A Hindu philosophical term meaning a chain of rebirths. On the understanding of death and the meaning of death in India

Just like the soul transmigrates
from a child's body to a youth's
and from it to senility, so at the moment of death
she passes into another body.
- Bhagavad Gita, 2.13.

In India, the ancient sacred land of Krishna, Rama, Buddha and countless avatars (Divine incarnations), reincarnation is perceived as a reality, obvious to the humble street sweeper, to the erudite pandit (scholar), and to the righteous sadhu (holy saint). .

Reincarnation or reincarnation(in Sanskrit पुनर्जन्म - punarjanma) is one of the basic concepts of Hinduism. The cycle of birth and death is accepted as a natural phenomenon of nature.

In Hinduism, avidya (that is, ignorance) of a person regarding his true spiritual nature leads him to identification with the mortal body and matter, which supports his desire to remain in the cycle of karma and reincarnation.

Reincarnation in the Vedas

First the transmigration of souls is mentioned in the Vedas- the oldest sacred scriptures of Hinduism. According to Indologist Vladimir Erman, the doctrine of reincarnation is not traced in the oldest of the Vedas, the Rig Veda.

However, some scientists point out that it also contains elements of the theory of transmigration of souls. As one example of the presence of the doctrine of reincarnation in the Rig Veda, an alternative translation of hymn 1.164.32 is quoted:

Whoever created it does not know it.
It is hidden from anyone who sees it
Hidden in the mother's womb,
Born many times, he came to suffering.

In this hymn of the Rig Veda, there are two meanings of the word bahuprajah: “having many offspring” and “born many times”.

Such references literally permeate the Avatara Veda, Manusamhita, Upanishads, Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other ancient texts of India, included either in the original Sanskrit Veda or being among the Vedic literary works which are considered to be supplementary.

The ancient Indian grammarian Yaska gives both these meanings in Nirukta. The Yajurveda says:

O learned and tolerant soul, after wandering in waters and plants, the personality enters the womb of the mother and is born again and again.
O soul, you are born in the body of plants, trees, everything that is created and animate, and in water.
O soul, shining like the sun, after cremation, mingling with fire and earth for a new birth and taking refuge in the mother's womb, you are born again.
O soul, reaching the womb again and again, you rest serenely in the mother's body like a child sleeping in its mother's arms.

The hymn “To Yama” (Rigveda, 10.14) contains a hint of possibility of returning to earth: “Having left (everything) sinful, return home again! Connect with the body, full of vitality!”

Reincarnation in the Upanishads


A detailed description of the doctrine of reincarnation is contained in the Upanishads - ancient philosophical and religious texts in Sanskrit, adjacent to the Vedas.
Namely concept of transmigration of souls reflected in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5.11 and the Kaushitaka Upanishad 1.2.

Just as the body grows due to food and water, so the individual “I”, feeding on its aspirations and desires, sensory connections, visual impressions and delusions, acquires the desired forms in accordance with its actions.

In Hinduism, the soul, called atman, is immortal, and only the body is subject to birth and death.

The Bhagavad Gita, which, according to most Hindus, reflects the essence of Hindu philosophy and the main meaning of the Vedas, says:

Just as a person takes off old clothes and puts on new ones, so the soul enters new material bodies, leaving behind old and useless ones.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.1-4) further explains how how is reincarnation accomplished?:

[At the moment of death] the area of ​​its [soul's] heart begins to glow, and this light helps the soul to come out through the eye, through the head or through other openings in the body. And while she departs, pranas [various streams of vital air] accompany her to her next place of stay... Her knowledge and deeds follow her, as does wisdom, although individual details of her past life are not preserved.

Just as a caterpillar, crawling to the tip of one blade of grass, having collected itself, drags itself to another, so the soul, having thrown off one body, along with its ignorance, is transferred to another, new body.
Just as a jeweler gives a gold bar a new, more attractive form, so the soul, having thrown off the old and useless body, puts on new and, perhaps, better bodies than before, which it receives in accordance with its past actions, capabilities and desires.

Karma and samsara

The idea of ​​reincarnation of the soul of any living being - people, animals, plants - is closely related to the concept of karma, which is also explained in the Upanishads.

The word karma comes from the verbal root Kri - “to do” or “to act” - a word expressing causation. In other words, it indicates not only an action, but also an inevitable response to it.

Karma has a negative aspect known as vikarma, which roughly translates to " bad karma" “Bad” in the sense that it is associated with vicious or base activities that lead to subsequent birth in lower species of life and, as a negative result, bind the soul to the world of birth and death.

Positive karma implies charitable, merciful activity, the result of which is the desired reaction - a reward in the form of material well-being, which also binds the soul to the material world.

Only akarma frees us from the cycle of birth and death, relieves us of any reactions - positive and negative, that bind us to this world of duality; it enables the soul to return to its original nature.

Spiritual activities are of pious origin. The sacred scriptures of world religions generally share the same opinion about spiritual activity, believing that it elevates a person above both “good” and “bad” karma.

The Vedic texts contain provisions that clearly and definitely distinguish between three types of activities: good, bad and transcendental.

Hinduism states that the soul is in a constant cycle of birth and death. Desiring to enjoy in the material world, she takes birth again and again for the satisfaction of her material desires, which is possible only through the material body.

Hinduism does not teach that worldly pleasures are sinful, but explains that they cannot bring inner happiness and satisfaction, called ananda in Sanskrit terminology.

According to the Hindu thinker Shankara, our world is like a dream. By its nature it is transitory and illusory. Being in the thrall of samsara is the result of ignorance and misunderstanding of the true nature of things.

After many births, the soul eventually becomes disillusioned with the limited and fleeting pleasures given to it by this world, and begins to search for higher forms of pleasure, which can only be achieved through spiritual experience.

After prolonged spiritual practice (sadhana), the individual realizes his eternal spiritual nature, that his true “I” is the eternal soul, and not the mortal material body.

At this stage he no longer desires material pleasures because they seem insignificant compared to spiritual bliss. When all material desires cease, the soul is no longer born and is liberated from the cycle of samsara.

