Why Are We Born Over and Over Again?

“How did [the Self] come down to earth? There is but one answer to that in our scriptures. Ignorance is the cause of all this bondage . . . knowledge will cure it by taking us to the other side. How will knowledge come? Through love, Bhakti; by the worship of God, by loving all human beings as the temples of God.” — Swami Vivekananda

Why are we born over and over again? Why do we keep taking birth just to go through the suffering and misery?

Buddha taught us the cause of our suffering is a chain with 12 links. It goes as follows:

Suffering like old age, pain, despair, and misery occurs because of birth. If we were not born, we would not suffer. This birth, in turn, is because of our will to be born—we asked for it. Why? Because we are clinging mentally to objects, which results from our desire for them.

Such desire would not be possible without previous sense-experiences tinged with pleasant feelings, and that would not be possible without contact between the senses and the objects. This contact relies on the six senses of cognition (the five senses and the mind), which can exist only in an organism with a mind and body.

Such an organism cannot be conceived without initial consciousness, for without the consciousness it would be dead. This initial consciousness has to originate somewhere, and that somewhere is the impressions from our past existence. Finally, those impressions arise from ignorance, or lack of knowledge.

To summarize: 1. We suffer in life because of (2.) birth, which is due to (3.) the will to be born due to (4.) our mental clinging to the objects. We cling to them because of (5.) our desire for those objects, which arises from (6.) our sense-experiences, which occur due to (7.) the contact between the senses and the objects. Such contact is possible because of (8.) the six senses of cognition, which need (9.) a mind-body to perceive anything. This mind-body takes shape in an embryonic organism which has (10.) an initial consciousness that gets formed from (11.) the impressions of our past-life experiences, which, lastly, are due to (12.) ignorance of the truth.

the cause of our sorrow buddhism
(credit: Boudha Stupa Thanka Center)

It’s easy to assume that all we have to stop suffering is not take birth. But that is not for your mind-body to decide. Being born is an outcome of ignorance, where we think life is about fulfilling the desires of the mind and the body. Such cravings are like sea-water for the thirsty—the more you have, the more you want. And they keep us trapped in the bhava chakra (the wheel of rebirth).

But you don’t have to renounce your life and plunge into austerity. Unlike Buddhism, Yoga trains us to let our buddhi (cognition) control our senses and direct them towards constructive purposes.

Don’t worry, such a state won’t make you a monk. Rather, you will enjoy life’s pleasures, pursue wealth, and carry out your daily duties… without getting enslaved by any of them. You will befriend your mind, find things that fulfill you, and work on them. You will be free of raga (greed), dvesa (hatred), and moha (attachment) and be able to do the task for its own sake.

This is not an overnight phenomenon, it’s a journey that could take one life or many. And on the path, knowledge keeps getting revealed, like the stage becomes visible when the curtains slowly rise. This journey of knowledge, according to Swami Vivekananda, is the most glorious journey we can undertake.

Then you won’t ask, “Why are we born?” It won’t matter whether you are born or not. Because in each moment, you are free.

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