The Spiritual Journey and
Ultimate Destiny of Man

Buddhism: Buddhists do not believe in a soul. They believe in five aggregates that form to make a human being. These aggregates do not pass from one life to the next. Instead, a certain ‘unconscious disposition,’ with its attached karma accumulated from past existences, is transferred at each incarnation. For this cause, the word “re-manifestation” may be a better choice than the word “reincarnation.” The word “reincarnation” implies a preexistent ‘self’ that incarnates.

     All forms of Buddhism teach numerous re-manifestations until Nirvana is attained (a word meaning “to blow out”). So the final destiny of man is like the blowing out of a candle. Such terminology does not imply the annihilation of ‘self,’ because according to Buddhist doctrine there is no ‘self’ to annihilate. Rather, it is end of karma, the final annihilation of desire and absorption into pure Being.

     Buddha taught his disciples that there are 12 karma formations from which men must be freed to escape the wheel of rebirth. Nirvana can be attained during a person’s earthly life; Parinirvana is that final, complete liberation that takes place at the death of those who have attained this ultimate state.

     A dominant teaching in Buddhism concerns 31 planes of existence categorized into six principal divisions: the realm of (1) gods; (2) demi-gods (asuras, rebel gods); (3) humans; (4) animals; (5) hungry ghosts (pretas, beings who are tortured with continual hunger and thirst) or (6) hell-beings (those confined to various hells). At the “summit” of the universe there are also “four realms of purely mental rebirth, without form.”[1] Buddha said, “Just as there are few pleasant parks and lakes, but many dense thickets and inaccessible mountains, so are there few beings who will be reborn among men. More numerous are those who will be reborn in purgatory.” (Anguttara Nikaya 1.19)

     Theravada Buddhism emphasizes the primary goal of becoming an arhat (“one who is worthy”). Such a perfected and saintly person has achieved a state of enlightenment and will not experience rebirth. Mahayana Buddhism argues that the goal of a good Buddhist should be the role of a bodhisattva. This is a perfected person who has a right to enter Nirvana, but declines, choosing rather to remain in the cycle of rebirths in order to aid others in their spiritual development. Rebirth for a bodhisattva does not have to take place in the material; it can continue on in higher realms spheres of existence. (See “Buddhism” under The Nature of Salvation, Liberation or Enlightenment.)

     Amida Buddhism teaches that after death, Amida Buddha (different than Gautama Buddha) will take good Buddhists to a paradise-like place he created called “the Pure Land.” They will abide there until they attain Nirvana. Traditional Buddhism does not accept this. Tibetan Buddhism: According to “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” (Bardo Thodrol) there is an interval of 49 days between death and rebirth. After seven days in this intermediate “bardo” state, 42 Peaceful Deities surround the deceased in a circular pattern referred to as a mandala. After another seven days, this mandala dissolves and is replaced by 58 Wrathful Deities with hideous appearances (blood-drinking, flesh-eating, demonic beings). Some Buddhists believe these deities are merely aspects of the deceased person’s own mind or symbolic expressions of past karma.

     The Tibetans believe that the consciousness of the deceased person can be contacted during this interim. So normally a Lama (a spiritual leader, a guru) performs special ceremonies to provide guidance through the maze of bewildering, and at times, horrifying spiritual experiences awaiting beyond the grave. If these images are correctly identified, the deceased person will merge with the state of enlightened consciousness represented by them. If, because ignorance or fear, this proves impossible, the disembodied individual will plunge deeper into the bardo realms.

     Eventually, the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities fade from view. As the wheel of samsara turns, the deceased person enters the third and final bardo state: the “Bardo of Becoming.” A mental body complete with all five senses is formed and a descent toward rebirth begins.[2] Some 49 days after death the condition of the soul is judged by an entity named Emma, who determines which of the six realms the deceased will enter upon rebirth. So it is of high importance that at the climax of the funeral ceremony, a picture of the deceased (either a block print or drawing on white paper) is burned as the Lama pronounces that the sins of that person have been absolved.

Christianity: The Bible teaches just one earthly existence. “It is appointed for men to die once.” (Hebrews 9:27) At death, the soul of a born again believer is immediately received into heaven. The promise is given that to be “absent from the body” is to be “present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) When Jesus returns at the end of this age, the souls of all departed saints will return with him. The resurrection of the dead will take place (with souls and new bodies rejoined), as well as the translation of living believers.

All redeemed, saved persons will then be given eternal forms, glorified bodies that will shine with the radiance of the heavenly world. Glorified saints may retain male or female characteristics (according to their gender while on earth). However, Jesus taught they will not marry (being “as the angels of God in heaven”). (Matthew 22:30) Though enjoying oneness with God, and a glorious infilling of the divine nature, God’s offspring will ever maintain their unique, individual soul and identity. The sons and daughters of God never actually become God, nor is their destiny formless absorption into the Godhead.

