The Hindu religion is vast and multifaceted. Its adherents worship many manifestations of God and celebrate a large number of different traditions. The oldest religion that has survived to this day contains the principle of samsara, a chain of births and deaths – reincarnation. Each of us accumulates karma over the course of life, which is not controlled by the Gods, but is accumulated and transmitted through subsequent lives.
While “good” karma allows a person to achieve a higher caste in a future life, the ultimate goal of any Hindu is to exit samsara, that is, liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Moksha is the final of the four main goals of Hinduism. The first three – – refer to earthly values, such as pleasure, well-being and virtue.
As ironic as it may sound, in order to achieve moksha, it is necessary … to absolutely not want it. Liberation comes when one gives up all desires and persecutions. It, according to Hinduism, comes when a person accepts: the human soul is like a Brahman – the universal soul or God. Having left the cycle of rebirth, the soul is no longer subject to the pain and suffering of earthly existence, through which it has passed again and again.
Belief in reincarnation is also present in two other religions of India: Jainism and Sikhism. Interestingly, Jains view karma as a real physical substance, in contrast to the Hindu ideology of karmic law. Sikhism also speaks of reincarnation. Like the Hindu, the law of karma determines the quality of a Sikh’s life. In order for a Sikh to emerge from the cycle of rebirth, he must attain full knowledge and become one with God.
Hinduism speaks of the existence of different types of heaven and hell. The template of the first is a sun-drenched paradise in which Gods live, divine creatures, immortal souls free from earthly life, as well as a huge number of liberated souls who were once sent to heaven by the grace of God or as a result of their positive karma. Hell is a dark, demonic world filled with the devil and demons who control the world’s chaos, destroying order in the world. Souls enter hell according to their deeds, but do not stay there forever.
Today, the idea of reincarnation is accepted by many people around the world, regardless of religious affiliation. Several factors influence this. One of them: a large amount of evidence in favor of the existence of past lives in the form of personal experience and detailed recall of memories.