REINCARNATION

1. INTRODUCTION

During the past six years I have read hundreds of books published in the Western world on Near Death Experiences (NDE), Out of Body Experiences (OBE) remembering past and future lives through hypnotic regression, research on death and reincarnation, lucid dreaming, prophecies, ESP, clairvoyance and even on the spirit world as seen by mediums or through mind's eye of subjects who are in a hypnotized or super conscious state and who were able to describe what their soul was doing between lives on earth. What was fascinating to me was the consistency in every single book about the Purpose of Life, Laws of Karma and Reincarnation, even though the books were written by different authors, who include physicians, certified hypno-therapists and ordinary people who claim to have crossed into the spirit world and returned.

My information source can be classified into five broad types. First types are books that are based on information provided by psychics or clairvoyants such as Edgar Cayce* and Ross Peterson. The second types are books written by people or mediums who have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the world beyond. This includes books such as Interview With An Angel, Messages From Michael, Reaching to Heaven* by James Van Praagh. Third type are books written totally by a directed force, commonly known as Automatic Writing, where the source of its intelligence and the propellant which directs the pencil or typing keys is unperceivable by any of our five physical senses. These include books such as The World Before and A World Beyond* by Ruth Montgomery and Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. The forth type are books based on information received from hypnosis sessions of thousands of individuals. Notable amongst these are Journey of the Souls by Michael Newton* Ph.D., Past Lives Future Lives by* Dr. Dr. Bruce Goldberg and Many Lives Many Mansions by Dr. Brian L. Weiss. The fifth type contains books written after extensive research on Near Death Experience (NDE) of American citizens. According to 1990 Gallup survey, 35% of people on verge of death experience NDE and 22 million people in USA had NDE. Notable amongst this type are books written by Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Melvin Moarse, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Dr. George Ritchie, Kenneth Ring Ph.D., PMH Altwater, Craig R. Lundahl Ph.D (The Eternal Journey*), Betty J. Eadie (Embraced by the Light*) and Damion Brinkley.

The purpose of this paper is to present the summarized version of what I have learnt on the purpose of our soul’s journey, the laws of reincarnation and karma, in an attempt to explain why we are here and how we can all better ourselves. Everyone has a karmic cycle and the better we understand it, the easier our lives will be.

It is not my purpose to try to convert anyone to a belief in parapsychology or to interfere in anyway with your particular religious or spiritual preferences. I believe that each soul must seek the truth at its own pace and in its own manner.

·         Recommended reading                     

"All of us are now on our path of spiritual evolution and "journey to oneness" with the Creative Force (God). Creation, the soul, past lifetimes, and reincarnation are all linked together"

2. WHO OR WHAT IS GOD?

            The First Cause, the Universal Force, the Creative Force-these are some of the terms Edgar Cayce used under trance to communicate the essence of God. This is consistent with the big bang theory advanced by the scientists to explain the origin of cosmos: a huge burst of energy that started the whole works in motion. Something had to be the First Cause; otherwise the solar system, us, and life itself wouldn’t be existent. If everything that exists comes from and is part of this Original Creative Energy, then life and consciousness, including self-awareness emerged from it too. And from this conception flows Cayce’s simple definition of life itself: Life is the consciousness of existence.

            God is the core of the universe from which all else flows. He is truth and energy. He is the matter and spirit and all things of heaven and earth. He is eternity itself, wise and knowing. It is His total harmony that holds together the whole universe. He is life itself. God is total awareness. God is love-unconditional love.

            The source of many of our problems as human beings is that we have allowed ourselves to separate from the First Cause. We have become detached from it, and our basic job is to rejoin it completely, the way we were before we came into consciousness. We need to retain our self awareness but align our purpose to the greater design of the universe.

            The roots of guilt and fear in a man can be traced to our separation from God. Fear came to man because of this separation, because human begins have set the satisfaction of physical urges as our top priority, over our connection with God. The result of this choice is guilt, which adds not only to one fear but also to our self-hatred. We can all handle guilt and fear by steering ourselves toward harmony with the Creative Force.

3. CREATION

            God created the universe and created billions of centers of consciousness (souls) in his own image for companionship and to share his joy. Each soul was once a pure spiritual entity, in which was embedded a spark of divine fire. In this cosmic drama, God chose to individuate Himself. He divided himself in separate entities whose purpose was to pass through this world of time and space to learn lessons. The destiny of each soul is "To return to thy source." He gave every soul free will, freedom, choice, and power to make decisions and ability to take action. God made the promise that he would not intervene in our lives unless we ask him.

The earth was still cooling from its fiery birth; the division of land and water had followed. Then came the emergence of animal life from its amoeboid origins. The only solid matter the souls had ever known was now manifesting itself on the earth proper and the earth itself conformed to the laws of density and gravity.

            Hovering above the earth, the souls had been following the evolutionary progress with fascination, and now, with the division of animal life into male and female species, their curiosity tempted them to digress from their own evolutionary path and assume mortal shape instead.

            Because it had never been God’s intent that souls should ever manifest themselves on the earth in human bodies, there was yet no division of the souls into male and female. Therefore, the animal’s means of reproduction was inaccessible to them. Their only alternative was to "occupy" the animal bodies, much as a hermit crab might occupy the empty shell of another specie, except that this case, the shells were already occupied.

            Thus two entirely alien forms of life were attempting to share a common physical heritage. The hazards were obvious. Nevertheless, a few of the bolder souls employed their free will to intrude in the denser vibration of animal matter. The wiser and more prudent souls hesitated and did not enter.       

