I found the following quote(s) about reincarnation that I believe are from the Hindu tradition and come from the Upanishad’s:
When a caterpillar has come to the end of a blade of grass, it reaches out to another blade, and draws itself over to it. In the same way the soul, having coming to the end of one life, reaches out to another body, and draws itself over to it.
A goldsmith takes an old ornament. and fashions it into a new and more beautiful one. In the same way the soul. as it leaves one body, looks for a new body which is more beautiful.
The soul is divine. But through ignorance people often identify the soul with the mind, the senses and the emotions. Some people even identify the soul with the elements of earth, water, air. space and fire.
As people act, so they become. If their actions are good. they become good; if their actions are bad, they become bad. Good deeds purify those who perform them; bad deeds pollute those who perform them.
Thus we may say that we are what we desire. Our will springs from our desires; our actions spring from our will; and what we are, springs from our actions. We may conclude, therefore, that the state of our desires at the time of death determines our next life; we return to earth in order to satisfy those desires.
What I Believe This Means
Regardless of it’s attachment to Hinduism, I like this quote because it expresses the fact that we are basically the sum total of all of our actions and deeds – this is our Being. I always say that we are our “BEing”, we become that which we do, and what we do is what we become.
Picture for a moment a glass of water that is currently empty. Let’s pretend that this glass is the human soul. As we perform these “bad deeds” the glass fills with a black liquid, and as we perform these “good deeds” the glass becomes full of a white liquid. Now, try to picture this glass as your own self. What percentage of this glass is filled with black and white liquid, at any given moment? Imagine that this white liquid contains a vibration of purification and love that helps to accelerate us towards achieving our desires while this black liquid carries a vibration of selfish control that is devoid of love, caring and empathy that pollutes everything that it touches.
Those deeds that we perform in a selfless manner without gaining something at the expensive of another would generate white liquid, while those deeds that we perform that benefit us at the expensive of another in a selfish manner would generate black liquid.
I really specifically like the line that says, “As people act, so they become”. This is quite true. If you could follow anybody in the world around for a day and observe their actions, you’d easily be able to see why they have become what they have become. I always try to do this with myself as I believe it is a valuable exercise in personal development.
The next part to pay attention to is, “If their actions are good. They become good; if their actions are bad, they become bad.”. This is also entirely true. How can you perform a “bad” action (one that negatively impacts the life of another) and hope to become good through it? For example, let’s say you were a school bully and stole lunch money from 10 kids a day, everyday. The actions you took produced a pollution effect in you at that time. The best way to sum this up comes from a line in an Austin Powers movie, from the character Fat Bast***. He says, “I eat because I am unhappy, and I am unhappy because I eat”. This is a classic paradox and duality that many people are faced with. It can be hard to identify where the problem or thought that leads to these actions truly comes from, but stepping outside of your mind and observing the thoughts helps you to remember that you are not your thoughts, you are the observer of them. This also means that you are not your mind nor are you the contents of your mind. Instead, you observe the thoughts you have and the contents of your mind from your soul as consciousness doesn’t originate in the mind itself.
The next line that I like is, “Thus we may say that we are what we desire”. This is also quite true, because everybody has desires; we are constantly trying to become in life (or have/hold/do) those things that we desire. We as human beings only tend to pursue those things that we desire and they vary from person to person. Some people have a strong desire for money, power, control, women or fame. Others have strong desires for peace, cheaper energy, better education and government systems. The bottom line is that we ultimately spend our life times trying to become, have and see those things that we desire become real and manifest in our lives. Thus, we can say that we are constantly becoming the things that we desire in life through our actions.
Our Willpower stems from our desires as well and the strength of it is determined by the quality of our actions and the amount of passion that we possess for our desires.
Reincarnation Quotes and Opinions
I acknowledge that this quote is primarily about reincarnation, but I must admit that I posted it to evoke you to think and make a connection between your thoughts, desires, actions and what you are “becoming” in life as a result of how these things work in combination. I don’t doubt for a second that we reincarnate, however, my own opinions on that manner are best saved for another time 
No related posts.
