What is Moksha in Hinduism.  How does reincarnation play a role.
I need to write a paper stating that within death you find eternal bliss
through the extinction of your souls, being, individuality etc.

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Request for Question Clarification by ephraim-ga on 02 Nov 2002 16:57 PST

Hi!

What information are you looking for us to provide that can
help you in your research? Do you need pointers to explanations
or examples on Moksha and reincarnation? If not, what would
you like to see?

/ephraim

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Clarification of Question by swifty123-ga on 02 Nov 2002 22:30 PST

My professor has offered the following for a thesis.  I can argue for
ot or against it.  "There is only apparent death, but no real death in
the Hindu religion."

I can argue against that because Moksha defined is "real death" (you
cease to exist) and also apparent death is so vague.  That could mean
lots of things.  I'm just having trouble getting started, I don't even
know what to argue.  Some good websites would help, altrhough I've
been to most and all explain Hinduism, which is exactly what the
professor does not wants.  He wants my analytical argument, ie, not
just giving plain facts about Hinduism.

Hi Swifty,


A person is born again and again to reap the fruits of his or her own
actions. This cycle of birth and death continues until the person
attains moksha or freedom from the cycle of birth and death.

Hinduism is the only religion, which preaches the reincarnation and
Karma theories.

"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these
kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. As the embodied
soul continuously passes, in the body from childhood to youth to old
age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober
person is not bewildered by such a change." Lord Krishna (Bg. 2.12-13)

"As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul
similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless
ones."  Lord Krishna (Bg. 2.22)

"When one dies in the mode of goodness, he attains to the pure higher
planets of the great sages. When one dies in the mode of passion, he
takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when one
dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom."
Lord Krishna (Bg. 14.14-15)

Reincarnation is the passing of the soul from one body to the next.
Life is truly a circle of birth, death and re-birth. We never die; we
merely change our physical form. There are 8.4 million different forms
of bodies; we have been through them all. Being Human is the highest
form of Life on this planet.

So why do we keep coming back to life? We are re-born to exhume our
Karma. We build our Karma during our life and we must come back to
face the reactions to all our actions.

God's decisions are based on knowing our history, our previous lives.
God is very fair, God does not make us happy for no reason, and God
does not make us suffer for no reason. Based on our Karmic actions,
some people are happy because they have good Karma and are now facing
good reactions to their good actions taken in their past. Some people
suffer because they have bad Karma and are now facing bad reactions to
their bad actions taken in their past.

The eternal soul (atman) of man is a manifestation or "spark" of
Brahman mysteriously trapped in the physical body. Samsara, repeated
lives or reincarnations are required before the soul can be liberated
(moksha) from the body. An individual's present life is determined by
the law of karma (actions, words and thoughts in previous lifetimes).
The physical body is ultimately an illusion (maya) with little
inherent or permanent worth. Bodies generally are cremated, and the
eternal soul goes to an intermediate state of punishment or reward
before rebirth in another body. Rebirths are experienced until karma
has been removed to allow the souls reabsorption in to Brahman.


Addl. links:
India religions (Hinduism)
http://www.indiaserver.com/religions/india-hinduism-religion.html

Karma and Reincarnation
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/1987/07/1987-07-04.html

Search terms:
Moksha  reincarnation



Hope this helps.

Warm regards,
Solutionpro_ga

Unfortunately we can't post entire essays as answers - and I don't
think anyone would be willing to write an essay for $2 - so I'm
posting this as a comment. It's all just come 'out of my head' from
what I remember of the Indian Philosophy unit I took last semester, so
there are no references. I hope it's of some use to you.

Moksha (also 'Moksa') is one of the 'ways of being' in Hindu
philosophy. It is characterised by a complete detachment from the
fruit of one's actions; the person who is in a state of Moksa does
what is 'right' (as determined by the Scriptures) and not what she
thinks will make her happy or make others happy.

According to Hindu philosophy we are all tied to Samsara, the 'wheel
of rebirth'. When we act *selfishly* (not necessarily in the sense you
would think of it, it just means 'not in Moksa' in the sense I'm using
it), we produce karma - good if we're nice to people, bad if we're
not. When we die, the 'balance' of karma in our account causes us to
be reborn - in a higher station if we have good karma or in a lower
one if we have bad karma.

Eternal bliss for the Hindu is caused by not producing any karma, that
way, the soul cannot be reborn and we are freed from Samsara. The only
way to not create karma of some sort is to take no regard at all of
the effects your actions have, and just do what the Scriptures say is
right for your caste and station.

Hi, that is the delemma.  The professor states Moksha by definition is
the end of one's individual self/soul.  You are no longer in the cycle
of samsara because you are no longer, what ever made you, you, is
gone.  You have been extinguished.  It's similar to Nervana in
Buddhism where you reach this state.  Ask yourslef where does the fire
go when it goes out, is the same thing as asking where do you go when
you die.  You don't go anywhere, you are no longer.

You might wanna take a look at the Advaita philosophy(one of the many
philosophies of hinduism). Here I quote Swami Vivekananda(one of the
great authorities on Hinduism).

"What does the Advaitist declare? He says, if there is a God, that God
must be both the material and the efficient cause of the universe. Not
only is He the creator, but He is also the created."

and therefore,
" there is but one Existence, the Infinite, the Ever-blessed One. In
that Existence we dream all these various dreams. It is the Atman,
beyond. all, the Infinite, beyond the known, beyond the knowable; in
and through That we see the universe. It is the only Reality. It is
this table; It is the audience before me; It is the wall; It is
everything, minus the name and form. Take away the form of the table,
take away the name; what remains is It. The Vedantist does not call It
either He or She ? these are fictions, delusions of the human brain ?"

and
"You and I are one. There is neither nature, nor God, nor the
universe, only that one Infinite Existence, out of which, through name
and form, all these are manufactured. How to know the Knower? It
cannot be known. How can you see your own Self? You can only reflect
yourself. So all this universe is the reflection of that One Eternal
Being, the Atman, and as the reflection falls upon good or bad
reflectors, so good or bad images are cast up."


and finally answering your question about death, 

"There is but one Soul in the universe, not two. It neither comes nor
goes. It is neither born, nor dies, nor reincarnates. How can It die?
Where can It go? All these heavens, all these earths, and all these
places are vain imaginations of the mind. They do not exist, never
existed in the past, and never will exist in the future."



Here is the link from where I copied the above quotes
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_2/vol_2_frame.htm