Those who are saved will enjoy the status of being both “kings and priests,” reigning with Christ in this world, when God’s Kingdom comes in its fullness. Some postulate this era will last 1,000 years. Then the renovation by fire will take place and the flawless and glorious New Creation will emerge. Ultimately, God’s glorified king/priests will be located in New Jerusalem, the capital city of this New Creation, the bridal city of the Most High God. Those who are unsaved will spend eternity separated from God. (See Matthew 13:43; 25:34, 41, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 1 John 3:2, Revelation 1:5-6; 20:6.)

Confucianism: “Following the moral principles means to conform oneself to the will of heaven, but more metaphysical speculations about heaven and afterlife are useless.” (Analects 7, 20) When questioned about the afterlife Confucius responded, “Why do you ask me about death when you do not know how to live?”¹

1 David G. Bradley, A Guide to the World’s Religions (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963) p. 147.

Hinduism: Adherents are directed toward four successive goals in life: dharma (moral law), artha (wealth), kama (pleasure) and moksha (liberation of the soul, ultimate God-consciousness). These bring satisfaction to the four divisions of a person: the physical body (sharira), the mind (manas), the intellect (buddhi), and the self (atman). Individuals are also described as owing ‘three debts’: first, to God, second, to the sages and saints who have gone before, and third, to ancestors. Generally speaking, there are four stages (ashramas) in life: that of a student, a householder, an ascetic and the final stage of fully renouncing all worldly ties and pursuing the depth of contemplation.

Reincarnation is a foundational belief in Hinduism, the idea that the soul passes through numerous incarnations (mineral, plant, animal and human) on its journey toward perfection. Conditions in each life are determined by past karma. Any negative thoughts, attitudes or deeds cause proportional, negative results in the future, either in the same life or a future one. Any positive thoughts, attitudes and deeds are likewise reaped in a positive way. It is important to understand “Hindus hold that God…does not punish or reward anyone. We create our own destinies by our own thoughts and deeds.”¹

Numerous means are offered within Hinduism enabling spiritually inclined persons to escape negative karma. Not only do wicked deeds produce binding karma; righteous deeds performed with the desire of obtaining a sense of fulfillment or recognition from others also bind a soul to rebirth. Non-attachment to both good and evil are, therefore, promoted in the Hindu scheme of salvation. Moksha (liberation) cannot be achieved until the soul is rid of all worldly desire, including the desire for moksha itself.

There is a certain soul or ‘self’ that is transferred from one incarnation to the next on its journey toward perfection. One source explains, “The two sheaths, vijnanamaya kosha (the intellectual sheath) and anandamaya kosha (the causal body), are the bodies that go from birth to birth; the other three sheaths are grown again in each life.”² (See “Hinduism” under The Origin and Nature of Man.) In between incarnations, the soul (in the form of a subtle or astral body) lives in the subtle or astral realm. In this plane, the soul experiences an existence very similar in some ways to its previous earthly sojourn. Sometimes, unrealized hopes and unfulfilled dreams may even be brought to realization and fulfillment.

Though a variety of beliefs exist in Hinduism concerning the soul’s ultimate state, two main veins of thought seem to dominate. Sankara, an eighth century teacher, believed that when souls (atman or jiva) are finally released from the cycle of rebirths (samsara) they do not retain their individual personality. Instead they are absorbed into God. They actually become God. Ramanuja, an eleventh century philosopher, argued that souls retain their individuality in the ultimate state and instead have eternal communion with God. Sankara’s system of thought was based on the idea that God is impersonal; Ramanuja’s view was based on the premise that God is personal.

Yama, the first person to die in the world, is considered the Lord of the dead. He reigns over the dead, determines the retribution for deeds done in the previous life and the conditions of the soul’s next incarnation. He bears a noose, by which he catches the ‘dead,’ who must rush past his four-eyed guard dogs that guard the gate to his kingdom.

Islam: The Muslim faith teaches two judgments. First, all human beings will face a personal judgment after death. Two angels, Munkar and Nakir, will scrutinize their earthly existences. After this initial determination is made, the soul remains in the grave until the resurrection of all humanity and the final Day of Judgment. There will be a preliminary experience of the misery of hell or the bliss of heaven even in the grave.

Second, there will be a final judgment at the end of this age. At the first blast of the trumpet, all living things will die. At the second blast of the trumpet, the resurrection (al-kiyama) will take place. All who have ever lived will be brought to the “place of gathering” (al-mashar). Allah will personally question each individual. All deeds will be reviewed from God’s book, as well as the individual book written on each person’s life. Evil and righteous deeds will be weighed in God’s balances, to see which is dominant. An appropriate reward or judgment will then be meted out.

The judgment that God brings upon men and women will hinge primarily on their response to the teachings of Mohammed and, to a lesser degree, those recognized prophetic voices preceding him (twenty-eight are named in the Qur’an). If they have been disobedient to the divine will their destiny is hell. If they have been obedient, paradise (al-jannah) is promised. Paradise (also called heaven) is a beautiful garden where those who have eternal life can dwell near to Allah. It is also depicted as a place of sensual pleasure (where wine is consumed and men may marry as many wives as they desire). Some Muslim theologians feel these descriptions are allegorical, not to be taken literally.

