KARMA AND REINCARNATION Part 2

People who have come to believe in reincarnation sometimes have a tendency to become oblivious to the pain and sufferings of other people. This unwelcome attitude must be checked; one cannot simply say “Oh it’s their karma I have nothing to do with that, I won’t give a helping hand”. I think they should remember the heart of the Good Samaritan or the compassionate heart of the Buddha. The act of helping people especially those in your immediate circle of influence can initiate a good karma; for there maybe reversal of the situations into the future. Isn’t it wonderful to see people helping one another and bearing one another’s burden which we often see in the community of the Holy Spirit? Of course we have to look for extremes because there maybe people who are simply taking advantage of our kind and generous traits or maybe we are too sympathetic or soft-hearted that we always help other people first to the point of forgetting ourselves.

Turning our attention to Christianity, it might be said that what precludes most Christians to believe in the law of karma and reincarnation is the basic tenet that Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father to redeem mankind from their sins; that the crucifixion and the blood of Jesus and His resurrection have completely forgiven and washed away the sins of humanity. Mankind therefore is no longer accountable for their sins; by simply accepting Jesus as their saviour they will go to Heaven. Without a doubt, this tenet can give great relief and is beneficial to its believers especially if it goes well with the mystical path of Christianity. However, the belief in the obliteration of mankind’s sins is not aligned with the law of karma and reincarnation. The Ascended Masters Teachings (AMT) offers a different explanation on Jesus’ redemption of mankind from their sins.

I think it is already known that the students of the Ascended Masters Teachings (AMT) accept that Jesus is the Christ and Jesus is a World Saviour but they cannot agree that Jesus literally washed away all the sins of mankind. This washing away of our sins is taken in a different context by the AMT. To my knowledge, according to the Summit Lighthouse, when Jesus was embodied here on earth, he had already balanced 95% of his karma. He too had gone through many embodiments prior to the fulfilment of His final Divine Mission that took place in Jerusalem. It is his unique mission to become the Christ, shed tremendous Light upon the earth and bear a greater portion of world karma. His sufferings and crucifixion was not his karma because he practically had almost no more karma to be balanced (only 5%). Jesus Christ therefore took upon himself a greater portion of world karma that was to descend in that era or cycle of karma. In my opinion, since we are all connected at inner levels, Jesus’ bearing of world karma and shedding of his tremendous Light that encompassed the whole earth, had lighten the weight of the burden of mankind’s collective unconscious / consciousness and reinforced their spiritual path (this can be taken to mean as forgiveness and washing away of sins or ransom for many). It is for this reason that Jesus said to one of the criminals on the cross, who attuned with him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). As that cycle had come to an end, the set of karma that had been held in abeyance are now descending which mankind have already been experiencing perhaps for centuries to culminate in this present age. It is possible that many souls who are embodied at present age were also embodied during the time of Jesus.

It seems that the overwhelming accounts in the New Testament that seems to preclude the doctrine of reincarnation hinge on the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. And this belief is further strengthened by what is written in Revelation, that our Lord Jesus Christ has seated at the right hand of the Father to judge the living and the dead at the final day of reckoning so that the saved will have eternal life in heaven and the wicked ones who will not be found written in the Book of Life will go to hell for eternal punishment. However, if we consider Jesus Christ not just a person, but the personification of the Universal Logos/Christ, who was in the beginning with God even before the world was, there will be no conflict with other non-Christian faiths. Even Buddha and Krishna can be considered as the personification of Universal Logos/Christ; even anyone, if he is poised and it’s his Divine Mission to manifest the Universal Logos/Christ in the current lifetime. The big difference with Lord Jesus is He sacrificed Himself and bore the world karma that made his mission so special and unique, enabling him to have the title of World Saviour. Thus we give thanks and praise and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the Universal Logos/Christ that will judge the living and the dead. It is perfectly alright for the Christians to consider this Universal Logos/Christ as our Lord Jesus for He has become one with it. However, their inclination to think of Jesus as an exclusive separate persona would create misunderstanding with other faiths. Perhaps it’s better to think of Him as the Christed One in oneness with the Holy Spirit and God the Father – the Holy Trinity.

It is through faith in the Universal Logos/Christ that will save us; for denying this Universal Logos/Christ – this Universal Law/Universal Principle pervading in the universe and written in the inward parts of man – is tantamount to becoming like the fallen angels and the devils who, by their spiritual pride and misuse of freewill elected to reject the Christ in man and rebelled against God. These devils, when they no longer emit Light (thus making themselves absent in the book of life), will be thrown into the lake of fire (actually sacred fire) as their final judgment, to face the second death (meaning of eternal punishment). This second death is also a mercy of the Law because eternal punishment taken literally would mean injustice on the part of our Creator. (Fallen angels will be covered in future topic). To have faith then in the Universal Christ/Logos as personified in Jesus and lives within man which can be seen partly expressed by the outer self rests man’s destiny of salvation. Put it in another way, as long as man has faith in Christ Presence and keeps on practicing and holding on to the Christ principles despite of failures, he will continue to progress spiritually till the day comes when the grace of Christ and the Holy Spirit finally bears fruit so as to put all his enemies of negative thoughts, attitudes, and emotions within under His footstool.

