Reincarnation

[Antibush5]

Hey guys, I was talking to a friend about reincarnation and he asked me how you'd stop being a worm, I made a comparison to spending time in jail.
Could you suggest ancient texts or give quotes explaining reincarnation of an animal please?

 

[Ben Dhyan]

Hey guys, I was talking to a friend about reincarnation and he asked me how you'd stop being a worm, I made a comparison to spending time in jail.
Could you suggest ancient texts or give quotes explaining reincarnation of an animal please?

The lower kingdoms do not involve individual soul incarnations, but rather involves group souls. Individual animal physical forms, fish, birds, etc., are incarnations of the herd, flock, school, etc.,group soul.

A simple way of understanding is this Sufi piece..

God sleeps in a rock,
Dreams in a plant,
Stirs in an animal,
And awakens in man!
Al Arabi

All is Brahman/God, but the obligatory pilgrimage experienced by all higher beings is from Divine pure spiritual awareness (but lacking individual self-awareness) descending into matter in the mineral kingdom, and then evolving through to the plant, then animal, and then to evolve to an individual human state where there is now self-awareness, but at the expense of losing the pure spiritual awareness state. The true purpose of religion is now to advance the journey of the individualized spiritual soul to re-realize its true underlying omnipresent spiritual nature. This realization will evolve the self-awareness attained through incarnations through the kingdoms of nature such that it is reintegrated with the omnipresent spirit of God such that a self-aware pure spiritual being emerges.

So to recap...the obligatory pilgrimage is from...

Perfect unself-aware spiritual existence ..to..

Imperfect spiritual self-awareness in human existence ..to...

Perfect spiritual self-awareness as a Celestial being (Angel, Bodhisattva, etc..)

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Hey guys, I was talking to a friend about reincarnation and he asked me how you'd stop being a worm, I made a comparison to spending time in jail.
Could you suggest ancient texts or give quotes explaining reincarnation of an animal please?

Reincarnation is not a simple physical birth of a person; for instance, John being reborn as a cat in the next life. In this case John possesses an immortal soul which transforms to the form of a cat after his death. This cycle is repeated over and over again. Or if he is lucky, he will be reborn as a human being. This notion of the transmigration of the soul definitely does not exist in Buddhism.

A Basic Buddhism Guide: On Reincarnation

 

[Aupmanyav]

Reasons for Reincarnation

Hindus provide several reasons why the soul takes on various physical bodies:

• To experience the fruits of one's actions: This is the main reason for rebirth. Good or righteous actions reward one with the pleasures of Svarga. Pleasure-seeking actions reward one with mortal realm or earth. And actions related to inertia, laziness and evil, condemn one to hades.
• To satisfy one's desires: When a person indulges in material pleasures, he or she subsequently develops a stronger desire to enjoy more of it. This unending craving to satisfy one's desires causes the soul to assume new physical bodies.
• To complete one's unfinished spiritual journey: When an aspirant making spiritual efforts for liberation from maya (illusions of the world) dies without attaining his or her goal, the soul gets as a natural cause-effect another human body to complete its spiritual journey.
• To fulfill a debt: When a person is indebted to another person, it gets a human birth to fulfill its debt and receive what is owed to it. The person comes in the form of a relative, friend or an enemy.
• To undergo sufferings because of a great soul's curse: A person's grave error or sin may incur the wrath or displeasure of God or a Saint. This results in the soul of that person getting another birth, not necessarily into a human body.
• To attain moksha/nirvana: By the grace and compassion of a God, a Goddess, or a God-realized guru, a soul gets a human body to purge itself of the layers of base instincts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation#Reasons_for_Reincarnation

(words changed to allow an easier non-technical reading. Aup adds - Nirvana can be obtained with any of the three methods (yogas): Devotion, Good actions, Knowledge, i.e., Bhakti, Good karma, and Jnana)