I'm newest in Hinduism. I have a question about Hindus. Do Hindus believe in reincarnation?
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6Hello!! hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/4/… (Already asked)– user6981Sep 13, 2016 at 7:46
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Of course--Every Hindu believes that there is reincarnations. Based on that only surrendering to God, believing the supreme power etc is in place.– Parthasarathy RaghavanSep 13, 2016 at 9:18
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All orthodox Hindus, a better term is Vedantists, share three common beliefs - 1) Belief in God 2) Belief that the Vedas are the revealed word of God 3) Cycles and reincarnation.– Swami VishwanandaSep 13, 2016 at 14:47
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1not sure why this question received 3 upvotes?– AADHinduismSep 14, 2016 at 4:51
1 Answer
In Hinduism, each individual soul is considered immortal or eternal. Samsara is controlled by karma, which, in Hinduism, is the moral law of action and reaction. All Hindus believe that each individual accumulates karma during his lifetime and the present condition of the human body and soul is affected by past actions.
Hindus believe in reincarnation, the process where the soul repeatedly takes on a physical body through being born on Earth. Ancient scriptures of Hinduism teach that the soul, or immortal “self”, takes birth time and time again. The soul survives and continues its long journey until it is one with God. Hindus believe that the soul never dies, but inhabits one body after another during its evolutionary journey guided by karma. Karma (literally: action) is the sum of one's actions, and the force that determines one's next reincarnation.
The soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Therefore, each reincarnating soul chooses a home and a family which can best fulfill its next step of learning and maturation. Each life on Earth is similar to a class in school. Maturation of the soul on Earth means fulfilling its worldly desires, which can only be experienced through a body.
At death the soul leaves the physical body. But the soul does not die. It lives on in a subtle body called the astral body. The astral body exists in a nonphysical dimension called the astral plane. Here the soul continues to have experiences until it is born again in another physical body as a baby.
After many lifetimes of following dharma (right way of living), the soul is fully matured in love, wisdom and knowledge of God. There is no longer a need for physical birth, for all lessons have been learned, all karmas fulfilled. When all desire has vanished, the person will not be born again anymore.
Source wikipedia