Submission to the Muslim worldview is normally emphasized in order for a believer to be saved. However, there are “several verses in the Qur’an that speak of the resurrection of distinct communities that will be judged” by the standard of “their own book.” (See Qur’an 45:27-29.)¹

1 “Islam,” Miriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World Religions (Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1999) p. 519.

Jainism: Though believing in the reincarnation, Jainism strongly asserts the independence, uniqueness and autonomy of the soul during this process. According to the philosophical Hindu worldview, “the individual soul and all matter” are merely a “phase of the world soul.” Contrasted to this, Jainism is a dualistic philosophy, declaring “the reality of the individual soul and all matter.”¹

There are eight kinds of karma that keep the soul trapped in the cycle of births and fourteen steps to liberation from this inexorable law. Acquired karma can be canceled through nirjara. This process includes self-denial, service toward others, renunciation of the world, mortification of the body, various atonements for sin, and meditation.

There are four states of existence (gatis) into which souls can be reincarnated (determined by accumulated karmic merits or demerits): (1) Heavenly beings; (2) Human beings; (3) Tiryancha beings (animals, plants, lower life forms); (4) Infernal beings (those tormented in hell).²

There are five levels in which souls can be incarnated in this physical plane. Each level directly relates to the number of senses active in the creature after incarnation. (For instance, worms are on the second level because they possess only two senses: touch and taste; human beings are on the fifth level because they possess five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.) After numerous existences in various forms (such as earth, water, vegetables, worms, bugs, and animals) the jiva eventually evolves to the level of a human being. It then reincarnates many times as a human being until liberation takes place. Liberated souls rise to the top of the universe. The number of souls (jivas) is infinite. Jains believe human souls can revert spiritually and be reincarnated in non-human life forms. Once Absolute Consciousness is attained, this state is eternal and irreversible.

Judaism: Definitely teaches an afterlife, but offers a wide variety of interpretations concerning the state of existence following the demise of the body. In early Judaism, it was generally accepted that after death, both the evil and the righteous descend into She’ol, the underworld, “a shadowy, ghostlike existence…a region of darkness and silence deep within the recesses of the earth.”¹ There the soul sleeps, in a realm of “neither pain, nor pleasure, punishment nor reward,” awaiting the resurrection.²

Later on, Judaism gravitated toward two similar projections concerning the afterlife: (1) The soul of a righteous Jew, immediate upon death, enters Paradise, also known as the celestial Garden of Eden, or (2) The soul of a righteous Jew ascends to a heavenly “treasury” beneath “the throne of glory,” an “upper heaven called Aravot”³ (spelled Araboth in a previous section). As opposed to being trapped in the grave, Scripture does seem supportive of views such as these two. For instance, Ecclesiastes 12:7 states, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

Though not central to Jewish belief, in some of their literature, the righteous enter Paradise and the wicked enter Gehenna immediately after death. In other references, this only happens after the resurrection takes place. Gehenna (also called Gehinnom) is the netherworld region reserved for the wicked. “There is difference of opinion between Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel [two schools of thought during the first century] as to the duration of the punishment in Gehenna…according to the former, the thoroughly wicked remain there for everlasting disgrace; the intermediate ones (between the wicked and the good) descend to Gehenna to be purged and ascend after purification. According to the latter, the intermediate ones do not go there at all…and whereas transgressors (both Jewish and Gentile) are punished in Gehenna for only twelve months, only special categories of sinners…are punished there for all time.”⁴ The pained prisoners of this place of torment suffer six days a week, “but on the Sabbath are given rest.”⁵ Some believe that after twelve months in Gehenna, the wicked are “annihilated, to suffer no more”; while others believe that after twelve months, the wicked “having atoned for their sins…will join the righteous in Gan Eden” (the Garden of Eden).⁶

Conflicting views are also found in Judaism concerning the relation of the soul to the body after it expires. Beliefs exist such as-the soul hovering “over the body for three days hoping to return to it,” the soul sorrowing over the body for “seven days of mourning,” or the soul even repeatedly revisiting the body for twelve months following death until the physical body is decomposed and “the soul ascends nevermore to descend.”⁷

At the culmination of creation, there will be a resurrection and a Final Judgment. The visionary Daniel predicted, “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2, See Ecclesiastes 12:5-7, Isaiah 25:8; 26:19) Many believe these final events will coincide with the coming of the Messiah, who will usher in a utopian era when Israel will once again be exalted to a place of spiritual, political and material prominence in the world. “It is somewhat unclear whether the resurrection is for the righteous alone, or whether the wicked too will be temporarily resurrected only to be judged and destroyed.”⁸

Though historically, the resurrection is a “cornerstone of rabbinic eschatology” some sects and teachers in Judaism have denied a literal ‘raising of the dead,’ spiritualizing scriptures that refer to this event. It was especially a matter of contention between the “Pharisees and the Sadducees, the latter asserting that the soul died together with the body.”⁹ Many literal references to this event exist in the Talmud, as well as a warning that disbelievers of this doctrine (“the resurrection”) will have no part in the world to come. Nevertheless, in modernistic versions of Judaism, a belief in the resurrection is often discarded, in favor of a belief in the immortality of the soul.