            Those souls which entered now found themselves entrapped in their flesh prisons and unable to extricate themselves. They became hopelessly entangled in the procreative processes. Thus came on earth an anguished hybrid, neither human nor animal-a half-man, half beast-unable to conform or to escape from the laws of animal evolution. This brought contempt, hatred, bloodshed and those impulses that build for self-desire, without respect for another’s freedom.

            The souls who had remained free were unable to come to rescue. They could only look on, helpless and bewildered.

            It was this that caused God to create a perfect physical mold, or flesh body, into which the "rescue-souls" could incarnate with safety. Symbolized in Genesis as the creation of Adam, man appeared in his present form at five different places on the earth, ethnically distinct from the others. The five races of humans developed different pigmentation to cope with the varying rays of sun, and color to harmonize with his environment. The five separate race categories of white, black, brown, red, and yellow pigmentation built up their separate civilizations on continents now destroyed or altered beyond recognition by subsequent earth changes. Blacks acquired their hue for protection from the tropical sun and to provide camouflage in the darkness of African jungles. Whites appeared in cooler regions of winter snows where little pigmentation was required for protection from the slanting rays of the sun. Brown was assigned for those in the semi-tropical areas of wind swept Pacific, Red to harmonize with the red clay of Atlantis and America, and yellow for the orient with its sun-kissed topography and yellowish soil. After human souls were separated into male and female so that they could produce their own kind, God introduced the Divine law that like produces like, making it impossible for human beings to produce offspring as a result of cohabitation with any other species.

The Atlantic Ocean now covers the submerged continent of Atlantis, the cradle of the red race, and the Pacific covers the sunken continent of Lemuria. It was man who gradually limited himself to three-dimensional consciousness, which is his present form of perception. It is now man’s task to reunite with God.

 

4. WHO ARE WE? WHAT IS SOUL?

            We are essentially spiritual beings who are experiencing temporary incarnation in the physical world. At our core, at our spiritual center (the superconscious), we have the same will and desire as the Creator of the Universe because we are part of the Creative Force or God. And yet, as souls created by God, we have been given the divine gifts of free will and a creative mind. Our free will empowers us to direct our creative mind in any direction we desire, creating crimes or miracles. We even have the power to defy the will of God. It’s all up to us. But we pay a price for defying the will of God. Discord, guilt, and fear naturally results when we act contrary to the nature of Creative Forces within us.

Soul is the being we know as I. The personality, the memories and uniqueness are the I. It is that which reincarnates again and again and constantly battles to overcome the flesh and get strengthened. The spirit is the essence of the creator, which we draw for our spiritual growth. Jesus called it the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit and without which we would revert to animalism in the flesh. The spirit is drawn to the soul and the soul harmonizes itself with the spirit or God force so that it will improve in the path ahead. Everyone would draw only the etheric spirit, which harmonizes with this own stage of spiritual development. Subconscious mind of all individuals is interconnected. What is known to one is accessible to all. Super conscious mind is the level at which each individual soul is aware of its relationship to God. At super conscious level one can get access to the Akashic record, a universal chronicle of everything that has ever been thought, said and done by everybody who has ever lived. It can be read by anyone after making proper attunement. Edgar Cayce had the ability to tap into the Akashic Record.

Over the great journey of lifetimes from incarnation to incarnation, we are learning to awaken our will and to align it to the will of the Creator. This is the essential purpose of our lifetimes-our current incarnation and the others we may experience.

The immortal soul contains not only the wisdom of the infinite, but also our full spiritual heritage-our thoughts, actions and desires throughout eternity.

5. WHAT IS KARMA & REINCARNATION?

Eastern terminology for Karma is "Action." Christians believe that a man reaps what he sows.

Soul always has free will. God promised not to interfere in Soul's choices, unless asked. Karma is simply cause and effect of those choices. All of the things we have or have not done in this and all of our past lives will generate certain effects in this life and in future lifetimes. It is not the purpose of Karma to reward and punish. Laws of Karma are perfectly just. Karma's purpose is to educate the subconscious, to purify it. Once the subconscious is purified, it no longer needs the Karmic Cycle.

The Karmic cycle is the chain of lives we live to work out all the negativity (hatred, revenge, jealousy, pettiness, anger, attachment, greed etc.). Discord, fear, and guilt are born of the law of consequences in that they are the consequences of "errors" in attitude or action. They can also be healed by the same law that created them. Sowing and the reaping may occur in different earthly lifetimes.

There is really one "sin" or "error," and that is selfishness. Our true spiritual nature, flowing as a natural consequence of our being part of the Creative Force, is to be selfless to nurture, help and support all creation, and to be filled with unconditional love as God is. When we go against this impulse and instead concentrate on self, discord, guilt, and fear naturally arise. Logically then, we should find joy, peace, and freedom from fear when we become truly more concerned for others beyond just ourselves.

Reincarnation is the mechanism by which Karma works. Karma is the force, which leads to reincarnation.

The ultimate purpose of life is soul (consciousness) development. Death is another step in the process of soul development that continues until we achieve oneness with God.

Reincarnation gives us the opportunity to continue that development by providing us a lifetime to act. The subconscious mind survives death and retains all the causes in a perfect memory bank. In addition all lessons and deeds are recorded in the entity's Akashic Records which are used to determine each new life.