Moksha


When the chain of birth and death is broken, the individual is said to have achieved moksha- salvation.

While all philosophical schools of Hinduism agree that moksha implies the cessation of all material desires and liberation from the cycle of samsara, different philosophical schools give different definitions of this concept.

For example, followers Advaita Vedanta(often associated with Jnana Yoga) believe that after achieving moksha, the individual remains forever in a state of peace and bliss, which is the result of the realization that all existence is one and indivisible Brahman, and the immortal soul is a part of this one whole.

After attaining moksha, the jiva loses his individual nature and dissolves into the “ocean” of impersonal Brahman, which is described as sat-chit-ananda (being-knowledge-bliss).

On the other hand, followers of philosophical schools of full or partial dwights(“dualistic” schools to which the bhakti movements belong) carry out their spiritual practice with the goal of achieving one of the lokas (worlds or planes of existence) of the spiritual world or the kingdom of God (Vaikuntha or Goloka), for eternal participation there in the games of God in one of his forms (such as Krishna or Vishnu for Vaishnavas, and Shiva for Saivites).

However, this does not necessarily mean that the two main schools of Dvaita and Advaita are in conflict with each other.

A follower of one of the two schools may believe that achieving moksha is possible in both ways, and simply give personal preference to one of them. It is said that followers of Dvaita want to “taste the sweetness of sugar,” while followers of Advaita want to “become sugar.”

Thus, in Hinduism the emphasis is placed on the fact that material things are perishable and one must gradually abandon material joys in favor of spiritual ones. But, on the other hand, we come to the material world in dense bodies, and each experience has its own value too.

Which point of view is close to you: exclusively spiritual aspirations or the value of physical life with all its pros and cons?

Materials used in the article:

Stephen Rosen, “Reincarnation in world religions”/>“Yajurveda”, 12.36-37/>Translator’s commentary on hymn 10.14. Rigveda, translation by T. Ya. Elizarenkova/>“Shvetashvatara Upanishad” 5.11/> Lysenko V. G. Karma. New Philosophical Encyclopedia

In India, the ancient sacred land of Krishna, Rama, Buddha and countless avatars (Divine incarnations), reincarnation is perceived as a reality, obvious to the humble street sweeper, to the erudite pandit (scholar), and to the righteous sadhu (holy saint). . Some scholars claim that the concept of reincarnation can only be found in late Indian philosophical literature and not in the original scriptures - the Vedas. But this is not so: mention of this phenomenon is also found in early Vedic works: “The one who brought her into the world does not know her. It is hidden from the one who contemplates it. She is hidden in her mother's womb. Having been born many times, she came into this world in suffering.” Such references literally permeate the Avatara Veda, Manusamhita, Upanishads, Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other ancient texts of India, either included in the original Sanskrit Veda, or which are among the Vedic literary works considered to be supplementary. This established tradition, enshrined in the scriptures, laid the foundation for the unshakable Hindu belief in reincarnation.

The law of karma in Hinduism says that the characteristics of the next life are in accordance with the quality of the life lived. The word "karma" comes from the verb root Cree- “do” or “act” - words expressing a causal relationship, indicating not only an action, but also an inevitable response to it. Karma has a negative aspect known as vikarma, which roughly translates to “bad karma.” Bad in the sense that it is associated with vicious or base activities leading to subsequent birth in lower species of life and, as a negative result, binds the soul to the world of birth and death. Positive karma implies charitable, merciful activity, the result of which is the desired reaction - a reward in the form of material well-being, which also binds the soul to the material world. Finally, there is a category of actions called akarma; it involves spiritual activities that do not cause material reactions. Only akarma frees us from the cycle of birth and death, relieves us of any reactions - positive and negative, that bind us to this world of duality; it enables the soul to return to its original nature. Spiritual activities are pious. The sacred scriptures of world religions generally share the same opinion about spiritual activity, believing that it elevates a person above both good and bad karma. The Vedic texts contain provisions that clearly and definitely distinguish between three types of activities: good, bad and transcendental.

In Western countries, the word “karma” is often and not entirely correctly used to mean “fate” or “fate”. These concepts go back to the Greek moira - an action/reaction philosophy that limits the capabilities of even the gods. According to the Greeks, there is no way to escape the power of fate. Greek tragedy, one of the earliest and most popular forms of Western literature, has its roots in moira and is characterized by feelings of hopelessness and inevitability. However, Indian literature is not characterized by tragic plots, since it is believed that karma, unlike moira, can be neutralized and even erased by engaging in spiritual practice.

As Hinduism teaches, people are motivated to action mainly by their idea of ​​what will bring them the most immediate benefit. From here follow the prerequisites for various social or antisocial behavior, which leads, on the one hand, to the pleasure associated with the life of “highly developed” human beings, on the other hand, to suffering from repeated deaths and births in various bodies of lower species. The rules governing high or low birth occupy hundreds of volumes of Vedic and post-Vedic texts.

The worldview of Samsara is the most perfect explanation of death in Hinduism, which is the culmination of Vedic and Puranic concepts. Samsara teaches that the soul, immediately after death, is reborn in the material world and continues to rotate in the cycle of birth and death until it completely clears its consciousness of materialistic desires. After this, the purified soul returns to the spiritual kingdom - where it came from and where all souls originally resided. There she finds her natural, originally inherent life next to God. Modern Hinduism, as well as Vaishnavism, Shaivism and many other traditions widespread in Eastern India, adheres to precisely this point of view, seeing in it the truth that constitutes the essence of all previous teachings.

The complexity of the topic and the immense amount of detail contained in the Vedic texts and commentaries on them is staggering. Related ideas, such as uterine life, are described in them so exhaustively that, judging by the volume of knowledge contained, the Vedas are rightfully considered the most authoritative and complete source of information regarding the nature of reincarnation. To give just one small example, the Bhagavata Purana, considered the cream of the crop of Indian sacred literature, gives a carefully detailed description of how the consciousness of a living being develops from the moment it is in the womb until death:

“After a living being suffers in hell and passes through all the lower forms of life that precede the human, it, having thus atone for its sins, is reborn on Earth, receiving a human body...

