Talk:Distinction between Hindu-Sikh and Other Concepts of Rebirth

By Vishal Agarwal

Three words – Rebirth, Reincarnation, and Transmigration, are often used interchangeably although they mean somewhat different. Reincarnation can often mean rebirth only at the same or higher level but Dharmic traditions declare that rebirth can result in a human becoming an animal as well. The ability to reincarnate or take rebirth in sub-human species is called ‘transmigration’. In Dharmic contexts, therefore, the proper term to use is ‘rebirth’ because it includes both ‘reincarnation’ as well as ‘transmigration’.

The First difference between the Hindu-Sikh and New Ager notions of Rebirth is that whereas the former accepts transmigration as well as reincarnation, the latter accepts only reincarnation. The Hindu tradition and other allied Dharmic traditions teach that the atman does not have a gender, genus, or color. In other words, the ātmā of a human being is the same as that of a plant or an animal. The differences between these life forms are not due to the differences between their ātmās, but due to their dissimilar minds and bodies. Therefore, the ātmā can be a human in one life, a plant in the next, and an animal in another. More specifically, a human being who does very evil Karma can be reborn as a plant or an animal for one or several next lives. From the beginning of the creation of this Universe, the different ātmās have been ascending the ladder of life forms gradually from plant to animal to the human life form.

But, evil Karma done in human life can reverse this progression, and the soul can go down the ladder of these life forms.

Some ātmā-s enter into a womb for embodiment; others enter stationary objects according to their deeds and according to their thoughts. Katha Upanishad 2.2.7

If the embodied ātmā-s meets with death when Sattva prevails, it goes to the blemishless realms of those who know the Highest. If it meets with death when Rajas Guṇa prevails, it is born among those who are attached to action (i.e., humans). And it if meets with death when Tamas, is born in the wombs of creatures devoid of reason (i.e., plants and animals). Gita 14.14-15

A Hindu teacher in modern times explains-

“The idea of transmigration of souls is also present in Hinduism. Generally speaking, a human soul goes on evolving from incarnation to incarnation. It is normal for a human soul to be born again and again only in human bodies until he is liberated. But there may be rare exceptions. In these exceptional cases, a human soul may be born once or twice in a subhuman body to work out very bad Karma. When the bad Karma is worked out, the soul incarnates again in a human body and goes through the process of gradual spiritual evolution.”

It is consistent with the agency and free will of humans that they can be reborn as animals or plants.

“It is true that the evolution of the soul through the lower sub-human species is usually upwards. But things change when the soul gets a human body. Why? Because the human body allows the soul to express its free will substantially. If the soul uses this free will prudently and capitalizes on the human faculty for metaphysical inquiry, then it can move onward in its spiritual evolution toward eternity. However, the soul may misuse its free will and desire those bodily indulgences that can be better enjoyed in a sub-human body than in a human body. In such cases, nature facilitates that soul’s desire by providing it with the corresponding sub-human body. For example, if a human being desires to eat meat inordinately, then nature may provide that soul a lion’s body to facilitate that meat-eating desire.

The very presence of free will in humans requires the presence of bodily facilities for executing that free will. This in turn necessitates that the soul be able to go down to sub-human species if it so desires. That’s why from the human form the soul’s subsequent journey is not automatically upward. It may be downward, wayward, or upward depending on the kind of desires it cultivates.”

Another modern scholar explains how the concepts of Karma and Rebirth are related to the existence of different life forms in Hindu traditions:

“According to the Vedic scriptures, there are 8,400,000 different species of life throughout the material realm. 8,000,000 are sub-human, while 400,000 are varieties of human beings [According to other Hindu traditions however, the second number also includes lifeforms that are superior to humans]…..Once the atomic particle of eternal consciousness [ātmā] enters into matter, it starts at the bottom of the evolutionary hierarchy and takes on a body. In that sense, the Vedas agree with Darwin that we do indeed evolve but our evolution is not from matter, but rather within matter, an evolution of consciousness. Our eternal soul climbs up the staircase of life, experiencing every species as a kind of learning by being and doing. From the smallest microbe up to insects, plants, birds, and mammals, we ascend the ladder of the species until we finally reach the lowest rung of human consciousness.”

New Agers however believe that plants, animals, and humans have fundamentally different souls. A plant or an animal soul can never be reborn as a human soul, and likewise, a human soul cannot be reborn in a plant or an animal body. New Agers find the very notion of humans being reborn as plants or animals as ridiculous scary and as demeaning to human intelligence. Also, they criticize the Dharmic theory by saying that it blames the animals and plants for having done something wrong in their previous human life. Some Hindu scholars say that Hindu Dharma does not reject evolution, but its emphasis is on ‘involution’, or on our inner evolution to ascend and go beyond the Samsāra.

The New Age hesitation in accepting transmigration stems from Western notions of history and other branches of knowledge-

“The Western tradition of spiritualism and theosophy has emphasized reincarnation’s progressive nature, where a soul evolves and progresses from one lifetime to the next in a linear upward progression. This reflects the Newtonian and Darwinian linear model of science that dominated science for several centuries until recently and had certainly permeated the culture when Madame Blavatsky was formulating her ideas on reincarnation. This contrasts with Eastern ideas of reincarnation. Hindus and Buddhists believe in cycles of death and rebirth and have no notion of linear progression leading to moksha, escape from the cycles. The idea of ever upward, ever onward, ever forward seems to be uniquely Western. Indeed, in David’s experience as a psychologist and past life therapist, there does not seem to be a linear progression linking one lifetime to the next. The view from his practice is much closer to Eastern notions of cycles of rebirth.”