In between earthly incarnations, we are able to analyze and perceive our soul's development up to now and assess what work still needs to be done.

Advantages of Laws of Karma:

1. It offers an understanding of frustrations and obstacles to those who don't seem to deserve this environment.

2. It offers explanation of the teachings of religious leaders including Christ.

3. Acts as a deterrent to selfish, thoughtless and harmful actions.

4. It facilitates the belief in an orderly universe, one in which law and order and a sense of moral purpose dominate.

6. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF REINCARNATION

Hinduism

Soul & Body: According to the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna said man's real self or soul is immortal and independent of the body, it neither kills nor is killed. It is indestructible, imperishable and inaccessible to the sufferings, which afflict the body. Eternal, omnipresent, fixed, immovable, everlasting is He (the human soul).

As laying aside worn-out garments, a man takes on other new ones, so laying aside worn out bodies, the embodied (soul) enters into other new ones. Rebirth is under the control of karma or "actions" and salvation is through ultimate release from the round of rebirths. All creatures are composed of two distinct elements, namely soul and body. The body including what are called "psychic" elements, is material; is subject to evolution, devolution and changes of all sorts; and consists of a blend of various elements or qualities. The material body, upon other material bodies or substances performs all action. The soul neither acts nor is affected by action. It has only contemplative powers. The enlightened man realizes the true distinction between soul and body.

Action & Rebirth: Any action, good or bad, must normally have its effect in continued existence for the doer. According to Gita, this is due not to the action as such, but due to desire underlying the action. Acts performed with indifference to results, without interest in the outcome, have no binding effect. We cannot refrain from action. Man must do his duty, without desire or fear of the consequences. Gita reminds us that in the back of action lies desire or passion (either positive or negative, that is love or hate). It is the passion that leads to action. Since desire or passion is more fundamental than action, it is desire rather than action, which is man's enemy.

Tibetan Buddhism

"Tibetan Book of the Dead" was written thousands of years ago by monks and states that a soul passes through many nonphysical worlds before reincarnation on earth.

Difference with Hinduism: Buddhists feel there is no permanent soul, just pulsating subconscious that goes from life to life learning lessons until enlightenment. Three fires of craving, ill will, and ignorance cause rebirth. Extinguish these fires to achieve nirvana. Hindus believe in a permanent soul.

Koran

A quote in Koran is "God generates beings and sends them back over and over again until they return to him". The Sufis did the most to preserve the reincarnation thoughts in the East. Under Islamic influence, Spain was a great center of philosophy. Avicebron, a Spanish Jew, brought Plato's teachings (who believed in a soul) to European thought.

 

 

Egypt

Transmigration was the accepted mechanism of reincarnation. After a person has died, he or she would reincarnate as an animal for as long as 3000 years until purified. Only then, he or she will return to human form. The Books of Hermes states "From one soul of the Universe are all souls derived. The soul passes from form to form".

Greece

Orpheus was the founder of Greek theology. Pythgoras & Plato used him as a source for their own philosophies. Pythagoras (582-507BC) stated and recalled many memories of his soul's incarnations (in Troy etc.). Plato (427-347 BC) stated every soul is immortal. In every succession of life & death you will do and suffer what like fitly may suffer at the hands of like.

 Ancient Judaism

There were three sects of philosophy among the Jews. The Sadducees believed that the soul died with the body. The Eggenes and Pharisees believed in rebirth. The Kabala is a sacred text representing Hebrew scriptures. Reincarnation often appears in the Kabala.

According to these teachings all human souls have a common origin from Adam Kadmon. Adam's original sin brought higher and lower souls into confusion. As a result every soul passes through a series of incarnations before returning to God. Ancient Jews believed that Moses was the reincarnation of Abel, the Son of Adam. The Messiah was the reincarnation of Adam himself, who had already come a second time as David.

Rome

The poet Ennius introduced Karma to the Romans. In his "Annals", he tells how Homer appeared to him in a dream and told him their two bodies had the same soul. Virgil (70-19 BC) in the Aeneid says, "All souls return again into living bodies".

 

Christianity & Bible

An early Christian philosopher Origen (AD 185-254) is considered as one of the most prominent of all of the Church fathers. In his Contra Celsum he states that soul enters into a body according to its former actions and then changes body. St. Augustine (AD 354-430) in Contra Academicos said that the message of Plato's reincarnation is the purest and most luminous of all philosophy.

In AD 529 Emperor Justinian closed Neo-Platonic School in Athens and banished those teachings. Before this, the early Christians, including St. Augustine accepted the concept of reincarnation as a matter of course. In the sixth century, the Second Council of Constantinopole condemned these teachings because it seemed easier to control the masses if they believed that they had but one lifetime in which to behave before facing the Judgment Seat. That council was not even attended by the Pope of Rome and St. Francis of Assisi and many other famous catholic monks. Bishops and Christian theologians have publicly espoused reincarnation in the centuries since then.

For nearly 1000 years the concept of reincarnation disappeared from Christian Europe. In 15th century in Florence, Italy, under the protection of the House of Medici, the teachings of Plato & concept of reincarnation revived.

USA

Around 1875 Mme H. P. Blavatsky, Col. H. Scott, William Judge & others founded the Theosophical Society in New York. It was first widespread movement in modern world to investigate and study reincarnation & related concepts. Theosophists regarded reincarnation as the universal law of evolutionary progress. Thus one would never outgrow the need for new cycles of rebirth.

