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Question 24. Is there rebirth for human beings? If so, what causes it?
There is rebirth for human beings and it is Karma that causes it. It is common experience that an injury.caused by a few seconds' exposure to fire will take several days (=3Dmillions of seconds!) to heal up. On the same analogy, for reaping the fruits of aft our actions, both good and bad, done in a lifetime we need several lives. This will be possible only if we admit future lives. During the recent decades, a lot of investigation has been carried out in the field of rebirth, or reincarnation, as it is More commonly called, resulting in the publication of several good books.
There seems to be a much greater acceptance of the reincarnation theory than before, The varieties and mutual differences found among human beings do not seem to be directly related to their present circumstances. For instance, children being born with defective limbs, or the differences in the mental make up of even identical twins, are cases to the point. Hence, it is more reasonable to concede that these are the results of one's past Karma or actions. Since Hinduism accepts that the Atman or the soul is immortal, the theory of Karma and reincarnation fits admirably into that framework. Jainism and Buddhism also believe in this theory.
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