REINCARNATION

Religion's Greatest Con

Conventional religiosity lures in the gullible and the incredulous through the bait of some afterlife post-death a priori. In the so-called Abrahamic faiths, the bait is of an oasis-like heaven replete with comfort and in the most extreme cases: sexual debauchery. This picturesque post-life is derived from the historical environs in which these faiths arose. Arid hinterlands and sunbaked lands where tribal continuity was ensured by control over the womb ergo the savannahs and sex promised after death.

In the Indic context, heaven and hell are rendered nugatory in pursuit of an apathetic salvation or Moksha. However, to ensure that the symmetric priestly classes-Pujaris-were able to continue their con of offering salvation the theory of Reincarnation was conceived. This newfangled deus ex machina proposed, via the Upanishads, that in a fallacious world life could be measured against how progressive one was in seeking salvation. The human was worthy of Moksha but only after fulfilling certain ritualistic mandates. What were these mandates? Dogmatic rituals performed to open the gates of salvation. Speaking realistically, this ritualism was designed to buttress the priest/ruler combine because it intellectually blinded the performer. Akin to the Abrahamic clergy, the Indic clergy carved out a power niche for itself in the name of religion.

For effectively fooling the masses, the Abrahamic faiths enunciated the binary of conformist/non-conformist with conformism being in a state of perpetual warfare with non-conformism. Vis-a-vis Indic faiths, a more sophisticated regime was required. This was ossified in the form of 8.4 million lives (ਚਉਰਾਸੀ ਦਾ ਗੇੜ ). A cycle which the individual was doomed to undergo unless he conformed to the Pujari’s designs. On the other hand, the caste system was imposed to keep the masses malleable and intellectually impotent. The system was more watertight than its Abrahamic counterpart in that that it did not allow mental dissent. With an internal revolution denied in the name of faith, an outward humanist revolution was rendered impossible.

The con of 8.4 million lives was exposed by Guru Nanak. The Guru challenged the Upanishadic credo on the viability of physical Reincarnation. He appropriated the term for figurative purposes but dismissed the concept beyond it.

ਪਰ ਧਨ ਪਰ ਤਨ ਪਰ ਤੀ ਨਿੰਦਾ ਪਰ ਅਪਬਾਦੁ ਨ ਛੂਟੈ ॥ ਆਵਾ ਗਵਨੁ ਹੋਤੁ ਹੈ ਫੁਨਿ ਫੁਨਿ ਇਹੁ ਪਰਸੰਗੁ ਨ ਤੂਟੈ ॥

“Struck blind and lustful by obsession, the mortal dies to be reborn each and every moment of their life.”

-Guru Granth, 971.

It must be noted that while spontaneous rebellions had arisen against Vedism and the Reincarnation compound, the myth of Reincarnation had never been so assiduously dismissed. The Sikh Gurus reduced it to a sole metaphor and that too for comprehending the realities of life at a certain level.

ਗੁਰ ਮੰਤ੍ਰ ਹੀਣਸ੍ਯ੍ਯ ਜੋ ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ ਧ੍ਰਿਗੰਤ ਜਨਮ ਭ੍ਰਸਟਣਹ ॥

ਕੂਕਰਹ ਸੂਕਰਹ ਗਰਧਭਹ ਕਾਕਹ ਸਰਪਨਹ ਤੁਲਿ ਖਲਹ ॥੩੩॥

“They who ignore the Guru’s counsel, this is what happens to them: They imbibe the behaviors of animals in this very life.”

-Guru Granth, 1356.

It is imperative to note here that the terms Gur (ਗੁਰ ) and Mantra (ਮੰਤ੍ਰ ) (counsel) are emphasized here by the Gurus. This is to orient the reader towards discovering their definition as per Gurbani and not Vedism. The Gur or Guru is truth. The Mantra is Gian and not some hollow term to be reiterated on repeat. Through the truth, we obtain wisdom.

ਦ੍ਰਿੜ੍ਹ੍ਹਿਓ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਮੰਤ੍ਰੁ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਾ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਜੀਉ ਮਇਆ ਕਰਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

“The Creator’s intelligence within me has opened the way. I have realized that I need to imbibe the wisdom I have obtained.”

-Guru Granth, 701.

The Pujari faction misquotes prominent references from Gurbani to veil the truth away from the common Sikh. Verses where Reincarnation is utilized figuratively are mischievously misinterpreted to allow Baba Ji, Mahant Ji and Sant Ji 108 to conclude:

“This cycle of ਚਉਰਾਸੀ ਦਾ ਗੇੜ is very painful oh assembly of listeners. Only the fortunate ones are safe from it.”

-Some Sikh Sadh Ji.

Not only does Reincarnation deaden one to their intellectual capacity (“its pointless as we are on repeat”), it also justifies apathy in the face of atrocity (“their past Karma must be bad that’s why they suffer today”).

Guru Nanak, though, seeded a revolution against Reincarnation. In his purview, the soul is adjudged by its conscience. The conscience (ਜ਼ਮੀਰ ), in terms invoking legal proceedings, provides an account of the soul to its Maker. Self-perception being consciousness, a soul which grounded itself in truth and morality (Miri-Piri) is allowed to continue serving Creation through the medium of inspiration and memory. A soul which rebelled against reality-a diligent example being the Pujari’s soul- has its self-perception effaced rendering its existence negated.

It is ludicrous to witness Sikhs falling for the con of ਚਉਰਾਸੀ ਦਾ ਗੇੜ when every dawn they read:

ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕਵਣ ਕਹਾ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥ 

“How can we qualify, quantify, categorize and classify nature? How can we qualify, quantify, categorize and classify life and all that comes under the umbrella of nature? It is but impossible.”

-Guru Granth, 3.

There is no established, empirical yardstick to prove the existence and even the viability of either Reincarnation or the 8.4 million lifeforms principle. Currently, science has established that over 8.7 million lifeforms exist. Where does this leave ਚਉਰਾਸੀ ਦਾ ਗੇੜ ? Need we open our mouths further? And for those who contend that a perfect Creator’s designs cannot be comprehended by an imperfect humanity, the journey to perfection is rooted in tangibility. Why no palpable evidence then?