{"id":2801,"date":"2018-11-08T11:56:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T11:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/?p=2801"},"modified":"2018-11-08T11:56:35","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T11:56:35","slug":"the-science-of-reincarnation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/further-information-and-teaching-resources-secondary\/fact-sheets\/the-science-of-reincarnation\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCIENCE OF REINCARNATION"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Word document download: <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FCT-0101.doc\">FCT-0101<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The soul (<em>atma<\/em> or<em> atman<\/em>) exists in all species of life and is the source of consciousness.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>atma<\/em> is eternal and unchangeable, as distinct from the temporary and ever-changing material body. It was not created at any time nor can it ever be destroyed.<\/li>\n<li>At the time of death the soul is carried by the subtle (astral) body to a new gross body, according to the law of karma (action and reaction).<\/li>\n<li>Karma is not created in the lower species. Human life alone is one of responsibility.<\/li>\n<li>The perpetual cycle of repeated birth and death is called <em>samsara.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>There are 8,400,000 \u2018species\u2019 of life within six main divisions, as follows:\n<ul>\n<li>humans (including demigods) 400,000 species<\/li>\n<li>beasts 3,000,000 species<\/li>\n<li>birds 1,000,000 species<\/li>\n<li>insects 1,100,000 species<\/li>\n<li>aquatics 900,000 species<\/li>\n<li>plants 2,000,000 species<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Although each soul has his it\u2019s unique destiny, already determined at birth, human beings have some (limited) freedom of choice to determine their future. In other words, destiny and human agency (free will) exist simultaneously. \u201cMan is the architect of his own fortune\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>Those who die in the mode of goodness (<em>sattva guna<\/em>) go to the realm of the <em>devas<\/em> (demigods). Those who die in the mode of passion (<em>raja guna<\/em>) stay in the middle regions (i.e. as human beings). Those who die under the influence of <em>tama-guna<\/em> (ignorance) go downwards.<\/li>\n<li>Some sinful souls do not immediately take another body at death but remain in their subtle bodies as ghosts. According to the Vedas their are various reasons for becoming a ghost (e.g. suicide).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>*<\/em><em> By perpetual we mean indefinite but not eternal (in the sense that one is condemned forever, with no <\/em><br \/>\n<em> chance of redemption).<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After falling into the lower species the soul is purified through suffering and gradually rises again to the human platform.<\/li>\n<li>After attaining the heavenly planets the soul remains until it has exhausted it\u2019s pious credits and then falls again to earth.<\/li>\n<li>Although some Hindus aspire to reach the heavenly planets at death, most consider liberation the highest goal, either by merging into <em>Brahman<\/em> (the all-pervading spirit) or by returning to the spiritual world. Many Vaishnavas (worshippers of Vishnu) consider <em>prema <\/em>(love of God) to be a higher goal than liberation, which they consider comes automatically by divine grace.<\/li>\n<li>The thoughts at the time of death determine the soul\u2019s destination. Hence the practice by many believers to practice<em> japa, bhajan<\/em> or <em>kirtan<\/em> (see Fact Sheet 14) as death approaches to help fix the mind on the Lord.<\/li>\n<li>Important verses on the soul and reincarnation can be found in the Bhagavad Gita, as follows: 2.13,2.20, 2.22, 2.72, 4.5, 6.41-45, 8.5-6, 9.20-21, 9.25, 13.22, 13.24, 14.15-16, 14.18, 15.8-12, 16.13-22, 18.55-56.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cComing Back<\/em><\/strong><em> <strong>&#8211; The Science of Reincarnation\u201d<\/strong> is available for \u00a31.50 (including postage and packing) from ISKCON Educational Services. This small book includes three reincarnation stories from the Puranas, as well as a thorough exploration of the subject.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A full colour poster<\/em><\/strong><em>, <strong>\u201cThe Cycle of Birth and Death\u201d<\/strong>, (measuring 19\u201d x 27\u201d on canvas paper) is also available from IES for \u00a35.00 inclusive of postage and packing.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Word document download: FCT-0101 The soul (atma or atman) exists in all species of life and is the source of consciousness. The atma is eternal and unchangeable, as distinct from the temporary and ever-changing material body. It was not created at any time nor can it ever be destroyed. At the time of death the [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[302,298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fact-sheets-further-information-and-teaching-resources-primary","category-fact-sheets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2801"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2803,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions\/2803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}