As an adjunct to this, I would like to mention that it is plainly written in the New Testament that salvation does not come by faith alone, but also by works (James 2:24). As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26). In addition, we can find in Revelation 20:11-12 that the dead will be judged according to their deeds.

Perhaps another point why some adherents of mainstream Christianity cannot accept reincarnation is the often-quoted statement in the New Testament that seems to object reincarnation: “And as it is appointed unto men “once” to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrew 9:27). However, I found an article by Jan Erick Sigdell, “Reincarnation, Christianity, and the Dogma of the Church” where he explained that “once” from the Greek word hapax can mean many things; it could also mean “once for all”, “once more” or “once again”. So, the above passage could actually be an allusion to reincarnation (http://www.christian-reincarnation.com/index.html). On the other hand, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Prophet, a former Messenger of the Great White Brotherhood, interpreted the above passage as the death of the lower self - meaning the sinful self or negative human consciousness. I would like to combine the explanation of Jan Erick Sigdell and Mrs Prophet. I think it’s more appropriate to substitute “once for all” instead of “once” or “once again” so that the whole passage will become like this: “And as it is appointed unto men ‘once for all’ to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was sacrificed ‘once for all’ to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28). The words “once for all” in the first phrase would then imply final death of human consciousness (or lower self) in his final incarnation on earth wherein this negative human consciousness will have no power – will be judged – when the Divine/Christ Consciousness appears. After Jesus Christ sacrificed himself and bore mankind’s karma, He, the Christ Consciousness, will appear a second time to anyone who are waiting (strives) for Him, this time not to bear karma, but truly to bring salvation.

You can find in Sigdell’s above article a number of accounts and passages in the Old and New Testaments that support or in accord with the law of karma and reincarnation. I would just like to point out that some objectors claim that the biblical account in John 9:2-3 (about a man who was born blind) which indicates belief in reincarnation by Jesus and his disciples, were actually belief in the pre-existence of the soul, not necessarily reincarnation. I don’t subscribe to this idea, I agree instead with Jan Erick Sigdell on explaining that reincarnation is more appropriate and logical than mere pre-existence of the soul.

Another account is in Matthew 17:10-13 where it shows that John the Baptist is the reincarnation of Elijah (Elias). Objectors argue that this is not a case of reincarnation because Elijah (Elias) had already ascended to heaven (physically) and should therefore not be reincarnated in accordance with the doctrine of reincarnation. They explain that John the Baptist only came in the spirit and power of Elijah as mentioned in Luke 1:17. The AMT, however, explains that this is a special case of reincarnation where an Ascended one such as Elijah could re-embody. It is clear that John the Baptist was actually Elijah come again, and not merely in the spirit of Elijah, because Jesus mentioned in Matthew 11:14, “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear”. The reason why the appearance of Elijah (and not John the Baptist) was seen on the mount of transfiguration is because John the Baptist(Elijah) retained his original appearance when he ascended physically. Sigdell explained this in a different way probably because he doesn’t believe in physical ascension, being oriented in Gnosticism.

(I would like to mention of the early Gnostic Christians who were believers in reincarnation. Some Gnostic Christians today believe that they are the true early Christians; that they were persecuted by the Romans and later declared heretics by the Church. It is a mistaken belief, however, that only early Gnostic Christians were persecuted by the Romans. The truth is all early Christians without distinction – Gnostics and those of the Church – were all persecuted by the Romans. However, when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted himself into Christianity sometime in early 4th century, the Gnostic Christians continued to be persecuted, and were later declared heretics by the Church).

(I only mentioned the above article of Jan Sigdell because I find there a good deal of explanations on karma and reincarnation including the corrections on inappropriate translations of some related biblical terms. It also shows many sound biblical passages pertaining to reincarnation. However, I don’t agree with him by including the harsh criticisms against the Church because it is out of context in the article. Although some of those criticisms maybe true such as the crusades, the persecution of the Cathars, and the Inquisitions as recorded in history, much are hard to believe, can only be based on hearsay or simply a concoction. He failed to see and mention the good practices, the services to humanity that the Church rendered and the many true Saints that it produced.)

Sigdell discussed in his writings the practice of past life regressions to bring into remembrance the soul’s past incarnations and experiences for therapeutic purposes. The AMT do not recommend this practice particularly if there is hypnosis involved.