Shinto: It is believed that after thirty-three years, the tama (the spirit of a deceased person) loses its distinctive personality and blends in with the “collective body of family ancestral spirits or kami.”¹ So ultimately, each human being is destined to become a kami (a divine being) after the loss of the mortal body. Because of this belief, the kami of the ancestral family line are worshipped at shrines in the home. Departed ancestors watch over their living descendents to bless and protect. There is no developed theology concerning ‘final things’: no standard teaching concerning the future state, whether it be hell or purgatory for the wicked, or heaven for the righteous. Shintoists, however, do maintain a basic belief in the immortality of the soul.

1 Michael D. Coogan, gen. ed., The Illustrated Guide to World Religions, Japanese Traditions, by C. Scott Littleton (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) p. 267.

Sikhism: Most Sikhs believe in the twin doctrines of karma (karam) and reincarnation (though some feel the latter is not clearly indicated in their holy writings). Once souls are released from the cycle of rebirths, they become one with God. Guru Nanak taught five successive levels of attainment ending in Sach Khand or the Realm of Truth, the mystical union of the soul with eternal bliss and serenity. These five levels enable a person to pass from the state of being a manmukh (an “evil-doer”) to gurmukh (“absorption into God”). The main hindrance is something called maya. In Hinduism maya is delusion, God’s ability to make himself ‘appear’ as the world. In Sikhism the world is real, so the word means something different. Maya is the self-deceived state of mind that results from placing too much emphasis on the material world and too little focus on spiritual values.

Five ascending levels on the spiritual path are (1) Dharam Khand-Living by God’s law; (2) Saram Khand-Living a self-disciplined life; (3) Karam Khand-Living in God’s grace; (4) Gian Khand-Living in the revelation and knowledge of God; (5) Sach Khand-attaining Ultimate Truth. Those who achieve this absolute state arrive at the final objective of every Sikh: sahaj, the rapturous peace of blending with the Divine (which many would say results in final liberation from the painful sequence of death and rebirth).

Taoism: Each human being has two souls (actually two groups of souls-three hun souls and seven po souls). At death, the hun soul ascends upward toward heaven, being the positive yang aspect of a person. According to popular belief, this aspect of a person can be accessed through the ancestral tablets found on the altar of a traditional Chinese home. However, after five to seven generations of ancestor worship, this hun soul (ancestral spirit-shen) reverts back to its original state, ‘dissolving’ into the cosmos. On the contrary, the po soul, being the negative yin aspect of a person, descends to the earth to abide with the dead physical body.

Neither of these soulish destinations will be reached, though, if the prescribed burial rites and associated offerings have not been properly implemented. Instead, the disembodied spirit will haunt the living until the necessary rituals are satisfactorily performed. For instance, according to Chinese folklore, the spirit cannot pass over the river of death without money to pay the boatman. So money and clothes are burned during funeral ceremonies in order to translate these items, in a spiritual form, into the spirit realm. Food offerings are also supplied to the deceased as necessary sustenance for the continuation of existence.

It is also believed that the po soul descends into the lower regions or hells, to be judged for all misdeeds and appropriately punished. Once arriving in the underworld, souls are brought before the Ten Magistrates who officiate over the Ten Tribunals of Hell. Each of these Underworld Courtrooms deals with different types of crimes or sins. Once judgment is administered, the necessary punishment is meted out. This involves passing through successive regions or layers of hell, according to the degree of guiltiness pronounced over the deceased person. No matter how long the punishment seems to last to the suffering soul, the time lapse per hell is seven earthly days. The deceased can only be contacted through various rituals for seven weeks (a total of forty-nine days in the first seven hells). In the remaining hells they are unreachable. Religious rites are performed to carry the deceased successfully through this difficult transitional experience. The final stage is entrance into the “Palace of Rebirth, where bridges lead to the five forms of rebirth-gods, human, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell-dwellers-and where all past memories are cleansed.”¹

At this climactic point, if the proper ceremonies have been performed and sins have been successfully expiated, it is possible that the soul can instead achieve permanent residence in a celestial state. Some philosophical Taoists speculate that the life or ch’i essence in a person can even go through a supernatural metamorphosis that transforms it into some other aspect of creation altogether.

The primary goals of the serious, mystical Taoist are longevity and immortality. The disciplines that promote longevity (such as meditation, trance training, extreme diet regulations, etc.) aid a person in achieving immortality as well. Attaining immortality allows the devotee to escape the usual pattern of rebirth and the descent of the soul into the hell-realms after death.

