Most of us have read different opinions about death and what happens after death. But there is no positive proof of the existence of souls, immortal karma, reincarnation, or any other spiritual life. I have nothing but respect for different points of view based on religion, science, or logic. But eventually truth and understanding will set us free. It is not my truth or your truth but the real truth…
While all religions admit the existence of the soul, they differ on what happens after death. For example, the Hindu concept of the soul revolves around transmigration and reincarnation. Muslims and Christians believe in Judgment Day when their fate will be decided.
Therefore, the soul of Muslims and Christians is locked in the grave of a person who awaits Judgment Day when his fate will be decided, while the soul of a Hindu who believes in transmigration is released immediately after the funeral to that is ready to enter another body
The question is:
Will God (One and the same God for all humanity) make two types of souls one for Hindus and one for Muslims and Christians?
Therefore, it is time for the scientific evaluation to form a logical opinion, one way or another.
I start with these lines from a scripture from the Sikh Guru Granth religion by 5th Guru on death and its standard translation. I share the conclusions at the end.
pavnai meh pavan samaa-I-aa.
The wind merges with the wind.
jotee meh jot ral jaa-I-aa.
Light merges with light.
maatee maatee ho-ee ayk.
Dust becomes one with dust.
rovanhaaray kee kavan tayk.
What support is there for the one who laments?
ka-a mu-aa ray ka-a mu-aa.
Who died? Oh, who has died?
(Guru Granth: Page: 885, Raag: Raamkalee, Author: Guru Arjan Dev)
Science says the same as religion: we are recycled, as the Sikh Guru Granth scripture lines say, air merges with air, light merges with light, dust becomes dust… We are created from this environment and back to the environment.
All matter is a form created from formless Energy, i.e. He/God/Creator/or whatever name you choose. Creativity is infinite and the method of self-creativity is a true wonder when we observe the creation and growth of living organisms. A scientist cannot deny the feeling of having been initiated into Nature’s absolutely phenomenal and most intelligent work of self-creation in all complicated life forms, including a human being, through a very thoughtful and organized way.
So, all of us are created from the universal energy and now, at the moment of death, we become part of the universal energy. Most religions mean the same thing when life is imagined as a wave rising from the ocean and merging with it. Viewed this way, reincarnation is a fancy name for recycling. All living organisms are recycled. That is the law of nature and nobody can avoid it.
The basic units of life (electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, and molecules) do not die but change shape and reorganize. These basic units of life do not age either and are eternal and timeless. The atoms in a child or a seedling are no younger than those in a wrinkled person or a yellowed leaf. So we can say that the soul (part of the energy of the universe) never dies but the body does. The soul does not die; does not drain or anything through (na jio marai n doobai tarai (Guru Granth, page 151). The charged particles (electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms and molecules), which are basic units of creation, including the human body and the Soul (atma) are created and end with universal energy (parmatma) that we have explained above as divine force or the highest of all or Lord of the Universe or Almighty God… Therefore, the God of which we are a part is universal energy/energy of the universe, because the universe is all energy and the energy is the whole universe.
In the totality of things, reincarnation, rebirth makes absolutely no sense.
Since matter and energy can change form but are not created or destroyed, it means that we will always be present in some form.
Logically, metaphorically reinterpreted, the terms reincarnation and transmigration really mean that after death, each and every species that exhibits life becomes part of the great biological cycle of life. That is the logical way to view birth and rebirth, reincarnation or transmigration.
In this concept of a larger biological life cycle, it remains irrelevant whether one ends up pushing roses or becoming a frenzy of worms; either is equally significant. Insects, earthworms, and others have roles to play just like plants, trees, and rocks.
Only when we look at life in a specific way does death have meaning and we are victims of our separation from the rest of things. That separation is called the ego, generally a product of the left brain as opposed to the soul which is part of the right brain. The ego is a false self that we make up based on the thought that we are separate. That iron curtain of selfish ego separates us from Universal Spirit/Universal Energy or God. Once we accept the God within and realize that it is not possible to be separate from God and that we are one with God; then we know that we are love and we are peace and we are joy and we are happiness and we are eternal; and nothing to look forward to after death. It is the realization that happens to some and not to others in this life and nothing to do after death when every atom in our body merges with the environment and can become part of a plant or an animal or something else.
We have tried to provide alternative viewpoints using science and logic to questions that were perceived as confusing and contradictory that vary from faith to faith. The balance of ideas between science and religion is provided with the greatest fairness humanly possible. We hope these will be more acceptable to our next generation of science and technology. Although it would be wonderful if very religious people would listen but I doubt it. Have we resolved the discussion about the soul and reincarnation? Not likely, even though we have provided very logical answers.
Reference: “Soul and Reincarnation” “Science, Religion and Spirituality”