New Agers and followers of Abrahamic religions see an insurmountable gap between the mental and spiritual abilities of human beings versus animals, and argue that this disproves the Dharmic view of the ātmā changing species between births,

“For the major Western religions, transmigration puts too much emphasis on humanity’s physical existence on earth and lessens the significance of its primarily spiritual nature. Western religions view humans as the only species with the gift of an indivisible, indestructible, rational soul, which can ponder over the mysteries of the universe, build civilizations, and come to know and worship its creator. All other life forms on earth are seen as devoid of these capacities, and these religions see no historical evidence to suggest that these unique human characteristics have ever transmigration to any other form of life on earth.”

Once we are human, we are no longer passive experiencers and learners of whatever comes our way in life. Now, we can make moral and intelligent choices to choose our karma-s, and thereby tailor our existing experiences. However, with this special ability also comes a liability. Before we were human, we had been largely ascending the ladder of lifeforms. But now, we can descend, stay lateral, or ascend, depending on the choices that we make. In other words, we can now undergo devolution, stay the same, or go through an evolution. Using the analogy of a school and an amusement park, the scholar further says:

“Just like in school, you can go forward and skip grades or flunk out of the human class and go backward, that is to say downward, for some time. Thus, the Vedic theory of karma does not lend itself to a New Age interpretation, in which the soul only moves upward, learning lesson after lesson. Devolution instead of evolution is also possible. If a human acts like an animal, he or she can slide back into an animal body for some time before going further forward. After all, once we are humans, we start flying our airplanes through choice and then reap the results of our choices. If we choose to act like an animal, the message we send to Nature is: “Put me in an animal body.” If you were the owner of a huge amusement park, your job would be to see to it that the park ran smoothly as well as to provide a good time for the customers. In the park of Material Nature [Prakriti], some rules govern the operation of the park and those rules are mandatory for all visitors.”

In a few cases, humans even recall having been an animal in a previous life. However, these instances are extremely rare. Ian Stevenson could document only 30 such cases out of the thousands that he studied. Indian newspapers have reported instances like one of a girl who remembered being a cow in her previous life, and a schoolmaster before that (Hindustan, Delhi edition, 8 February 1966). Here’s a detailed description of her case-

“…A nine-year-old girl, Chanchala Kumari, born in Golaparvapura Village told her mother fantastic things about her past life. She said she had been a schoolteacher at the Panipat school and that her name was Krishna Lal. She remembered her father of the past life, Ramapyara Nagapal. As a man his marriage was fixed but he died before the ceremony due to some severe stomach trouble. In her recollection, she also narrated some unbelievable things. “After death as a teacher, I entered into a cow’s womb and as a cow, I was taken by a Muslim family of the Shahdara district of Lahore. Unfortunately, the cruel man of the family killed me for not yielding much milk. And now, I am born as a girl, Chanchala Kumari.”….The places and addresses that the child gave were found to all be true for she was taken to Panipat where she found the school building and inquired about her family people. She found that they had left the place, but the surrounding people gave the information that a few years previously, a teacher named Krishna Lal had died of some stomach disorder. The child was taken to her present home and after a few years, her memory began to fade.”

During a few past-life regressions, some people do report having been animals in a past life. These instances confirm the Hindu belief and falsify the more restrictive viewpoint of the New Agers.

The second difference is that the New Age version believes that human society is moving only in one direction with time – towards the spiritual progress of all souls. They believe that each life is a learning experience, and therefore with every life, each soul learns something that makes it more advanced spiritually. Christian critics dismiss this view as being merely a philosophical concept that has no basis in historical evidence. The Hindu theory does not advocate a continuous linear advancement of souls. Rather, souls can either advance or even take a backward step if they do virtuous or evil Karma, depending on whether they try to advance spiritually or not. Hindu Dharma often teaches that with time, the practice of Dharma can decline, till a new cycle of four ages starts in which Dharma rises and then declines. Some distinguished, non-New Ager Hindus also subscribe to the views of evolutionary or progressive rebirth, like Sri Aurobindo, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, and the Theosophists.

The third difference is that most Hindu-Sikh viewpoints teach that we are reborn into an appropriate form based on our Karma done in the present life and that it is a Divine Being who witnesses our Karma, judges us and gives us the appropriate result accordingly (i.e., Evil Karma has a bad result, and virtuous karma has a good result).

The one Deva, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the inner ātmā of all beings, the overseer of all karma, who dwells in all beings, the witness, the knower, the only one who is not tainted by the Guṇas. Yajurveda, Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 6.11 The fruit of our Karma comes from Brahman because that possibility alone is the logical one. Brahmasūtra 3.2.38

Īshvara, the Dispenser, is the One who gives happiness and sorrows, and what is dear and what is not dear to all creatures based on their past Karmas. Īshvara indeed is the Lord of everyone. Mahābhārata 3.30.22

Just as space is all-pervading, Īshvara too pervades all creatures (as a witness) and determines their measure of happiness and sorrows depending on their Karmas. Mahābhārata 3.30.24

New Agers (and also followers of Buddhist and Jain Dharmic traditions) often do not see the need for a God to give the correct results of our Karma in our present or future life. They assume the doctrine of Karma to be self-operating, and producing results on its own without the help of God.

Many critics, such as Hindus and Christians, point to this flaw in the atheistic or agnostic versions of the Karma and Rebirth theory in which there is no place for God. They point out that in these versions, there is no perfect standard by which we can decide what is right and what is wrong because there is no God who sets the rules or the standards against which everything is judged. So how can the Law of Karma even operate when there is no standard to judge whether the Karma is good or bad? These Christian criticisms do not apply to the Hindu-Sikh viewpoint because in these two Dharmic traditions as well, is the Divine who oversees the Law of Karma and its consequence of an appropriate rebirth.