Few people like the idea
that after death we simply disappear, and nothing else reminds us that we once existed. Therefore, many find solace in various religions and teachings that promote the idea of an immortal soul. The statement about the transmigration of souls, or reincarnation - what is it? Let us consider this concept in more detail.
The meaning of the term
Repeated births and deaths, constant reincarnations from life to life - this is what reincarnation is. Past life in this mystical process plays an important role. When the physical body dies, some subtle matter remains. Perhaps this is our mind, consciousness. One way or another, the entire volume of accumulated thoughts, feelings, ideas, beliefs that will stretch the thread between the past and future lives of the creature is preserved. How a person lived his previous being determines the well-being of his subsequent births.
The law of karmaIn religions that postulate the constant reincarnation of the soul in a new life, karmic law is very strict. Not a single action, not a single act of a living being is left without attention "from above." Reincarnation is subject to strict sequential law. What kind of law is this? Throughout his life, a person acts in one way or another, and all information about his actions is “recorded” by a silent logger. In the next birth, the living entity receives the fate, physical body and mind that it deserves according to the results of a past life. In Vedic literature, the fact remains undeniable - the reincarnation of the soul is an immutable law of the existence of the whole world. No one will argue: everything that has birth has death. Therefore, everything that dies is once again born. Absolutely all living beings are subject to the law of reincarnation, and according to the results of their existence, they can claim either a higher form of life in their next birth, or a less developed one.
Is the cycle of samsara endless?
Many religious movements that advance the idea of reincarnation of the soul try to answer questions: reincarnation - what is it, is it an endless process? The answer is quite difficult. On the one hand, it is logical to assume that there is a certain “ideal ending” when a creature righteously passes from life to life, transforming into ever more perfect forms, and finally reaches a certain climax of development and ends its cycle with a permanent blissful state. On the other hand, it is not possible to imagine such an ideal state of a higher form of development. Although, perhaps, we have not yet reached that level of enlightenment when we can realize this option.
What does science say?The idea of constant reincarnation is reflected in transpersonal psychology, namely in the ideas of Carl Jung regarding the collective unconscious. Reincarnation fully corresponds to this concept - that it is a kind of accumulation in the human unconscious of the deep images conveyed to him by his ancestors (and maybe by himself in previous births). In addition, science finds it difficult to refute the existence of an immortal soul, confronted with facts when people recall their past lives and even provide information that could not be known to them from any other sources.