I Believe in… Reincarnation: the recycling of souls/spirits that have left/detached from their physical manifestations.
Is there a life after a death?
Last week Thursday, as we were about to leave for school, I found my cat, Lilly, cold and motionless in the middle of our lawn. He had been hit by a car and with her last bit of strength was only able to make it halfway to our doorstep, from the road. The shock was so great that I couldn’t even form tears. I sat on a bench and watched as my father dug a miniature grave for my favorite furry creature in the whole world. My mother sat next to me and told me that Lilly had a good life and reminded me that cats were the final stage in reincarnation. According to Buddhist philosophy the cat is the last stage of Karma and once the spirit of a cat have left its physical body it has the choice to be reincarnated into anything it wants.
Reincarnation has been instilled into my siblings and I from an early age. We have been raised from an early age as Buddhist and have attended many ceremonies and temples up until high school. Our maternal grandfather died only a year before we were born. It was hard on my mother's entire family, 8 children. Before they pushed him into the crematory my mother took out her lipstick and made a red blotch behind right ear, to mark him incase he was to ever return. On June 27, 1992 three crying babies were extracted, via C-section. After cleaning up all the blood a red birthmark was discovered behind the right ear of my brother James. It was proof that my grandfather had chosen to comeback as one of the very kids he had so hoped to see before he died. The mark faded over time and although James doesn’t remember anything about his past life, as the eldest triplet he has been watching out for us as he had planned when he was reincarnated. We were to be the first children born into the Sananikone family for 19 years.
In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that what you see now is only the physical forms of spirits. Everyone focuses on the physical form but what really matters is the spirit within. When the physical manifestation of a spirit dies the spirit is released so Arjuna isn’t really killing his grandfather's spirit but only the vehicle in which it occupies. Krishna also goes on to say that he is reborn, reincarnated, many times in order to help the good defeat the evil. Krishna is reincarnated to look over us all. I can compare this to my brother who, although doesn’t remember his past life like Krishna (since Krishna is a god), was also reincarnated to look over our family.
I have learned that what I perceive to be important now; friends, family, pets; is all just a hallucination brought upon by the mirage of our own mortality. I know that I will not live forever and I fear the day on which I will lose another loved one but after having consolidated the teachings of Buddhism and the Gita, I have come to the realization that its best to live life to the fullest instead of spending my days in fear, dreading my fate. For all things must come to an end, even the universe its self, but whenever something ends another is just beginning. Currently our family is in the process of looking for Lilly in her reincarnated form (Our old nanny's friend heard about Lilly and just so happens to have a new born kitten in her litter that is the same color and has the same lap cat personality so when the kitten turns 4 weeks old we will go pay Lilly a visit).
Reincarnation: the recycling of souls/spirits that have left/detached from their physical manifestations.
Is there a life after a death?
Last week Thursday, as we were about to leave for school, I found my cat, Lilly, cold and motionless in the middle of our lawn. He had been hit by a car and with her last bit of strength was only able to make it halfway to our doorstep, from the road. The shock was so great that I couldn’t even form tears. I sat on a bench and watched as my father dug a miniature grave for my favorite furry creature in the whole world. My mother sat next to me and told me that Lilly had a good life and reminded me that cats were the final stage in reincarnation. According to Buddhist philosophy the cat is the last stage of Karma and once the spirit of a cat have left its physical body it has the choice to be reincarnated into anything it wants.
Reincarnation has been instilled into my siblings and I from an early age. We have been raised from an early age as Buddhist and have attended many ceremonies and temples up until high school. Our maternal grandfather died only a year before we were born. It was hard on my mother's entire family, 8 children. Before they pushed him into the crematory my mother took out her lipstick and made a red blotch behind right ear, to mark him incase he was to ever return. On June 27, 1992 three crying babies were extracted, via C-section. After cleaning up all the blood a red birthmark was discovered behind the right ear of my brother James. It was proof that my grandfather had chosen to comeback as one of the very kids he had so hoped to see before he died. The mark faded over time and although James doesn’t remember anything about his past life, as the eldest triplet he has been watching out for us as he had planned when he was reincarnated. We were to be the first children born into the Sananikone family for 19 years.
In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that what you see now is only the physical forms of spirits. Everyone focuses on the physical form but what really matters is the spirit within. When the physical manifestation of a spirit dies the spirit is released so Arjuna isn’t really killing his grandfather's spirit but only the vehicle in which it occupies. Krishna also goes on to say that he is reborn, reincarnated, many times in order to help the good defeat the evil. Krishna is reincarnated to look over us all. I can compare this to my brother who, although doesn’t remember his past life like Krishna (since Krishna is a god), was also reincarnated to look over our family.
I have learned that what I perceive to be important now; friends, family, pets; is all just a hallucination brought upon by the mirage of our own mortality. I know that I will not live forever and I fear the day on which I will lose another loved one but after having consolidated the teachings of Buddhism and the Gita, I have come to the realization that its best to live life to the fullest instead of spending my days in fear, dreading my fate. For all things must come to an end, even the universe its self, but whenever something ends another is just beginning. Currently our family is in the process of looking for Lilly in her reincarnated form (Our old nanny's friend heard about Lilly and just so happens to have a new born kitten in her litter that is the same color and has the same lap cat personality so when the kitten turns 4 weeks old we will go pay Lilly a visit).