Evolution

We know that there is some Being whom we call God. We know that there is something which we call the Soul. It was the great American philosopher, Emerson, who said: “God is an infinite circle whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere.” We can say definitely that this centre is man’s soul.

The soul is an eternal entity. Now what is its connection with reincarnation? One can write endless pages on reincarnation, that formidable concept which is so widely spoken about and just as widely disbelieved. Let us try to understand, in one short sentence, the essence of the matter. Reincarnation is the process by which the soul evolves; reincarnation exists for the growth and development of the soul.

We all know of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the evolution of species. It is the change in the physical organism from lower to higher, or from simpler to more complex. Spiritual evolution runs parallel to physical evolution. The soul exists in all beings. True, it is divine and immortal, but it has its own urge to be more complete, more fulfilling and more divine. Hence in the process of its evolution, it has to pass from the least perfect body to the most perfect body. Meanwhile it takes into itself the real value of all its earthly experiences. Thus the soul grows, enriching itself, making its divinity more integral, more harmonious and more perfect.

Reincarnation tells us that we have not come from nothing. Our present condition is the result of what we have made ourselves from our past. We are the consequence of our past incarnations.

“Many births have been left behind by Me and by thee, O Arjuna! All of them I know, but thou knowest not thine,” said the Divine Krishna to the yet unrealised Arjuna.

Evolution is the hyphen between what was and what would be. I am a man. I must know that I was not only my father, but I shall also be my son. Problems I had. You had. He had. No exceptions. We faced them. We face them even today. But we shall solve them unmistakably.

We made a promise of transformation, a promise that has no equal. We want the transformation of the inner and the outer. Each one of us may vision the face of transformation and finally be ourselves transformed. But how to achieve this transformation that will hold aloft the Torch of Immortality? For this we have to know what aspiration is and what doubt is.

Doubt is a destructive influence, an inner war, that works day and night to prey on our inner life. Aspiration, on the other hand, is the most effective energising power in a truth-seeker. It is at once the uplifting joy and the intensification of our consciousness. Aspiration places the thirst for Truth above and beyond all things.

Aspiration can be developed. It is like crossing a street, one step at a time. Each time we aspire, we perform in the very depth of our consciousness, a miracle of welcoming the Beyond. Aspiration is based on a spontaneous faith that visions the future. Aspiration comes from our faith in God; more so, our faith in ourselves. In the secrets of Aspiration, Reincarnation, Evolution and Transformation lie our true destiny, a Divine Immortality.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Eternity’s Breath, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1972
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