The doctrine of rebirth is a corollary to the Law of Karma. The differences of disposition that are found between one individual and another must be due to their respective past actions. Past action implies past birth. Further, all your Karmas cannot certainly bear fruit in this life. Therefore, there must be another birth for enjoying the remaining actions. Each soul has a series of births and deaths. Births and deaths will continue till you attain Knowledge of the Imperishable.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The soul migrates with the astral body, or Sukshma-Sarira or Linga-Deha. This astral body is made up of nineteen Tattvas or principles, viz., five organs of action, five organs of knowledge, five Pranas, mind, intellect, Chitta (the subconscious), and Ahankara or egoism.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Karma means not only action, but also the result of an action. The consequence of an action is really not a separate thing. It is a part of the action, and cannot be divided from it. Breathing, thinking, talking, seeing, hearing, eating, etc., are Karmas. Thinking is mental Karma. Karma is the sum total of our acts both in the present life and in the preceding births.

Any deed, any thought that causes an effect, is called a Karma. The Law of Karma means the law of causation. Wherever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced. A seed is a cause for the tree which is the effect. The tree produces seeds and becomes the cause for the seeds.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Karma has quite a karma. Long after India's seers immortalized it in the Vedas, it suffered bad press under European missionaries who belittled it as "fate" and "fatalism," and today finds itself again in the ascendancy as the subtle and all-encompassing principle which governs man's experiential universe in a way likened to gravity's governance over the physical plane. Like gravity, karma was always there in its fullest potency, even when people did not comprehend it.

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karma

Physical, verbal, or mental action; one's destiny as shaped by one's previous actions. Karma is more often used to imply the process of physio-psychic evolution, which is controlled by actions of body, speech, and mind.

According to the laws of karma, no experience is causeless; rather, everything that occurs has its seed in a previous action and every action sows its seed in a successive action that will eventually ripen in accordance with its nature. In brief, an evil deed produces the seed of future suffering, and good deed produces the seed of happiness.

Technically, karma is of two main types: contaminated and non-contaminated. The latter refers to a deed done with awareness of emptiness; this produces no effect on the doer. Contaminated karmas are bad, good, or steady, resulting in lower rebirth, good rebirth, and rebirth in the realm of form, respectively.

(See also: karma , Alternative Health, Healing, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Karma And Rebirth Dictionary

The doctrine of reincarnation is accepted by the majority of mankind at the present day. It has been held as true by the mightiest Eastern nations. The ancient civilisation of Egypt was built upon this doctrine and it was handed over to Pythagoras, Plato, Virgil and Ovid, who scattered it through Greece and Italy. It was the keynote of Plato�s philosophy �

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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A Dictionary of Karma Terminology. From "A Sanskrit English Dictionary", by Sir Monier Monier-Williams.

For more dictionary entries, see » Karma And Rebirth Dictionary

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. We want to now the truth behind near death experiences and become certain that there really is a life after death.

What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is a departure from the usual line in that it is based, to a great extent, upon authoritative scriptural texts and upon knowledge derived through reasoning, deep reflection and personal meditation. It throws a flood of light upon all aspects of life after death not adequately dealt with in other works. The book also gives valuable information about the different beliefs on this subject, of the various races and religions.

The book is dealing with rebirth, the soul, reincarnation, moksha, heaven and hell, karma and different lokas,. It even includes death poems and death poetry, giving a complete picture and a new face of death.

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We cannot discuss reincarnation sensibly without talking about the Laws of Karma. Karma is nothing other than the Universal law of cause and effect. It is a law that is embedded in this Universe and is not present in the same way that you in third dimension experience in the higher dimensions or the multi-dimensional realities.

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KARMA and REINCARNATION

The twin beliefs of karma and reincarnation are among Hinduism's many jewels of knowledge. Others include dharma or our pattern of religious conduct, worshipful communion with God and Gods, the necessary guidance of the Sat Guru, and finally enlightenment through personal realization of our identity in and with God. So the strong-shouldered and keen-minded rishis knew and stated in the Vedas.

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Karma Yoga Lesson II

Creed and Sradha, their etymology; Man defined; Fear and doubt, divisions of man, The dangers of inaction; The cant of Kant's categorical imperative; "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" the mantra here.

