Rebirth Revisited

This is a response to Mr Anirudh Kumar Rastogi's comment which is sincerely appreciated. It is interesting to note that it is the gravitational force which leads to rebirth(Mr Rastogi). We are all aware of the three forces, namely, electromagnetic force, nuclear force, weak and strong and the gravitational which are present all over and responsible for everything that happens in this Universe, including the human body. It is believed that the electromagnetic force is the strongest. It is true that our body also comprises of energy since matter and energy are both interchangeable and interconvertible based on Einstein’s famous equation.

Yogis have always known that the human body consists of three parts, a Sthula Sharir, comprising of the physical body made of matter , a Sukshma Sharir, also known as the Astral Body, comprising of Energy or Pranshakti as well as the mind or manas. The third part is the Karan Sharir, also called the Ideational or Causal body which consists of the Intelligence or Buddhi and the Soul or spirit.The Individual Superconsciousness is the same as the human soul or spirit and is the gateway to the Universal Superconsciousness or God. The soul represents the Divine in us since we have been created in the image of God. Our entire body, therefore, comprises of energy.

We have all come into this world for three reasons. One is to evolve spiritually, secondly to serve others selflessly and thirdly, which, I think is the most important, to use our innate talent or ability for the good of others. Each of us is actually unique and have a trait or a gift which has been called an ‘archtype”by Carl Jung. This could be the ability to heal, (doctor, nurse), a unique talent of writing, singing, making people happy etc. Since all of us have been bestowed with this gift, we need to rediscover it. Once we do that, we should use it for the good of mankind, whereby, we wash off our karmas and improve spiritually.

At the time of physical death, the physical body comprising of matter gets destroyed and becomes part of the elements. The two other parts ie the astral (sukshma sharir) and karan sharir comprising of the soul(spirit), intelligence and pranashakti remain and go the Astral realm.This realm has many levels. One goes to the lower or higher realm depending on one’s karmas on earth.(We understand that karma is the law of cause and effect).The lower realms are inhabited by those who have done a lot of evil on earth. Here the soul sleeps for most of the time and will be born again. Those who have been good on earth in their physical bodies go to higher realms which are very beautiful. Both kinds of souls remain here till their earthly desires remain. They take rebirth in order to fulfill those desires and at the same time to gain experience and to further evolve spiritually. They choose the time, place, and family of their birth depending on where the soul feels it can evolve and gain experience.
Those souls who reside in the lower realms may also get a chance to take rebirth in order to evolve spiritually and to improve themselves. It is believed that spiritual evolution is fastest in the human form and slow but steady in the astral realms. If the soul, therefore, wishes to evolve faster it will need to take another human birth.
Those highly evolved souls who reside in the higher astral realms stay there for a long time till all their earthly karmas as well as karmas of the astral realms, which are enjoyments based on vibration, have been fulfilled. Once that happens they go higher to the causal realms. They stay there till all their causal desires are fulfilled, which are based on perception. Once this has happened the soul merges with the Creator….the drop becomes the ocean.(Kindly refer to the book “Autobiography of a Yogi” beautifully written by Sri Yoganand Paramhans for a detailed description)

So, to cut a long story short, a soul reincarnates, ie a soul takes a body form, complete with all the experiences gained by the senses and intelligence earlier. Therefore, the subconscious mind is completely aware of all the past births, and the experiences gained. This memory, however, is inaccessible to most people since there is a barrier between all the levels of our minds(the conscious, subconscious, individual superconscious and universal superconscious minds)but can be accessed either by meditation or by Hypnotic Regression, whereby past lives can actually be seen or experienced.

I feel it is God’s gift to us that He has made us forget about our past lives. I think, till such time one is spiritually mature, memories can be a cause of tremendous stress and everyone may not be able to handle it. When one progresses spiritually, one gradually develops enough wisdom to understand all these things and not get affected by them. I also feel very strongly that if one is on the spiritual path(which Deepak Chopra calls the “pathless path)one realizes that knowing and discussing about one’s own previous births becomes superfluous, since it is part and parcel of one’s spiritual evolution and ceases to have any meaning as one’s spiritual aim is to reach Him. One also realizes that in any case death is “just a beginning” and one will meet all near and dear ones on shedding the physical body on reaching the higher astral realms.