Personal Narrative: The Ultimate Sacrifice In Hindu Religion

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Devotion is one of those words that some religious people take loosely. To totally be devoted to one’s belief, god or goddess, and/or idea is to ultimately sacrifice one’s full sense of self based solely on faith or the unseen-requires a deep desire and religious discipline-that many individuals are not able to commit to. In fact, reincarnation, a spiritual doctrine in the Hindu religion, is its answer to the universal question, “what happens after we die- the rishis taught that the soul leaves the dead body and enters a new one. One takes birth again and again in countless bodies- perhaps as a human being or some other life form-but the self remains the same.” (Fisher and Rinehart 77) The Hindu religion’s beliefs

“And just as a leech moving on a blade of grass reaches its end, takes hold of another and draws itself towards it, so does the self, after throwing off the body, that is to say, after making it unconscious, take hold of another support and draw itself together towards it.” (Fisher 70) This aspect of God’s manifestation exhibits qualities of commitment, love, sacrifice, and a desire to be more like the Divine. Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical belief that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions. The entire universal process, that gives rise to the cycle of death and rebirth, governed by karma, is referred to as “Samsara.” Based on the type of karma one does, he chooses his subsequent birth. For example, “ a man becomes pure through his pure deeds, impure through impure deeds. Not only in this life, but the good or evil we have sown follow us after physical death, affecting our next incarnation.” (Fisher and Rinehart 77) By saying a man “chooses” his birth, he allows his present life actions to dictate his next reincarnated life experience. Also, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, says “Then the self becomes endowed with particular consciousness and passes on to the body to be attained by that consciousness. Knowledge, work, and past

For an individual to be so intrinsically committed to bettering them-self in the name of the Creator is a true sacrifice in its self. I myself have a desire to become closer to God but do not follow any particular set of rules. For me, it is more about the feeling that is radiated from the spirit. I truly walk in the belief that “ Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” (Tolle) That is how I know that my actions are aligning closer with that of a higher spiritual being. I do believe in reincarnation because of the many déjà vu experiences I have felt throughout my life. Even in the movie, 330 Million Gods to see people not worship material things but instead things of higher consciousness overwhelmed me. However, I do not believe that one has to follow specific rules in order to achieve fulfillment in self. The ultimate religious sacrifice is choosing the spirit over the will of the flesh- enlightenment through positive life experiences to live out as many lifetimes as possible- to reach mental, physical, and spiritual freedom in the