As a person matures spiritually, the three energies-generative, vital, and spirit-return to the original undifferentiated state of the Tao. “This undifferentiated vapor descends to the abdomen to form the immortal fetus.”² This initial stage of the sacred, spiritual ‘fetus’ incubating and developing lasts ten months and is called lien-hsu-ho-Tao. Then, if the process is not interrupted, the immortal fetus emerges from the ‘womb’ to become “the original spirit” (yuan-shen). It changes locations, rising from the abdominal area to the chest, to be further nourished and developed. Eventually the yuan-shen locates in the head, at times leaving the body from the top of the head on excursions into the spiritual world. This is all a preparation for the day when the physical body dies and the “yuan-shen is liberated and is once again merged with the undifferentiated energy of the Tao.”³

“Ascension, flight, and travel in the celestial realm” are some of the means by which mystical Taoists achieve “union with the Tao in the external universe.” It is believed that ultimately “immortals of the highest caliber ascend to the sky in the physical body and in broad daylight, often in the presence of witnesses.” “In the case of immortals of secondary caliber, only the spirit ascends: at death, the immortal spirit within rises to the celestial realm. This is called “shedding the shell.” Often, the shell, or body, disappears after the spirit has ascended.”⁴ Though able to move at will through the entire universe, the “Immortals” are said to reside at either the awe-inspiring paradise of Mount Kunlun in the Western Mountains or the mysterious, enchanted island of Penglai in the Eastern Sea. Both of these are ‘other worldly’ sites.

Zoroastrianism: In the beginning of creation, God presented the choice to pre-existent beings (fravashis) to either stay in an embryonic spiritual state or be born in the material world. Their purpose would be to war against Angra Mainyu, the god of evil and darkness, until victory could be obtained in this natural realm. These soulish beings opted to be born and face the inevitable conflict. Now the fate of every person is determined by whether he or she yields to Ahura Mazda, the god of life and light, or Angra Mainyu, the god of evil and darkness.

On the fourth day after death, “the soul is led by daena (conscience portrayed as a maiden) to the Chinvat Bridge, the Bridge of Judgment. Those whose good deeds predominate are led to paradise. Each righteous soul is reunited with its fravashi (the pre-existent higher Self). Those whose evil deeds predominate fall off into the House of the Lie, a place of torment.”¹ This latter abode is synonymous with hell. There is also a place for those whose good deeds and evil deeds are evenly balanced. Its name is hamestagan meaning “the place of the mixed,” where the inhabitants experience suffering from both heat and cold.

Two judgments take place: the first is after the physical death of each individual. The second is after the resurrection of all men, who will be gathered together from heaven and hell. Zoroastrians explain that there are two judgments because the first judgment deals with the soul; the second judgment deals with the body. The second judgment will determine if the wicked need further correction before they are allowed entrance into paradise.

Hell is considered only a temporary place of suffering. At the end of time, Saoshyant Astvatereta, the final Savior, will make his appearance. He will be a son of Zoroaster, miraculously conceived by a virgin who swims in a lake where Zoroaster’s seed has been preserved. When Saoshyant arrives to establish the Kingdom of Righteousness, after a cosmic year (approximately 12,000 earthly years) there will be a general resurrection of both the good and the evil.

Gayomart, the first man, will be given the honor of coming forth first in the resurrection, then Mashya and Mashyoi, humanity’s foreparents, then all others. Saoshyant will purify both the wicked and the righteous by causing all to pass through a river of molten metal (obtained through the melting of the mountains). This experience will be pleasant for the righteous (like being bathed in warm milk) but agonizing for the wicked (until all sins are purged away). After this Saoshyant will grant all the sons and daughters of this world the drink of immortality (haoma), transforming their bodies into eternal perfection. Those who expired during childhood will experience renewed existence at the age of fifteen; those who passed away as adults will be brought back to life at the mature age of forty.

1 John Bowker, “Zoroastrianism,” World Religions, p. 13.

Other Religions, Sects and Teachers  

Bahá’í: The opposing concepts of “resurrection” and “reincarnation” are both rejected. With regard to the latter, some Bahá’ís feel that claims of past-life experiences are mere fabrications of the imagination, while others avoid speculation on this matter. After death, souls retain their individuality and consciousness. “The soul is immortal. After the death of the body it continues to progress until it attains God’s presence and manifests divine attributes.”¹ After death, the soul recognizes the good or evil accomplished during the previous life, resulting in joy or grief, faith or fear, contentment or consternation.

“The actual nature of the afterlife is beyond the understanding of those who are still living.”² However, Bahá’u’lláh explained that heavenly angels were those people who experienced the fire of the love of God purging them of all human traits and limitations. These are “blessed beings” who have “been released from the chains of self, and become the revealers of God’s abounding grace.”³

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization (Raja Yoga): All souls exist in a pre-incarnate state in the “Soul World.” In this upper world there is “neither thought, word nor action; just complete stillness, silence and peace.”¹ Souls born into this world during the first age (the Golden Age) are all soul-conscious human beings, or deities, who take birth by thought, not through sexual urge. This latter method of taking on a physical body does not begin until the third age (the Copper Age) when the consciousness level of human beings sinks very low, into the deep mire of evil and ignorance.

Perfection is achievable in this world. As long as body-consciousness rules a soul’s existence, it remains trapped in the cycle of rebirth. The soul creates its own destiny. No teacher or highly developed soul can interfere with, or cancel negative karma for another person. Souls can be reincarnated up to a maximum of eighty-four times during a complete cycle (5,000 years). Souls that incarnate to this degree spend very little time in the “Soul World.” Some souls may only incarnate the minimum of one time in a full cycle, spending most of their time in the “Soul World.”

