Do you believe in reincarnation?
It’s not something that I’ve given much thought to but the concept cannot be ignored when it comes to studying Patanjali’s Sutra. It just goes with the territory. And, I’ve been seriously trying to understand the Sutra.
I get the idea of karma – that a life that’s lived meritoriously can give rise to a joyful existence. It’s just when I think of a person who dies moving on to be born again, it beggars my way of thinking. Especially if the next body is not human.
There, I’ve admitted it. Maybe this admission means I’m a bad yogi. I’m willing to be convinced, but perhaps reincarnation is just one of those things that needs to be taken on faith.
What I do understand, though, is that my intention makes all the difference with whatever actions I take in the world.
If I cultivate friendships just because I need people to like me, I am using people to build myself up. If I choose topics and frame my posts just to cultivate an audience, I may end up writing about things that don’t matter to me – which is probably a form of dishonesty.
It’s hard work examining what drives us to see whether our intentions are good, but if we don’t do that we might just end up being driven and with little self awareness. And even having negatively conditioned our future.

Te hladaparitapaphalah punyapunyahetutvat

The consequences of an action will be painful or beneficial depending on whether the obstacles were present in the concept or implementation of the action.*
*Patanjali’s Yogasutras, translation and commentary by T.K.V. Desikachar.