The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, said: “Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the results of his activities, the living entity, the soul, enters into the male semen and with it enters the womb of a woman to be incarnated in a certain type of body...

On the first night, the sperm fuses with the egg, and after five nights, a vesicle is formed from the egg as a result of fragmentation. After ten days, the embryo takes the shape of a plum, after which it gradually turns into either a lump of flesh or an egg...

During the first month, the embryo develops a head, and by the end of the second month, arms, legs and other parts of the body. By the end of the third month, he has nails, fingers and toes, hair, bones and skin, as well as genitals and other openings in the body: eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus...

Four months after conception, the seven main components of the body are fully formed: lymph, blood, flesh, fat, bones, bone marrow and semen. By the end of the fifth month, a living creature begins to feel hunger and thirst, and after six months, the embryo, covered with a water membrane (amnion), moves to the right side of the mother’s abdomen.”

These texts go back thousands of years, but they are verifiably consistent with modern scientific research. The Bhagavata goes on to explain that although the womb is a safe place for the incarnating soul to bear, the child must undergo terrible physical suffering while in the womb and that because of this the soul forgets its previous lives. If the soul cannot do this, says the Bhagavata, it will have to carry this overwhelming burden throughout its entire life. The soul stores memories of its past lives in the subconscious, but at the level of the mind it forgets about them in order to adequately respond to its new parents and to the environment in the new life. From a Vedic perspective, the pain experienced at birth (along with the pain experienced during the death of the previous body) contributes at least in part to the oblivion of the past that accompanies each birth. Philosophers of both East and West have long made various assumptions regarding the phenomenon of oblivion, and yet it remains the main stumbling block for those who defend the theory of reincarnation, and no less so for those who deny it. If we have already lived before, the latter ask, then why don’t we remember this?

Clergy and theologians offer many different answers to this question. In the Pistis Sophia (a Gnostic Christian text dating from the 2nd century), Jesus speaks of a soul drinking from a cup “filled with the water of forgetfulness.” This idea is also supported by Plato: each individual has the ability to choose the circumstances of his next incarnation, and after this choice is made, he drinks water from the Lethe River (translated from Greek as “oblivion”), which erases everything in his memory, so that he can start a new life without obstacles. “The body is the real river Lethe,” writes another Greek philosopher Plotinus, “for the soul, clothed in it, forgets everything.” As already mentioned, to some extent, this cosmic amnesia of the soul can be explained physically: the hormone oxytocin, which controls the frequency of muscle contractions of a pregnant woman during childbirth, also contributes to the fact that the events that traumatized us are forgotten.

No matter how such forgetfulness occurs, the Bhagavata says that the fetus in the womb of the mother suffers according to its karma. But due to the fact that his consciousness has not yet fully developed, he can endure pain and, when the time comes, be born. The Bhagavata continues: “Deprived of freedom of movement, the child is confined in the womb of the mother, like a bird in a cage. At this time, if fate is favorable to him, he remembers all the vicissitudes of his hundred previous lives, and the memory of them causes him severe suffering.”

While in this state, the soul in the fetus remembers its debt to God and prays to Him for forgiveness. She remembers her fall from the heights of heavenly existence and her passage through countless bodies. The repentant soul in the womb of the mother expresses an ardent desire to restore its service to the Lord. The Bhagavata describes the soul's desire for liberation, its desire to once and for all get rid of the shackles of maya (illusory existence) and put an end to its stay in the material world. The fetus declares an infinite disgust for life in the material world and offers a prayer to the Lord: “Let me remain in this state [in the mother’s womb], and although I am in conditions that are terrible, it is better than being born out of the womb out, fall into the material world and again fall victim to maya.”

However, as the Bhagavata says, after birth the child, content with a sense of false security under the protection of loving parents and relatives, again becomes a victim of the illusion of material existence. From childhood, the soul, enclosed in the body, remains in a materialistic stupor, absorbed in the play of feelings and the objects of their satisfaction: “In a dream, a person sees himself in a different form and thinks that this is himself. In the same way, he identifies himself with his present body, obtained in accordance with pious or sinful actions, and knows nothing of his past or future lives.

The rest of the voluminous thirty-first chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhagavata gives a detailed outline of life in the material world - from childhood, then youth, maturity to old age, after which the whole process begins anew. This phenomenon is called samsara bandha, that is, “conditional life in the cycle of birth and death.” According to the Bhagavata, the goal of human life is to be liberated from this cycle through the process of bhakti-yoga, the yoga of devotional love, in which the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is central.

As maternal oxytocin enters the baby's organ system, there is reason to believe that this natural drug flushes out the memory of previous incarnations along with conscious memories of birth. This does not mean that memory erasure does not occur in life outside the womb. The inability of even the most astute adults to remember their childhood years, as well as the common loss of memory among the elderly, may be a natural way of alienating unimportant information from conscious memory.

Hinduism claims that the Universe consists of an infinite number of spiritual atoms - souls - the size of one ten-thousandth of the tip of a hair. Only a perfect mind can comprehend the soul. It is supported by five types of air currents (prapa, apana, vyana, samana and udana), is located inside the heart and spreads its influence throughout the body of the embodied living being. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five streams of material air, then its spiritual influence manifests itself. Thus, from the moment of birth, the soul imprisoned in the body falsely identifies itself with it.

Even during one life we ​​pass through several different bodies - baby, child, youth, adult, old man - but we remain the same person. We don't change, only our body changes. The Bhagavad Gita describes the first step on the path of enlightenment: “Just as the soul transmigrates from a child’s body to a youthful one and from it to an old one, so at the moment of death it passes into another body.” The Bhagavad Gita indirectly poses the question: if the soul transmigrates from one body to another during life, then why should this process be interrupted at the time of death? The following analogy is drawn: “Just as a person puts on new clothes, throwing off old ones, so the soul takes on a new body, leaving behind the old and useless one.” In comparing the body with worn-out clothes, a precisely found analogy is visible: we buy clothes in accordance with our taste and means; we receive a new body in accordance with our desires and karma, which constitutes our “means” for acquiring a future state of existence.

