Who Is Reincarnating?

[Pita das 0]

Jivas are of two kinds 1)Nitya -Mukta eternally free

 

2) Nitya-Baddha eternally ensalved .

 

Free Jivas are never enslaved.they are serving the Supreme Lord in five functions

in His eternal blissful abode ,where there is no change,no desruction,no misery.

 

Jivas who enters there never comes back here.

 

The inconceiviable narrorest line of demarcation between land and water or the line where the land and water meet is called tata,

 

So also the meeting line of the chit world or the eternal world abode of the supreme Lord and the a-chit world or the region of Maya is called tata.

 

The power of the Supreme Lord displayed at the tata is known as Tatstha lying in the Tata or marginal power.

 

All the jivas being the display of this power have the inherent oscilling tendency and capibility of going to the chit or a chit world.

 

Tata not being a resting place ,jivas must go to this side or that ,those preferring the

a chit ,fell into the clucthes of the Octopus Maya,when these mortal customes of the mind and the body were put on him as a punishment.

 

In this Santanic frenzy in which the jiva dislikes the blissful and eternal service of his Master and prefers to quench his thirstful desires of enjoying matter,opens before him a perpetual spring of liquid fire of posin at which he begins to drink deep.

 

Thus in going to lord it over Maya,jiva becomes enslaved by her.

 

 

Jai Om Vishnu Pada Paramahumsa Srimat Bhakti Siddanta Saraswati Goswami Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya

[Gauracandra 1]

This week’s episode by Srila Siddhaswarupananda is titled “Who Is Reincarnating?”

 

The program started off with a caveat that this would not be a sensationalist program. We aren’t going to try to prove reincarnation, nor are we going to get people to testify as having reincarnated. We know that reincarnation is real, and so this program is simply to present a clear explanation as to what it is.

 

The Beginning

Who am I? Who is it that is reincarnating? Most people when asked this question will list a number of labels attached to the body. We’ll talk of our race, nationality, sex, profession, age. We identify all these labels with the body.

 

But this is really a false concept. We must first understand that the body is not the self. Now there are different ways we can understand this basic idea. First, we can turn to scripture, which has come from the Supreme Authority. In this regard, Srila Siddhasvarupananda quotes verses from the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bible.

 

If we don’t have faith in scripture, we can still understand this concept through analysis. Analyze your existence. You are aware that “I” exist. You are also aware that you existed 8 years ago. But the body you had 8 years ago does not exist today. All of the molecules of the body are continually changing. He quotes a scientist who says that every molecule in the brain is replaced about 10,000 times over the course of a lifetime. So who am I? The body is gone, but I am not gone.

 

A second important point to understand is that I am not the mind. The mind is a subtle material body. It is not the brain, though it is intricately connected to the brain.

 

How can we understand that we are not the mind? Try for a moment to simply close your eyes and to watch your thoughts. Be aware that you are experiencing a good thought, a bad thought, experiencing desire etc... Simply stand back and observe your thoughts. The fact that you can watch your thoughts means that someone is observing something else (the thoughts).

 

So these are two important points to understand in relation to reincarnation. First, I am not the body (the gross material covering). And second, I am not the mind (the subtle material form). Reincarnation means that the soul leaves the gross physical form, but remains covered by the subtle form. The subtle form then goes into a new physical form. More will be discussed on reincarnation in the next seminar.

[Guest guest]

But this is really a false concept. We must first understand that the body is not the self. Now there are different ways we can understand this basic idea. ...

If we don’t have faith in scripture, we can still understand this concept through analysis.

 

The presence of atma can be understood reasonably through intelligence. But it cannot be conclusively but through scriptures. After presenting all arguments logically, one has to still rely on the scriptures because logic can also counter the presence of soul. But still the effort to present logical arguments is good. Let me go and start a topic.