7. EARTH LIFE

            Earth is not our natural home. It is a school for us to learn, to experiment and to make mistakes. Our sojourns here on earth create educational opportunities through which we learn the best ways to develop the soul and develop attributes that we lack.

            Each soul, by his own choice, passes through many earthly sojourns and is given a chance to develop spiritually. In the process, mistakes may also be made, and actions may be taken that move us farther away from God; but in each lifetime we are also free to act so as to make up for those errors.

            It is through our actions that we create many of our own rewards and punishments. Of course, it is up to us to alter or redirect our lives at any time. It is through various experiences that we grow and develop. All experiences are for our good and sometimes it takes what we would consider a negative experience to help develop our spirits. We chose many of our weaknesses and difficult situations in our lives so that we could grow. We were very willing, even anxious, as spirits to accept all of our ailments, illness, and accidents on earth, to help better ourselves spiritually. Our most sever challenges will one day reveal themselves to be our greatest teachers. Grief is growth. Soul cleansing can come through illness. We should not consider ourselves to be the unfortunate victims of the circumstances we are in. Some of us have come to earth to unite in a cause to change certain things, some to strengthen a course already set and to pave the way for those who may follow. Some come to earth for a short time, living only hours or days after birth.

            Each lifetime is another opportunity to move the transmigration of our soul forward through the accumulation of positive Karma. We must strive over onward through many cycles until we achieve sufficient perfection to rejoin God. It is the law, for no imperfect thing will ever have the opportunity to become a part of Godhead.

8. PURPOSE OF EARTH LIFE

Major purpose to come to earth is:

• To love, understand, forgive, and serve others
• To gain knowledge
• To grow spiritually
• To fulfill one’s life mission

Love:

Not until we learn to love others, without hating anyone, is he or she able to progress toward the light. In this highest plane, love is light, light is love. Divine love is the one great power that moves the universe.

People on earth are all collectively bonded to each other, united in one supreme purpose of learning to love one another. You cannot love unless we have accepted forgiveness and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is; the greater is our love.

Love is law of God. You live that you may learn to love. You love that you may learn to live.

Gain Knowledge:

A person’s knowledge goes with him or her at the time of death. Acquisition of knowledge continues even in afterlife. The more knowledge a person acquires here, the further and faster he or she will progress in the next world.

Spiritual Growth:

On earth, everything is done for the growth of the spirit. We are given opportunities to learn and grow spiritually. A religious person follows the teachings of his church or temple, whereas the spiritual person follows the guidance of his soul.

A person’s thought lead to actions and it is those thoughts and actions that shape the character of a person.

A Life Mission:

            Everyone has a great mission to fulfill, lives to touch, children to bear and/or raise. Our lives affect many individuals here on earth and those yet to come to earth in ways we cannot imagine. Adversity has a purpose. Through adversity we can develop compassion, empathy, and tolerance. To accomplish our mission we need others just like they need us. We are sent to earth to realize and learn to share more love, to discover that most important things are human relationships and love and not materialistic things. Materialism can inhibit spiritual growth.

In truth, one lifetime is very small period of time in the grand scheme of existence.

9. MARRIAGE

            Marriage affords the greatest opportunities for spiritual advancement. The essence of marriage is not physical, but the merging of minds, hearts, personalities, and, in rare cases, souls. It can also be most rewarding.

            Marriage gives rich opportunities for spiritual growth because it is the most trying situation that can be experienced in the flesh.

            The greatest sin in marriage is the desire of one partner to dominate the other and in so doing to rob him or her of their individuality.

            Regard marriage as an agreement to share the rest of your lives together. But encourage each other to be as independent as possible, yet so loving and compassionate that you can depend upon each other in a time of storm or crisis.

            One of the worst possible sins is to stay in marriage when love has died. This kind of situation is soul-destroying. In some cases divorce is not a sin, because it is inevitable.

10. ABORTION

            Abortion as per readings from Akashic records, is a minor sin, if indeed it were a sin.

            From conception, there is within the embryo a form of consciousness-what could be termed as subconscious. This is only a small part of entity and it is like a mechanical recording device that functions until the infant is delivered. This recording device is not soul; likewise, the embryo is not a human being in the true sense, until the soul enters this vegetative being in the womb.

            While the physical vehicle is being created within the womb, the soul hovers around the body of the mother. The time of ensoulment, when the embryo or fetus becomes a living soul, a true human being, varies greatly. The soul generally enters the body within a day after the child is delivered from the womb. Sometimes it does not enter until two or three days after the child is delivered. Sometimes a soul will enter the body and find it not to its liking and withdraw.

            Therefore, if you were to take the life of an embryo or fetus before the soul has entered its body, you have only denied the soul an opportunity to enter that body at that point in time. But the soul is eternal and has plenty of time. There is no sin or crime in destroying a mere recording device.

