What Is Reincarnation, and Why Is It Important in Modern Day?

People often fear death, or simply try not to think about it because they feel it’s morbid or depressing. However, death is inevitable for all. This makes it wise to understand the process properly and not fall into a limited scientific and materialistic view that blocks us from seeing the truth behind this phenomenon. 

In fact, many spiritual traditions recognize that death is not the end of life. Advanced yogis have been able to reach very high states of consciousness where they could see the exact spiritual process that happens when someone dies, as well as in the hours, months, and even years after their death.

They also saw that reincarnation is a fundamental part of that process, and it is an essential part of the human process of spiritual evolution. However, the concept of reincarnation is often misunderstood, particularly in the Western world. The purpose of this article is to clarify what reincarnation really is and why it matters.

In this article you will find:

• What Is Reincarnation?
• How Does Reincarnation Work?
• How Does Reincarnation Relate to Karma?
• Why Don’t Most People Remember Being Reincarnated?
• Does Reincarnation Ever Come to an End?
• Accelerate Your Own Evolution with Tantra

Misconceptions About Reincarnation

Before we can talk about what reincarnation is, it’s important to clarify what it is not.

On a very simplistic level, it’s often said that reincarnation is when your soul moves on to another life after you die. And it’s suggested this process happens very quickly — when you die, you’ll just reincarnate into another body right away or soon after.

There are many problems with this over-simplified view of reincarnation. First, it doesn’t clarify exactly what part of you moves on to another life. If it’s your “soul” that moves on, what exactly is your soul? Does it include your name, your memories, your personality, or your beliefs? What exactly is carried with you into another life?

It also doesn’t explain how long the reincarnation process takes, or what exactly happens from the time of death until your soul enters a new body. In addition, what dictates the circumstances surrounding your next life? Will you be in a better or worse situation? Is it possible to reincarnate as another type of animal or other being? Is it completely random, or does it happen according to certain principles?

In order to understand the true process of reincarnation, it’s essential to know the answers to all these questions. However, the modern definitions of reincarnation are often missing most parts of the entire picture. This presents a very distorted and even childish view of it all.

This is due to a variety of reasons — from honest misinterpretations of ancient texts, to the natural human fear of death. When facing the end of life, it’s sometimes easier for a person to believe they’ll simply be “born again”, rather than looking at what really happens after death.

Unfortunately, using such limited definitions of reincarnation only creates more confusion around the topic, which is not helpful in the long term.

What Is Reincarnation?

Now that you know how reincarnation often gets misrepresented in the Western world, we can start to genuinely answer the question, “What is reincarnation?”

From the perspective of the Tantric and Yogic spiritual systems, reincarnation is one part of the continuous evolutionary process of the soul and is related to the universal level of consciousness. In the Indian tradition, this universal consciousness is also known as Brahman or Atman.

There is a special relationship between the universal consciousness and the individual consciousness that is found within each human being, or lesser sentient beings. Various ancient Indian metaphysical texts describe the individual consciousness as a reflection of the universal consciousness.

This individual consciousness is in fact a highly abstract concept and includes multiple aspects. However, in Western terminology, it is usually referred to as the human soul. This is a superficial term and lacks much of the richness of the Eastern philosophical description. But in order to make this term more relatable for the Western reader, we will refer to it from now on as the soul or the human soul. 

Also, we need to understand that the soul is known to be going through an evolutionary process in its journey to self-realization or self-knowledge. This process isn’t really about the soul’s evolution, but more about refinement and self-awareness that we can call, for simplicity’s sake, the evolution of consciousness. 

This process is ongoing throughout the entire universe’s existence. The greater reasons for this are mostly beyond the un-enlightened human understanding, but advanced yogis have been able to perceive the soul in its true form and how reincarnation serves an essential part of its evolution or journey for self-realization.

From the perspective of the Tantric and Yogic spiritual systems, reincarnation is one part of the continuous evolutionary process of the soul and is related to the universal level of consciousness. 

Is Reincarnation Real? Is There Any Proof?

Despite the traditional reincarnation theories, how do we know if it’s actually real or not? Is there any reincarnation proof or scientific evidence supporting it?

Around the world, there are many anecdotal examples of reincarnation where children seem to have memories of previous lives. One well-known example is James Leininger, a child born in the United States in the 1990s who had memories that seemed to be from a past life as a WWII fighter pilot.

