A Rational case for reincarnation

Many of us have heard or read about the law of reincarnation. Many of us are not convinced of this doctrine. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this is a universal non-intuitive law and it makes no difference to the law whether we believe in it or not.  However I wanted to attempt to build a rational case for the doctrine of reincarnation and my reasoning through an example follows below.

Why do most of us act? Assuming that I am on my couch at home, will I for no reason get up and drive off in my car? Maybe on the TV, I saw an advertisement for ice cream and I jumped into the car to go to an ice cream parlor.  So, the reason for me driving was an unfulfilled desire to eat ice cream. If we analyze our normal activities, there is always an underlying reason of unfulfilled desire. If I had eaten enough ice cream and seen that advertisement, I would not have driven to the parlor. That is because there is no unfulfilled desire.

Let us analyze this action. I was in a “world” consisting of a TV, couch in my own room when I get an unfulfilled desire. I threw off my clothes, donned a different set of clothes to go to a new “world” consisting of the ice cream parlor. I am still the same person, who in a moment transitioned from one world to another to fulfill a desire. So, in effect, I “died” in the environment consisting of my house and I was reborn or “reincarnated” in an environment of the ice cream parlor. But what caused me to reincarnate and why did I reincarnate in a particular environment? It is obvious that my desire propelled me to reincarnate. My desire was such that I had to reincarnate in a ice cream parlor. There would have been no purpose served if I went to a library since my desire would not have been fulfilled. So, the desire not only causes reincarnation, but also determines where I will be reincarnated.

Now that we have established the fundamental principles, let me now delve into the spiritual aspect. I have covered in an earlier blog about the gross body consisting of the 5 sense organs and 5 action organs; the subtle body consisting of the emoting mind and the conceptualizing intellect; the causative body consisting of all accumulated desires. The subtle body is where desires really arise. I may want to see a good movie. This desire to see a movie did not originate in the eyes, but in the mind or the subtle body. The subtle body used the eyes (part of gross body) as a vehicle to fulfill its desire. So at any point, it should be noted that it is the subtle body which desires and the source of all these desires is the “storage bin” of desires which is the “vasana” or the causative body.

As long as the gross body is capable of being a vehicle for meeting the desires of the subtle body, all is “fine”.  What happens if the gross body cannot meet its objective? What happens if my car is totally broke and I cannot go meet my beloved? I will probably jump into a cab or take a train to go meet her. So if the vehicle is incapable of meeting my desires, I will just dump the old vehicle and take a different vehicle. In exactly, the same way, when the “gross body” is insufficient to meet the demands of the “subtle body”, the subtle body dumps the current “gross body” and takes another gross body to fulfill its needs. So, in effect the “subtle body” has reincarnated in a new “gross body”.

If as a rational person, I can easily understand that due to unfulfilled desire, I can move from one world to another, is it difficult to extend the logic to the subtle body to move from one world and reincarnate in another to meet unfulfilled 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