Our journey from one body to another is driven by our most refined desires and karma. We can wisely ask: who wants to be a dog or a wolf? Apparently no one. But too often, all our aspirations are not what we first mean or want them to be. In reality, our actions expose our true desires. For example, if we want to spend our lives in sweet slumber, why shouldn’t nature give us the body of a bear that sleeps for months? Or if we are consumed by sexual desire, then why don't we incarnate in the body of a dove, which is physiologically designed in such a way that it can copulate many times a day?

Each of the millions of species of living entities provides the eternal soul with a body that is best suited for a particular kind of sense gratification. According to the Vedas, this is the Lord's concession to those of His children who seek to live separately from Him in the world of matter - a playground where we can taste all the delicacies of material existence and realize that none of them compares with anida ("spiritual bliss") ") the kingdom of God.

Of all the literature dealing with the concept of reincarnation, the Vedic texts of ancient India are perhaps the most complete and timeless. Sanskritologists, Indologists and religious historians are only now beginning to study the works of the Vedic sages with their analysis of repeated births and various levels of existence. As the Western world understands these esoteric mysteries, we are rediscovering long-forgotten truths about our own culture and religious traditions. And as we penetrate deeper into the ideas bequeathed to us by self-realized Vedic teachers, the collective consciousness reaches a higher spiritual level.

Our consciousness is naturally most absorbed in what is most dear to us. “Whatever state of being a person remembers when leaving his body,” says the Bhagavad Gita, “he will certainly achieve this state.” The characteristics of the subtle body (mind and sense of individuality) at the time of death express the total result of activities over the entire life lived. If a person has managed to change his subtle body by focusing on God, then at the time of death it will create a gross body in which he will incarnate as a devotee of the Lord; if he has achieved even greater development, then he no longer accepts a new material body, but immediately receives a spiritual body and thus returns to the original spiritual home, back to God. All this is summed up beautifully by the American Indologist Dr. Guy L. Beck:

“According to the ancient texts, yoga, which has various definitions but is almost always associated with purification of the mind, combined with bhakti, devotion to the Personal Deity, is the remedy against the pain and misfortunes brought by countless births in the cycle of transmigration [reincarnation]. In fact, it is solely through the protection of a Personal Deity (be it Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, Shiva or Lakshmi) that a person is freed from the horrors of transmigration and plunges into a state of continuous bliss. Although these believers do not claim to reach the Vedic heaven, their subsequent consistently spiritual life, as spoken of in the bhakti scriptures, can be seen as a further development and perhaps a more direct response to the basic need of all humanity - to be freed from what the German philosopher Nietzsche called eternal repetition of the same thing."

H. L. Beck's admiration for the Hindu tradition is encouraging, especially in his well-founded conclusion that Indian philosophy, in all its varied forms, can boast of the most consistent and elaborate doctrine of transmigration that the world has ever known: "The Doctrine Hinduism's concept of transmigration, compared with other religious systems and theories, is undoubtedly the most comprehensive in world history. And there are several reasons for this: it has withstood centuries of external invasions and political unrest; it rebuffed numerous attacks from various kinds of critics and distorted interpretations given both from within and from without; it has evolved to accommodate many types of religious belief, be it monism, dualism, monotheism, polytheism, non-theistic teachings, etc. Despite all its complexity, the doctrine of transmigration, along with the belief in karma, remains some of the most ingrained common denominators - regardless of social status, caste, religious worldview, age and gender - among various religious movements, movements and philosophical schools that complement the original Indian tradition.”

Reincarnation, according to primitive peoples, can be made easier or more difficult using the funeral method. Children are often buried under the floor of the house, in the belief that this will make it easier for their souls to return to their mothers. Adults, whose spirits are stronger and therefore more dangerous after death, are often buried not in the house, but on the outskirts of the village.

Some African tribes resort to other means of managing the process of reincarnation: the dead, whose return for one reason or another is undesirable, are simply thrown into the bushes. Thus, they are discouraged from wanting to be born again in this community.

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1) Reincarnation of souls (samsara)

Reincarnation of souls is perhaps the most attractive idea of ​​Hinduism, as this idea overcomes the fear of death.

If after death your soul moves into another body, young, beautiful, full of energy, and a new life awaits you, perhaps more interesting and happy, then why should you be afraid of death?

“Just as a person, throwing off old clothes, puts on new ones, so the soul enters new material bodies, leaving behind the old and useless ones.”
(Bhagavad-Gita 2.22)

For Christians, the fear of death remains; even true believers sometimes have doubts: “What if there is nothing there?” After all, the existence of God does not guarantee us immortality: “What if He doesn’t need us there?”
This is confirmed by the fact that even the most righteous people, being already very old and sick, still cling to this life, which for them is filled with suffering.

Hindus, with their mother's milk, absorb the belief in the transmigration of souls and treat death much more easily. In India, people do not mourn dead people, as in Europe, but, on the contrary, celebrate this event.

The idea of ​​the transmigration of souls has many supporters, although no one counted them, I think that most people on earth believe in the transmigration of souls.

2) Law of retribution (karma)

Karma(translated from Sanskrit means “what has been done”) is a set all human actions that together determine his future.

“Poverty, illness, grief, imprisonment and other misfortunes are the fruits of the tree of our sins.” (Sri Chanakya Niti-shastra, 14.1)

Hindus believe that a person's future is determined by how he lives in this life and how he lived in his previous incarnations. Every human action has its consequences. If a person does good deeds, then his karma improves, and if he does evil, then his karma worsens.

This is a universal law of life.

Karma is not a punishment for sins or a reward for virtues. A change in karma is the result of the natural course of events, which are interconnected by a cause-and-effect relationship: every human action generates its own consequences. At every moment of life we ​​have a choice of what to do, good or evil, and by making this free choice, we create our future.

