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Re: Reincarnation? Karma?
In article <3rij6i$get@ucunix.san.uc.edu>, jgraham@lbs.lon.ac.uk (John Graham) writes...
>
>As for karma, if the point of karma is that I should pay for my enjoyment by
>suffering, and vice-versa, through false attachment to material desires, what
>is the point if I do not know what I am being punished for, or what in past
>lives occurred that I should have to live through this life?
Karma is not a punishment instrument at the hands of Nature. It is
a mechanical process by which the Nature determines soul's next path
for its manifestations. There is nothing like good or bad karma.
Hinduism does not believe in evil because so called our view
of the evils have been worshiped like God. The suffering is viewed
as a corrective action for the evolution of the soul. The law of
karma is similar to the western view of the 'survival for the fittest'
>
>As for reincarnation, the Judao-Christain view of the soul is, generally that
>the soul expands or evolves from the parents with the new body, from the
>point of conception. Thence comes the idea of original sin. The view that
>the sould existed before this life, indeed that it was never created at a
>point in time, would seem to eliminate the need for reincarnation or sexual
>reproduction. Should my body just not continue to evolve, as it does from
>infancy to old age, into a different type of body? The same body can evolve
>into a radically different shape, witness the metamorphisis or caterpillars
>into butterflies, or tadpoles into frogs. Surely if the soul evolved through
>different material bodies, it would be in this way for all living beings. Why
>couldn't a butterfly go back into a cocoon and come out as a spider, cat, dog,
>or human? The fact of sexual reproduction would indicate that my soul "spins
>off" from my parents.
>
According to Hinduism, the soul is eternal. It is in fact a non-material
stuff which cannot be destroyed, touched, burned or worked in any manner
like matter. In its purest form, it is no different than the God. The
individuality aspect of the soul stems from its association with matter called
sukshma sharira (the subtle body) which is matter. Subtle body is like a
seed or account of your past karmas which can survive several life cycles
because of its fineness. It has three chambers - intellect, mental and pran
(physical energy). This association of soul and matter is called 'jiva'. With
karma, subtle body changes. It is this subtle body which evolves. It can become
quite powerful due to karma. Nature determines it next life based on its
power to sustain that particular life plane.
There is no concept of sin and punishment in Hinduism. All is Divine. Every
one is capable of becoming divine under proper guidance and spiritual
practice.
regards
-- Virendra Verma
