“Time after Time: Reincarnation”

Urban Sadhu Exploration September 2025

BG 4.5 bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava chārjunatānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

Meaning: Arjuna, both you and I have had many births together. You have forgotten them, while I remember them all. – Austin Sanderson 

The concept of reincarnation began in ancient India’s spiritual tradition of Sanatana Dharma, what we call Hinduism today. Once the concept of multiple lives was established, it took root not only in yoga philosophies but in Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism as well. The term reincarnation joins three words together: re means “again,” in means “enclosed,” and carnate means “flesh.” Therefore, reincarnation literally means “again in flesh.” But what is it that is coming back into flesh again? Many traditions agree that something recycles into new forms, but not all agree on what that is or why it recycles.

In Hinduism, the soul or higher self (purusha) is viewed as eternal, unchanging, and permanent, while matter or form (prakriti) is finite, decays, and is short-lived. When the soul is in a body, the soul has the opportunity to be elevated spiritually. The goal of the human soul in this spiritual tradition is moksha, which can take many lifetimes to achieve. It is the final aim of all yogic practices, a beginning step toward enlightenment. Moksha means liberation from the misidentification with the body and mind. Other elements of enlightenment include bliss, unity, Self-realization, and the awareness of the oneness of being. The body is nothing more than a vessel for the soul’s endless journey toward enlightenment.

In Buddhism, however, the term for reincarnation is punabbhava: puna means “again” and bhava means “energetic,” so it is loosely translated as “again-becoming.” In  Buddhist traditions, there is no higher self or soul. Since there is no soul to be reborn, the term “rebirth” is inappropriate. In nature, energy (bhava) cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transferred and transformed. Within Buddhism, “again-becoming” is a transfer of energy. The energy can take different forms from highest to lowest: gods, demi-gods, human, animal, hungry ghost, or demonic creature. The term “again-becoming” suggests that the energy simply goes on in a new form. Past actions (karma) can play a part in this, but some Buddhist traditions feel that past actions play little to no importance in how one moves through punabbhava into the next cycle.  

In the yogic traditions, the transmigration of the soul is the cornerstone of the yoga shastras such as the Bhagavad Gita. Generally speaking, the human soul grows spiritually from incarnation to incarnation. Karma, which is the sum of a soul’s past, present, and even future actions, can have a big impact on the placement of the individual soul in its next life. Unfulfilled desires also affect that placement. In some rare cases, a human soul could be born once or twice into a non-human body, but only to work out the most unrighteous of karmas. Once the adharmic (against dharma) karmas are worked out, then the soul can be incarnated again in a human body and return to its path of gradual spiritual evolution toward liberation. When we understand karma and its laws, we can bring foresight and common sense into our life and our interactions with others.

Today, in our modern multicultural world of spirituality (New Age), reincarnation is not an uncommon idea. My teacher Sharon Gannon once told me that anyone who has an interest in yoga at this time of the Kali Yuga – a time of egoism, vanity, personal power, fortune, and fame – is focused on living an ethical lifestyle of compassion and unconditional love, with the goal that all beings be happy and free. This means they are picking up where they left off in their previous lifetime. Simply put, an interest in yoga today shows that in your past life you were a yogi. If you are practicing yoga in today’s world, you have made great spiritual advancement in your past lives to get to where you are today. This is all very auspicious, but unfortunately, as Krishna tells Arjuna, we have all forgotten our efforts in past lives. However, God (Krishna) remembers each and every spiritual advancement that was made in each lifetime. Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna that through devotion and yoga sadhana (the first of the Six Pillars of the Urban Sadhu Yoga Method) one can begin to recover lost memories of our soul’s past journeys on the spiritual path. However, some will never recover those lost memories and will continue to identify with the body and mind that their soul inhabits in this lifetime.  

Within the concept of multiple life cycles, there is a place for the saint and also for the rogue. The soul does not have to be perfected in a single lifetime, though that is what traditions such Christianity and Islam claim is a necessary condition to obtain salvation. The concept of reincarnation can give spiritual comfort to every level of humanity, allowing us to understand that through many lifetimes the grace of Self-realization is a long process, but one that is worth living and working toward, time after time.

Austin Sanderson, Urban Sadhu