Balavikas - Hindu Temple of Oklahoma City

Samsara
The cycle of birth, and death and rebirth is called samsara, and every soul must
undergo this cycle of births and deaths before it attains moksha or liberation. Only the soul
which reaches perfection in this life becomes one with the Brahman and is not born again.
Hindus believe in samsara as we do not accept that the Great God would be cruel
enough to create all the inequalities that exist in the world. He would not create one child
beloved of happy parents and another handicapped or blind and the third unwanted born to
impoverish parents and left hungry. The inequalities of life are only understandable when we
realize that they are man’s own Karma or actions and not God’s creation.
Each one of us at birth is the result of our own past life. Our birth in this life is
determined by the good and bad thoughts, our words and deeds of a previous birth. This
doctrine of samsara or rebirth is also called the theory of reincarnation or the trance migration
of the soul and is a basic Tenet of Hinduism. The Upanishads compare it to the caterpillar which
climbs one blade of grass and jumps to a new one. Just as man changes worn out garments and
wears new ones, so does the soul casts away one body and enters another. However we do not
carry the burden of our previous births in our consciousness, though we do in our subconscious
minds.
Karma
One other basic belief of Hinduism is the law of karma or action,”the law of cause and
effect’’. It is explained by the saying,’’as you sow so shall you reap’’. A farmer cannot sow wheat
and expect a crop of rice. Similarly every good thought ,word and deed begets a similar reaction
which affects our next lives and every unkind thought ,harsh word and evil deed comes back to
harm us in this life or the next. There are three stages of karma. The only karma that is beyond
our control is prarabdha karma .According to this the body the soul chooses to be born is not
under human control. The choice of parents, the condition of a new born baby the environment
of the home there are all predetermined as per the sum total of favorable and unfavorable acts
performed in the previous births. These cannot be changed even the time of death. Our
scriptures tell us that even a thousand spers will not kill you when your time on earth is not
over yet a blade of grass can when your time is up.
The second stage of karma is Samchita karma which is accumulated karma of all our
previous births which gives us our characteristics, tendencies, aptitudes, and interests. This is
why two children of the same family and environment turn out to be very different in their
capabilities and characteristics.