Every thought, attitude and action has karmic consequences. “Vikarmas are those actions performed in body-consciousness. Sukarmas are those actions performed in soul and God-consciousness.”² No human soul ever transmigrates to an animal state. Human souls only reincarnate as humans.

Egyptian Mythology: The ka is the superior spiritual aspect of a person that survives the death of the body to enter the kingdom of the dead. It is identical to the flesh body in appearance. Because the ka cannot exist without the physical body, the Egyptians took great pains to embalm and mummify the corpses of the dead (a tradition supposedly initiated by the goddess, Isis, who mummified her deity-husband, Osiris, when he perished). For this reason, stone or wood statuettes of the deceased were also placed in the tomb to be substituted for the body in case the mummy suffered severe damage or ruin. The deceased descend to a realm called Duat, to be judged in the throne room of Osiris, Lord of the underworld. Their deeds must be weighed in the scales and assessed by the gods to determine if the person lived a good or evil life.

ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness): Founder, Swami Prabhupada, taught a conscious preexistence: that all living beings were formerly “in the spiritual world as transcendental loving servants of God.”¹ He also taught that according to “the Vedas…there are 8,400,000 species of life, from amoebas to humans and demigods.”² Accepting a human form is quite uncommon and only takes place after “evolving through millions of lower species.”³ Liberated souls go back to the Godhead, becoming one with the Divine. Though achieving oneness of consciousness, they do not become one in substance. The identity of the individual is maintained eternally.

Kabbala (Mystical Judaism): Transmigration of the soul is a basic tenet of Kabbalistic doctrine even though it does not play a central role in all Kabbalistic schools. It becomes most prominent in the Luranic school in the 16th century. All subsequent schools were influenced greatly by Luria and his teachings. Some teach there is a conscious pre-existence of the soul before its incarnation. It passes before God in the “Room of Love” before descending into this world. “God makes the soul swear to fulfill its earthly mission and attain to the ‘knowledge of the mysteries of the faith’ which will purify it for its return to its homeland.”¹ If a soul fulfills its mission in one life, it can return to dwell near to God. If its mission is not accomplished, the soul must go through as many incarnations as necessary for this purpose to be achieved (a concept called metempsychosis). Some extremely wicked souls are “denied even hell or reincarnation…exiled without the possibility of finding rest.”² Though reincarnation is one of their basic beliefs, Kabbalists also cling to the concept of the “resurrection of the dead, which will take place at the end of the days of redemption, “on the great Day of Judgment.””³

“In its root every soul is a composite of male and female, and only in the course of their descent do the souls separate into masculine souls and feminine souls.”⁴ The Zohar states “these souls are rejoined by God at the right time into one body and one soul.” This doctrine suggests the existence of ‘soul-mates’ in the world.⁵

As mentioned under “The Origin and Nature of Man” Kabbalists believe in five main soul-parts. The lower three of these five parts originate from three distinctly different sources (three of the ten emanations from the Godhead called Sefirot): “the nefesh originates in the Sefirah Malkhut, the ru’ah in the Sefirah Tiferet, and the neshamah in the Sefirah Binah.”⁶

At death, these three soul-parts also depart to different destinations: “the nefesh remains for a while in the grave, brooding over the body; the ru’ah ascends to the terrestrial paradise in accordance with its merits; and the neshamah flies directly back to its native home. Punishment and retribution are the lot of the nefesh and ru’ah alone.”⁷

Kabbalistic doctrine yields a great deal of eschatological insights concerning the “fate of the soul after death, and its ascent up a river of fire, which resembles a kind of purgatory, to the terrestrial paradise and from there to the still sublimer pleasures of the celestial paradise and the realm referred to by the early kabbalists as ‘eternal life.’”⁸

The upper two levels of the soulish part of a person-chayah, and yehidah-along with the third part-the neshamah-always remain pure, regardless of the life of the individual. The lowest level of the soul-nefesh-is that part of the human makeup most involved with “the process of purification after death.”⁹ Following death, the upper levels of the soul go back to their original ‘home,’ but they must delay a state of final rest until the nefesh is redeemed. For the first week after a person passes away, the nefesh searches from the new grave to the old earthly dwelling of the deceased, looking for its living body. Then after being purified in Gehinnom (hell) it “wanders the world until it has a garment (signifying an awareness level).” (See Zohar 1:226a-b) This purification process lasts for twelve months. Once clothed, the nefesh is admitted to “the lower Garden of Eden where it joins the ruach. The ruach then gets crowned, the neshamah unites with the Throne, and all is well.”¹⁰

There is disagreement among some Kabbalists, and Jews in general, concerning Gehinnom. For instance, though not a kabbalist fraternity, early rabbinic teaching from the House of Shammai offers there are three types of people: the righteous who go immediately to paradise, the wicked who are doomed to spend a tortured eternity in Gehinnom, and the intermediate who are penalized for a season but then released. However, another rabbinic source, the House of Hillel, announces that in the messianic era Gehinnom will be consumed and destroyed, but not its inhabitants. All its inhabitants will be released by the mercy of God.