11. THE PROCESS OF REINCARNATION

11.1 What happens at the time of death?

At death, we are aware that we are more than just our physical bodies. At the time of death the spirit body is released from the physical body. A flexible silver cord attaches the physical body to the astral body much like an umbilical cord connects a newborn baby to its mother. In a near death experience the cord is not severed, but on permanent death the cord breaks. The spirit floats above the physical body and observes what is happening around it. In near death experiences (for example accident, surgery, heart attack etc.), people usually hear someone pronounce them dead, whether it is the doctor in the emergency room or the police at the scene of an accident. Feeling as if they are floating, they can see their physical body and observe the activity around it. Soon he begins to hear a ringing or buzzing noise and at the same time feels he is moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel. He starts seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel and soon the beautiful light envelops him. Language can not express the wonderful emotion the soul feels in this sacred light and vibration. He glimpses the spirits of relatives and friends who have already died and a loving warm spirit (a being of light) appears before him. Intense feeling of joy, love and peace overwhelms him and he does not want to return. A person with near death experience is told that it is not yet his time, that he still has work to do and that he must return to the physical life. Almost everyone with near death experience returns to the body quickly. Most of them do not have time nor are allowed to view a panoramic instantaneous play back of major events of his life or view parts of the spirit realms. But there are certain people with near death experience who are allowed to see the playback or view parts of the spirit world.

At the time of real death we may be met by highly evolved entities called Masters or Guides. These Masters and Guides have completed their karmic cycle many centuries ago. Their main purpose is to help us adjust to our death and to lead us to the white light that will take us to the realm of the soul plane. If you do not enter the white light for any reason (such as strong attachment to family members, desire for revenge, strong desires or addiction to worldly goods and possessions etc.), you will remain on the astral plane as a troubled spirit. Mostly these troubled spirits find comfort in the last surrounding they inhabited on the earth plane. Thus, they may stay around their house or apartment. Some of their family members may be made aware of their presence and would interpret this as a ghost haunting their house. Eventually these troubled spirits are persuaded to enter the white light and their destination is the soul plane.

The journey continues through the process of death. Death is just another natural process of life.

11.2 Soul plane

Orientation: Upon arrival in the soul plane, souls are either met by their personal guide (also called guardian angel) or greeted by dead relatives, close friends or old classmates. After the initial greeting, the souls are made acquainted with the laws, which govern their transport and telepathic conversations in the soul plane. Your guide will spend as much time as necessary to explain the nature of reality to you and your present purpose on this plane.

As soon as the transition is made, all the events of your past life will pass before you as on a fast moving screen. You will review every episode of your life from the moment of your birth. During this review you see your actions and feel the emotions of the recipient of your actions. For example if you insulted or hit someone, you feel the pain that person felt. If you did a good act, you feel the good or the gratitude the recipient felt. This review is for you to recognize your actions and face the facts. As you realize that the purpose of life is growth, you can not feel guilt. Surely, there are events in our lives that we wish we could change. We have eternity to improve ourselves since we live not just one but many lives. We will return to earth until we have perfected ourselves. During this review you remember your aims at that time and begin to assess the life and see why you failed to accomplish certain portions of it. Orientation conferences with our guide and a council of elders allow us to begin the long process of self-evaluation between lives.

11.3 Placement in the Spirit World

Everyone has a designated place in the spirit world. Group placement is determined by the level of development of the soul .The souls in one group are intimate old friends that have about the same awareness level. Depending on the spiritual awareness level, every soul generates a specific color aura. Individual vibration wave pattern represents each soul's aura. Thus a beginner soul emits white aura, an intermediate soul emits yellow, an advanced soul emits light blue and highly advanced soul (master guide) emits dark bluish-purple aura. Soul members study and network by the use of criticism and acclaim as each strives towards common goals.

11.4 Life selection

There comes a time when soul must once again leave the sanctuary of the spirit world for another trip to earth. Training sessions with our counselors or guides and peer groups have provided a collaborative spiritual effort to prepare us for the next life. Our karma of past deeds towards humanity and our mistakes and achievements has all been evaluated with an eye toward the best course of future endeavors. The soul then has to decide on:

* Am I ready for a new physical life

* What specific lessons do I want to take to advance my learning and development and pay the karmic debt?

* Where should I go, and who shall I be in my next life for the best opportunity to work on my goals?

Since the soul always has free will, it is our decision to either never be born or to be born at a certain time and place. Many souls have never entered physical body. It is our decision to choose our parents, friends, lovers and enemies. We therefore cannot blame other people or bad childhood or marriage for problems in earthly lives. We are directly responsible for our lives because we have chosen the environment.

We do not just reincarnate individually. Our own karmic cycle is intertwined with many others. Our relatives and friends have been with us in a variety of relationships in our previous lives. Parents are sometimes reborn as children of their former children. Sisters may have been mothers, children, aunts or friends. Brothers may have been fathers, children, uncles, or friends. We learn to live with love and accept others in a variety of relationships under many different circumstances. Children do not always think as their parents do. Each person comes into a particular life with their own past experiences; peculiar thought patterns and ways of reacting. All individuals have their own unique histories and personalities. These differences show up in children and cause different kind of behavior.

11.5 Choosing a new body

This is a very complicated process and group karmic consideration must be met. That is, you have to consider the karmic cycle of dozens of other souls before you can finalize your plans. These other entities must agree with your plans because they also have free will. If the soul has earned the right to select his own parents, he will begin looking about for those souls whom he has perhaps known in previous lifetimes in the flesh, those with whom he has some karmic ties, either good or bad. There can even be competition for certain bodies. If another soul entity desires to enter the body of same unborn child, then the various qualifications and history of both souls are entered into a so-called heavenly computer, which automatically selects the more deserving candidate.

