r e i n c a r n a t i o n
FIVE LECTURES ON REINCARNATION ---- Swami Abhedananda.
IV.
THE STUDENTS OF HISTORY ARE INTERESTED TO KNOW WHERE THE IDEA OF RESURRECTION FIRST AROSE AND HOW IT WAS ADOPTED BY OTHER NATIONS.
If
we read carefully the writings ascribed to Moses and other writers of
the Old Testament we find that the ancient Israelites did not believe
in the Christian heaven or hell, nor in reward or punishment after
death. It is doubtful whether they had any clear conception of the
existence of soul after the dissolution of the human body. They had no
definite idea of the hereafter. They did not believe in the
resurrection either of the soul or body. Job longed for death thinking
that it would end his mental agony. In Psalms we read, "Wilt Thou shew
wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise Thee?"
(Ps. lxxxviii, 10.) "In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the
grave who shall give Thee thanks?" (Ps. vi, 5.) Again (Ps. cxlvi, 4)
it is said about princes and the son of man,—"His breath goeth forth,
he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish." "The
dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence."
(Ps. cxv, 17.) Solomon speaks boldly: "All things come alike to all;
there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and
to the clean and to the unclean... as is the good, so is the sinner."
(Eccl. ix, 2.) "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine
with a merry heart.... Live joyfully with thy wife... for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou
goest." (Eccl. ix, 7, 9, 10.) Again in verse 5 it is said: "The dead
know not anything, neither have they anymore a reward, for the memory
of them is forgotten." Solomon says: "For that which befalleth the
sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the
one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so that
a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast." "All go into one place; all
are of the dust and all turn to dust again." "Who knoweth the spirit
of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth
downward to the earth?" (Eccl. iii, 19-21.) There are many such
passages which show clearly that before the Babylonian captivity the
Israelites had no belief in reward or punishment, neither in heaven
nor hell nor in the resurrection of the soul. Some say that they had a
belief in a sheol or pit where departed souls remained after death,
but were never resurrected. But when the ancient Jews were conquered
by the Persians, 536 B.C., they came in contact with a nation which
had developed a belief in one God, in a heaven and a hell, in the
resurrection of the dead, in reward and punishment after death, and in
the last day of judgment. Under the dominion of Persia, whose rule
began with the capture of Babylon and lasted from 536-333 B.C., the
Jews were greatly influenced by the Persian religion. They gave up
their idolatry, gradually developed social organization and had
considerable liberty. About that time the Jews were divided into two
classes, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Those who adopted the religious
ideas of the Parsees were called Pharisees (according to some
authorities the word Pharisee was the Hebrew form of Parsee), and
those who followed strictly the Jewish ideas, ceremonies, rituals and
beliefs were called Sadducees. The former were sharply opposed to the
latter in their doctrinal beliefs. They believed in angels and
spirits, they expected the resurrection of the dead and believed in
future reward and punishment and also in Divine pre-ordination. The
Sadducees did not step beyond the bounds of ancient Judaism. They
were Orthodox and very conservative in their views. They denied the
existence of angels and spirits, the resurrection of the dead, and
reward and punishment after death. In Matt, xxii, 23, we read, "The
same day came to him the Sadducees which say that there is no
resurrection." The Sadducees were fewer in number than the
Pharisees. Gradually the latter grew very powerful and after the death
of Jesus their doctrines of the resurrection of the dead, and of
reward and punishment after death, and the belief in angels and
spirits, became the cardinal principles of the new Christian sect.
Thus we see that the idea of resurrection first arose in Persia and
afterwards took a prominent place in the writings of the New
Testament, and since then it has been largely accepted by the
Christians of the Western countries. The Zoroastrians believed that
the soul of the dead hovers about the body for three nights and does
not depart for the other world until the dawn after the third night.
Then the righteous go to heaven and the wicked to hell. There the
wicked remain until the time of renovation of the universe, that is,
the judgment day. After the renovation, when Ahriman or Satan is
killed, the souls of the wicked will be purified and have everlasting
progress. [Footnote: "Sacred Books of the East," Vol. xvii, pp. 27,
34, 46.] The question was asked, "How shall they produce
resurrection?" Ahura Mazda says: "The reply is this, that the
preparation and production of the resurrection are an achievement
connected with miracle, a sublimity, and afterwards also a wondrous
appearance unto the creatures uninformed. The secrets and affairs of
the persistent Creator are like every mystery and secret." [Footnote:
Ibid., p. 80.]
The Zoroastrians believed in the resurrection, not of the physical
body, but of the soul, and that it was an act of miracle. Similarly
miraculous was the resurrection of Jesus. Although Jesus Himself never
mentioned what kind of resurrection, whether of body or of soul that
He meant and believed in, the interpretation of the writers of the
Gospels shows that His disciples understood Him to mean bodily
resurrection and the re-appearance of His physical form. The three
days remained, just as the Zoroastrians believed. The miraculous and
wondrous appearance of Jesus before His disciples was preached most
vigorously by Paul. In his Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul declares
emphatically that the whole of the Christian religion depends upon the
miraculous resurrection and re-appearance of Jesus. Although Paul
said the spiritual body of the risen dead is not the same as flesh and
blood body (I Cor., XV), still that important point is generally
overlooked, and the result is the belief which we find amongst some of
the Christian sects; that at the call of the angels, the body will
rise from the grave and the mouldering dust of bones and flesh will be
put together by the miraculous power of the Almighty God. Paul says:
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of
them that slept" (I Cor., XV, 20). He preached that Christ was the
first born from the dead, that those who believe in Christ would rise
as He did and that those who would not believe in Him or in His
resurrection should not rise.