He told his parents many details about his past life, such as the name of the aircraft carrier he had worked on and the names of other pilots and people he had known. Many of these details were proven to be right, and the young boy even went to meet some of his previous incarnation’s friends from the war. 

However, science remains skeptical of the reincarnation theory because there is nothing about it that can be measured and conclusively proven. It’s often disregarded as a primitive superstition. Modern science says that a human’s heart and brain function stop when they die, and that’s the end of the story. There is no material evidence that anything lives after the death of the body.

But is this true? Does science always have the right answer? Many scientific conclusions have, in fact, changed over the years. For example, prior to the creation of the microscope in the 1500s, humans could only see what was visible to the human eye. The suggestion that smaller particles exist would likely have been disregarded simply because it could not be proven.

But once scientists could see microscopic particles and life forms through a microscope, this revolutionized their world view. Today, the examination of microscopic particles is commonplace.

Could it not be the same with reincarnation? Perhaps the tools to properly examine reincarnation aren’t known to modern science. However, this doesn’t mean they’re not known altogether. Certain ancient yogis were able to achieve high states of consciousness where they could actually perceive many of the processes that happen after death.

They wrote about these revelations in texts such as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, known as The Bardo Thodol. Thanks to these spiritual masters, we have a very clear picture of the death and reincarnation process.

How Does Reincarnation Work?

At the moment of death, a person’s soul detaches from their physical body. At the beginning of a person’s life, the higher structures that make up the soul bind themselves to the body of the newborn child. But this bond is broken at the time of death, and the soul starts going through the reincarnation process.

This process is detailed in advanced yogic texts, and we explain it thoroughly in our course The Art of Dying. However, the key point to understand here is that a soul goes through a specific process after death. Also, unlike what some modern misinterpretations suggest, the reincarnation cycle takes, on average, a few hundred years.

It’s extremely unusual for a soul to reincarnate quickly. This only happens in very rare circumstances where something abnormal or extremely spiritual may have taken place, typically when a highly enlightened spiritual master has died.

Another time this may happen is at the death of a well-trained advanced spiritual practitioner who specifically trained during their lifetime in the metaphysical processes of death and reincarnation.

For example, the Dalai Lama is known to be able to influence the speed of his reincarnation after he dies, so he can come back into a body quickly and be found by his followers. The purpose of this is to assume his role as leader of the Tibetan nation and continue his mission to facilitate enlightenment for all sentient beings. This has been well-documented in Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

However, this knowledge and ability are only known to a very small number of people. For the vast majority of us, the reincarnation cycle will take hundreds of years from the time of death to the time we are born into a new body.

How Does Reincarnation Relate to Karma?

Karma is a significant factor in the overall reincarnation process. The karma that was created in a person’s life, as well as in their past lives, will affect the complexity, experience, trajectory, and duration of the soul’s reincarnation.

For example, the soul of someone who led armies and caused the death of thousands of people will have to go through a very different reincarnation process compared to the soul of someone who was a regular farmer. Their karma will be different simply due to the nature of their lives and the subsequent karma each has accumulated.

Karma is another concept that is widely misunderstood in Western society. It’s often reduced to meaningless slogans about creating “good karma” or just being a nice person. But in Eastern traditions, karma is recognized as a fundamental law of the universe.

Even modern Newtonian physics recognizes that every action has a reaction. The law of karma refers to the same thing. This is why karma is also called the law of cause and effect. However, it recognizes that any physical, emotional, energetic, mental, spiritual, or other personal or universal actions and reactions are all governed by the law of karma.

Anything that happens in the universe will have a resulting consequence. This also means that karma is neutral. Fundamentally, there is no such thing as “good” or “bad” karma. It’s simply referring to a sequence of actions and subsequent reactions. It’s only the ego that wants to label or categorize them.

When it comes to reincarnation, karma influences what happens to each soul. But the soul’s process is not inherently good or bad. It’s simply what needs to happen based on universal laws.

The karma that was created in a person’s life, as well as in their past lives, will affect the complexity, experience, trajectory, and duration of the soul’s reincarnation.

What Is the Purpose of Reincarnation?

We already defined reincarnation as one part of the continuous evolutionary process of the soul and of the universal consciousness. But what does this really mean? What’s the point of the whole reincarnation process?