The souls have the option to enter the future body anytime during the pregnancy, from the time of conception through the time of actual birth. The soul also has the option to be in and out of the body during pregnancy. Most often the soul enters the body within 24 hours of birth, either before or immediately thereafter. There are almost as many candidates for the deformed or mentally afflicted bodies as for the healthy normal ones, for this is an important lesson, which is learned here. The greater the obstacles in the physical body, the more are the opportunity for a soul to pay off karmic debts and achieve more rapid spiritual growth. Sometimes they are deliberately assigned to such bodies as means of atonement for abuses committed in previous lives. Other times, if they are truly repentant of serious sins, they will voluntarily select such a body.

The soul itself is both male and female, or more aptly, neither but simply a unique ego, the completeness of a whole, rather than a divided sex. Most often, the soul continues to chose a sex that he has preferred in previous lifetimes, but sometimes he selects the opposite sex in order to learn certain qualities which are more easily understood by one sex than the other. Gentleness: A man who has been brutal will sometimes elect to become a woman in next physical life in order to undergo gentling qualities and situations which require gentleness. Bravery: A cowardly little woman for many earth lives may then chose the body of a man child in order to overcome physical fears.

A woman with palsy (paralysis) in a physical life may wonder why she should have to undergo such hardship when her present life seems to her nearly blameless. In the Akashic records one can find that in a lifetime in ancient Rome she was a cruel soldier who delighted in frightening others until they trembled with fear. He would turn wild beasts loose on tortured Christians to see them shake and tremble. To atone, this soul returns as a weak trembling woman to make spiritual advance. Sometimes a soul which has been a male or female in the past say 10 lifetimes return as opposite sex and carries strong tendencies still of the sex of previous lifetimes. Other times, souls return to physical bodies with sexes confused, or when they were not able to decide whether they wished to return as man or woman and had such poorly defined urges one way or another, that they retain some of the confusion. These souls in the new physical bodies may display homosexual tendencies.

11.6 Free Will

Since the soul always has free will, it is our decision to be born at a certain time and place. It is our decision to choose our parents, friends, lovers, and enemies. We cannot blame other people or bad childhood or marriage for our present problems. We are directly responsible for our lives because we have chosen the environment. You will preplan the basic framework of your new life, but you can’t plan every situation. Not only does your soul have free will, but so do all the souls that you will come in contact with in this new life. The main point is that you have chosen the tests.

11.7 Akashic Records

The Akashic records are kept on the casual plane. They contain a file on each soul's growth and development throughout its many lives. The information imprinted on the Akashic records include your actions, thoughts, desires, hopes, dreams, all of your lives and your reactions to them. This includes past lives, what they were and what they were supposed to be, the present as it is and as it is destined to be. It also includes the probable futures that you have and the destiny purposes for them. The records show the soul's progression through its karmic cycle, what is has done or has to do, what it has learned and not learned. These records are three-dimensional. They serve as a most valuable aid for the soul to review and study during its life (between lives) in the soul plane, to contemplate the sort of karmic debt it most needs to shed and to decide which qualities are most needed for further development, and thereby select a new life on earth. We keep our own books in that way and we are our own judge and jury.

11.8 The Planes

The karmic cycle is worked out on lower planes, which includes the earth plane. The earth plane or the physical plane is by far the most difficult level. The greatest amount of karmic debt can be erased or added on this plane. The amount of time spent on lower planes will depend entirely on the soul’s achievements and remaining karmic debts. Depending on the level of consciousness of the soul, each soul has a vibration rate. In order to go to a higher plane, your vibration rate (or level of consciousness) must increase. The higher planes are therefore higher degree of consciousness. The ultimate goal of each soul is to keep moving upwards to the highest plane, or God plane. On the God plane the essence of all of us reside.

11.9 Time Between Reincarnation

No one is forced to return to the physical form on the earth plane. If a soul so chooses, it is permitted to remain on the soul plane throughout eternity, although it is harder to advance. On the spirit or soul plane it seems so simple and easy, you blend in harmony with those of similar interests and vibrations. Here you do not need food or shelter of face the struggles of the physical plane. But earth is a big classroom for practical experience. When we return to the flesh we are thrown into contact with those who are not in harmony with us or we with them. That is when the testing and learning begins.

Sometimes we choose deliberately to join family or friends or coworkers with dissimilar tastes than our own; for only by adjusting to fellow human beings or working a selfless, harmonious pattern of life that refrains from hurting others, loving others, do we advance spiritually. The time between lives in physical body can be a thousand or a hundred years or a few hours or days or weeks or years. Some souls need desperately to make amends and return quickly to another earth life. On the other hand, some that are tired of earthly woes or hard life or physical pain want a long period of resting. Time is needed to review and contemplate he Akashic records, to discuss with peer group members and master guide, to determine and prioritize the specific karmic debt to pay and lessons to learn, to select and plan the new life with the group of intertwined souls etc.

11.10 Cycle of Lives

Astrology plays a major role in deciding a time period for your next life. The exact time, place and date of birth will be very important. If you have artistic lessons to learn and sensitivity is to be experienced, then coming back as a Pisces would be indicated. Learning lessons on power as an executive or leader might dictate coming back as a Scorpio, Capricorn or Leo. Of course, the other planetary influence such as moon, ascendant, Mars, Mercury, Venus etc. must be carefully selected.

