Reincarnation/ rebirth in Hinduism
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Rebirth and the spiritual Varanasi
Shri Shri Anandamurti, September 6, 2017: The Times of India
The faithful believe that if you die in Varanasi, liberation is guaranteed.
In this sense, Varanasi does not refer to a city or place; it refers to a `bindu', a particular point. In the spiritual sphere, when you reach that bindu, you no longer take rebirth the cycle of birth and death stops and the aspirant no longer has to return to this world.
When we say that in Varanasi there is no rebirth, it refers to a point situated between the Ajna chakra (between the eyebrows) and Sahasrara chakra (in the crown of the head), between the pituitary and pineal glands. Spiritual aspirants, through sadhana and with Divine help, become established in that point, attaining great mental power and omniscience. Such people do not have to take another birth in this world. That is why it is said that if you die in Varanasi also known as Kashi you will never be reborn. Kashi does not refer to a city, but to that spiritual point.
“Trailokye yani bhutani tani sarvani dehatah.“ `Whatever exists in this world also exists within your body .' You are a microcosmic expression of the universe. That is why it has been said, “Know thyself.Acquire Atma jnana, Self-knowledge.“
Go deep within to the centrepoint of your existence.First, go to your centre plexus and then to your Muladhara chakra at the base of the spine. Your Muladhara chakra is an ideational entity orbiting like a satellite around the Supreme Muladhara. If you make the effort to know your inner Self, if your desire for Self-knowledge is strong, all secrets will be revealed to you. There are four dimensions of yoga psychology: Muladhar chakra to Manipur chakra, Manipur chakra to Vishudha chakra, Vishudha chakra to Ajna chakra and above, to Sahasrara chakra. These dimensions correspond to the four phases of meditation. The position of Ajna chakra is psycho-spiritual and Sahasrara chakra is pure spiritual. Hence, sadhana is a bio-psychological process.
When we do spiritual practice, then only we know the location of chakras.
That point, that Varanasi, situated between Ajna and Sahasrara chakras, is bright and luminous. It is Kashi, the “very luminous entity“.
Some people say that the town Varanasi is so-called because it is situated between Baruna and Ashi, but if that the rivers Baruna and Ashi, but if that were so, the name would have been Varunasi and not Varanasi. The correct derivation is var + anas = varanas which becomes varanasi in the feminine gender.“Var“ means “to forbid“ and “anas“ means “birth“. Those who die at Varanasi are not reborn. It is not a city in India, but a bindu or point. One may learn the secrets of this point through the practice of Vishesha yoga. During this meditation the mind ascends to such a height that there is no further need to acquire a new body .
To establish the mind on this point of Varanasi or Kashi, one has to elevate the mind. Those who have learnt the technique of Tantra sadhana or Kapalika sadhana, know what joy can be derived from this. It helps to establish the practitioner in the cult of Varanasi.Those who have not yet mastered it, will one day be established in the cult of Varanasi. Why not? Those who have acquired a human structure will surely be established in Varanasi.
Transmigration in Sanatan Dharm
The Times of India, May 18 2016
B Shankar
Sanatana Dharma subscribes to the principle of transmigration or reincarnation. In the Bhagwad Gita Krishna says, “All the worlds from the realm of Brahma down to the earth, are subject to rebirth, But O Arjuna, one who has attained to Me is never reborn“.
Again in 2:13 Krishna says, “An embodied soul continuously passes, in this body , from boyhood to youth to old age. The soul similarly passes into another body at death; a sober person is not deluded by such a change.“
Creation and dissolution helps the jiva to regain full divine nature overcoming domination of the material nature in the state of ignorance.
The creative period, when all the worlds are in manifestation, is called Kalpa and is followed by dissolution of the manifested world into the elemental condition and this period is called Pralaya. Kalpa and Pralaya are said to be of equal duration, alternating in a cyclic process.
All jivas are involved in this cyclic process, undergoing birth and death continuously according to their karma, enjoying and suffering. This entanglement in the cycle of births and death is samsara. Delinking of jiva from this cyclic process of time is the ultimate aim of evolution. The attainment of delinking is called moksha. Attaining the Lord is the way to moksha.
In the seventh chapter Krishna says, “I have two power of manifestation, Prakrtis, lower and higher. Lower prakrt is material nature, consisting o earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intellect and ego. Higher prakrt is my manifestation as jivas or centres of consciousness.“ The former is my unconscious nature and the latter, conscious nature.Consisting of subtle and gross bodies, the human body evolves out of this material Nature. The subtle body persists through all embodiments until the jiva gains liberation, attaining to his natural state as Purusha.
In chapter 15 Krishna says, “A fraction of myself, immortal in nature, having become the embodied spirit in the world of the living, attracts to himself the mind and five senses born of Prakrti“ that he has chosen to be part of all jivas by subjecting himself to the vagaries of mind and senses and thus blundering through, life after life! This also answers the perennial question as to why a human being commits sin when there is a resident God in the body .
Prakrti is infinite with countless dimensions in which different world systems, lokas, coexist without mutual intrusion and the jiva finds embodiment in these different lokas according to his karma. It seems the jiva evolves through countless births before realising his innate divinity! We can reasonably assume that there has to be a Supreme Intellect guiding and directing the soul in its post-mortal journey , deciding what experiences or vasanas to discard and what to acquire in the next birth. A portion of chitta or mindstuff is the only thing to accompany the soul on its journey , carrying impressions gathered in past lives.
To end transmigration of soul, depending on one's aptitude and disposition, one can choose any path like pure devotion or detached and dedicated work or knowledge or even a combination of all, leading up to receiving Divine grace, as only Grace can lead one to the Goal.
First ,sit up and resolve that you will not do any more causative karma which would add to the karma bank and with this your inner character gets embellished, giving space and time for the balance karma to play out and finally move on to the path to salvation.
