does anybody here not believe in reincarnation? plus a question about Brahman!

[mile83]

Hello all, namaste,

do we have Advaitins here who don't really believe reincarnation to be true, I'm asking because I know they exist ^^, I must say I'm having difficulties accepting reincarnation as true because as someone else already told me on another forum (not a neo-advaitin btw) there is only one soul, so what get reincarnated? And at what time if there really is no time.

I apologize if I say complete nonsense, but what would happen to me if reincarnation were not true, when I die? I guess I would merge back to Brahman.

Aren't we all Brahman's dream? And when we die we wake up?

Maybe I'm just looking for like-minded people, and Advaita is really an intriguing philosophy, I haven't been so passionate about something for years, but am really having trouble accepting reincarnation

thanks

[mile83]

I'm sorry, I've just found out that a similiar question has been asked before by member rishabhverma.

[devotee]

Namaste mile83,

do we have Advaitins here who don't really believe reincarnation to be true, I'm asking because I know they exist ^^, I must say I'm having difficulties accepting reincarnation as true because as someone else already told me on another forum (not a neo-advaitin btw) there is only one soul, so what get reincarnated? And at what time if there really is no time.

I apologize if I say complete nonsense, but what would happen to me if reincarnation were not true, when I die? I guess I would merge back to Brahman.

Aren't we all Brahman's dream? And when we die we wake up?

Your questions show that you have very little idea on what Advaita is. In my opinion, it might not be the right path for you. For your questions, the answers are :

a) Advaitins acknowledge the validity of rebirths and re-incarnations otherwise there would be no need to follow this most difficult spiritual path.

b) Re-birth is true ... it has been many instances where people have narrated their past lives correctly. So, there is no point in going after a hypothetical question.

c) The actual phenomenon is not so easily comprehensible by human mind. However, dream is an approximate valid example. It is a difficult subject ... very difficult really and at this stage, I don't think it advisable to enter into this discussion.

Please read thread on this forum patiently so that you have some idea of what it has to offer. I would advise you to go through some of the threads like "Aham BrahmAsmi", "Aham BrahmAsmi-2, "Aham BrahmAsmi-3", "Aham BrahmAsmi-4" "Creation and Advaita", "How does Advaita counter this argument ...", "A few questions on Advaita and their answers" etc.

OM

[Jetavan]

I'm sure there are a few who no more "believe" in reincarnation than "believe" that the sky is blue.

[mile83]

Namaste mile83,



Your questions show that you have very little idea on what Advaita is. In my opinion, it might not be the right path for you. For your questions, the answers are :

a) Advaitins acknowledge the validity of rebirths and re-incarnations otherwise there would be no need to follow this most difficult spiritual path.

b) Re-birth is true ... it has been many instances where people have narrated their past lives correctly. So, there is no point in going after a hypothetical question.

c) The actual phenomenon is not so easily comprehensible by human mind. However, dream is an approximate valid example. It is a difficult subject ... very difficult really and at this stage, I don't think it advisable to enter into this discussion.

Please read thread on this forum patiently so that you have some idea of what it has to offer. I would advise you to go through some of the threads like "Aham BrahmAsmi", "Aham BrahmAsmi-2, "Aham BrahmAsmi-3", "Aham BrahmAsmi-4" "Creation and Advaita", "How does Advaita counter this argument ...", "A few questions on Advaita and their answers" etc.

OM

Thanks, I guess you're right, as a Westerner it's not easy to accept rebirth. What I didn't really understand before was if there is only Brahman, then what incarnates, but I've found the answer in another thread.

Thank you both

[Nirguna]

Namaste Mile83,

The ultimate goal of an Advaitin is to be free from the cycle of birth and death (samsara), by self-realization.
Due to our ignorance (avidya) we are stuck in our physical body, which is limited in space, time, entity, overall we see ourselves as limited individuals, and perceive duality in our vyAvahArika plane. We are subject to constant deaths and births, suffering, pain, etc... when we realize ourselves as the infinite Atman-Brahman, unlimited, free from duality, plurality, limitation, birth/death.

Aren't we all Brahman's dream? And when we die we wake up?

This is incorrect. Please don't take the analogies of the Upanishads literally the same. They just make the idea clearer by comparing things that we know to understand the unknown.
Brahman is pure consciousness. In Brahman/Turiya/pAramArthika plane, there are no thoughts, no knower, known, knowledge, because thoughts and mind are finite. And there is no duality, meaning All are One, but it is perceived as dual due to our ignorance because of the power of mAyA by its vikahepa sakti, which lets us mistake the world as real and ourselves as limited individuals.
As for your second question, the answer is obviously a big NO. If that was true, then all the Advaitins would kill themselves, and there is no need to study Advaita Vedanta nor the Upanishads nor Geeta nor Brahma Sutras. We "wake up" (please note that this is an analogy not to be taken literally) by self-realization.

[Caltha]

Namaste mile83,

I am curious about why you are asking this question. I can think of various reasons about why you might ask this question and different responses from us would be helpful depending on your reasons!

[jopmala]

Dear mile83

Rebirth is one of the important pillars of Hindu dharma. But before you accept rebirth , you have to accept this creation as real because without real jagat sansar there will be no real karma and rebirth. Rebirth occurs to jiva only due to their karma and if your creation is apparent then how will karma take place. In dream we may do karma but that does not yield any result which may lead to rebirth for enjoying karmaphal. In Gita sri krishna many times advises for niskam karma but my question is who will perform this niskam karma and where . Therefore you have to accept the veda between jiva and brahma and reality of this jagat. If you accept that jiva itself is brahma then there will be no karma. for brahma there is no karma. karma is for jiva only to reach out to the brahma. Bhagaban takes avatara only to teach jiva . Can bhagaban take avatara in an appearent jagat ? Again if jiva is brahma then whom bhagaban will teach ? Therefore rebirth means karmavada and real jagat sansar and jiva brahma veda etc . If getting rid of karma bandhan (for which rebirth is taking place ) is moksha then how that karma will be performed in an dream world ?

[Big River]

It seems to me that the op is stating that Advaita is appealing to him or her but wants to know if not believing in reincarnation is a deal breaker as far as being accepted by the Advaitin community?

[wundermonk]

Greetings,

does anybody here not believe in reincarnation?

Reincarnation is one of the basic doctrines of ALL Dharmic faiths.

One basic question to answer is - WHAT reincarnates? The answer can be found in Samkhya Karika - a 4th century AD Samkhya text that consolidated earlier Samkhyan thought.

What reincarnates is the "Sukshma Sarira" - this is an evolute of prakriti and is composed of the "seeds of personality". That is - our personality - is composed of Buddhi (intellect), Ahamkara (ego), Manas (mind) and our sense organs. The subtle form of these forms a covering over pure undifferentiated Purusha. The Purusha does NOT reincarnate, but it is the covering of Sukshma Sarira over Purusha that transmigrates/reincarnates acquiring a gross body.

I have found the following analogy useful. Think of the Purusha/self as a perfect circle. This is its original untainted form. The reason why we are entangled in Samsara is because there is entanglement of this perfect figure with Prakriti. The Sukshma Sarira is a covering around this perfect circle. The subtle Sukshma Sarira has rough edges. That is, it is a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, as it were. Our actions/thoughts/desires shape this jigsaw piece. Sometimes this piece grows, some other times, this piece diminishes. Reincarnation simply means that this jigsaw piece (that has the seeds of all future actions) finds a gross body (the rest of the jigsaw puzzle/scheme of things) where it fits perfectly.

No birth is an accident. It is like clockwork.