In addition to astrology, "sub-cycles" must also be taken into consideration before any decision concerning the overall karmic cycle can be made. Within our karmic cycles, these smaller sub-cycles such as certain emotional, intellectual, creative and physical tasks, when completed finish a certain phase within the total karmic cycle. Every twelve lives makes up a sub-cycle. These twelve lives correspond to the zodiac sign in astrology. Theoretically, we choose a different astrological sign in each of these twelve lives to complete the cycle. Each of the planets in our solar system has specific energies. For example, Mars has the vibration of mental and warlike attitudes, while Venus has the vibration of beauty, art and love. Our Earth is blessed with energies for growth, including humans. The particular energy that speeds human growth and evolution is called Kundalini (Sanskrit for "circular power"). This energy causes people to evolve at a much faster rate than they might on other planets. This makes earth a valuable place to embark on for more intense growth.

You have to have a series of lives in order to explore all aspects of a particular quality. For instance, a person (soul) may be working on power. You may spend some lives being the power behind the throne, some in power, some in misuse of power against others, some powerless until you understand all aspects of power including physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. If a person were in a cycle of healing, the lives would include some with illness (treated or untreated), healing others, studying causes of illness or developing healthier bodies. These lives will not necessarily be in chronological order.

12. Documented Proof of Reincarnation

Even with all of the documented cases, no matter how many facets of a case check out, there will always be skeptics who will try to explain the results by coincidence or some other answer. Still when a child reports information during a hypnotic regression, using the vocabulary of an adult or speaks in a foreign languages that he or she has never been exposed to, or describes events, one must consider it as a plausible proof of reincarnation.

Bride Murphy

The most publicized and documented case of a previous lifetime was published in 1956 as "The Search for Bride Murphy". This book documents the results of six tape-recorded hypnotic regression of Mrs. Virginia Burus Tighe of Pueblo, Colorado in 1952-53. In trance, Mrs. Tighe described her life in Belfast, Ireland in the 1800's as Bride Murphy. Mrs. Tighe had never visited Ireland but many details provided by her in a throaty Irish accent checked out.

The Research of Dr. Ian Stevenson

From 1957 to 1967 Dr. Stevenson was chairman of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Virginia Medical School. Much of his research has been on "reincarnation" and he is recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on reincarnation. His book entitled "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation" deals with his personal research and interviews with children whose memories very strongly suggested reincarnation. For example, the case of a five-year-old Lebanese boy named Imad Elawar, who in 1964 lived in the village of Kornayal, provides an interesting case of documented reincarnation. Imad claimed to have been in his last life Ibrahim Bouhanzy, who died of tuberculosis on September 8, 1944 at the age of twenty-five. Imad could recall his former family and the place where he lived. Of the fifty-seven claims, fifty-one proved to be correct. Fraud was eliminated after careful analysis of collected evidence. Neither family stood to gain and both stood to lose by lying.

Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce was born in Kentucky in 1877 and died in 1945. He is one of the worlds best known psychics and twentieth century’s most outstanding mystic and seer. He was gifted with a unique clairvoyance. Since age ten he read bible once for each year of his life. At an early age he could see and converse with his grandfather who had died when he was four. Later he could sleep with his head on his schoolbook and learn their entire content. He lived on the family farm and one-day when alone in the wood saw a beautiful lady, who appeared and later disappeared in front of him. This lady asked him what he would like as a gift. He said he wanted to be able to help others. Since that day, he gained an amazing ability. His specialty was in diagnosing medical conditions of people he had never met. When placed in hypnotic trance, Cayce would not only correctly diagnose the patient's medical problems, but would recommend correct treatment in over 99 percent of cases he handled. With no formal medical training, Cayce healed thousands of people who had previously tried conventional medicine without success. He would receive a letter from someone he did not know and just from patient's name and address, would recite the diagnosis and prescription. At the time of his death in 1945 Cayce had given more than 14,000 telepathic-clairvoyant readings, all of which were either recorded in short hand or on tape recorder. 2,500 of these are called "life readings". These "life readings" traced the past karmic lives of individuals and aided them greatly in understanding their present problems. These discourses are kept in the library of the "Association for Research and Enlightenment" at Virginia Beach.

13. Regression Hypnotherapy

There are multitudes of experiences from past lives that can negatively effect our present daily lives. The use of past life regression is finding increased acceptance in eliminating the causes of other habits, phobias and negative tendencies. A fear of water can be the result of drowning in a past live. A woman, who died in a desert sandstorm when she was a nomad in her last life, now has an unusual fear of wind. Insomnia was treated in a middle-aged woman by revealing a previous lifetime as a male civil war sentry from the South who fell asleep at his post. Union soldiers killed the sentry and his fellow soldiers, so the karmic association of going to sleep and death was well established. Fortunately, reliving that lifetime removed the insomnia. An overweight man starved to death in a past life. Another man wondered why he was such an overprotective father until he found out that he had deserted his family in two previous incarnations. A workaholic in this life witnessed his family starving to death in Greece hundreds of years ago because he was not able to adequately provide for them. By overworking himself in this life, he was subconsciously preventing that from ever happening again. Fortunately for him, his past life regression removed his workaholic compulsions permanently. A woman suffering from frigidity in this life found out that her husband in a past life rejected her because she was raped. Her husband in this life was the same entity as her husband in the past life. By being frigid, she was repaying him for his actions. Today, she is a no longer frigid thanks to past life regression therapy.

14. RESEARCH ON NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES

            Scientific research on the "Near Death Experience" or the NDE phenomenon is now in its third decade. This research was initiated in 1975 with the publication of the best-selling book Life after Life by the psychiatrist Raymond A. Moody Jr. It has since been followed by many research projects by many prominent doctors and authors.

