The Doctrine of Reincarnation Explains Many Phenomena of Life
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
22 February
2023
Saints
Preach Renouncing Desires to Stop the Cycle of Reincarnation
Main
Points:
1. Hinduism and
Buddhism believe in the Doctrine of Reincarnation.
2. The doctrine
of Karma is linked to the doctrine of reincarnation.
3. Karma in the
present life leads to the next birth.
4. Unfulfilled
desires lead to the condition of next birth.
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https://ocoy.org/
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The
doctrine of Karma and the doctrine of reincarnation are the fundamental
doctrines of Indian religious philosophy. Both Buddhism and Hinduism believe in
karma and reincarnation. Buddhism did not believe in the role of God in shaping
up the life of human beings. Buddha said that a man's deeds in the present life
shape his next life. Hinduism also believes that the deeds of an individual in
successive lives keep accumulating and shape his future lives according to his
good or bad deeds. In Hinduism, it is also believed that unfulfilled desires
lead to the condition in the next life.
Islam does
not believe in rebirth or reincarnation. It though believes in deeds.
Individuals have only one life and he goes to Hell or Heaven on the basis of
his deeds in life.
There are
many questions about life which perplex the mind. Why are some people born rich
and some others poor. Why are some people born with extraordinary intelligence
and others with low intelligence? Why are some people born with an inclination
towards a particular art, sport, subject or field of science? Is it only on the
basis of heredity or genes? If we analyse these questions from the point of
view of the doctrine of reincarnation, we find the answer. Swami Bhaskaranand
writes in his book "The Essentials of Hinduism":
"The
doctrine of reincarnation explains many things which cannot otherwise be
explained adequately. For instance, the genius of a child prodigy like Mozart
cannot be satisfactorily explained by heredity or genes alone. Only the
doctrine of reincarnation can explain this satisfactorily. Such a prodigy must
have been a highly accomplished musician in his last birth, and he carried that
talent over to this incarnation."
A person's
good deeds or his accumulated knowledge in previous births make him a great
scholar, writer, philosopher or scientist in his next birth because of his
accumulated knowledge in successive births. Similarly, a person's accumulated bad
deeds make him a bad man, or a criminal or a tyrant ruler in his next birth and
may even lead to his birth as an animal in one of his reincarnations. According
to Hinduism, such individuals die in infancy birth after birth to work out his
karma before they are liberated. Therefore, in Hinduism, a child is not
necessarily pure or innocent. Swami Bhaskarananda writes:
"In
the light of reincarnation, Hinduism does not necessarily consider a new born
child to be pure or an innocent soul. Nor does Hinduism believe that a child
who dies shortly after birth goes to heaven or becomes liberated. Every birth
is an opportunity for an individual to grow and progress spiritually through
the bitter and sweet experiences of life. Those dying in infancy do not get that
opportunity. A person with a lot of bad karma to work out may be repeatedly
born just in order to die again and again in his infancy."
According
to the Doctrine of Reincarnation, unfulfilled desires also lead to the state of
life in the next birth. This is why saints preach shunning or renouncing of
desires to avoid painful future life. We find many instances of people who
demonstrate that they lived an unfulfilled life in their previous birth. Take
for example, Sonu Kumar, the child from a Bihar village in India who was in the
news a few months ago. He is about ten years old but talks like an adult man. He
is very intelligent and wants to become an IAS officer or a District
Magistrate. He was so desperate to achieve his goal that he met the chief
minister Nitish Kumar and requested him to arrange for his admission in a good
school. Generally, children say they want to become a doctor or engineer
because they keep hearing about these professions. But Sonu Kumar wanted to
become an IAS officer. This clearly shows that it was his unfulfilled desire of
his past life. The accumulated knowledge of his past life is manifest in his
behaviour and speech. He is a scholar trapped in the body of a child.
Many people
remember their previous birth. Such people are called Jatismara in
Hinduism. In India many children claimed tey knew their previous birth and
their previous family. Swami Bhaskarananda writes,
"In Bhagvad Gita, Shri Krishna, a Divine Incarnation, says to his
student Arjuna, "Arjuna, both you and I were born many times in the past.
You do not remember those births, but I remember them all."
There are
many modern reincarnationists who can see their past births. Nowadays, the
science of past life regression has become more developed and thousands of
people have been able to have glimpses of their past life and realised the root
cause of their current problems. In future, the science may be so common that
every individual will know about his past life.
It will be
interesting to note here that an American reincarnationist Kevin Tyerson has
written a comprehensive book on the topic. He has given the past life names of
many famous people of 20th and 21st century with the help of a guiding spirit
calked Ahtun Ray with whom he was able to establish contact. For example,
Amitabh Bachchan is the reincarnation of Edwin Booth of the US in the 19th
century. He was one of the greatest theatre personality of his time. A man had
once attacked him and he had got some injuries. Because of the initial B in his
surname, he was called Big B. There are striking similarities between Edwin
Booth and Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan is also one of the greatest actors
of the century. He is also called Big B. He was also injured during a film
shooting. His English accent is like that of a British. Secondly, The Maratha
leader Nana Saheb reincarnated as Indira Gandhi. Tipu Sultan reincarnated as A.
P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Since the
Quran has touched upon every aspect of human life and every field of knowledge,
we can find what it says or does not say about reincarnation. Since many verses
of the Quran are open to various interpretations, we should take the following
verses for consideration:
"We have ordained death for all of you We
cannot be prevented from transforming and recreating you in forms unknown to
you. You already know the first creation. So will you not remember."(Al Waqiah: 60-62)
"And that it is He alone who deals death
and grants life. And that it is He who creates the two kinds --- the male and
the female --- out of a mere drop of sperm as it is poured forth and that it is
within His power to bring about a second life."(Najm: 44-47)
Different
translators have translated these verses in slightly different words but the
overall meaning of the verses is same. Pickthal and Mohsin Khan use the word
transfigure which is similar to transmigration.
It suggests
that a human being may be transformed by God into another being. That is his
soul may be transformed
to another
human being or any other being according to God's scheme of things. Even if
this verse hints at transmigration of souls, it does not contradict the Quranic
stand that every human being will be judged by his deeds in his single birth
and not by accumulated deeds in all his births.
The Quran
speaks of a community whom God transformed into monkeys for their misdeeds.
According
to these past and future life experiences, a person was born a Muslim in one
birth, is a Hindu in his present birth and a Christian in his future birth.
Again a person was a female in his past birth and a male in his present birth,
or is a male in present birth and a female in future birth.
Therefore,
the Doctrine of Reincarnation provides answers to many questions about life and
human behaviour. It also establishes the fact that man himself shapes his
future and his condition in the 'after life'. In the Quran, God says that man
himself is responsible for his afflictions and God does not do injustice to
anybody.
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S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/doctrine-reincarnation-phenomena-/d/129167
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