We have already noticed that the Parsees believed in a miraculous
resurrection; that the same miracle became more definite in the case
of Jesus; and that the Christian faith was afterwards founded upon
that miraculous event. Both the Parsees and the followers of Christ
did not mean by resurrection any universal law, but a miracle done by
certain supernatural powers. They did not give any scientific reasons
for such a miracle.
But modern science denies miracles. It teaches that this universe is
guided, not by miracles as the old thinkers used to believe, but by
definite laws which are always consistent and universal. There cannot
be any exception to those laws which are uniform throughout. If
resurrection be one of those laws, then it must have existed before
the birth of Jesus; as such, how could He be the first born from the
dead, as described by Paul. Conversely, if Jesus was the first who
rose from the dead, then resurrection cannot be a universal
law. Scientists would not believe in anything which is not based upon
universal laws. Some of the agnostics and materialists have gone so
far as to say that Jesus did not die on the cross, but his animation
was suspended when his body was taken down from the cross by Joseph of
Arimathsea. When Joseph went to Pilate and craved the body of Jesus,
Pilate marvelled if He were dead (Mark XV, 44), because it was only
six hours after the crucifixion. Some of the modern physiologists are
of opinion that temperate and strong men might live for several days
on the cross. These heretical agnostics and skeptical scientists say
that the body of Jesus revived after a few hours in the cool, rock-cut
tomb, that he walked out of the tomb, went to Galilee and appeared
before his disciples. [Footnote: Vide "Science and Christian
Tradition," by Prof. Huxley, pp. 279-280.] Whatever the facts may be
(nobody can now tell exactly what actually happened), it is clear that
the scientists are not ready to take anything upon authority. They do
not care to believe in anything because it is written in this book or
that. They must have convincing proofs and a rational explanation of
every phenomenon of nature. They want to penetrate into miracles in
order to discover the universal laws that govern them. If they do not
find any such laws, they will surely reject every event that is
supposed to be caused by miraculous or supernatural powers.
THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
THE THEORY OF A MIRACULOUS RESURRECTION IS ATTENDED WITH THE BELIEF THAT THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL DOES NOT EXIST BEFORE BIRTH. The supporters
of this theory hold that at the time of birth, the individual, being
created out of nothing, comes fresh into existence. But science tells
us that sudden creation out of nothing and a total destruction of
anything are both impossible. Matter and force are indestructible.
Science teaches evolution and not creation, and denies the
intervention of any supernatural being as the cause of phenomenal
changes. The theory of Resurrection ignores all these ultimate
conclusions of modern science. On the contrary, the doctrine of
Reincarnation, after accepting all the truths and laws of nature that
have been discovered by modern science, carries them to their proper
logical conclusions. Reincarnation is based upon evolution. It means
a continuous evolution of an individual germ of life, and a gradual
re-manifestation of all the powers and forces that exist in it
potentially. Moreover, the doctrine of Reincarnation is founded on the
law of cause and effect. It teaches that the cause is not outside of
the effect, but lies in the effect. The cause is the potential or
unmanifested state of the effect, and effect is the actual or
manifested cause. There is one current of infinite force or power
constantly flowing in the ocean of reality of the universe, and
appearing in the innumerable forms of waves. We call one set of waves
the cause of another set, but in fact that which is the cause is the
potentiality of the future effect and the actuality of a previous
potential cause. The underlying current is one and the same
throughout. Reincarnation denies the idea that the soul has come into
existence all of a sudden or has been created for the first time, but
it holds that it has been existing from the beginningless past, and
will exist all through eternity. The individual soul enjoys or
suffers according to the acts it performs. All enjoyment and suffering
are but the reactions of our actions. Actions are the causes and the
reactions are the results. Our present life is the result of our past
actions, and our future will be the result of the present. The actions
which we are now doing will not be lost. Do you think that the
thought-forces of one life-time will end suddenly after death?
No. They will be conserved and remain potentially in the center and
re-manifest under suitable conditions. Each human soul is nothing but
a center of thought-force. This center is called in Sanskrit
Sûkshma Sarîra or the subtle body of an individual. The subtle
germ of life or, in other words, the invisible center of
thought-forces, will manufacture a physical vehicle for expressing the
latent powers that are ready for manifestation. This process will
continue until the germ can express most perfectly all the powers that
are coiled up in its invisible form. As the doctrine of Reincarnation
is in agreement with all the physical laws, so it is based upon
psychical, moral and ethical laws. As on the objective plane the law
of action and reaction governs the objective phenomena, so on the
subjective plane of consciousness, if the mental action or thought be
good, the reaction will be good, and the reaction will be evil if the
mental action be evil, because every action produces a similar
reaction, A good reaction is one which makes us happy and brings
pleasant sensations or peace of mind, while an evil reaction brings
suffering, unpleasant sensations, and makes one miserable. Thus
Reincarnation makes us free agents for action, as well as for reaping
the results or reactions of those actions. In fact, we mould our own
nature, according to our desires, tendencies and works.
