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. ------ Photo: https://ocoy.org/ ----- 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. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. 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