The idea of ​​karma is also very attractive, because it provides an answer to the most difficult questions that believers ask themselves:

Why does the all-good God allow so much evil into our world?
Why do maniacs torture and kill young children?
Why do godly people live worse than prostitutes and thieves?
Why do innocent people die from terrorist explosions, natural disasters and man-made disasters?

If you accept the law of karma, then all these questions will disappear by themselves, because any misfortune can be explained by karmic consequences.

In addition, the law of karma gives a person hope for justice, because according to this law, a person himself determines his own destiny, each time making a choice between good and evil.

3) Liberation from the chain of rebirths (moksha)

The main goal of Hinduism is to escape the chain of rebirths.

Please note, this is not a partial working off of karmic debts and, as a result, a more favorable fate in a new incarnation, but a final departure from the world of samsara (translated from Sanskrit as “circle of rebirths”).

Every person, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, having a villa in Nice or living homeless on the streets, sooner or later receives a full cup of suffering. Who can avoid old age, illness, loss of loved ones? In India, where many people live in grinding poverty, this is especially true. Therefore, the idea of ​​cessation of earthly existence and transition to other worlds where there is no suffering has become the central idea of ​​Hinduism.

In Hinduism, the reason for the soul's presence in the world of samsara is ignorance - a misconception about the laws of the universe. In our world, the human soul is consumed by passions - lust, greed, envy, hatred. And all this gives rise to new suffering, since under the influence of negative feelings we create evil and, thus, worsen karma.

To escape the cycle of birth and death and thus be freed from all suffering, a person must realize his true nature. When the individual soul of man realizes its oneness with the source of all existence (God), it will find itself in a state of pure spirit, filled with knowledge and bliss (nirvana), which defies description.

“Whoever looks at the world with the eyes of knowledge and sees the difference between body and soul,
he can find the path leading to liberation from bondage in the material world and achieve the highest goal." (Bhagavad-Gita, 13.35)

The main way to achieve liberation is Yoga (translated from Sanskrit means “unity, connection, harmony”), which is a set of various spiritual and physical practices aimed at controlling consciousness. There are many types of yoga in Hinduism, but you must begin your spiritual path by observing

5 basic principles of moral purity:

1) refusal to use violence,

2) refusal to lie,

3) refusal to steal,

4) abstinence from sensual pleasures,

5) renunciation of greed.

4) Polytheism and Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

There are thousands of gods and goddesses in Hinduism, each with their own sphere of influence. For example, (the elephant-headed god) brings good luck and promotes success in scientific research, so he is worshiped by scientists. is the goddess of wisdom, eloquence and art, and is worshiped by philosophers, poets and artists. She holds in her hands a musical instrument symbolizing art. – the goddess of destruction, she destroys ignorance and maintains world order. She holds a sword in one hand and a demon's head in the other. In India there are many temples dedicated to the goddess Kali, she is revered as a slayer of demons.

The pantheon of Hindu gods has a complex hierarchical structure. Each god has his own sphere of activity, and they are all included in a complex system of interactions. In Hinduism, there are many different rituals, including sacrifices, with the help of which Hindus try to establish personal contact with the deity and receive some kind of help from him.

A special place in the Indian pantheon is occupied by the trimurti (Hindu trinity), represented by three gods:

Brahma is the creator of the world, Vishnu is the preserver of the world and Shiva is the destroyer.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are considered different manifestations of the one supreme deity Brahman, who expresses the fundamental principle of all things - absolute reality, containing the entirety of the universe with countless gods and goddesses who appear and disappear following certain time cycles.

Followers of some modern Hindu movements consider Hinduism to be a monotheistic religion, since the different deities worshiped by representatives of different Hindu movements are, in fact, only different hypostases or manifestations of a single spiritual essence - Brahman. At the same time, a person can worship the hypostasis of God that he likes best, if he respects all other forms of worship.

5) Caste structure of society

Unlike other countries, Indian society was initially divided into various social groups - varnas and castes.

There are 4 large social groups - varnas (translated from Sanskrit means “color”):

1) varna brahmins - the class of brahman priests;
2) varna kshatriyas - the class of rulers and warriors;
3) Varna Vaishyas - the class of artisans and traders;
4) varna sudra - the class of inferiors and slaves.

People who did not belong to any of the four varnas were considered outcasts and occupied the lowest rung in society.
Castes correspond to a smaller division of society into groups based on professional affiliation.

In India, social inequality did not simply arise as a result of the stratification of society into rich and poor. The division of society into varnas is a reflection of the cosmic laws of the universe described in Rig Veda. According to Hindu philosophy, a person's level of self-awareness is determined to a large extent by which varna he belongs to. Thus, for Hindus, social inequality is natural, since it follows from the fundamental laws of the universe.

We live in a world where human equality is one of the most important values. It is proclaimed as a moral right and as a law of the state. Now the constitutions of all countries contain provisions on the equality of all citizens among themselves.

However, does this equality really exist?

Look around, someone drives a Mercedes, and someone lives on the street in a cardboard box. You can say that the homeless person is to blame, it is his own choice to live on the street - the main thing is that people have the same opportunities. But do, for example, the son of an oligarch and a boy from a family of alcoholics have the same opportunities? Already at birth, we are very different from each other: one is born smart, beautiful and rich, and the other stupid, poor and sick - and this largely determines the future fate of a person.

Once I was at a lecture on philosophy at the university. The lecture was given by the head of the department, who taught Marxism-Leninism all his life, preaching “freedom, equality and brotherhood.” And so he told us: “Sometimes it seems to me that some people live only to serve other people.” Don't you think so sometimes?

6) The universal law of changing the world (dharma)

In Hinduism, there is a universal law of change in the world - dharma (translated from Sanskrit means “the eternal order of things”). Awareness of this law helps a person to find harmony in life. The word dharma in Hinduism also means truth and reality, and is often interpreted as the correct understanding of the laws of reality or God as the root cause of reality.
People who live in accordance with the principles of dharma quickly emerge from the circle of rebirths, which is why the word dharma is often translated as “right action” or “duty.” In other words, every person has his own task in life that he must complete. If a person acts in accordance with this task, then his life proceeds normally, otherwise problems arise in his way.