The theory of Resurrection, as commonly understood, does not explain
why one man is born with a sinful nature and another with a virtuous
one. It contents itself with saying as Luther said: "Man is a beast of
burden who only moves as his rider orders; sometimes God rides him and
sometimes Satan." But why God should allow Satan to ride His own
creature nobody can tell. At any rate, man must suffer eternally for
the crimes which he is forced by Satan to commit. Moreover this theory
pre-supposes predestination and that the individual soul is
fore-doomed to go either to heaven or to hell. St. Augustine first
started this doctrine of Predestination and Grace to explain why one
is born sinful and another sinless. According to this theory, God, the
merciful, favors somebody with His grace at the time of his birth and
then he comes into this world ready to be saved, but the mass of
humanity is born sinful and destined for eternal damnation. Very few
indeed receive the gift of grace and are predestined to be
saved. Moreover, this doctrine tells us that God creates man out of
nothing, forbids him something, but at the same time He does not give
him the power to obey His commands. Ultimately God punishes him with
eternal torture on account of his weakness. The body and soul will not
be separated. He will not be set free from his body, because, if it
be so, there will be the end of his suffering, which God does not
like. All these sufferings and punishments are predestined before his
birth. Thus, St. Augustine's dogma of Predestination and Grace
instead of explaining the difficulty satisfactorily brings horror and
dread to human minds, while the doctrine of Reincarnation teaches
gradual progress from lower to higher, through ages until the
individual reaches perfection. It holds that each individual will
become perfect like Jesus or Buddha or like the Father in heaven and
manifest divinity either in this life or in some other. One span of
life is too short for developing one's powers to perfection. If you
should try to train an idiot to become a great artist or a
philosopher, would you ever succeed in your attempt to make him so
during his lifetime? No. And will you punish him because he cannot
become so? Can a man who possesses the slightest common sense be so
unreasonable? Similarly what would you think if God punishes a man
because he cannot become perfect within a lifetime? It is a poor
argument to say that God has given us free-will to choose between
right and wrong, and we are responsible for our choice; if we choose
wrongly we must be punished. The advocates of such an argument forget
that at the same time God has let loose His powerful Satan to corrupt
His creatures.
It reminds me of an old story. Once on a time at a certain place a
prisoner was released and set free through the kindness of a
tyrant. The tyrant said to the prisoner "Look here, wicked man, I give
you freedom, you can go to any place; but there is one condition; if
you are attacked by any wild animal you will be put in the dungeon and
there will be no end to your torture." So saying he gave him freedom,
but at the same time ordered his servants to let loose a hungry wolf
to chase the man. You can imagine what became of the prisoner. Can we
call this an act of mercy!
EVERY SOUL IS DESTINED FOR PERFECTION.
THE DOCTRINE OF REINCARNATION SAYS THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL SOUL IS POTENTIALLY PERFECT AND IS GRADUALLY UNFOLDING ITS POWERS AND MAKING THEM ACTUAL TRHOUGH THE PROCESS OF EVOLUTION. At every step of that
process it is gaining different experiences which last only for a
time. Therefore neither God nor Satan is responsible for our good or
evil actions. Good and evil are like the up and down or the crest and
hollow of a wave in the sea. A wave cannot rise without making a
hollow somewhere in the sea. So in the infinite ocean of reality
innumerable waves are constantly rising. The summit of each wave is
called good, while the hollow beside it is evil or misery and the
current of each individual life is constantly flowing towards the
ultimate destination which we call perfection. Who can tell how long
it will take to reach that goal? If anybody can attain to perfection
in this life, he is no longer bound to reincarnate. If he fails he
will continue to progress by taking some other body. Reincarnation
does not teach, as many people think, that in the next incarnation one
will begin from the very beginning, but it says that one will start
from that point which one reaches before death and will keep the
thread of progress unbroken. It does not teach that we go back to
animal bodies after death, but that we get our bodies according to our
desires, tendencies and powers. If any person has no desire to come
back to this world or to any other and does not want to enjoy any
particular object of pleasure, and if he is perfectly free from
selfishness that person will not have to come back. The theory of
Reincarnation is logical and satisfactory. While the theory of
Resurrection is neither based on scientific truths nor can it
logically explain the cause of life and death, Reincarnation solves
all the problems of life and explains scientifically all the questions
and doubts that arise in the human mind.
"Reincarnation is not easily understood by a thoughtless child deluded
by the delusion of wealth, name or fame. Everything ends with death,
he thinks, and thus falls again and again under the sway of death."
This text was borrowed from Project Gutenberg. Contact the webmaster Rob Sullivan at bunyarra@hotmail.com. Anticopyright February 2007.
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