Moksha: The end of our sojourn through the material universe is reached when we “step off” the wheel of death and rebirth. Before that, the workings of karma and reincarnation keep us firmly enmeshed and entrapped in the bottom of creation until we have first understood the lessons this world holds for us. Only after we have sufficiently absorbed them do we graduate from this spiritual training center.
Central to the task of becoming liberated from the wheel of death and rebirth (“chaurusi”) is transmuting the illusion of separateness and all mistaken ego-driven thoughts, feelings, speech and action. Reaching the necessary level of discernment and discrimination (“viveka”) to accomplish this goal requires treading a rigorous, disciplining spiritual path under the guidance of an enlightened being (a Perfect Living Saint, Master or Mystic). Without his or her unerring hand and boundless grace, we would be unable to master this herculean task.
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Reincarnation, or the transmigration of souls, states that we are not born once, but die and are reborn many times until we learn certain spiritual lessons and become Self- and God-realized. It is impossible for a mere fallible mortal to reach this level of development in one life. Reincarnation is a central tenet of the Indian religious tradition (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism). It is also a tenet found in Paganism, Judaism and indigenous peoples (in the Americas and Australia), as well as Greek historical figures, like Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. In Christianity and Islam, believers include the Cathars, Alawites, the Druze, the Sufis and the Rosicrucians. Moreover, Neoplatonism, Orphism, Hermeticism, Manichaenism, and Gnosticism have placed reincarnation in the center of their metaphysical, spiritual teachings.
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Karma: the Indian equivalent of The Golden Rule (“treat others as you would have them treat you”), or Newton’s Third Law of Physics (“for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”). A fundamental law governing the mechanics of the material universe, it guarantees that all good and bad thoughts, feelings, words, and actions will return to us in due time.
There are three kinds of karma, the interaction of which explains when past actions bear fruit: Prarabdha (past karma that has been allotted to be burned off in this life time); Sanchita (all stored Karma that will not be gone through in this life), and; Agami (karma created in this life, the results of some that will be experienced in this life, while the rest is reserved for future lives).
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