Rebirth - Another Life
What is it that creates birth?
What brings us back to planet earth?
It is our actions, our Karma that will decide,
How and where we are born after we die.
Many people ask the question, 'Is rebirth real? Will we be born again?' Let's analyze.
Is birth real? Do we see people being born? Yes, of course. Are these people born by luck or by chance? Some are blind, some are healthy, some in rich families and some in abject poverty. What causes birth? When, where, and to whom we are born is not micro-managed by God. The Creator has commissioned Universal Laws by which this universe is controlled. The earth rotates once in 24 hours. It revolves around the sun in 365 ¼ days. Is somebody sitting up there and doing all this? Seasons change, just as the Law of Gravity pulls everything back to earth. While we cannot prove these Universal Laws, we infer that they exist.
Therefore, without doubt, there is the existence of a Law of Action and Reaction, the Law of Cause and Effect. As discussed, this Law of the Boomerang is known as the Law of Karma. What goes around, comes around and as we sow, so shall we reap. There is no other way for Karma to be executed other than rebirth.
Death is a reality. It is certain everybody has to die. However, the person who has died has performed certain deeds. These have to be settled. But the person is no more.
Who died? Only the body! The one who was alive, the Mind and the Ego - ME departed. Don't we say, 'He passed away, moved on, expired or left the body?' Where has the person gone and how will that person settle all past actions that remain unsettled? How will the law unfold? The answer is simple, through rebirth.
Therefore, if we contemplate life, it becomes obvious that death is not the end, it is just a bend for the one who was alive in the body. There is no rebirth for the body. We see that it is cremated or buried, and it returns to dust. But what about the one who was alive? If we use our intellect, we can realize the truth that the one deceased is reborn.
Who are we in reality? As we live, we are a body, mind, ego, and Soul. The body is gross and physical. It is made of 5 elements - Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space. At death, all the 5 elements disintegrate and return to earth. The ME that was alive, the Mind and Ego, has to settle its past actions as per the law and is reborn as per its Karma. The Soul is the power that gives us life. It is the Divinity that is with us from birth to death. Unfortunately, we don't realize the truth of all this. We live and die in ignorance and thus, even question the occurrence of rebirth.
Because of our ignorance that rebirth is a reality of life, we live as the body, mind, and ego and we suffer. We don't discover the truth. We don't realize we are the Divine Soul. If we really want to live a life of peace and joy, if we want to be liberated from misery and sorrow, if we want to overcome fear and worry, we must realize the truth about rebirth.
Modern-day science and technology is making it possible for people to identify case studies where a young child remembers its past life. The Mind and the Ego, ME that is reborn, carries with it the flashes of memory and in rare freak cases, people remember their past life. One can study the case of Shanti Devi in India or the Japanese Navy fighter pilot James Leininger who it seems knew of their previous life as they were reborn. Many such cases have become a subject of study in many universities around the world. But they are still to coin a clear explanation about how this happens.
Long ago, in ancient India, there was a prince named Siddharth Gautama. He saw the world as full of suffering. He gave up his kingdom to go in quest of the truth - How can we escape from this constant cycle of death and rebirth? He was awakened and thus, after his enlightenment, became known as the Buddha. He advocated the concept of Nirvana, to escape from this cycle of rebirth. The Hindus called it Moksha, the Western world, enlightenment and salvation. Most of the religions in this world preach that we must ultimately become one with God. We must escape from suffering on earth. We must be liberated from taking rebirth.
How can we escape from being born again? As long as we have unsettled Karma, we have to return to redeem our past actions. When death happens, it happens all of a sudden. It does not give us the opportunity to clear all Karma. Be it good deeds or bad deeds, we have to be reborn. However, there is a way to escape from rebirth.
Those who go in quest for the ultimate purpose of life, realize that we are not the body, mind and ego. Therefore, our actions are not our actions. They are not our Karma. We are only instruments that act on behalf of the Divine. For such realized people, there is no Karma, and therefore, there is no rebirth. In fact, all the past Karma, carried forward over many past lives, dissolves and disappears the moment we realize the truth that we are not the ego, mind or body, we are the Divine Soul. This only happens if we learn to live life overcoming our ignorance. Then we can escape from rebirth.
IN A NUTSHELL