How can reincarnation be explained according to our constantly growing population?

Question

I'm not a believer in reincarnation per se, but I'm just curious. Reincarnation is supposed to be the "recycling" of souls. With all these new people being born, how can Hindu belief explain where these new souls come from?

Answer 1

People who use the "where are all the new souls coming from" argument seem to think that there is no first incarnation for souls, and that defies logic. There has to be a first incarnation, a starting point of physical life experience from which we move on into other lives.

If we grant that there is such a thing as a first incarnation, then that process may be going on now, and may continue in the future.



In other words, there is no reason to assume that this is a closed system, with all the souls having already taken on physical manifestations.

Do any of us remember why we chose to take on our first physical form? Do we remember what specific circumstances we waited for, in order to have the first experience of being in the world?

What makes anyone think that there are not souls which have waited until now to have their first incarnation? Or are still waiting for the right time and place in which to take enter into the physical realm?

The argument only has merit at all if one starts with the supposition that all souls have already incarnated for the first time, that it's a closed system. And what do we have to base that supposition on?

Answer 2

Well, I'm not a Hindu, but I do believe in reincarnation.

Basically, I believe that everyone has a soul. I believe that every species has their own soul, and these souls can be combined and split apart. Generally: One soul isnt permanently set in stone. I believe that there is merging and splitting between souls and everyone can be a part of someone else.

This could cause conflict with the whole 'soulmate' idea, but I believe that a person could have more than one. Anyway, off topic...

So with my beliefs, with the increasing population, souls can be split apart to create more souls. This doesnt mean that someone could have something missing, because souls take no shape, size, color, or form, therefore they could have variations.

Extinction is also an issue--I feel that when one species completely dies out, it will disperse among other species' souls. So to me, quite a few of us may have a bit of "Dino" in us ;)

May sound crazy, but its what I believe. Hope this helped with at least one person's perspective of reincarnation :)

Answer 3

Think of the ocean and rivers. In eastern philosophy, reincarnation is much like the water cycle. We are born( The rain), our life runs its course (The river), and when we die we enter an in-between state called a bardo (The Ocean). Eventually, we leave this state and are reborn into the world.

As you can see, sometimes the world river's flood, where does the extra water come from? The Ocean, which is like the Bardo. Our lives are the same way. When the population booms, the souls come from a large body of energy, and souls also go there when they die. Some Hindus call that body of energy Brahman, or God.

The Greeks had a similar view of the afterlife, but each person spent 10,000 years drinking from the River Lethe in Hades before being reborn...

That was probably confusing, sorry if it didn't make any sense :)

Answer 4

There are only so many "souls". The issue is there are always ways to improve. Always new experiances, and always the same old sins to encounter and overcome. Each of these Souls is but a part of one great soul. All of the great souls are but part of an even greater and more perfect soul - up to nirvana the true perfection.

Heres an interesting thing : Take a good hard look at all of your friends. Note some of their habits , their manner, and then go and watch people in a club or resturant. Odds are you will find someone who reminds you of one of your friends, and if you talk to them you will find they have had similar experiances but handled them in different ways than what your friend did. And as such are a completely different person. One can open their eyes and see a pattern starting. You will be walking through life, and find the same souls over and over again. with the same problems as before just different circumstances.

Answer 5

Did you know that 1 in every 10 people who have ever lived are alive today? Our souls have always taken turns showing up here. I once heard that there are a total of 11 billion souls associated with the earth. So until we reach that mark, reincarnation will remain a viable belief system.

Answer 6

All the species going extinct and no longer needing souls? Is the total population of "life" as opposed to our species increasing? Is the recycle rate decreasing? Hindus never claimed (as the Jews do) that there are only a fixed number of human souls.

As for how they may be created, I'll stick with Socrates. I'm wise enough not to go there.

Answer 7

I don't know how Hindus explain it but the best answer I've heard was that all souls are combined after death so one soul does not come back as its original. That's why so many people claim they were famous people in previous lives, PART of their soul may have been in Cleopatra's body (this is just an example of course). Did this make ANY sense? I don't know if I worded it very well.

Answer 8

I am unsure how it is explained in Hinduism
but I am of the belief that not every soul will reincarnate
some may go on in spirit and continue to develop that way ... some may choose to come back ...
but at the end , we all go back to the source ... where new souls come from
like recycling

Answer 9

I have read Edgar Cayce on this topic and according to his readings all souls were created together in the beginning. Some souls migrated to earth where they became human. Others remained in the spirit world and have always occupied those realms. These included angels and spirit guides. It seems to me that according to this belief, the majority of souls are not human. I am not convinced that this makes any sense but at least it attempts to give some explanation.

Answer 10

Sometimes you don't come back as a human - if you had bad Karma, you can be reincarnated as a bug, rodent or any type of animal... in my past life I was an anteater..to this day I like to lick under tree bark for those succulent larvae...mmm mmm, that's good eatin'!