The source of universal law is God, whose attributes are truth, knowledge and bliss, which is why dharma is often called truth in Hindu texts.

“The king of kings is what dharma is. Therefore, there is nothing higher than dharma.
And the powerless hopes to overcome the strong with the help of dharma,
as if with the help of the king. Truly I tell you, dharma is truth.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14)

The word “reincarnation” is translated as “re-incarnation.” The theory of reincarnation includes two components:

  1. The soul, and not the body, represents the true essence of man. This position is consistent with the Christian worldview and is rejected by materialism.
  2. After the death of the body, the human soul is embodied in a new body after some period of time. Each of us has lived many lives on Earth and has experiences that go beyond the current life.

Identifying oneself with the body makes a person experience a strong fear of death. After all, after it he will completely disappear, and all his works will be meaningless. This causes people to act as if death does not exist. In order to escape from the idea of ​​the finitude of their existence and the lack of meaning in life, people try to lose themselves in fleeting affairs and entertainment. This could be a focus on your family or a strong immersion in work. A person can also resort to such dangerous entertainment as drug use. Belief in the finitude of life creates a spiritual vacuum in people’s hearts. Belief in the eternal nature of the soul allows you to regain the meaning of life.

Reincarnation is a law that affects a person regardless of his faith. The doctrine of reincarnation says that a person is responsible for his own actions. The subsequent birth depends on his actions in previous lives. In this way, justice is established and the difficult circumstances of life of those who have not yet sinned are explained. The subsequent incarnation allows the soul to correct its mistakes and move beyond limiting ideas. The very idea of ​​constant learning of the soul is inspiring. We can get rid of our obsession with current affairs and find a new perspective on difficult and depressing situations. With the help of abilities developed in past births, the soul is able to overcome those problems that were not resolved previously.

Many of us have no memories of our past lives. There may be two reasons for this:

  1. We were taught not to remember them. If the family belongs to a different faith or one of the family members is an atheist, then such memories will be suppressed. A child’s statement about the details of a past life can be perceived as fiction or even as a mental disorder. Thus, the child learns to hide his memories, and subsequently forgets them himself.
  2. The memories may be difficult or shocking. They can prevent us from maintaining our identity in our current life. We may not be able to stand them and actually go crazy.

The idea of ​​reincarnation has been supported by various scientists and sages for thousands of years. At the moment, the doctrine of reincarnation is largely preserved in Hinduism. Many people travel to India to come into closer contact with this religion and gain spiritual experience. However, there were also followers of this theory in the West. Below we will look at the great personalities of different historical periods who support theory of soul reincarnation.

The doctrine of transmigration of souls in the religions of the East

The doctrine of reincarnation is central to many Indian religions. It is also present in Buddhism. For representatives of Eastern faiths, the idea of ​​reincarnation is natural.

The concept of reincarnation of souls is central to Hinduism. It is written about him in sacred texts: in the Vedas and Upanishads. In the Bhagavad Gita, which contains the essence of Hinduism, reincarnation is compared to changing old clothes for new ones.

Hinduism teaches that our soul is in a constant cycle of birth and death. After many births, she becomes disillusioned with material pleasures and seeks the highest source of happiness. Spiritual practice allows us to realize that our true Self is the soul, and not a temporary body. When material attractions cease to control it, the soul leaves the cycle and moves into the spiritual world.

Buddhism states that there are five levels at which one can incarnate: hell dwellers, animals, spirits, humans and deities. The conditions in which the soul will be born next time depend on its activities. The process of rebirth occurs until the creature disintegrates or reaches emptiness, which is accessible to few. The Jatakas (ancient Indian parables) tell of the 547 births of Buddha. He incarnated in different worlds, helping their inhabitants find liberation.

Reincarnation in the philosophy of Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras and his followers were adherents of the concept of reincarnation. The merits of Pythagoras and his school in mathematics and cosmology are now recognized. We have all been familiar with the Pythagorean theorem since school. But Pythagoras also became famous as a philosopher. According to Pythagoras, the soul comes from heaven into the body of a person or animal and incarnates until it receives the right to return. The philosopher claimed that he remembered his previous incarnations.

Another representative of philosophers in Ancient Greece, Empedocles, outlined the theory of the transmigration of souls in the poem “Purification.”

The famous philosopher Plato was also a proponent of the concept of reincarnation. Plato wrote famous dialogues, where he conveys conversations with his teacher Socrates, who did not abandon his own works. In the dialogue “Phaedo” Plato writes on behalf of Socrates that our soul can come to earth again in a human body or in the form of animals and plants. The soul descends from heaven and is first born in the human body. Degrading, the soul passes into the shell of an animal. In the process of development, the soul again appears in the human body and receives the opportunity to gain freedom. Depending on the shortcomings to which a person is subject, the soul can incarnate in an animal of the appropriate species.

Plotinus, the founder of the school of Neoplatonism, also adhered to the doctrine of reincarnation. Plotinus argued that a man who killed his mother would in his next birth become a woman who would be killed by her son.

Early Christianity

Modern Christian teaching claims that the soul is incarnated only once. It seems that this has always been the case. However, there are opinions that early Christianity was favorable to the idea of ​​reincarnation. Among those who supported this idea was Origen, a Greek theologian and philosopher.

Origen had great authority among his contemporaries and became the founder of Christian Science. His ideas influenced both Eastern and Western theology. Origen studied with the Neoplatonist Ammonius Sax for 5 years. At the same time, Plotinus studied with Ammonius. Origen said that the Bible includes three levels: bodily, mental and spiritual. The Bible cannot be interpreted literally, because in addition to its specific meaning, it carries a secret message that is not accessible to everyone. Around 230 AD e. Origen created an exposition of Christian philosophy in his treatise On Principles. In it he also writes about reincarnation. The philosopher wrote that souls prone to evil can be born in the shell of an animal and even a plant. Having corrected their mistakes, they rise and regain the Kingdom of Heaven. The soul enters the world with the strength of victories or weakened by the defeats of a previous incarnation. The actions committed by a person in this life predetermine the circumstances of birth in the next.

