Karma and Reincarnation

Karma. What is it? Now, if you were to look it up in a dictionary, it would read off: n. "deed or act"; the moral law of cause and effect, in that one's actions in this life, no matter how trivial or momentous, will have…

Need I continue? Close that dictionary and read on. Karma is essentially the concept of what goes around, comes around. (I'm sure everyone's heard the song by Alicia Keys. Believe it or not, but the song is the definition.)

Karma first began as a concept derived from the Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. It is important to understand that Karma is not based on destiny but rather on the choices that man makes in his lifetime. These choices lead to future "effects" which may carry on into the next lifetime. So…when one's actions are good, good things happen to them; but when one's actions are bad, then (you guessed it) bad things happen to them.

Under "Karma", there are three categories: Prarabadha Karma (which is the karma from our past lives; so we can't really change that one); Samchita Karma (which is based more on the way you act because of your past life); and Agami Karma (which is the karma of the present life over which we do have control over).

Now you may be wondering, "How do I get rid of karma?" The answer is quite simple. Through meditation and one's love for God, karma can be…well…detached from our soul. This is quite hard, so I don't expect anyone to be losing their karma anytime soon. But when that does happen, one obtains mosksha or liberation from this world. Obtaining moksha in simple terms means that one could avoid the cycle of life and instead, just literally be with God.

If you had read carefully, you might recall that karma is based on actions committed during past lives. This leads into the truth of the concept of reincarnation. Reincarnation is rebirth with your very own soul. (Yes we all have a soul. Even your worst enemy with the bad hairdo has a soul.)

Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita states, "O Arjuna, both you and I have had many births before this; only I know them all, while you do not. Birth is inevitably followed by death, and death by rebirth. As a man casting off worn-out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, casting off worn-out bodies, entereth into others that are new."

How karma fits into reincarnation is pretty simple now that you think about it. Karma drives reincarnation on through many generations. Once karma is ended through moksha, reincarnation also ends.

There are many instances of where reincarnation has been proved. For example, when a new-born child laughs, cries, or gets scaorange, it is said that that is because the baby is recalling things of its past life. You aren't born with a clean slate. (This is where karma comes in.) As a baby slowly turns into a toddler, and eventually a full grown adult, experiences and memories of this lifetime cloud over the memories of the previous.

Sounds confusing? I'm not surprised. But instead of looking at the two concepts as two different things, put them together and look at the big picture.

Just remember this: "From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery, wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode...never takes birth again." stated by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.