The Kabbalistic experience of union or merging with God is called devekut-a term also used by non-kabbalistic Jews (such as Mamonides) who may interpret the experience differently. Some broad-based Kabbalists might liken this ecstatic occurrence to the non-dual Buddhist experience of ‘Nirvana’ or the Hindu experience of ‘Samadhi.’ However, the majority of Kabbalists would never propose such an absolute stage of oneness with God as promoted in Far Eastern religions. With traditional Kabbalists, ‘separateness’ is ever maintained between the Creator and his devoted ones. Though the depth of divine ‘communion’ is possible, there can never be a complete, undifferentiated ‘union’ of the soul with God.

“Five stages” are spoken of in the “Kabbalist’s journey through his soul: (1) Animal Nature; (2) Spiritual Nature; (3) Breath; (4) Living Essence; (5) Unique Essence, or Union.”¹¹

Final perfection and completion are only possible by passing through this earthly existence.

Because two judgments, one at death and the other at the end of days, seemed illogical to some Kabbalists, the final great Day of Judgment is assigned to the nations of the world. In their estimation, the souls of Israelites are judged only once, after the death of the body. There is also a distinction made between “the domain of pleasure after death olam ha-neshamot (“the world of souls”), and…olam ha-ba (“the world to come”).¹²

Kriya Yoga (Paramahansa Yogananda): Promoted a scheme of reincarnation in which the soul always progresses to higher lives, though it can be retarded by negative actions. Full cosmic union with God is the ultimate goal.

Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan): Reincarnation ultimately liberates the soul into oneness with God. At the end of each incarnation, when a person dies, the Spiritual Body (the Soul) and the Subtle Body leave the other eight bodies (See “Kundalini Yoga” under The Nature of Man.) to begin the spiritual journey to the next karmically determined destination. The ultimate goal of the soul is absorption into God. However, becoming one with the Universal Consciousness is not considered a “loss of identity,” but rather, a “loss of limitation,” the “discovery and experience of one’s greater identity which is infinite…Succinctly put: Sat Nam: Truth is your identity.”¹

1 Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga, The Flow of Eternal Power (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996) p. 55.

Meher Baba: Though born in a Zoroastrian family (a worldview that teaches just one life) Meher Baba taught reincarnation. He instructed that “in pursuit of consciousness, evolution of forms occurs in seven stages: stone or metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal and human.”¹ Every individualized soul ordinarily experiences all of these forms in order to gain full consciousness. “After attaining the human form, as a rule there is no reversion to animal forms; cases of retrogression to subhuman forms are special and rare exceptions.”² Also, the soul must pass through 504,000,000 pre-human forms “and 8,400,000 human forms on its way to enlightenment.”³ In its utmost essence, the soul is formless and eternal.

After the evolutionary journey brings the soul to human form, the remainder of the journey consists of progress through the seven planes of existence (a process called “involution”). Though the soul may exist on these planes between incarnations, all evolutionary progress through these planes is made while actually living in the physical world. The highest plane is Consciousness of Absolute, Infinite Oneness. If a soul advances to the fourth plane, but misuses its power, the result can be extremely detrimental, involving possible reversion in the next incarnation to the lowest form, starting the process of evolution all over again.

“The way to divinity lies through the renunciation of evil in favor of good...The good sanskaras [accumulated imprints of positive, past experiences that determine a person’s desires and actions] deposited by the manifestations of these qualities overlap and balance the opposite, bad sanskaras of lust, greed, and anger. When there is an exact balancing and overlapping of good and bad sanskaras, there is at once a termination of both types and the precipitation of consciousness from a state of bondage to a state of Freedom. The credit and debit sides must be exactly equal to each other if the account is to be closed…The limited self can linger through good as well as bad sanskaras. What is required for its final extinction is an exact balancing and overlapping of the bad and good sanskaras.”⁴

Scientology: Accepts the idea of past lives, recurring embodiments that determine a person’s spiritual evolution. They do not subscribe to some beliefs that are sometimes associated with reincarnation (such as regression into a life form other than human). Man must progress spiritually in order to achieve his own salvation.

Sufism (Mystical Islam): Many teachers in Sufism instruct that there are seven levels the soul passes through on its journey to spirituality and wholeness: (1) The Commanding Self-compulsive and obsessive, this is the self active in all human beings that is given over to evil and seeks to dominate the life; (2) The Regretful Self-this self is still somewhat controlled by vices, but repentant over its choices to commit evil; (3) The Inspired Self-motivated by high ideals, desirous of moral boundaries and one who takes pleasure in the things of God; (4) The Contented Self-at peace adoring God and serving others. This is a period of transition in which the old self, with its selfishness and sensuality, is significantly losing its control. (5) The Pleased Self-this person is not only contented with his lot in life, but pleased with both blessings and difficulties, with both pleasure and pain, for all comes from the hand of God. (6) The Self Pleasing to God-one who has attained wholeness in God, oneness with him and total submission to him. (7) The Pure Self-ego is dissolved; those reaching this highest level have transcended the lower self altogether, realizing that only God exists and that “any sense of individuality or separateness is an illusion.”¹