Read more here: » Karma Yoga: Karma Yoga - Lesson II (of XI )

Homas are powerful ancient fire rituals that have been performed in India by the Vedic sages for over 5000 years. Read more about the purpose behind the most common homas; Sudarshana homa, Lakshmi Kubera homa, Navagraha homa, Gayatri homa, Dhanavantri homa, Vidya homa, Kritya Pariharana, Mangala Samskarana homa Maha devi homa, Vastu homa, Aayushya homa, Punyahavachana homa .

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The three fundamental tenets for Jains are: Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. A pursuit of these goals involves modest living, and prescribed behavior such as non-violence and stringent vegetarianism, and also various rituals and acts of devotion ( puja). The worship of images of mortal teachers or Thirthankaras (divinities) is common among Buddhists, Hindus, and Jains alike, but the approach of the Jains to the Tirthankaras differs from that of the other groups.

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The most important festival of the Jain community is Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir. This is observed on the 13th day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Chaitra. The day is celebrated with great zeal and devotion. People visit sacred places and worship Teerthankaras (spiritual guides) on this day.

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People wish to know the exact period that elapses from the time of leaving the body and being born again. Does the soul take a new body in one year? Does it take ten years? How long does one live upon the subtler planes before reappearing on the earth-plane? These are some of the questions. Now, there is no definite period of time in this matter. In main two factors decide this issue viz., the nature of the individual Karma and the last impression before death.

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Lokas Or Planes: The Stay In Supra-Physical Planes Between death and rebirth

reincarnation: "Re-entering the flesh." Punarjanma; metempsychosis. The process wherein souls take on a physical body through the birth process.

Reincarnation is one of the fundamental principles of Hindu spiritual insight, shared by the mystical schools of nearly all religions, including Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism (and even by Christianity until it was cast out by the Nicene Council in 787). It is against the backdrop of this principle of the soul's enjoying many lives that other aspects of Hinduism can be understood. It is a repetitive cycle, known as punarjanma, which originates in the subtle plane (Antarloka), the realm in which souls live between births and return to after death. Here they are assisted in readjusting to the "in-between" world and eventually prepared for yet another birth.

The quality and nature of the birth depends on the merit or demerit of their past actions (karma) and on the needs of their unique pattern of development and experience (dharma). The mother, the father and the soul together create a new body for the soul. At the moment of conception, the soul connects with and is irrevocably bound to the embryo. As soon as the egg is fertilized, the process of human life begins. It is during the mid-term of pregnancy that the full humanness of the fetus is achieved and the soul fully inhabits the new body, a stage which is acknowledged when the child begins to move and kick within the mother's womb. (Tirumantiram, 460: "There in the pregnant womb, the soul lay in primordial quiescence [turiya] state. From that state, Maya [or Prakriti] and Her tribe aroused it and conferred consciousness and maya's evolutes eight- desires and the rest. Thus say scriptures holy and true.")

Finally, at birth the soul emerges into earth consciousness, veiled of all memory of past lives and the inner worlds. The cycle of reincarnation ends when karma has been resolved and the Self God (Parasiva) has been realized. This condition of release is called moksha. Then the soul continues to evolve and mature, but without the need to return to physical existence. How many earthly births must one have to attain the unattainable? Many thousands to be sure, hastened by righteous living, tapas, austerities on all levels, penance and good deeds in abundance.

See: reincarnation, evolution of the soul, karma, moksha, nonhuman birth, samsara, soul.

(See also: Reincarnation , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Karma And Rebirth Dictionary

I have enough trouble trying to break bad habits and unhealthy patterns in this lifetime. I don't need some past life mucking up the works. But how do past lives influence this one? How does karma effect my ability to create my own future? How can I make sure that when I am consciously creating my future, I will stay true to my soul's purpose?

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The main principles of Buddhism: The Three Jewels, The Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path, The Five Precepts, The three marks of conditioned existence and vegetarianism.

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Religion has nothing to do with the practice of goodness, according to Sri Narayana Guru.

Narayana Guru preached the recondite message of the Vedas and Upanishads in a lucid, uncomplicated style. He advocated a formless, non-dual metaphysics and would advise seekers to meditate by sitting in front of a looking-glass.

According to Hindu belief, the Atman - which is evolved from the Supreme - resides in every living being. It was the latent divinity in man that the Guru wished to awaken by his exhortation.

(See also: Sri Narayana Guru , Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

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