In 553, the theory of reincarnation of souls was condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council. The council was established by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. By voting, the council members decided whether Origenism was acceptable for Christians. The entire voting process was under the control of the emperor, some of the votes were falsified. Origen's theory was anathema.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

During this period, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls developed in Kabbalah, an esoteric movement in Judaism. Kabbalah spread in the 12th-13th centuries. Medieval kabbalists identified three types of migration. Birth in a new body was designated by the term “gilgul”. In the description of gilgul, Jewish texts are similar to Hinduism. The book “Zohar” says that the next birth is determined by what addictions a person had in the previous one. The last thoughts before death also affect him. Kabbalah also mentions two other types of reincarnation: when the soul moves into an already existing body with evil or good thoughts.

Among other figures of that time, the concept was adhered to by Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher. From the school curriculum we know that he supported the heliocentric views of Copernicus, for which he was burned at the stake. However, few people know that he was sentenced to burning not only for this. Bruno said that the human soul, after the death of the body, can return to earth in another body. Or go further and travel through the many worlds that exist in the universe. A person’s salvation is not determined by his relationship with the Church, but depends on a direct connection with God.

New time

In modern times, the concept of reincarnation was developed by Leibniz. This manifested itself in his theory of monads. The philosopher argued that the world consists of substances called monads. Every monad is a microcosm and is at its own stage of development. Depending on the stage of development, a monad has a connection with a different number of lower-level subordinate monads. This connection forms a new complex substance. Death is the separation of the main monad from its subordinates. Thus, death and birth are identical to the usual metabolism that occurs in a living being in the process of life. Only in the case of reincarnation does the exchange have the character of a leap.

The theory of reincarnation was also developed by Charles Bonnet. He believed that during death the soul retains part of its body and then develops a new one. Goethe also supported her . Goethe said that the concept of activity convinces him of the correctness of the theory of transmigration of souls. If a person acts tirelessly, then nature must give him a new form of life when the currently existing one cannot hold his spirit.

Arthur Schopenhauer was also a proponent of the theory of reincarnation. Schopenhauer expressed his admiration for Indian philosophy and said that the creators of the Vedas and Upanishads understood the essence of things more clearly and deeply than weakened generations. Here are his thoughts on the eternity of the soul:

  • The conviction that we are inaccessible to death, carried by each of us, comes from the awareness of our originality and eternity.
  • Life after death is no more incomprehensible than life today. If the possibility of existence is open in the present, then it will be open in the future. Death cannot destroy more than we had at birth.
  • There is that existence which cannot be destroyed by death. It existed eternally before birth and will exist eternally after death. To demand the immortality of individual consciousness, which is destroyed along with the death of the body, means to desire the constant repetition of the same mistake. It is not enough for a person to move to a better world. A change needs to happen within him.
  • The belief that the spirit of love will never disappear has a deep basis.

XIX-XX centuries

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who developed the doctrine of the collective unconscious, also believed in reincarnation. Jung used the concept of the eternal Self, which is born again in order to comprehend its deepest secrets.

Famous political leader Mahatma Gandhi said that the concept of reincarnation supported him in his activities. He believed that, if not in this, then in another incarnation, his dream of universal peace would come true. Mahatma Gandhi was not only the political leader of India. He was also its spiritual leader. Following his ideals made Gandhi a true authority. Gandhi's worldview was formed thanks to his understanding of the Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi rejected any form of violence. Gandhi made no distinction between simple service and prestigious work.

He cleaned the toilets himself. Among Gandhi's many achievements, the main ones are:

  • Gandhi made a decisive contribution to improving the condition of the untouchables. He did not go to those temples where untouchables were prohibited from entering. Thanks to his preaching, laws were passed that prevented the humiliation of lower castes.
  • Securing India's independence from Great Britain. Gandhi acted through the tactics of civil disobedience. Indians had to give up titles given by Britain, jobs in the civil service, the police, the army and the purchase of British goods. In 1947, Britain itself gave independence to India.

Russia

L.N. Tolstoy is a widely known Russian writer. Many studied his works in school. However, few people know that Tolstoy was interested in Vedic philosophy and studied the Bhagavad Gita. Leo Tolstoy recognized the doctrine of reincarnation. Discussing life after death, Tolstoy showed the probability of two paths. Either the soul will merge with the All, or will be born again in a limited state. Tolstoy considered the second more probable, because he believed that knowing only limitations, the soul cannot expect an unlimited life. If the soul lives somewhere after death, it means that it lived somewhere before birth, as Tolstoy claimed.

N. O. Lossky is a representative of Russian religious philosophy. He was one of the founders of the intuitionist movement in philosophy. Here is how the Russian philosopher proves the idea of ​​reincarnation:

  1. It is impossible to grant salvation to a person from the outside. He must deal with his evil himself. God puts a person in situations that will show the insignificance of evil and the power of good. To do this, it is necessary that the soul continues to live after physical death, gaining new experiences. All evil is redeemed by suffering until the heart becomes pure. This kind of correction takes time. It cannot happen within one short human life.
  2. By creating a person, God gives her the power to create. A person develops his own type of life. Therefore, he is responsible for his actions, for his character traits and for his external manifestation in the body.
  3. Lossky noted that forgetting is a natural property of humans. Many adults don't remember parts of their childhood. Personal identity is not based on memories, but on basic aspirations that influence the path a person takes.
  4. If the passion that caused an unseemly act in the previous incarnation remains in the soul at the next birth, then even without the memory of the committed actions, its very presence and manifestation lead to punishment.
  5. The benefits and hardships that newborns receive are determined by their previous birth. Without the theory of reincarnation, different conditions of birth are contrary to the goodness of God. Otherwise, the being being born creates them itself. Therefore, it is responsible for them.

Lossky, however, rejected that a person in his next incarnation could be born in the shell of an animal or plant.