            According to the 1990 Gallup Poll, 22 million Americans, or one person in every eleven, has had a NDE. Furthermore, Gallop’s findings also suggest that approximately 35 percent of those persons who have come close to death undergo NDE. It is therefore a widespread phenomenon. NDE has spanned many centuries, across all continents and religious groups, including prominent individuals such as the writer Ernest Hemingway and the psychologist Carl Jung.

The implication of NDE research on thousands of subjects is:

1. That we lived as full-grown spirits in another realm before our earth life. The main purpose of pre-earth life is for personal development and preparation for earth life. Among our pre-earth life activities were volunteering to come to earth, making agreements with spirits to come to earth as family and friends, selecting our missions and positions for life on earth, and preparing for the test and experiences of life on earth. In the pre-earth life, we associate with many souls for eternities.

2. That earth is not our natural home but is a school for us to learn to love, to experience, to gain knowledge, and to develop spiritually through the accumulation of positive Karma.

3. That death is nothing but a transition from the physical world to the spirit world. At death, guides, escorts or guardian angels that may be deceased relatives or friends help our transition to the next world. At death one’s personality continues unaltered from earth life. Everything we do, say, and think is stored as part of our unique identity that accompanies us into the next life.

4. In the spirit world the individual has a spirit body which lacks any disabilities and deformations that plagued the physical body. The spirit body has no restrictions from the force of gravity or dense matter. It retains the senses and sensations of the mortal body but has increased capacities such as the ability to move with the speed of light, increased mental abilities, increased power of sight, and ability to communicate telepathy.

5. Depending on the soul’s developmental level, it is assigned to a higher or lower realm (or plane) in the spirit world. Each realm has cities of light, which are bright and literally emanate light. No sun or extra source of light is needed. The cities of light are filled with beautiful gardens, flowers, shrubs, and trees that perfectly compliment their physical structures of walls, gates, streets, houses, and various buildings with their magnificent exteriors, interiors, and furniture. The inter-city travel is permitted from higher to lower realms but not vice-versa. The higher realm city has greater grandeur than the last one.

6. That everyone in the spirit world or the City of Light has something meaningful to do, knows how his or her work fits into the greater scheme of things, and is willing and happy to perform any assigned duties. Nobody is forced to do anything that they do not want to or accept anything that they are taught. A council of elders or a panel of judges hears all petitions. Each soul is assigned a guide or teacher.

7. The main purposes of post earth life are to gain knowledge, teach others, and serve others.

            "I should be glad of another death."

                                                  ----- T. S. Eliot

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shashi Bubna was born in 1944 in India where he obtained his Bachelor Degree in

Mechanical Engineering. In 1967 he obtained his Master Degree in Mechanical

Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. His entire professional career was

spent working for Kaiser Engineers (last position Group Senior Vice President), Bechtel

Corporation (Vice President) and M.I.M. Corp. of Australia (vice President & Project

Director). He also resided in Brazil (9 years), Portugal (4 years) and Argentina (3 years).

As a Project Director he managed the design and construction of many large international

mining projects in Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina. He is married, has three daughters and resides in Fremont, CA.

He may be contacted at 1 925 803 5069 (h)or sbubna@comcast.net or 1 510 449 2598 (cell)

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International Gita Society's editorial note:

The Lord has made Karmic laws as the controller of all living beings. Therefore, one must learn to gladly endure all that fate imposes by taking refuge in Him. The Vedas declare that Lord, using Karma, makes us dance as a juggler would make his monkey dance. Without the laws of Karma, the scriptural injunctions, prohibitions as well as self-effort would have no value at all. Karma is the eternal justice, and the eternal law. As a result of working of the eternal justice there could be no escape from the consequences of our deeds. We become the product of our own past thinking and action. Therefore, we must think and act wisely at the present moment using the scriptures as a guide.

The doctrine of Karma and reincarnation is also found in the following two verses of the Koran: Allah is He who created you and then sustained you, then causes you to die, then gives life to you again (Surah 30.40). He may reward those who believe and do good works. No one is able to escape His law of consequences (Surah 30.45). People cannot escape from the consequences of their deeds; for as we sow, so we reap. Cause and effect cannot be separated because the effect exists in the cause as the fruit exists in the seed. Good and evil deeds follow us continually like our shadows.

The Bible also says: Whosoever shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed (Genesis 9.06). It is recorded that all references to Karma and reincarnation were taken out of the Bible during the fifth century with the noble aim of encouraging people to strive hard for perfection during this very life. Those who believe in reincarnation must avoid laziness and procrastination, stress intense spiritual discipline, and try their best to get Self-realization in this very life as if there is no reincarnation. Live as though this is your last day on this earth. One cannot achieve anything through laziness and procrastination.

The Law of Karma means that each individual (soul) is the maker of his or her own fate. If the individual soul is eternal and has the freedom of choice, then together with the freedom comes the responsibility for one's actions. And the eternity of soul means that we continue to get better and better life after life till the perfection of nirvana is achieved. There is no Karma in the animal or the plant kingdom, because they do not have the freedom of choice. Those who deny the universal law of Karma are also denying that spirit or soul is eternal and it has freedom. Such persons should come up with an alternate theory to explain the inequality in the world, and among the family members, without implicating the creator who cannot be unjust.

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England's top soccer coach, Glenn Hoddle, is kicked out of a US$575,600 a year job for comments on Karma, because, reincarnation isn't a Christian doctrine. (Source: Hinduism Today, May 1999)