dispassionate and just. Though we cannot escape from the workings of this principle, there is hope, for on the religious level the influence of Karma is mitigated by Kripa or grace of God. If man misses the right path he is not doomed to an eternity of suffering. There are other lives or other opportunities in this very life by which he can grow into the knowledge of God, with the complete assurance that he will arrive at truth. Hence the justification of rebirth or reincarnation.
Belief in rebirth has persisted in India from the Chalcolithic age. It is a natural development form the views of the Vedas and the Brahmanas and receives articulate expression in the Upanishads. The transition from death to birth is illustrated by certain examples. A grass-hopper, when it has come to the end of blade of grass, finds another place of support and then draws itself towards it, similarly the self, after reaching the end of this body, finds another place of support and then draws itself towards it. As a goldsmith, after taking a piece of gold, gives it another, newer and more beautiful shape, similarly the self after having thrown off this body and dispelled darkness takes another, newer and more beautiful form, whether it be of any other beings. These passages brings out several aspects of the theory of rebirth. The self finds out its future body before it leaves the present one. At every change of body, the soul takes a newer form. The state of each self is conditioned and determined by its knowledge and its conduct.
Rebirth is the lot of man until he obtains true knowledge. By virtuous acts he furthers his evolution. The reward of growing in purity of heart is to gain a clear vision of reality. Knowledge of Reality leads to salvation. The existence and post-existence are implied in the law of Karma. Both reason and justice demand continuity of life. Kant regarded continuity of life after death as a postulate of moral consciousness. Hume, though skeptic he was, says in the essay on immortality, “The meta-psychosis is therefore the only system of this kind that philosophy can listen to.” Lessing asks, “Is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? Because the human understanding, before the sophistries of the schools dissipated and debilitated it, lighted upon it at once? Why should I not come back as often as I am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge, fresh experience? Do I bring away so much from once that there is nothing to repay the trouble of coming back?” Some of modern thinkers have appreciated both the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation. Ralph Shirley writes: “Of all conceivable solutions of the cosmic riddle, this theory of reincarnation presents the fewest difficulties of acceptance.
The reincarnationist can explain on this hypothesis the infinitely diverse states and conditions under which the various members of the human race are born upon the earth.” Osborn writes: “Reincarnation is a reasonable hypothesis with a high degree of probability, and one which satisfies a concept of law and purpose in events which otherwise seem capricious.” Percy Colson says, “Reincarnation, true or hypothetical, is an extremely plausible and in many ways, a satisfactory explanation of this puzzling universe.” The object of reincarnation is expiation, amelioration and progress. In every new incarnation the self makes one step in advance and when it has laid aside all its imperfections there is no more need for the trials of the physical life. Our experiences are not lost, we shall profit by them in another life. In proportion as we progress mentally, so our bodies will become finer, less gross, less material. We may very well imagine that there are worlds where the souls are clothed only in astral bodies, and that even this envelope may become so ethereal that for us it would seem not to exist. It rests with each soul to advance his progress or to retard it indefinitely. Now if we have a succession of corporeal births, it follows that the relationship which existed at one time between two souls cannot be entirely broken by death but may be extended into another life and be manifested in many ways. Reincarnation justifies the fact of universal brotherhood, because it shows that in one’s neighbourer, servant or in any stranger we have met, there may be a soul with whom in a former reincarnation we may have been related by the ties of blood. Noble souls are often drawn into particular families by reason of sympathy or by previous ties. Parents often transmit to their children physical resemblance, but not morals. The body is always formed according to the capacities of the soul, hence the eyes are truly called the mirror of the soul. In the Bible there are references to the law of Karma.
Christ preached this law when he said, “Thou shalt by no means come out of thence till thou has paid the uttermost farthing.” The same view was expressed by St. Paul when he said: “God will render to every man according to his deeds; to them who by patient continuance to well being, seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life, but unto them that do not obey the truth, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. “Every man shall bear his burden; God is not deceived, God is not mocked.” A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”Every idle word that man shall speak they shall give account there of in the day of judgment.” All these passages are clear indications of the existence of an inviolable law of Karma or causation. There are again references to rebirth in the Bible. Elijah was reborn as John the Baptist and Jermiah as the Messiah himself. We also find in Luke that John the Baptist would go before Christ in the spirit and the power of Elias. We further wish to substantiate this view by a quotation: “Origne said that the descent of souls was described symbolized by a ladder reaching from heaven to earth and in the cult of Mitras a ladder was placed in the temple to represent the souls coming from heaven to earth. So in Jacob’s dream, the angels (souls), were descending and ascending.” To recapitulate, our experience cannot be annihilated.
Our actions though apparently disappearing, remain still unperceived and reappear in their effects as tendencies. Now if a tendency is the result of repeated actions, the tendencies with which we are born must be explained on that ground. Evidently we could not have got them in this life, we have therefore to seek for their genesis in the past. It is also evident that some of our tendencies are the effects of the self conscious efforts peculiar to man. If it is true that we are born with such tendencies, it follows that their causes were conscious efforts in the past. So far as explaining the tendencies of the present life by past conscious effort goes, the reincarnationists of India and the latest school of evolutionists are in agreement. The only difference is that the Indians as spiritualists explain it by the conscious efforts of individual souls, and the evolutionists by an hereditary physical transmission. Cellular transmission cannot be the all sufficient explanation simply because it cannot account for all the experiences that are stored up as tendencies in the individual soul. Hence the theory of an individual soul, bringing into this life the experiences of past transmitted by reincarnation of that unbroken individuality is absolutely true.
– OM SHANTI | OM SHANTI | OM SHANTIHI –
This article ‘Karma and Reincarnation’ is taken from H.H.Mahatapasvi Shri Kumarswamiji’s book, ‘Dimensions of Yoga’.