###### [[Karma and Reincarnation in Hinduism]] **Covers**:: [[Buddhism]], [[eastern philosophy]] **Last Edited**:: *7:35 AM - July 08, 2022* - [[karma]] of the [[soul]] [^1] - the mental impressions the [[soul]] receives during life - [[karma]] is not fate because we possess [[free will]], it is the cullmination of all our actions across lifetimes [^2] - if you inflict pain eventually that pain will come back to you even if in your next lifeline - [[Karma is based in the law of cause and effect]] [^3] - Penance is a pre-payment for negative [[karma]] [^4] - [[reincarnation]] is the natural cycle of birth, death & rebirth, called [[reincarnation|samsara]]. A [[soul]] will continue to go in and out of bodies until it has reached perfection [^5] - the goal of [[Hinduism]] is to escape [[reincarnation]] through [[enlightenment]] through [[love]] of the Gods [^6] - [[enlightenment|Moksha]] comes when the [[soul]] has gone through all the experiences of life in the physical world [^7] - A noble goal in [[Hinduism]] is to [[experience]] life - [[Suicide]] accelerates negative [[karma]] and it will take many live to reach the same point again. There is no escape from life. [^8] - Through [[selfless]] action that is surrendered to God [[Hinduism|Hindu]]'s avoid being affected by the reaction of their actions. [[Buddhism is the study of happiness through detachment]] - God acts through [[Hinduism|Hindu]]'s and they should not take credit for their actions [^9] - [[Hinduism]] has room for all people, beggar, saint, or pyschopath. [^10] - It has knowledge of inner states of [[consciousness]], [[Yoga]], [[meditation]], and tolerance for all [[religion]] [^11] [^1]: [[Karma]] is the law of action and reaction which governs life. The [[soul]] carries with it the mental impressions it received during its earthly life. These characteristics are collectively called the [[karma]] of the [[soul]]. [[Karma]] literally means “deed or act”, and more broadly describes the principle of cause and effect. [^2]: [[Karma]] is not fate, for God endowed his children with the power to act with [[free will|free will]]. Esoterically, [[karma]] refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and all previous lives, all of which determine our future. [^3]: Yes! [[Karma]] is the law of action and reaction which governs life. The [[soul]] reaps the effects of its own actions. If we cause others to suffer, then the experience of [[suffering]] will come to us. If we [[love]] and give, we will be loved and given to. Thus does each [[soul]] create its own destiny through thought, feeling and action. [[Karma]] is a natural law of the mind, just as gravity is a law of matter. [^4]: The wise understand penance as a [[self]]-inflicted [[karma]] or prepayment of a reaction expected because of a previous action caused. Penance well performed intercedes between the action and the reaction, counterbalancing both and smoothing out the [[karma]]. [^5]: Therefore, the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] does not believe in a single life on earth, followed by eternal joy or pain. Hindus know that all souls reincarnate, take one body and then another, evolving through experience over long periods of time. To a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] death is not fearsome. Like the caterpillar’s metamorphosis into the delicate butterfly, death does not end our existence but frees us to pursue an even greater development. The [[soul]] never dies. It is immortal. Physical death is a most natural transition for the [[soul]], which survives and, guided by [[karma]], continues its long pilgrimage until it is one with its creator, God. [[reincarnation]] is the natural cycle of birth, death & rebirth, called [[reincarnation|samsara]]. When we die, the [[soul]] leaves the first world physical body, it lives for a while in the Devaloka, the Second World, before returning again to earth, the Bhuloka or First World. [^6]: [[Suicide]], for instance, only accelerates the intensity of one’s [[karma]], bringing a series of immediate lesser births and requiring several lives for the [[soul]] to return to the exact evolutionary point that existed at the moment of [[suicide]], at which time the still-existing karmic entanglements must again be faced and resolved. Thus turns the slow wheel of [[reincarnation|samsara]]. [^7]: So, we can see that the goal of a [[Hinduism|Hindu]]’s life is to halt the process of births and death. Life’s ultimate goal is not money, not clothes, not sex, not power, not food or any other of the instinctive needs. These are natural pursuits, to be sure, but our real [[purpose]] on this earth is to know, to [[love]] and to serve God and the Gods. [^8]: [[enlightenment|Moksha]] comes when all extraneous karmas have been resolved and God has been fully realized. This means that before [[enlightenment|Moksha]], the [[soul]] must have gone through all the experiences of life in the physical world. Once having faced in the spirit of [[love]] and understanding all of these various and varies experiences, [[enlightenment|Moksha]] comes and marks the way-station where the liberated [[soul]] is free from rebirth. [^9]: A devout [[Hinduism|Hindu]] will always affirm: “I am not doing anything. God is [[Acting]] through me. It is all His Will.” In this way, actions and their reactions, good, bad or mixed, dissolve, and mental freedom and inner peace is maintained; and the mind occasionally merges in the ocean of God. Thus one of the goals of life is experienced, and painful karmas are not created to be re-experienced at a later time. [^10]: [[Hinduism]] is so broad. Within it there is a place for the insane. There is a place for the saint. There is a place for the beggar and for those who support beggars. There is a place for the intelligent person and plenty of room for the fool. The beauty of [[Hinduism]] is that it does not demand of every [[soul]] perfection in this life, a necessary conclusion for those who believe in a single lifetime during which human perfection or grace must be achieved or all is lost. Belief in [[reincarnation]] gives the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] an acceptance of every level of humanity. Belief in [[karma]] gives the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] caution, foresight and wisdom in handling the affairs of life. [^11]: There are one billion Hindus in the world today. [[Hinduism]] attends to the needs of each one. It is the only [[religion]] in the world today that has such breadth, such depth. [[Hinduism]] contains the Deities and the sanctified temples, the esoteric knowledge of inner states of [[consciousness]], [[Yoga]] and the disciplines of [[meditation]]. It possesses a gentle compassion and a genuine tolerance and appreciation for all religions. It believes in a just world in which every [[soul]] is guided by [[karma]] to the ultimate goal of [[enlightenment|Moksha]]. It rests content in the knowledge of the Divine origin of the [[soul]], its passage through one life and another until maturity has been reached. It offers guidance to all who take refuge in it, from the non-believer to the most evolved rishi. It cherishes the largest storehouse of scripture and [[philosophy]] on the earth, and the oldest. It is endowed with a tradition of saints and sages, of realized men and [[women]], unrivaled on the earth. It is the sum of these, and more which makes us boldly declare that [[Hinduism]] is the greatest [[religion]] in all the world.