We all know that new born infants display emotions from their first breath onwards. They are happy, sad and angry just like us. This happens when they are awake but it also happens when they are sleeping. This display of emotions during waking hours can be attributed to interactions with parents and siblings, but that does not explain why they should smile, cry or be scared during sleep. It certainly does not explain why a male child should have an erection at an age which is very far removed from puberty.
According to the theory of reincarnation this happens because there are traces of memories brought forward from the past life. These memories play like a newsreel producing different emotions at different times. As the infant gets enmeshed in the three dimensional world, there is a slow erasing of these trace memories.
Some infants cry all the time while some others are exactly opposite. They cry only when they are hungry or wet. This happens because they have a lot of happy memories from their adult past. While it is not set in stone, a happy childhood is a pointer to a happy life later on. It may not be a wealthy or prosperous life, but it is likely to be a happy one.
Theory of incarnation is not without its proof. In all countries, and in all cultures of this world there are people who remember their past life. These stories have been verified and they check out. Little children remember their wife and kids from past lives and even remember the geographical location of their erstwhile home in another city which they otherwise wont be able to point out on a map.
Modern science is actually quite biased against eastern traditions. It happily propagates the theoretical existence of purely imaginary entities like Pions, Gluons, Mesons and a host of such particles for which they have no shred of proof. However when it comes to the Vedic belief system, it comes out with its old criteria that anything which can not be felt and studied can not exist.
The theory of reincarnation explains why things happen in this world, and why people become wealthy or poor, healthy or sick, happy or sad. In short it explains the reason behind all dualities. It very emphatically does not propagate inaction.
A video game has a preset course of events which it repeatedly goes through unless a player takes charge of the joystick. Once that happens, the events taking place on the screen are altered. They become a combination of software programming and human action.
A similar thing happens with life too. The Prarabdh Karma is the software which we created in the past through our actions for our use in future lives. Good Karma brings good results and the reverse is true as well. A lot however depends upon what we do in this incarnation. If our Karma has handed us a lemon we can either lament or make lemonade from it. Conversely we could squander away a bountiful legacy through our immaturity.
The greatest gift of the theory of Karma and reincarnation is that for its believers, it acts as a self imposed check on negative actions in everyday life. It also controls soaring and often unrealistic expectations from self and environment. It keeps us well adjusted and happy. While it does not make saints out of every one, it keeps serious crime down. Poverty and hunger can cause petty crimes to occur but the scenarios of a gunman taking an automatic weapon and going on a killing spree in a campus are unthinkable in India. That says a lot about self check and self governance in everyday actions.
Rajiv Sethi
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