Karma and Reincarnation

Karma is a well-known concept in modern society, and the word itself is even something like a buzzword in some circles. Some people believe in it, some don’t.

Actually the concept of karma captivates with its logic. Everyone’s got free will. You can decide what you want to do, how you want to act. Consequently, you are responsible for your actions. It’s a universal law; the universe responds to your actions. You reap what you saw. It’s justice, Supreme Fairness. That’s what we call karma.

If I harm any living being, that same being will get the opportunity to harm me in the future, maybe not in this life but in a future life. In the same way, whatever good activities I perform will be for my future benefit.

The law of karma is infallible. I may escape punishment by state laws, because state laws are imperfect and social justice in human society is fallible, but material nature is infallible.

The concept of karma doesn’t make much sense without the concept of reincarnation. Because it is impossible to receive all reactions to my activities in the same life. Besides, even in the very beginning of my life I already live under certain material conditions, which are not the same for everyone. 

Why is someone born in a rich family and someone else in a poor family? Why are some children suffering from birth while others aren’t? The body you receive, the birthplace and all the material conditions from the very start of your life are all determined by your activities and mentality from previous lives.

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.6)

The soul is eternal and life is continuous. 

You continue in this life where you left off in your last life. The “state of being” that you remembered when you quit your body at the end of your last life was the résumé of the accumulated impressions of that life. That state of being was the seed for your present life.

Your accumulated karma and the mentality you have developed lead to creation of your next life, and – first of all – to the development of a suitable body. Not necessarily a human body, it could be any species of life.

Our activities create not only our future but our character as well. Which means, that by certain activities I create my material personality and thus the tendency to repeat the same kind of activities in the future. In this way, I create a certain quality of future, as a noble and thoughtful person, an outlaw, a dog, an ass, a lion or a snake, according to whatever mentality I have developed.

Therefore, without understanding karma we have no chance to become a responsible human being. Western philosophers and moralists have tried to establish ethics and moral principles to create order and peace in society but without karma there is no tangible reality to those principles.

In all species of life we experience the reactions to our previous good and bad activities, but only in the human form of life we create those reactions. This is because only humans have sufficiently developed consciousness to act responsibly.

Humans are given superior intelligence, and the misuse of that intelligence is punished. It’s the duty of humans to understand the world around them, the laws and purpose of the universe and their own intrinsic nature.

Human life is a unique chance. All kinds of material enjoyment are available in all other species of life. Only in human life we can understand our spiritual nature. Understanding our spiritual nature is our ultimate responsibility.

Material nature is tough; but it is righteous. However, righteousness or the law of karma is not the strongest power in this world. The strongest power is pure love.