Introduction to the Cycle of Death and Birth According to Samkhya and the Vedic Teachings

According to the Vedic teachings our soul travels from one life to the next one. The material gross form is destroyed whereas the essence or the mind evolves and transmigrates to the next life.

3 Kinds of Body (Sharira Traya)

INANIMATE GROSS BODY (5 Elements of Nature)

ANIMATE GROSS BODY (Biological)

SUBTLE BODY (18 Subtle Elements)

What a Human Body is Made of and What Part of It Transmigrates?

Human is made of an animate gross body (biological–destructible) and a subtle body (indestructible essence).

The subtle body transmigrates to the next life and forms a new body at rebirthing. Hence you are born with the same mind – you are what you were in your previous life.

What Properties of Life Get Transmigrated to the Next Life?

DHARMA – the purpose of action, level of awareness (discipline)

JNANA – the ability to understand and concentrate (wisdom)

VAIRAGYA – likes/dislikes, introvert/extrovert (Objectivity)

AISHWARYA – levels of certainty, abilities (clarity)

One of each of these properties results from the other. Dharma is of the higher planes.

What Properties of the Mind Transmigrate to the Next Life?

Pratyaya Sarga – Buddhi – That by which anything is known:

  • FALSE KNOWLEDGE (VIPARYAYA – 5 KINDS)
  • SKILLS / ATTAINMENTS (SIDDHI – 8 TYPES)
  • CONTENTMENT (TUSTI – 9 KINDS)
  • INABILITIES / DISABILITIES (ASHAKTI – 28 KINDS)

Conscious mind – character (coming from the subconsciousness).

With this division, Samnkhya gives the structure so that you can understand yourself.  Below we will look into the Pratyaya Sarga in more detail.

5 x VIPARYAYA (FALSE KNOWLEDGE) (KLESHAS)

  1. AVIDYA (root cause, false knowledge)
  2. ASMITA (ego – separation, superiority/inferiority)
  3. RAGA (attachment, craving that which is experienced by the 5 subtler senses – tanmatras – sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)
  4. DVESHA (aversion, non-attainment, dislike towards that which is experienced by the 5 subtler senses)
  5. ABHINIVESHA (fear of death, fear future or even fear of losing your attainments, uncertainty, nervousness)

8 x SIDDHIS (SKILLS)

We all have 8 Siddhis developed to different digress, and depending on these degrees we are different personalities.

  1. UUHA (reasoning)
  2. SHABDA (words – understanding/communicating
  3. ADDHYYAN (self-learning)
  4. SUHRITPRAPTI (guidance – any guidance you receive from others is your own attainment)
  5. DAAN (purity – discriminative knowledge)

The next 3 ones are your ability to overcome 3 kinds of pain

6. ADHYATMIK-DUHKH-HAAN (the ability to overcome self-inflicted pain (bodily suffering and mental anguish)

7. ABHIBHAUTIK-DUHKH-HAAN (the ability to overcome pain inflicted by others (living beings, like enemies or wild animals)

8. ADHIDAIVIK-DUHKH-HAAN (the ability to overcome pain inflicted by Nature (power of time, karma, the unseen hand, or fate)

Click here to read about the origin, causes, and categorization of human pain, the knowledge that helps you to minimize their effect, and even eradicate them.

9 x TUSTI (CONTENTMENT)

Tusti is the complacency that doesn’t let you move forward. It removes your motivation for effort.

There are 9 different causes for that complacency.

4 of them are internal:

1. PRAKRITI (NATURE)

Materialistic knowledge, not spiritual. Superficial knowledge, informative but not experiential. But being satisfied with such partial, theoretical knowledge. This satisfaction is like an obstacle to experiencing things directly because there is no effort to understand the mind, the consciousness.

2. UPADANA (MATERIAL MEANS)

Satisfaction coming from material possessions. External form without working on the mind, internal world. Also, on the other hand, you don’t need renunciation, practicing in the perfect environment eliminates the triggers that could push your buttons. In such a silent natural place you might feel at peace but anger might still be there.

3. KALA (TIME)

4. BHAGYA (LUCK)

Time and Luck are connected. It is your belief that everything will happen on its own, so you don’t put any effort to change things inside you.

5 of them are external (these can be pretended as detachment, but it is an incapability in disguise):

1. ACQUISITION

Acquisition without hard work, not wanting to put effort to acquire. False detachment, not wanting to put effort into the things difficult to acquire.

2. MAINTENANCE

Considering painful to maintain things so stopping to do it.

3. DECAY

Fake detachment from seeing decay, but internally craving for those things.

4. ATTACHMENT

Not having overcome the craving. You may have developed an aversion to something because you experienced pain from it, but truly you are not free from it, you are attached.

5. INJURIOUSNESS

You stay away because it hurts you, but you are not free from craving it. False detachment by avoiding it.

28 x ASHAKTI (INABILITIES / DISABILITIES) 11+9+8

11 x INDRIYAS

  1. DEAFNESS
  2. BLINDNESS
  3. INABILITY TO SMELL
  4. TASTELESSNESS
  5. LOSS OF SENSATION
  6. PALSY OF HAND
  7. LAMENESS
  8. DUMBNESS
  9. IMPOTENCE
  10. INTESTINAL PARALISIS
  11. MENTAL DISABILITY

9 x BUDDHI (INVERSIONS OF TUSTI)

8 x NON-ATTAINMENT OF SIDDHIS

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