“Sufis believe that before the material universe was created, we were all souls in the world of souls”: close to God and conversing with him.² “God made a pact with the unborn souls of humanity, prior to the creation.” Those who responded negatively were predestined to walk as rebels in the world. Those who responded submissively and lovingly to him received the ‘sealing’ of their destiny to be obedient servants of God. It was the first “tying of the bond and covenant of love.”³

At the Day of Resurrection, God will review the deeds, evil and good, of every individual. Paradise, as taught in the Qur’an, is the ultimate destiny of lovers of God, a place of “gardens with flowing rivers and beautiful youths and maidens who serve the souls of the blessed.”⁴ Though hell is a major theme in the Qur’an and in Sufism, ultimately, through the power of the Resurrection, all who have lived will, in some sense, be embodied again in a purified way.

Theosophy: Teaches that all men, as emanations of God, originally “possessed all the powers of our divine Father.”¹ The purpose of reincarnation is to re-awaken this latent, divine potential. Theosophists reject the idea that reincarnation can involve a digression into sub-human states of existence. One writer warns of the inexorable law of karma, “We as immortal souls are the molders and masters of our own destiny…No one is to blame except ourselves for our birth conditions, our character, our opportunities, our abilities, for all these things are due to the working out of forces we have set going either in this life or in former lives…”²

Mankind as a whole is described passing through the evolution of seven stages. According to Helena Blavatsky, there were two spiritual races and then the first physical “root race” was the Lemurian race. Their history goes back millions of years. After the Lemurians came the Atlanteans. This next “root race” was destroyed during a catastrophic end to the island of Atlantis. It was followed by the present human race. Each “root race” has a number of subraces. At the beginning of each new subrace, the spirit of the Supreme World Teacher (the Christ) enters the body of a human disciple to share new divine insights and aid the human race in its spiritual evolution. For example, Jesus of Nazareth was chosen as this vessel at the beginning of the fifth subrace (the race of intellectual man).

A paradigm shift is taking place now, because the sixth subrace is presently emerging (the race of the spiritual man) and the sixth ‘Messiah’ is soon to appear to take the human race to the next level of revelation. This sixth subrace will develop until it envelops the globe and replaces the present subrace. Life on earth will come to an end after the seventh “root race” is established and brought to completion. Then evolution will continue in other worlds (a later Theosophical writer suggested the planet Mercury as being one location).

The hope and purpose of every Theosophist is to progress spiritually through the seven planes of existence. As already mentioned under The Nature of Man, there are seven aspects to every person: (1) The physical body (rupa or sthula-sarira); (2) Life or vital principle (prana); (3) Astral body (linga sharira); (4) Animal soul (kama rupa); (5) Mind or intelligence-the human soul (manas); (6) Spiritual soul (buddhi); and (7) Spirit (atma). The first four make up the discardable and perishable “Lower Quarternary.” The last three make up the “Upper Imperishable Triad.”³

After death the lower three aspects depart from a person forever, remaining on earth. The higher four aspects (the “Animal Soul” and the “Atma-Buddhi-Manas Upper Triad”) enter the “astral world” or “auric sphere” called Kamaloka. This post-mortem destination has “neither a definite area nor boundary, but exists within subjective space…beyond our sensuous perceptions.” It is there that “the astral eidolons” (the disembodied astral aspect) of all living beings, including animals, abide awaiting their “second death.”⁴

Once in Kamaloka, the “Upper Triad” separates from the “Animal Soul” (the Kama rupa). The “Animal Soul,” after languishing for a season, collapses and begins disintegrating, having no more connection to the enduring part of a person. The “Upper Triad” merges into oneness, passing into the Devachanic state where its bliss is complete. There it experiences “absolute oblivion of all that gave it pain or sorrow in the past incarnation, and even oblivion of the fact that such things as pain or sorrow exist at all.”⁵

The Devachanee experiences this transitional cycle between two earthly existences as “the ideal reflection of the human being it was when last on earth.” It is surrounded by “everything it had aspired to in vain, and in the companionship of everyone it loved on earth. It has reached the fulfillment of all its soul-yearnings. And thus it lives throughout long centuries an existence of unalloyed happiness, which is the reward for its sufferings in earth-life.”⁶ The average time the Ego spends in the Devachanic state between incarnations is ten to fifteen centuries. In the case of an extremely wicked person, there is no Devachanic state prior to the next incarnation, indicative of a wasted life.

Escape to the highest level of oneness with the Absolute is the ultimate goal of all evolving souls. The “Adepts” and “Initiates” who pass beyond the veil of maya, who perfect themselves through the process of reincarnation, do not enter Devachan (which is an illusionary experience anyway, similar to a ‘happy dream’). They ascend to Nirvana, to higher spheres, joining the other members of the Hierarchy of Masters, who have gone on to that advanced spiritual state. The purpose of these highly-evolved beings is to aid the progress of lesser-evolved souls. The absolute goal for all is godhood, that is, conscious union with the divine nature within.

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