As any other young man with thirst for knowledge and who read and shared with his close ones various theories about life and life I was preoccupied by the idea of reincarnation. This philosophical and religious theory which says that the spirit survives the death of the body for coming back after a time in a new body. Manhy people believe in reincarnation. `Child if you believe in the theory of reincarnation you are like lost. Let me tell you why.
In the theory of reincarnation they speak many times about the fact that this is the level you reached in this life and in the coming lives you are to evolve. In this situation it appear a feel of self sufficiency. You accept the idea, get used to it, waiting that the new life would offer you something better. To improve yourself without any personal contribution if possible. In other words you give up so easily at fight. And here I don’t mean the fight with others but the right fight with yourself with the passions that control you. Thus if you are a drunkard or an alcoholic living with the hope that the future life will bring you perfection if you don’t stand to fight, what will you do? You lose the fight without opposing any resistance. You lose all the time. In this match let’s call it so, you don’t even get a remise, as for victory there is now way to reach it.` I said that they speak about the transmigration of the soul in all the forms of life, this passing from the vegetal liufe to the animal one then would become human.
The answer of the father was brief: `We should not forget that the man is the supreme creation of God, he was created from the beginning what he is.` Tjhere isn also the Darwinist theory and according to it on the scale of evolution we were the ones who won as against the rest of the animals on earth. `These are poor interpretations. Let me give you an example which I remember from the Gospel of John:
` Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
How can someone be born when they are old? Nicodemus asked. Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born! Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.`
As you see the interpretation may be simplistic, it may be said that is a new birth. It’s clear this is the theory of reincarnation, say some people. But how many think that the rebirth take place during the same life? It doesn’t refer at the passing through death and the coming back to life. It refers at the abandonment of the old self and at the adoption of the new one, of the man who died for death and was resurrected for eternal life, of the man who left the passions and was revived for the eternal life. This is rebirth not the strange and simplistic interpretation which was given so superfluously. But in order to be revived in the true meaning of the word and I don’t refer here at the physical freedom, you need to renounce at sins.
In other words not to be controlled by a master anymore, the master being the one that dominates you without being able to oppose any resistance. It is the one which tells you eat in excess, drink in excess, smoke, be debauched, lie, don’t forget, be proud etc. You free yourself of your master when you succeed to defeat it, to escape its influence. This is true freedom that is spoken of. But for this it is needed a tough fight, with enormous sacrifices. It is hard to fight against an invisible adversary. But if God wills you see the results of your fight. If you have heed you see everything clearly.
In the first phase you will be sure that you have no choice. Awareness is the first stage of the struggle. When you are not aware you are hit. After you become aware the questions arise: what am I going to do now? How am I going to do it? The Orthodox Church has the answer. The saints are the example of the struffle fought till the end, a struggle which is finally won. Their path should be ours too. They walked on the path of the Orthodox Church. Our path should be the same. Not for other reasons but there is no other way to have the same final. Otherwise we would see myrrh gusher saints from all the confessions. Am I right?
The myrrh of the saints shows us that the path shown by the Orthodox Church is the right one the one to be followed if we want the reward. You cannot hope to get any reward without struggle. Son you enter the tranches from the moment you are born on the front line directly in the fight. There is no neutrality status. You cannot stand on the edge of the ground. Who thinks there is neutrality is completely wrong. They don’t have any struggle. They do everything comes in their mind without opposing any resistance, without having any discernment most of the times. Maybe there is an opposition given by the law of moral. But in the end they are caught anyway. And now we return to reincarnation idea which gives self satisfaction and distracts from the right struggle here and now.
Do you want to believe in reincarnation, do you think you will come back on earth more developed next time? Do you want to give up on the actual struggle?
Do you want to postpone the fight till a next time, in another life? It would be a pity because life isn short. How would be if a saint venerated his own holy relics? It’s quite funny. When someone dies many say that he passed away to non existence while Orthodoxy says that he passed into eternity. It doesn’t say at all that he prepares to come back.
I think that I was explicit enough. Now listen to me well not paying attention to what some people or others think. Our God is too rich to use the technique of recycling.
Excerpt from the book Down to earth, author Ionuț Riteș.
