Introduction
"I
know I am deathless. No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times
before. I laugh at what you call dissolution, and I know the amplitude
of time." —Walt Whitman
"I look upon death to be as necessary to the constitution as
sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning." —Benjamin Franklin
What were you in
your past
lifetime? Well, I do not know about you, but I was the wife of Brad
Pitt in one of his previous lifetimes!;) Also, I am sure that my
two
pet dogs in this lifetime were my babies in another lifetime. Since I
do not act like the stereotypical girl, I was probably a man in yet
another lifetime! I love dancing, which probably means I was some
sort
of dancer, maybe a ballerina, in another lifetime. Have you ever
wondered why you are afraid of some things like airplanes, snakes, or
driving a vehicle? It could be that your phobia in this lifetime
has
to do with one in your past lifetimes. That is also something to
ponder! With reincarnation, the possibilities are endless.
My
storybook is not intended to change your perspective or beliefs on
death, but speaking for myself, I find reincarnation very
fascinating.
I do believe in reincarnation. Others might believe that this
goes
against my Christian beliefs, but I do not.
Reincarnation
is this idea or belief that when someone dies, they are born again as
another person. The "self" leaves the body and transforms into
another
body. In Hinduism, this cycle is called Samsara.
Other terms
that are
often used to describe reincarnation include transmigration and
metempsychosis. The Atman
(soul) never dies, but the body is
subject
to death. Indian belief about the Atman, or soul, are central to
the Hindu religion. Another important concept in the Hindu
understanding of reincarnation is
Karma. Karma means
"action,"
and it refers to the cycle of cause and effect.
Dharma is a term that
means "justice" or "righteousness," and actions that promote Dharma may
be rewarded in a future lifetime, even if there is no reward in this
life. The opposite of
Dharma is
Adharma, which means
"injustice" or evil." Therefore,
when a person promotes
Adharma, they might suffer the negative consequences in another
lifetime. Reincarnation only ends when
a person reaches Moksha
(pure salvation) or Nirvana
(freedom from
reincarnation and the suffering it brings). Moksha or Nirvana is
ultimately the goal in life, and so it can take several
lifetimes to reach.
For this
storybook, I will depict different
characters from the Indian
epics in their present-day reincarnations. The present-day
reincarnations are some college students who go visit a
counselor named Sal at the Goddard clinic. Sal will help these
students in their attempts to stay on the right
path and do good deeds. In this storybook, dialogue between Sal
and
the students will allow you to feel the emotions the characters are
experiencing, and it will allow me to take a creative approach in
telling the stories.
The first story will be the reincarnation of Surpanakha as the
student
Christina. Christina's boyfriend, Reidy, does not trust her being
around other guys, because she cheated on him in the past. Little
does
he know, Christina is cheating on him again with a married man.
Sal
tells Christina the story of Surpanakha lusting over married men.
The second story will be the reincarnation of Kaikeyi as another
student named Luis. Luis goes to see Sal, because he inherited
money
from his father. The problem is that his father wrote the will
before
he had his second son Santi. Therefore, Santi does not inherit
any
money. Luis does not want to give his brother any of the inheritance
for selfish reasons. For that reason, Sal tells him the story of
Kaikeyi, whose actions (Karma) are selfish and evil (Adharma), and
therefore resulted in suffering later on.
The third story will be the reincarnation of
Yudhistira as
Ashanti. Ashanti is a freshman and has trouble adjusting to her
new
life. She starts cutting herself again as a way to forget about
all
her problems. Their addictions are quite different, but they
still
have the same problem. Sal does her best to help Ashanti, but is
it
enough?
The last story is the reincarnation of Drupadi as
Mr. Sylar Miller. Mr. Miller is a professor of engineering at the
university. He has five wives and he currently sees Sal because his
wives are having problems with one another. He also has financial
problems. Can Sal save his marriages and his financial woes?
Back
to Homepage.
Back
to Coverpage.
Story #1: Surpanakha and her
Present-Day Reincarnation.
Story #2: Kaikeyi's Sweet Surprise.
Story #3: Yudhistira's Bloody
Surprise.
Image
Information: Indian Art 2. Flickr Website.
Please note, any cited information in the Introduction has a link.