What do Hindus believe about reincarnation?

Answer 1

it affects it by being good you will be something higher in the Caste System or a animal, and by being bad you will not have such a good after life.

Answer 2

• Three-fourths of the world's population believe in the concept of reincarnation.

This number includes numerous individuals from a divergent selection of religious organizations or churches, whose majority members might well NOT believe in it.

Belief in reincarnation is held by adherents of almost all major religions except Christianity and Islam. In addition, between 20 and 30 percent of persons in western countries who may be nominal Christians also believe in reincarnation.It appears to many that reincarnation is equivalent to a true universal justice, and perhaps the ONLY one. People who have unfortunately failed important moral/ethical trials in the current life and have not the time nor the inclination to rectify their transgressions prior to death would have the sanctuary and safe harbor of another chance to learn love and compassion before a decision from on high was made as to the disposition of their souls.

An obstacle to belief in reincarnation is that we are not given much information on our experiences in prior lives. About the only clues we receive would be, for example: If for some unknown reason, we are dreadfully terrified of fire, or heights, or water, we might assume that in some previous reincarnation, we were overcome or killed by such means.

Many people believe that the feeling we sometimes get of "deja vu" is an indication that the sense of repetition of some act, or meeting a person who seems unusually familiar to us but whom we've never met before, is definitely telling is that we have indeed experienced the situation is another lifetime. A rather commonplace example would be a person visiting new friends in a strange house who has known from the minute she entered, the precise layout of the entire house, including placement and type of furniture, even down to the color of the bath towels and an apparent instant mutual knowledge of a house worker.

• The Brahman is one of the three gods in Hinduism, but is now considered a lesser god and one not worshipped faithfully. Reincarnation would be considered imperative to continuation of the Brahman's existence, the reason being that the lifespan of Brahma is limited. At the end of His lifespan, there will be a gap, after which another Brahmā or creator will begin the process of creation anew. This cycle is thought to repeat without end.

• The Hindu religion is the world's third largest. As in every other sect that believes in reincarnation, the Hindu premise is that reincarnation and karma are inevitably intertwined. Karma also seems to be an integral part of many other sects and fear of its possible consequences often determines human actions.

• The Hindus believe that life is not determined or limited to one birth and one death, but is instead a circle of migration, ALWAYS DETERMINED BY THE LAW OF KARMA. In short, human life is a transmigration of the soul according to the INEVITABLE LAW OF RETRIBUTION, which would make reincarnation a requisite tenet of the Hindus. A belief in reincarnation is not the basic teaching or the end of their religious cult and practices. Instead, the goal is, instead, deliverance from the claim of reincarnation and karma to reach "moksha," which is the final goal of every Hindu belief and practice.

If it's true that every great philosophy or religion has a similar thread of truth running through them, the above tenets are a good example.

• They believe the soul is immortal and takes birth time and time again.

• superstitious people belive all those stuffs living of a dead soul in a person.........but the basic of Hinduism doesnt speak of it .... but there is a concept that each soul will take 7 birth in this planet.....eg you are now a human you could have been a bird in your previous birth or you could be born as a ...say horse in your next birth......they say it depends on the "paavam and punnyam" which means the good things you do and the sins you do....

• Ban of changing Varnas: In the early days of Hinduism, a Hindu could change his Varna whenever he needed. However, since the enormous flexibility it resulted in made, both his life and the society he lived in, highly unstable. Thus, changing of Varnas was banned. A Hindu had to select a Varna that best suited him for his entire life and use it till his death.

The original way of attaining Moksha:

Originally, a Hindu could attain Moksha by preventing reincarnation or transformation of an activity every time it was executed. The aim was to make the activity involuntary so that ultimately the entire life could be made involuntary.

Thus, originally a Hindu could attain Moksha in his present life only.

Redefined Moksha:

Varnas are invisible and a temporary change in Varna to get undue advantage couldn't be detected. Thus, Moksha, that enables a Hindu to change his Varna, was redefined.

In the new definition of Moksha, the word 'activity' was replaced by the word 'life'. This meant that one couldn't attain Moksha and change his Varna till his death.

Changing Varna in next life:

In the present life a Hindu could only become acceptable to the next higher Varna by his good Karma (good deed) to them. His next generation could use a higher Varna.

Therefore, every Hindu believes in Reincarnation to abolish his effort to change his Varna in this present life and thus stabilize his life and the Hindu society.

• In Hinduism there is a difference between the inner soul and outer body. The inner soul is the real person and outer body is only a container.