In general terms, the universe is in a constant state of refining itself. Ancient yogic texts describe how everything starts from the unmanifested, undifferentiated, absolute consciousness. Then, as it is said, that divine consciousness creates reflections of itself, or restricts its own awareness, so that it experiences multiplicity and individuality.

The one becomes they, and those individual souls, although still parts of the divine whole, become restricted within individual awareness and become subjected to the laws of nature, space, and time.

Each individual form will continue evolving and reaching higher and higher states of awareness and consciousness. Until one day, it will realize its true nature and rejoin (self-realize) the singular, divine consciousness.

For example, Buddhist scriptures describe how a soul, or an individuated consciousness structure, starts in the lowest forms of life. They state that souls start in the mineral and plant kingdoms, so a soul’s first incarnation may be as an inanimate object with very low consciousness.

Then, as spiritual evolution progresses, the soul will gradually move into more complex forms of life, as well as more complex structures of consciousness. On Earth, humans are considered the highest form of life with the most intricate forms of consciousness. This is also why Eastern traditions say that enlightenment can only be achieved when a soul is in human form.

Reincarnation is a fundamental part of a soul’s evolution because it allows a soul to progress from lower forms of life to higher ones — and, eventually, to achieve full self-realization.

What Do You Carry into Your Next Life?

As a soul evolves, what exactly gets carried forward into its future lifetimes? This is another aspect of the reincarnation process that is often misunderstood.

In modern stories about children who remember past lives, it’s often reported as if their previous incarnation, such as a WWII veteran, is now in the body of that child. This is an incorrect view of the situation.

It’s true that the child may have memories of their past life. But these are only memories. The person they were is completely gone. When that person died, their entire personal identity also disappeared. Their personality traits, beliefs, values, skills, personal preferences, and anything else a person might identify as “me” also go away at the time of death, specifically when the brain dies and much of the conscious part of the brain is fully erased.

All that is left is the soul, which includes the higher spiritual structures that move from lifetime to lifetime. These detach from the physical body and continue their evolutionary journey. As we mentioned previously, the purpose of reincarnation is to refine and elevate the soul. The human body, including its lower structures, is only temporary.

Each body or incarnation will naturally have its own new set of circumstances, and a developing soul gets caught up and identifies with those circumstances. It doesn’t yet realize its true nature as part of the absolute consciousness, so it mistakenly believes it is whatever body it is born into.

As evolution progresses, the soul will start to see through this mistaken belief and eventually realize its true self, usually by refining its self-awareness through the mechanism of karma. In other words, learning life lessons and growing in purity and spiritual maturity. 

Until that time, it will continue reincarnating into different forms, learning and maturing. However, these forms and all their lower attributes will always be lost, or returned to nature, at the end of each life. It’s only the soul and its higher structures, or the spiritual Self, that continues.

Why Don’t Most People Remember Being Reincarnated?

Except in very rare cases, most people can’t remember their past lives. Why does this happen, especially if reincarnation is a natural and necessary process for evolution?

According to tantric yogis, there is a natural blockage or barrier that comes at the level of the subconscious mind every time a soul reincarnates into a new body. It’s like a mental wall that prevents the soul from seeing its previous lifetimes.

The reason for this subconscious wall is simple — it’s meant to protect the soul. If a human mind could see all the things that had happened in previous lives, it would almost certainly suffer and may regress its evolution. For example, consider the effects that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have on people who have been through terrible trauma, such as wars or abuse. It can be devastating, and a person can barely function at times.

Can you imagine remembering all the traumas your soul has ever experienced? You’ve likely been through thousands, or even more, lifetimes already. If any human remembered all the experiences of their previous incarnations, they would not be able to handle it. Their mental structure would simply break down and collapse.

It’s said that even the Buddha could not remember his past lives until the moment right before full enlightenment. Just as he reached complete self-realization, the subconscious blockage dissolved, and he was able to remember all his previous incarnations. This only happened because he had evolved beyond the limiting structures of the human mind and was then able to see his past lives without any harm.

However, until full enlightenment, most people will not be able to remember their past lives purely for their own safety. There are some advanced spiritual practices that can teach someone how to see past lives under very specific circumstances. But typically, there is little to be gained by seeing your past lives until you are ready to do so.

