2006, IV - The Muslim Sunrise

is unhappy. If somebody gives a job,ego tries to own it and calls it “my job”.When the job is taken away, ego blamesthe giver of the job by telling others thathe took away “my job” — which is onlya false accusation.This Jiva in order to fulfill itsunfulfilled desires enters into the child’sbody when the body is in the form offetus. It enters into the body from theastral plane.Is the Jiva real?The Jiva is not really real. It is unrealas it has no real existence! The only realityis the Atman, the Life-Principle! Jiva isthe shadow of the Atman. When the suncomes up, a shadow of a tree is created.The shadow may look like a tree, butactually it does not exist on its own. TheJiva is like an image which is seen whenone stands in front of a mirror. Though itappears somebody is inside the mirror,actually it is only an illusion. The imagein the mirror looks like the person. It doesall actions but it is not real.If Jiva is not real, then how isit that it feels sorrow andhappiness?Actually our feelings and sensationsare not true, not real! One can feel inthe dreams also. One may become amillionaire in a dream and be veryhappy about it, but on waking up, oneis the same homeless person who hasnothing.At what time is this Jivaconnected with the body:before the birth, after thebirth, or during the body’sgrowth in the womb?It is told that (I don’t remember theexact time) during the third or the forthmonth of conception, Jiva enters thebody. Actually Jiva selects the body.Therefore, after three or four months ofpregnancy, the fetus should not beaborted.How does Jiva select abody?It is like we select a house! SupposeI want to enjoy certain kinds of things,I want to have waterfront, or want tosee the trees, then I would select theSo Hindus believe inreincarnation at thesame time they don’tconsider it as anabsolute one. When onerealizes one True Selfwhich is free from birthand death, theory of reincarnationbecomesnull and void. So theoryof reincarnation is onlyfor the Jiva not for theSoul (Atman).house that can give me what I want. Inthe same way Jiva has desires and itwants to fulfill those desires. So, it willselect the parents, it will select thebody, and it will select the surroundingswhere it can fulfill its remainingdesires. But all the desires cannot befulfilled during the stay in one body. Soit will stay in that body as long as thereis the possibility of fulfilling some ofthose desires. After that it will discardthe body and will go to another body.What happens to Jiva whenthe body is dead?Death means the separation of theSubtle body (including mind, intellect,memory and ego) from the gross body.Then it goes to astral plane, and staysthere till it sees a favorable conditionto enter into another form. Thistransmigration of Jiva is called reincarnation.Is transmigration of Jivareal? Is the theory of reincarnationan absoluteone?Transmigration is not real. It is realas long as we consider our self as thebody and the creation (birth and death)as real. So Hindus believe inreincarnation at the same time theydon’t consider it as an absolute one.When one realizes one True Self whichis free from birth and death, theory ofre-incarnation becomes null and void.So theory of reincarnation is only forthe Jiva not for the Soul (Atman).Can you please expoundupon this a bit more?It is just a theory to explain theinequality in nature. Suppose two childrenare born from the same parents, but oneis bright and the other is dull. One is verynoble, and the other is very bad. We knowa child who is only two and half years old,but he can play “tabla” as efficiently as amaster player. But parents did not teachhim. So, it shows that he must have knownhow to play it is the past life. So, webelieve that children do bring qualitiesfrom the past. Whatever good or bad wedo in this life is carried to the next life.There is no escape from the results of thebad actions nor is wastage of good actions.The favorable or difficult situations weface in this life entirely because of the pastactions done in the previous birth or inthis birth. If Jiva has done all good actionsin this life but still facing difficulties, thenthe cause for the difficulties are the actionsdone in the past births.But is there any final escapefor Jiva?Yes. Once Jiva realizes it’s True andEternal nature the cycle of birth and deathcomes to an end. One will discoverpermanent happiness and unconditionallove with in. One will see Divine everywhere. The division of caste, creed,religion, color, gender, nationality willdisappear. One will love others as oneloves oneself. This is the purpose ofhuman life and one will accomplish thismission.38 MuslimSunrise