Birth Under the control of a Universal Power

Most of us are frightened by death and are unwilling to talk about it. At the same time, we take birth rather lightly, are willing to talk about it without any idea of the cosmic reason for birth. Both birth and death of every entity be it the smallest ant to the largest whale is a universal event. The universe knows and tracks every single birth and death. Before you conjure up the Universal power as a Kafka type dictator, let me try and introduce my understanding of why birth occurs.

Why does birth occur? I can already hear people snidely remark, what is there in this question; we all know why birth occurs. Let me ask the following questions:

1. Why was I born to a particular set of parents?
2. Why was I born in a particular place?
3. Why was I born at a particular time?

Let me take my own example. I was the first child born to my parents after nearly a decade of marriage. My mother apparently lost 3 kids before they were born. So, what was it that caused me to be born and not die before birth like my older siblings?

Before I try to come up with my understanding, let me give some fundamentals. Every living entity is composed of three broad layers, the outermost physical layer or the gross body, the middle layer consisting of emotions and thoughts, called the subtle body and the inner most layer which is the driving force for embodiment, which is the causal body. The gross body is just a vehicle through which the subtle body’s unfulfilled desires can be met and the source of all these desires is the causal body. Again, each action we take, which creates desire adds the desire to the causal body. So it is a never ending cycle.

Death means the death of the physical body. When the physical body dies, the subtle body is just waiting for the opportune time to take on a new physical body which will help it meet its desires. The subtle body is like a seed which is just waiting for the right environment in which to grow. However, unlike a seed which has the probability that it will fall in a hostile environment and will never grow, every subtle body WILL take on a gross body in the correct environment to enable it to grow. This is where the Universal power comes in.

Imagine the Universal power like a huge super-computer with a phenomenal memory to handle very complex SQL statements. These SQL statements are more complex than what we have ever imagined. The Universal power has to make a perfect match between the desires of the subtle body, the current environments of 2 physical bodies, the desires of these 2 physical bodies and ensure that these 2 physical bodies be instrumental in creating a new gross body, into which the subtle body can take birth. It is something like a match making system where potential brides and bridegrooms put their requirements and the system comes up with what they call a great match. However unlike the match making system, where marriages head for divorces, the Universal power’s match making system is perfect. It does not forget even the smallest details of the potential child, the potential parents and the potential environment. Once it makes a match, it is certain that the subtle body will get an environment in which it can fulfill its desires. But, please remember that the Universal power only creates the right environment. It does not ensure that the desires are fulfilled. Just because a seed exists, it does not sprout into a plant. There has to be necessary action like putting the seed in the right soil and need to water it for the seed to sprout. Similarly, the subtle body with its embodied gross body has to do the necessary action in the perfect environment provided by the Universal power to meet its desires.

 Assume that there was a particular subtle body which had just lost its gross body and was waiting for that gross body in the right environment where it could fulfill its desires. Maybe that subtle body wanted to be born in a spiritually inclined family, maybe the subtle body desired a peaceful environment to study more, maybe it desired to be the first child etc. The Universal power started the matching process. It located two people, who wanted a child desperately and were moving from a busy city (Mumbai) to a absolutely peaceful city (Bangalore). The Universal power noted that they did not have children. It noted that the people were spiritually inclined. Once the couple moved to Bangalore, the union of the couple created a physical vehicle for the subtle body and it donned the gross body. That’s why I probably was conceived in a peaceful city as the eldest child to a spiritually oriented couple. This environment provided me the ability to fulfill my desires. But then I had to do the necessary action like studying etc. to fulfill my desires.

The above is just an illustration to try to address the questions. But then the subtle body’s desires are much more complex than what I covered. If we ourselves were to look back every day and list out all the desires that we encountered and how many of them were unfulfilled, we would run out of pages soon to record the desires. So, imagine the number of desires that have been left unfulfilled at the time of our physical death. Once the body dies, there is no way the subtle body can meet its desires. It is then desperate to get into the right gross body. Just as when I am terribly hungry, I will rush into the first available restaurant and will not get into a library, the subtle body gets into the immediately available right environment to help meet its needs. The ability to ensure that the subtle body meets its exact fit is done by the Universal power using its own complex logic.

The question next probably is what is life? Life is a cosmic energy. Just as energy is neither created nor destroyed, life is never created nor destroyed. Just as energy can be transformed from one form to another, life is just transformed from one form to another. The life principle that is in Shashank today will at my death, not just go away. Depending on my innate desires accumulated over several births, the Cosmic power determines the most binding set of unfulfilled desires and ensures that the life takes its form in a suitable body and environment to fulfill its desires.

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.


1. My Humble Understanding  Of Spirituality


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

2. Attain Infinite Bliss

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

3. The Spirit Of Spirituality

The Spirit Of Spirituality