Bhagawad Gita answers our doubts about rebirth

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Bhagawad Gita answers our doubts about rebirth

Sun, 9 Jun 2002 13:45:46 +0530

Om Sri Sai Ram

Bhagawad Gita answers our doubts about rebirth

Q.

I had a question on your view on reincarnation. I have brain damage and wonder

if this carries over into future lives or if i can have normal intelligence for

the next life if there is one. I was born normal but I had an accident and lost

intelligence and wonder if I can be normal for the next incarnation if you

believe in that."Ans.

According to the teachings of the ancient scripture Bhagavad Gita, the brain

(and the body in general) is only a mechanical device used by the spirit soul

(the actual self). It is described that just as a passenger rides in a chariot,

in the same way the spirit soul is riding in this vehichle of the body. The

spirit soul is constitutionally full of knowledge, but due to the material

covering of the body, we are subjected to ignorance. At the time of death, the

eternal spirit soul transmigrates to another body according to its state of

consciousness. In the Gita Krishna says:yam yam vapi smaran bhavamtyajaty ante

kalevaramtam tam evaiti kaunteyasada tad-bhava-bhavitah"Whatever state of being

one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without

fail."The body has no permanent connection with our self. The connection is

temporary, just as our connection with our clothese are temporary. When our

shirt is old and broken, we throw it away and buy a new shirt. In a similar

manner, when the body is old and no longer fit for functioning, the nature

discards it and provides us with a new youthful body.Due to reactions to our

activities in previous lives (karma), we either enjoy or suffer in various

circumstances in the present life, while our present activities create

reactions for the next lives. As one experiences these results (suffering and

enjoying) we burn up our good and bad reactions. As such, in the next life, we

will no longer have to suffer these same difficulties. But if one were to

artificially end one's life, the reactions would carry on, as they would not

have been fully exhausted in the present life.Every activity we do creates a

reaction which binds us to either good or bad results. We must learn to rise

above the dualities of happiness and distress and be situated beyond the bodily

identification:matra-sparshas tu kaunteyashitoshna-sukha-dukha-dahaagamapayino

'nityastams titikshasva bharata"The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and

distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and

disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception,

and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."Factually we are

not this body, we are an eternal spirit soul within the body. Due to false

identification with this body, we take the sufferings of the body to be our

own. The happiness and distress of the body come in cycles just as the seasons

pass us by in cycles. They are not permanent.When someone identifies something

as his, he develops attachment, and from that attachment he begins to

experience through that object. If I own a car, I feel bad when the car gets a

dent. In reality there is no connection between me and the car; I am not the

car. But when the car is hit, I will say "I" was hit. I have expanded my

consciousness out one level and taken on the identity of the car. If some other

car is dented, I have no feeling of it and practically do not care at all. This

is false identification, and the same false identification is going on with

this body. We are not the body, but because we possess this body, we have

identified with the external covering and have become attached to it. Now when

we look in the mirror we think we are the object reflecting in the glass. It is

no more us than the car we drive or the clothes we wear - they are all coverings

on different layers.In the Gita Krishna raises our consciousness beyond the body

to our true identity:indriyani parany ahurindriyebhyah param manahmanasas tu

para buddhiryo buddheh paratas tu sahevam buddheh param buddhvasamstabhyatmanam

atmana"The senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses;

intelligence is still higher than the mind; and the soul is even higher than

the intelligence.""Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material

senses, mind and intelligence, one must steady the mind by deliberate spiritual

intelligence."

There are many levels of covering for the soul, the lowest being that of

physical matter - what we refer to as the body. The body is basically made up

of various senses, which transmit information through the brain to the mind

situated within the heart. The mindis higher than the physical body, yet it is

also an external covering of the soul. This body is unique to this life,

whereas our mind is carried through every body we have inhabited over a

countless span of reincarnations. Higher than the mind is the discriminating

factor of the intelligence, which is a reflection of our original

consciousness. Higher than the intelligence is the self - an eternal spiritual

entity constitutionally situated beyond matter. Our true identity is as an

eternal spirit soul, but due to our associatoin with matter from time

immemorial, we have become illusioned and identify our self as either the body,

mind or intelligence.The Upanishads give the following analogy:The body is like

a chariot. The senses are like five horses which pull the chariot. The reigns

which control the horses are like the mind. The driver who holds the reigns is

like the intelligence. And the passenger who instructs the driver is the spirit

soul (the actual self). If the driver (the intelligence) holds the reigns (the

mind) tightly and controls the five horses (the senses), then it is possible to

attain one's proper destination. But if the driver (the intelligence) lets go of

the reigns (the mind) then each of the five horses (the senses) will run off in

a different direction pulling the reigns (the mind) with them, causing the

chariot to be broken into many pieces.If one's identification is only on the

level of the body, then the imperfections of the body will limit one. If one's

identification is on the level of the mind, then the body's limitations will

not affect one, but the mental limitations will limit one. If one's

identification is on the level of intelligence, then the mental limitations

will not affect one. But if one's identification is on the level of the pure

spirit soul situated beyond matter, there are no limitations. Such a state is

known technically as jivan-mukta - or liberated from material existence while

still living within the body. This is the goal of human life.As far as

intelligence is concerned, one must learn to rely not on the mechanisms of the

body (brain, etc.) but on the inherent knowledge of the soul. And even if one

has difficulty in doing this, Krishnas says in the Bhagavad Gita:tesham

satata-yuktanambhajatam priti-purvakamdadami buddhi-yogam tamyena mam upayanti

te"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the

intelligence by which they can come to Me."If a person sincerely worships the

Lord with love and devotion, then Krishna from within his heart gives him

instructions so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. This is

spiritual intelligence. Material intelligence may depend on many external

factors, but spiritual intelligence is inherent in the soul. It is simply

covered like a mirror covered by dust. As we clean the mirror of the mind, the

shining reflection gradually becomes visible to us. On the other hand, Krishna

says:nasti buddhir ayuktasyana cayuktasya bhavanana cabhavayatah

shantirashantasya kutah sukham"One who is not connected with the Supreme can

have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there

is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without

peace?"One who has linked himself with the Supreme through meditation is

situated beyond the body and mind. Such a person relies on transcendental or

spiritual intelligence, not on the external functioning of matter.

 

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