Reincarnation and karma

To understand reincarnation, we need to understand the nature of our mind, and how our body and mind are separate entities.

If we understand the nature of the mind, we can understand the existence of past and future lives. Many people believe that when the body disintegrates at death, the continuum of the mind ceases and the mind becomes non-existent, like a candle flame going out when all the wax has burned. In the Vedic  scriptures, our body is compared to a guesthouse and our mind to a guest dwelling within it. When we die, our soul leaves our body and goes to the next life, just like a guest leaving a guesthouse and going somewhere else.

Karma literally means "deed or act," but more broadly describes the principle of cause and effect. Simply stated, karma is the law of action and reaction which governs consciousness

Karma operates not only individually, but also in ever-enlarging circles of group karma where we participate in the sum karma of multiple souls. This includes family, community, nation, race and religion, even planetary group karma. So if we, individually or collectively, unconditionally love and give, we will be loved and given to. The people who manifest your karma are also living through past karma and simultaneously creating future karma.

Many people believe in the principle of karma, but don't apply its laws to their daily life or even to life's peak experiences. There is a tendency to cry during times of personal crisis, "Why has God done this to me?" or "What did I do to deserve this?" While God is the creator and sustainer of the cosmic law of karma, He does not dispense individual karma. He does not produce cancer in one person's body and develop Olympic athletic prowess in another's. We create our own experiences. It is really an exercising of our soul's powers of creation. Karma, then, is our best spiritual teacher. We spiritually learn and grow as our actions return to us to be resolved and dissolved.

http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/truth/karma.htm       - Karma and Reincarnation in ISKCON

http://www.childpastlives.org/       - Dr. Ian Stevenson - investigator of past lives

http://www.near-death.com/       - Near death experiences and the afterlife

http://reincarnationforum.com/       - Discussion forum on the web devoted to reincarnation

http://www.beyondtheveil.net/ddlinks.html       - Death and dying research center

http://reincarnationcentral.com/       - Reincarnation, Memory Journal, Past lives

http://www.past-lives-regression.com/reincarnation/       - Past lives, regresion

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/       - karma and reincarnation

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/r/reincarnation.html       - Reincarnation esey

http://www.aboutreincarnation.org/       - Reincarnation from Buddhistic perrspective

http://www.reincarnation.ws/       - Reincarnation - Yes It Is True

http://www.kabbalah.com/wisdom/reincarnation       - Reincarnation in Cabbalah

http://www.japanese-buddhism.com/reincarnation.html       - Reincarnation in Japanese Buddhism

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/karma.htm       - Karma in Buddhist philosophy