“DO YOU remember the neighbor girl you were in love with when you were growing up here in India?” wrote Mukundbhai to his son, a university student in the United States. “She is going to be married in a few weeks. I thought you ought to know.”

Why did the father share this news with his son? After all, Mukundbhai put an end to that teenage romance in no uncertain terms years ago. Besides, the son had been in the States pursuing higher education for six years. He had not been in touch with the girl during that time, and Mukundbhai knew that.

Why, then, the concern? It was shown because Mukundbhai believed in reincarnation, or rebirth.a If by chance the childhood attraction between the two had been due to their being partners in previous lives, it would be cruel to keep them apart now that they were of marriageable age. Mukundbhai just wanted to make his son aware of the situation before the girl became someone else’s wife in this life.

Consider another case. A four-year-old girl had had several agonizing stays in a hospital in Mumbai, India. Her problem was a defective valve in her heart. Her well-to-do parents could not bear to see the child suffer. But they reasoned: “We have to accept it. She must have done something in her previous life to deserve this.”

Belief in reincarnation plays an important role in the lives of millions in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and other religions originating in India. Experiences in life—from falling in love to intense suffering—are considered consequences of deeds committed in a previous life or lives.

“Memories of a previous life!” say believers in reincarnation. Consequently, when three-year-old Ratana in Bangkok began to have “memories of her past life as a religious woman who died in her 60s,” most observers accepted her case as valid proof of reincarnation.

Skepticism abounds, however. And other explanations of memories attributed to previous lives are possible.b In his book Hinduism: Its Meaning for the Liberation of the Spirit, Hindu philosopher Nikhilananda says that ‘experiences after death cannot be demonstrated by reason.’ Yet he asserts that “the doctrine of rebirth is more probable than improbable.”

It was in India, however, that belief in reincarnation came to full bloom. The Hindu sages were grappling with the universal problems of evil and of suffering among humans. ‘How can these be harmonized with the concept of a righteous Creator?’ they asked. They tried to resolve the conflict between God’s righteousness and the unforeseen calamities and inequalities in the world. In time, they devised “the law of karma,” the law of cause and effect—‘whatever a man sows, that shall he reap.’ They worked out a detailed ‘balance sheet’ whereby merits and demerits in one life are rewarded or punished in the next.

“Karma” simply means “action.” A Hindu is said to have good karma if he conforms to social and religious norms and bad karma if he does not. His action, or karma, determines his future in each successive rebirth. “All men are born with a blueprint of character, mainly prepared by their actions in previous lives, though their physical traits are determined by heredity,” says philosopher Nikhilananda. “A man is [thus] an architect of his own fate, the builder of his own destiny.” The ultimate goal, however, is to be liberated from this cycle of transmigration and be united with Brahman—the ultimate reality. This, it is believed, is achieved by striving for socially acceptable behavior and special Hindu knowledge.

The teaching of reincarnation thus uses as its foundation the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and builds on it using the law of karma. Let us see what God’s inspired Word, the Bible, has to say regarding these ideas.