

Birth, death and rebirth form the major events in the circle of
life and incarnation. Hinduism speaks of two certainties. Firstly, that any
individual who has been born, must ultimately die and secondly, that whoever
dies, will be reborn, unless freed from the process of incarnation.
Why are we
here?
The
question then is why does the soul have to go through this
cyclical journey? Are there obligations that cannot be dealt with in one
lifetime? The answer involves the understanding of another concept: Karma. The
literal translation of the Sanskrit word, karma, is work or duty. Birth presupposes
a soul being assigned some particular duty that it has to accomplish through
life. Every person has the power to generate both good karma and bad karma.
Rebirth can be looked upon as an opportunity provided to the soul for
nullifying or equalizing bad karma.
After
death, the incarnated soul either directly achieves union with its higher soul
or does so after a certain period of time, based on its level of spiritual development.
However, this union is not permanent for most. Karma beckons and the incarnated
soul needs to come back to life as we know it, reincarnated into another
physical body.
You were born before your
Physical Birth
Let’s
take a quick look at the processes that precede birth. When the higher soul is
ready to incarnate, superior beings design the destiny of the incarnated soul.
This serves as a blueprint for the life to be. The higher soul then embarks
upon a journey through the lower mental world by moving “downward” with the
seed of consciousness and forms the lower mental body. Following this, the higher soul
extends the emotional permanent seed into the astral world thus forming the
astral body. Finally, the physical permanent seed is attached during
fertilization following the union of the sperm and the egg cell. The incarnated
soul is the final entity to be lodged onto the physical body. This happens
during the seventh month of pregnancy and the soul is harbored in the 12th chakra, located a foot above the head.
The processes mentioned above lead to birth in the physical world as we know it. Throughout life, the incarnated soul is provided opportunities to engage in good karma and bad karma. Moreover, the karmic blueprint that is developed for the incarnated soul is devised in such a way that some of the bad karma of its past lives get equalized.
Negating Bad Karma
People
on the spiritual path, especially Arhatic yogis often realize that their lives
become more difficult than it was before they became spiritually inclined and
active. This is because higher spiritual practices hasten the process of
incarnation in the sense that the incarnated soul is provided more opportunity
to unite with the higher soul. This can be done only when a large part of the
bad karma is neutralized.
Liberation
So, how does one achieve liberation
from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth? Is ‘nirvana’ or ‘moksha’ possible
only if all negative karma has been equalized? How many lifetimes does it take
to achieve freedom from the cycle of incarnation? To be able to arrive at the
answers of such questions would require one to delve deeper into the realms
of spirituality. The books and courses designed by Master Choa
Kok Sui are truly enlightening and might help you understand many philosophies
and clarify many doubts that you might have.
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