Reincarnation.the law of karma and religions as tailored,ready-made Karma.

Brief explanation  about reincarnation from Later Upanishads- ( shatapatha Brahminism,Brihadanyaka etc) And A theory of Religions as  Inherited Karmas- Condensing/posting an old write of Mine:-    

 Reincarnation ( Punarjanmam-Sanskrit) is to be "born again" or "to be Regenerated" not necessarily a vision/remembrance of any past lives.. In a sense another (not new though) beginning in an endless-beginingless cycle of " karma samsara"-A continuous cycle of birth-death-physical existence/deletion of beings.Principle assumptions being that a being is a fusion of the spiritual(Atman} and the worldly physical body and together they think/ act as guided by their " Prakriti"-Meaning the basic integral nature as acquired and evolved, and accumulate " Karma", a sum total of their thoughts and actions. This basic integral nature is governed by three types of "Gunas"- meaning "qualities "which affect the "soul" ( defined later) and the conduct and character of the Being. 1)"Sathvic"- relating to balance, order and purity. 2)" Rajassic"-relating to dynamism,Motion,change and power.3) "Tamassic"-relating to Inertia,Darkness,lethargy and Ignorance. All beings have these qualities in varying proportions causing them to commit thought and action.By conscious practice and deliberate action any "guna-quality" can be acquired/overcome. This is a continuing cause-effect imprint of a being till death carried by the spiritual Atman. The origin and consequences of karma will have to be borne by the being and others now or at any other time/place or life. The presuppositions being that the Atman is unborn ,indestructible,eternal,unmutable while being a reflective part of the "Paramathma-( a universal whole Atman) and will have to undergo the consequences of the karma,where as the body is temporal, destructible and temporary. In order to explain how the effects of all thought and actions of beings are preserved in the atman after the death of the body and how these effects produce their fruit in a future rebirth, the Upanishads make a distinction between two types of bodies: the gross, physical  body (sthula-sarira) and the subtle body (sukshma-sarira or linga- sarira).The gross body is visible and tangible, consists of the five external senses, of organs, etc. The subtle body, comprising of Atman that powers  life( called "Jeeva"-sans) is neither visible nor tangible, and is composed of subtle capabilities, like:Buddhi (Intelligence), Manas (Mind), Ahamkara (Ego), etc. The subtle body of Atman and Jeeva together  is called" Jeevatma "  or the "soul" and serves as a connection between the subtle and the gross body while being an Integral part of the concept of " Paramatman" meaning a supreme, absolute soul or  a  Supreme Universal consciousness. Every  thought, Idea and actions of the being leaves its imprint (Samskara) on the subtle body and remains as a seed which shall mature and produce in due time its effects. Good or bad. While the gross body finishes at death, the merit/demerit transfer continues  with the karma of a being through the subtle psychic body which carries it forward. The subtle body together with all the tendencies, merits or effects of karma is said to migrate with the soul (Jeevatma) at death. When the Jeevatma attains the quality of " paramathma" it shall cease to be born in any animate/ physical/human/animal manifestation cycles and shall have attained" Moksha" meaning a liberation from the " karmic samsara" of birth and Death. Each/every/all births and deaths are an evolutive  journey to attain "Moksha" which is a oneness with the supreme soul, Brahman or the supreme universal consciousness. Its widely believed that to be born as a human is a result of a very long time of good karma! Though some hardly appreciate that!

जाति नीति कुल गोत्र दूरगं
नाम रूप गुण दोष वर्जितम् |
देश काल विषया तिवर्ति यद्
ब्रह्म तत्त्वमसि भाव यात्मनि ||२५४||

Beyond caste, creed, family or lineage,
That which is without name and form, beyond merit and demerit,
That which is beyond space, time and sense-objects,
You are that, God himself; Meditate this within yourself. ||Verse 254||

—Vivekachudamani, 8th Century AD.

 I think-  What are all accepted Ideas,Idealogies,philosophies, believed-in Belief systems including religious, political, Ideological  and any other tenet formats  but readymade, Inherited and ongoing Karmas of others? How did they happen, transfer, propagate in millions and sustain through all these millennia? They could be of a prophet, a leader, summarized Holy book, an Idea of an Individual or a group of individuals who have done and finished their karma but the effect or the essence is ongoing. Science is the only field where everyone's karma evolves! Because of circumstantial, geographical and demographical ,positional occurrence of one's birth many of these tailored karmas ( I am absolutely not making any qualitative judgments here)  are available/naturally adopted with or without understanding and also with an affinity for an Identity. An untrained/unfeeling/unconnected mind may often assume a false sense of superior identity too with dangerous implications. Christianity is the result of the Karma of Jesus, Islam of Mohammed, Buddhism of Siddhartha Gautama, Hinduism of  ancient scriptures, many sub religions and scores of Gurus and philosophers. I have absolutely nothing against this except to say we as Hindus already have an instant, enormous value base of a readymade, collective good karma to start off .Why is this not enough? why do I have to evolve and make my Individual karma( most of it could be bad too!) if I already have this super duper karma in a religio-cultural format  which should make me an angel, a God, a jesus,or a Shiva or a Buddha or any enlightened super conscious soul? THAT IS WHERE "AVIDYA" ( IGNORANCE) COMES IN! KARMA KICKS IN! With such a lot ofreligions, philosophies and prophets evil also happens. Isn't it an ironic karma of human frailty! Acting unrighteous and choosing an ignorance over light and knowledge is nothing but bad karma. evil thus occurs and has to be accepted as it also is a basic guna by ignorant/deliberate choice of many beings as an inherent Swabhaava,meaning the non-transmutable n innate 'Nature' of a being.The Swabhaava can only changed by an Ethical,Dharmic saadhana of an eternal vigilance of ones thoughts and consequent actions in the strictest framework of ;Dharma" meaning in Hinduism a steadfast practice of adhering to the Ethical.Moral and the Humane established principles of conduct of the highest calibre.What value was with me when I was born, alive and what goes away at my death? How strongly did I seek to understand/appreciate it with all the wonderful faculties given to me and evolved by the universe and an existential life full of such wonderful lifes and people? If I or" it" did not matter why am I in this stream of life that shall end in death? Is it not that same value which has made me seek and bring me here at this point in my life? Can I, before a certain death,  before a plus or minus Karma or any religious fulfillment make a difference, enhance that value depending on  how un-ignorantly/righteously  I commit my thoughts/ actions /endeavors and their effects on me/ others/the universe?. Do my desires, deeds ( good or bad) and their consequences and all other emotions die at my death? May be not!  Considering all  births and Deaths happening/happened in past millennia/shall happen in the future and the  consequent effects of these lifetimes affecting this world I think that Neither is a birth a new beginning nor death the final end! All one can do is to appreciate/acknowledge the curious ignorance we live in, seek /journey with awareness towards merging an independent, individual soul with the universal soul in a personal context as Evidently in spite of all the best karmas of various religions and belief systems we apparently have to go through it all again .May be many times! This one life could be many lives lived before!

 Let me live righteous, Let me plant a seed, water it, care for it and make it a worthy sapling. Let me die. Let the sapling prosper and grow to a high and mighty and strong Tree! May you/all care for it. May it shelter birds and give fruits and shade to many! I am a being born again! Some wonderful karma right here right now!