Q: In what forms will humans be reborn? Will they continue to be born as humans?

A: A soul that has not yet achieved redemption will be reborn in some form determined by the Lord and the determination is based on deeds performed in a specific birth. Future birth need not always be in the form of a human being. It can take the shape of an animal also. Taking birth as a human is the ultimate reward as a human has fully developed sense organs, mind and intellect. He/she has the ability to discriminate between right and wrong and has the capability to help others. Animals do not have the same abilities to the same extent. Even among animals, there are varying traits and abilities. A dog for example has the sense of loyalty and is able to protect its owner in time of need. Cows and buffaloes etc are enormously helpful to society as their milk is a staple diet for humans. On the other hand, animals such as tigers and lions do not have such helpful instincts and hence are kept away in reservations. Human beings are endowed with the faculties and abilities to read, comprehend, think, remember, teach, communicate freely in society – in other words they have enough tools to make an honorable living and worship the Lord by serving those who are less fortunate.

 

Q: When in a physical form, a soul is able to have contact with the external world through the use of sense organs such as eyes, ears etc. What happens to these sense organs when a person dies? Does the soul have innate sense organs?

A: A living, breathing organism is able to interact with the external world with sensory organs as long as the Lord is resident in that being and powering the sense organs. Death occurs when the Lord leaves that physical body. At this stage, the Lord carries the souls to a different world along with sense organs intact in a miniature form. Just like gently blowing wind carries the fragrance of a flower, the Lord carries the sense organs of a being along with the soul. Just as when wind carries the fragrance of a flower, it does not carry all the fragrance and the flower retains much of it, bulk of the sense organs remains with the physical body and perish along with the physical body. The fact that the soul is equipped with sense organs allows the soul to experience pleasure and distress between births (in other words experience heaven and hell between births). 

 

In addition to the external sense organs with which a person gains knowledge, there is an innate perceiver of knowledge which is part of every soul. This entity is called ‘Saakshi’ (or direct witness or imbiber of knowledge). There are two types of knowledge – external and internal. External knowledge is attained via the sense organs such as eyes, ears etc. External knowledge can sometimes be falsified (for example if there is an error in perception). Internal knowledge is always true and is never negated. Saakshi is the source of internal knowledge. Note that internal knowledge cannot be attributed to the mind, as when someone is in dreamless, deep sleep (when the mind is inactive); the person does remember the experience of sound, deep sleep after waking up. So, the perception of time and space during deep sleep must be attributed to Saakshi, which is the ultimate arbiter of truth as its knowledge is based on real experience and not gained from studies or from external sense organs. Even the mind is liable to errors and doubts, but Saakshi is free from such defects. Any extreme pleasure or pain experienced by a person will always be remembered throughout one’s life. This knowledge is memorized in Saakshi. The concept of innate knowledge associated with a soul can be illustrated with an example. When a cow gives birth to a calf, within no time is the calf able to draw milk from its mother without any training. Such natural abilities of a newly born organism can only be attributed to the concept of innate knowledge.

 

It is should also be noted that while the mind can sometimes have doubts about some events resulting in incomplete or improper knowledge, the knowledge gained by Saakshi is based on conviction and is not subject to any doubts.

 

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