Reincarnation Essay

Reincarnation is a philosophical and religious concept in which a soul is reborn into a new physical body following death. The word reincarnation comes from the Latin root ‘re’, meaning again, and ‘incarnare', meaning to make flesh. The original origins of the concept of reincarnation are unknown, although it is believed it arose in northern India between 1000 and 600 BC. The first known reference to reincarnation appears in the Upanishads, which are a sacred Hindu text. It is also believed that the tribes of the Ganges valley or the Dravidian traditions of South India are early sources of the belief of reincarnation although there are is no direct evidence of this. It is unknown if the ideas associated with reincarnation arose independently in different regions over time or if they spread as a result of contact between different cultures. The concept of reincarnation is present in various religions, although each religion’s viewpoint of reincarnation is unique to itself. It

Karma is a form of matter in Janisim and when humans act karmic matter attaches to and weighs down on the jiva. Similar to Buddhism, the more karma a soul accumulates throughout a given existence, the lower it is born on the ladder of existence. In Janisim being born as a human indicates the jiva has worked its way up the ladder and has an opportunity to rid itself of any existing karma and prevent the accumulation of more. Only through a strict lifestyle of active self-denial and non-injury (Ahimsa) can one achieve liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Belief in the concept of reincarnation does impact the lives of those who believe in it. Those that believe in reincarnation are more likely to conduct their lives in a certain fashion in order to limit their rebirths and to free themselves from the cycle of rebirth entirely and achieve whatever their faith’s end goal