Karma and reincarnation

The concept of karma is closely related to the theory of reincarnation. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect, according to which a person’s actions in the present determine his life both in this and in subsequent incarnations. What is happening to us now is a consequence of the actions of the past.

The text of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, one of the main Puranas, says that the actions of a being create its next shell. With the advent of death, a person ceases to reap the benefits of a certain stage of activity. With birth, he receives the results of the next stage.

After physical death, the soul can be reincarnated not only in a human shell, but also in the body of an animal, plant, or even a demigod. The body in which we live is called the gross body. However, there is also a subtle body, consisting of mind, intelligence and ego. When the gross body dies, the subtle body remains. This explains the fact that in the subsequent incarnation the aspirations and personality traits that were characteristic of her in the previous life are preserved. We see that even a baby has its own individual character.

Henry Ford said that his talent accumulated over many lives. He accepted the doctrine of rebirth at age 26. The work did not bring him complete satisfaction, because he understood that the inevitability of death made his efforts in vain. The idea of ​​reincarnation gave him the opportunity to believe in further development.

Reincarnation of relationships

In addition to personal relationships, there are more subtle connections. In previous incarnations we have already met some people. And this connection can last several lives. It happens that we did not solve some problems for a person in a past life, and we must solve them in the present.

There are several types of connections:

  • Soul mates. Those souls who help each other move to a new level of consciousness. They are often of the opposite sex to balance each other out. Meeting a soul mate may not last long, but it can have a strong impact on a person.
  • Twin souls. They are very similar to each other in character and in their interests. They often feel each other at a distance. When you meet, you get the feeling that you have known the person for a long time, and a feeling of unconditional love arises.
  • Karmic relationships. Such relationships are often difficult, and you need to work hard on yourself. People need to work through some situation together. If there is some debt left to a person from a past life, then it’s time to return it.

Lossky also wrote about the connection of souls in subsequent lives. Beings of the God Realm have a cosmic body and are connected to each other. A person who has true love for another person is united with him by an indestructible bond. With a new birth, the connection remains at least in the form of unconscious sympathy. At a higher stage of development, we will be able to remember all previous stages. Then the opportunity arises for conscious communication with the person whom we have loved with eternal love.

The soul cannot be satisfied with material pleasures alone. However, the highest pleasures can be achieved only through spiritual experience, which helps to realize one’s spiritual nature. The concept of reincarnation teaches us not to get hung up on passing moments, it allows us to realize the eternity of the soul, which will help in solving complex problems and finding the meaning of life.

A dying European will never be able to take his bank account or family, his experience, or his long and difficult career to the next world. He almost always feels discomfort and a feeling that he has lost or lost something. Many people at this moment feel the absurdity of their life’s path, as if they were playing some incomprehensible game, written according to someone else’s rules, and now the end has come. There is a fundamentally different attitude towards death as such in India. This is not grief, this is not fear, this is happiness and the same phenomenon as rain or wind. This is inevitability, subject to certain laws. It is simply a change in state of existence. A market trader dying may assume that his next incarnation will be much more comfortable or enjoyable. For him it's just a change of form.

Every devout Hindu is sure that death is just a transition of the existence of the soul from one layer of reality to another plane of existence. The concept of karma and rules of behavior during life runs unshakably and as a thick line through the life of every Indian. Here again we encounter the wheel of samsara, a complex structure that initially implies a place for everyone according to his behavior. Closing his eyes on his deathbed, an enlightened Hindu hopes that his new life will be better.

And ideally, it will not exist at all. It is possible that either the hall of fame of the god he has chosen, or a new caste, or new respect from people has already been prepared for him. But this is if he lived according to all the rules. The clearly defined rules of life and happiness forced Hindus to develop a unique attitude towards death, philosophical, but at the same time pragmatic and clear.

Here, of course, one cannot help but touch upon the differences in different directions of Hinduism as such; its traditions have their own discrepancies, depending on the school, on the confession and on the interpretation of the sacred scriptures. But there are three main traditions. As they are called, "sampradaya". The famous trinity of Hindu gods is familiar to almost all of us since childhood: Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. These three rays diverge to the sides, providing rich ground for discrepancies and disagreements, but in this case we are only interested in the attitude towards death. Everything is simple here. There is a devotee of the chosen god, for example, one of the three named. After death, having lived a righteous life, he either joins his deity, merging with him in an esoteric temple of veneration, or continues his circle of incarnations, placed in a new body. There are many interpretations in the design of rituals and methods of glorification, but the essence is the same. Even if we take the world-famous Hare Krishnas, without whom not a single city in Russia can survive, then in essence they all came from the school of Vaishnavism.

Some gurus who have studied the Vedas have suggested that Krishna is the supreme incarnation of the god Vishnu. From this a whole religion emerged. Among the Hare Krishnas, after death a devotee has a hall of fame for Krishna with a very clear hierarchy, which is known to each of them during his lifetime. The same can be said about representatives of other schools, about Brahminists or Shaivites. Although supporters of Shiva, for example, have one of the branches, Kashmir Shaivism, which says that the soul is God himself, and after death the soul simply knows its essence. But the main thing in all of this is that for Hindus, death is not a loss, misfortune or grief. This is simply a transition to another state, quality.

They are preparing for death, waiting for it. And there are essentially two options. Either you continue the cycle of incarnations, or you simply recognize your god and dissolve in him. This state is described both in Buddhism as nirvana and as the highest enlightenment in many religions of India. That's the point. For the average European, death is a tragedy, the end of everything. For a Hindu, this is simply one of the stages of existence for which one must be prepared. Don't look for tears and lamentations on funeral pyres - they are not there. This is simply the process of the soul transitioning to a new state.

Of course, if an accident occurs, such as a fire, plane crash or flood, then Indians will, like everyone else, save their lives and property. In this case, an Indian, a Russian, and an American will behave in the same way. But each of them will act for different reasons. And the only reason why a Hindu will not sit idly by while a plane crashes is because he must be convinced that his death came on time, that dharma has been fulfilled, that there is no responsibility on him. Only if all of the above is true will he close his eyes and accept death. Otherwise, he will be saved, like any of us.

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