One classic story explaining the duality ... A master asks his student "what is that?" pointing to something he is holding in his hand - the student answers "My pen". Master says "Ok - you say so because that belongs to YOU." then the master asks "What is holding the pen?" Sudent answers "My hand" Master goes on - "What makes you think? " Student-"My brain", Master- "What makes you live?" Student-"My Heart" . Finally master says - "Like the Pen you treat all the others as something which belongs to you - what is that YOU". The student has no answer.

Hinduism calls that YOU as the ATHMA - the inner soul. All other things including the body is just outside YOU. Hindus believe that the soul is separate from the body and it will reincarnate when the body is no more able to live in this world. The soul will rest or join the ultimate soul (PARAM-ATHMA) when it is ready to leave itself. It is believed the soul is ready when it has relieved itself of all earthly pleasures - which are all induced by this body (love, pain, hurt, ego, sex etc).

Does_Reincarnation_have_proofs">see related question; Does_Reincarnation_have_proofs

• Aupmanyav adds: My friend here has given you the religious take. I am an atheist hindu. Here is my take on reincarnation:

It was a strategy to make people engage in good deeds because they got you better next birth. At the same time, it discouraged people from engaging in evil deeds as they could be reincarnated as worms. It was a social strategy.

Whether one takes seven births or 8,40,000; the idea is that you are given a chance to improve your performance by doing good deeds. If your balance of bad deeds is nullified, you go to heaven or merge with God as a pure soul.

Answer 3

Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.(Similar to Buddhist beliefs) Karma is the cause of our particular destiny. Misfortunes in our present life are the result of acts that we have committed in the past. In the same way, our actions in our present lives will determine our fate in the lives that follow. Hindus therefore aim to live in a way that will cause each of their lives to be better than the life before.

They believe that if they do wrong Karma in their present life then they would be incarnated in the form of an animal, insect or may be human. Right and wrong Karma both effect their fate.

Answer 4

As a Hindu, when you die, you get reincarnated as something. What you get reincarnated as depends upon your actions in the life you have just ended. So, for example, if you were a good human being you might be reincarnated as a demigod, but if you were not, you might become a frog. So what you get reincarnated as depends on your actions. Good actions get good karma, and bad get bad, so i guess the more good karma you have, the better the thing you get reincarnated as.

Answer 5

Karma works this way : tit for tat. So if you do good karma your sins will be washed away and you might not have to take birth again, if you do bad karma you might have to take birth again in very painful life form and take abuse of people.

Answer 6

Hindus believe you accumulate good or bad Karma depending on whether or not you follow your individual Dharma, or universal law, that applies to you, since not everyone's Dharma is the same. If you have accumulated bad Karma in this life by not following your Dharma, they believe you will be reincarnated into a lower caste in the next life, or if you were especially bad, even into a lessor life form. The goal for Hindus is to understand what their Dharma is for this life, and to accumulate good Karma so that they either get reincarnated into a higher caste in the next life, or to satisfy Karmic law completely, and achieve Moksha. Moksha is to become united with the ultimate reality.

Answer 7

Hindus belief that reincarnation is real, that the body dies and returns to dust but the ME, the Mind and the Ego is reborn based on our Karma. Hindus, Jains, Buddhists all the eastern religions believe in this because there is no other option but to believe in this. But the Hindus also believe in something beyond reincarnation. The original Hindu faith or Sanatana Dharma believes that reincarnation is only one option of an afterlife. The other option is liberation, salvation, enlightenment. When we realize that not only are we not the body that returns to dust but we are also not the mind and ego that says, ‘it is me’, if we realize we are the Divine Soul, then there is no reincarnation. There is liberation and unification with the Divine.

Answer 8

Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism very clearly understand that everybody who lives does Karma or action, and these actions have to be redeemed. Just like if you plant a seed, the fruit will come, so when you plant a deed, the destiny has to come. But we die - death is a part of this drama call life, then what happens? Then we are reborn based on our Karma. Thus, the Hindus, the Buddhists and Jains believe that Karma is directly affecting our rebirth. A child is born blind not because of God, not because of bad luck, the child is born blind because of Karma. It is the Law of Action and Reaction, it is the law of the boomerang - what goes around, comes around. But we must realize this Truth.

Answer 9

we Hindus believe in The Law of Cause and Effect (karma) . Which will affect life after death according to your deed. If you do good you will be treated better. Same goes for bad deeds.

Answer 10

yes, Hindus have firm belief In The Law of Cause and Effect (karma). They also have belief in Reincarnation (punarjanma).