Unfortunately, many new age movements give people the illusion that seeing previous lives is like watching a movie, which makes it seem like it’s not a big issue, and many people are curious to see and learn about their previous lives. This may be out of simple curiosity or because they hope to learn and grow from the experience. It excites many new age followers.

Despite their popularity, the reality is that most new age techniques or “gurus” that try to expose previous reincarnations are misleading and false. They usually serve to boost the ego of the curious follower, rather than provide real spiritual growth.

20 April Apr 2025 Blog article

Spiritual Awakening: Tantric Techniques for Self-Realization

You often hear about how someone was royalty, or a saint, or some other exciting person in their previous life — but rarely do you hear about previous lives where you were working a mundane job, cleaning out stables, or having an insignificant experience. The validity of most new agey “past life regressions” seems quite suspicious.

According to tantric yogis, there is a natural blockage or barrier that comes at the level of the subconscious mind every time a soul reincarnates into a new body. It’s like a mental wall that prevents the soul from seeing its previous lifetimes.

How Can You Evolve If You Can’t Remember What You Learned in Previous Lives?

This is a very logical question. From a human perspective, it would seem impossible to learn anything if you don’t have all the information available. How can you improve if you don’t know the mistakes you’ve made previously?

Once again, this view is an inaccurate way of looking at reincarnation. Remember, it’s not about the person — it’s about the soul. The higher structures that make up the soul are constantly becoming more developed and refined as it progresses through different lifetimes. In essence, the soul is learning how to recognize itself as the absolute consciousness.

This ongoing evolution will affect the soul’s human incarnations as well. They will also tend to become more and more refined. For example, an advanced soul may come into a body, and that child may be in a situation where they receive spiritual teachings from a young age. That person will then be able to start reaching higher states of spiritual awareness as they develop their practice over that lifetime. 

This means remembering any past experiences, learnings, skills, and mistakes from previous lives is not relevant for the true evolution of the soul. Understand that you are not supposed to learn skills or to be smarter from one life to the next.

In essence, it’s not about you! It’s about your soul — which is far higher and learns much higher lessons that are of a metaphysical nature. And that learning continues with the soul in its reincarnation journey. To put it simply, reincarnation is not merely an entertaining story, it is a supreme spiritual journey. 

The accumulated karma and growth of the soul will reflect in its current incarnation, even if the person can’t remember their past lives.

Does Reincarnation Ever Come to an End?

Yes, reincarnation comes to an end when a soul reaches full self-realization. At that point, all karma is obliterated, and there is no need for that soul to reincarnate.

As they are fully self-aware, they can then choose the next stage of their evolution, without the limitations of karma. For example, some fully enlightened souls are said to have taken vows to continue reincarnating into human form indefinitely so they can help others also achieve enlightenment. Buddhism calls these beings bodhisattvas.

Other enlightened beings may choose to operate in even higher states of consciousness and help others energetically from those elevated states. But this is done on a higher plane without a body, because a self-realized soul no longer needs a body.

The being will remember their previous lives, and they still have a certain individuality. However, at that point, they would operate selflessly and purely as part of the absolute consciousness and for the benefit of all beings.

Accelerate Your Own Evolution with Tantra

Tantric, Buddhist, and other Eastern traditions all state that each soul will eventually reach enlightenment. The process of spiritual evolution will naturally continue for countless lifetimes until that soul becomes self-realized.

On the one hand, this is excellent news for all of us. It means that death is nothing to be feared, and thanks to reincarnation and the natural flow of consciousness, all of us will one day become enlightened beings free from karma and the cycle of unconscious rebirth.

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However, on the other hand, it’s important to know that you don’t have to wait for countless lifetimes if you don’t want to, in order to reach the final goal. Committing to consistent spiritual practice throughout your current life will significantly speed up the process. In fact, tantric yogis state that it’s possible to reach full enlightenment in a single lifetime if one is committed deeply enough and their karma allows it.

The tantric yoga teachings as we share them in our Somananda Tantra School, teach each individual how to practice spiritual Tantra and Yoga in order to eliminate negative karma much faster than it would unfold in a “regular life” with no spiritual effort — and, therefore, reach self-realization in record time, saving your soul from many lives of struggle and strife.

The Art of Dying course shares many rare tantric teachings on how to live your life in such a way that you are fully prepared for your eventual death and rebirth. Students who have taken the course often tell us how eye-opening it was, and how they gained a much greater appreciation of life by taking the course.