Another article, “May a Christian believe in Reincarnation?” by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (http://wwwatmajyoti.org/sw_xtian.believe_reinc.asp) also quotes several biblical passages related to reincarnation and gives discussions showing the belief in reincarnation of the ancient Jews and early Christian writers - some of them Saints and Church fathers. In my view, his claim is hard to refute. (I’m not endorsing the website; I’m only pointing the merit of this particular article).

In this article, Swami Nirmalananda Giri mentioned backed with evidence that reincarnation is a fully developed belief of the ancient Jewish nation, including early Christians. This can be true; however, the reader should not get into impression that a greater number of populace believed in reincarnation. Kabbalah, for example, is the esoteric teachings of Orthodox Judaism, which may have garnered only a minority of followers. Even the early Church fathers, I would say, only minority of them believe in reincarnation. Even among Jesus’ disciples, only a few of them may have seriously espoused this belief. My source and basis of the latter statement is the book of Agni Yoga Society, “Supermundane – The Inner Life Book I (1938) -163” where Ascended Master El Morya says: “The Teacher (Jesus) did not speak about reincarnation to the people because in His country this truth would not have been understood. Even among the disciples very few could fully comprehend the Law of Reincarnation. Some sects knew about reincarnation, but the idea provoked strong arguments and the majority doubted, just as it doubts today”.

Maybe another reason why Lord Jesus did not speak about reincarnation to the people was because He had foreseen that even an exoteric teaching can be a useful instrument for the progress of the soul and reformation of man. There is no doubt that exoteric Christianity had helped much in the dramatic reformation of many people including criminals and drug addicts, touched by the Holy Spirit. In the first place, God has provided a mechanism perhaps in our brain not to remember our previous lives. This is probably so because God knows that it will be conducive for the progress of the soul and as I’ve mentioned before, it is the mercy of the Law because it will be too burdensome for the soul who lacks mastery to remember all his past lives. However, the forgetfulness of previous lives is only apparent in human’s outer consciousness on earth; but in the afterlife in spiritual world, he/she remembers everything. But here on earth, I believe that those experiences in previous lives are locked in the subconscious or unconscious mind (part of memory body) of the soul due to the denser frequencies of the physical, emotional, and mental bodies. Nevertheless, it will have a bearing upon the soul’s outer experiences. Modern psychology and psychoanalysis, as Sigdell puts it, knows the influence and guidance from the impulses coming from the unconscious self. In the final analysis, the law of karma and reincarnation that is at work in the universe will serve as mankind’s teacher whether one believes in it or not, or whether one knows it or not.

In countries such as India where reincarnation is an ordinary belief for almost three millennia, you can find some naughty people who abuse the said belief that you would hear them saying, “I will just pay it in my next incarnation”. Knowing this, we can say that it’s not a matter of believing or knowing the law. It’s a matter of observing the eternal verities and applying the spiritual teachings in one’s life whether one is in the esoteric or exoteric teachings.

According to the AMT, Pope XXIII, Pope Paul II, and Mother Theresa who were followers of Jesus in the Catholic Faith have now ascended in Heaven. Aime Semple Mcpherson, a Baptist, has also won her Ascension. Yet, their belief is an exoteric one. I believe this is so because they, through various incarnations, have finally attained a higher level of spiritual development by applying the eternal verities of life and then balanced more than 51% of their karma to qualify for Ascension. They, however, may have been followers of other faiths in their previous lives and this is most probably true to everyone.

Lord Jesus presumably had also foreseen that His true inner/esoteric teachings will be hindered shortly after his time and that it will be revealed again in the present age. It’s better to be progressive, up to the times and cognizant of the true inner spiritual teachings because it can accelerate a sincere seeker in his/her spiritual development onward to the Ascension in the Light.

Going back to the Scripture, a traditional Christian or a Bible-literalist may think that mankind have just inherited their sins from their original parent - Adam and Eve. Consequently, mankind can never assume accountability for their iniquities because it can be said that those were the gripping effects of the seed of Adam and Eve in their beings. Hence, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to save mankind. However, most esoteric teachings consider the story of Adam and Eve to be allegorical. Esoterically, Adam and Eve are simply an archetype of human race. I believe this is true. Why? It is said in Genesis that Adam and Eve committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Clearly, the said tree is symbolical for it is unrealistic to think that there is such kind of fruit say an apple bearing knowledge of good and evil. I don’t think that God had infused the fruit with knowledge of good and evil. I don’t think either, that God created Adam and Eve without any knowledge of good and evil for eating the fruit is itself an evil act, a violation of God’s commandment. And do you think that Satan literally transformed himself into snake then talked to and tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit? Mr Sigdell touched upon this in his article and it is somewhat similar to the discussion of Mark L. Prophet which I’ll take up in my future topic.