{"id":5188,"date":"2014-06-19T06:37:35","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T10:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whitehindu\/?p=5188"},"modified":"2015-03-13T22:31:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-14T02:31:30","slug":"why-be-motivated-if-youre-coming-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whitehindu\/2014\/06\/why-be-motivated-if-youre-coming-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Be Motivated If You’re Coming Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This is a question that is often asked of religious people of all types. What keeps you motivated in this life if you\u2019re thinking about the next (whether that\u2019s reincarnation or the idea of heaven)?<\/p>\n

I believe in reincarnation. I tried not to once but I just couldn\u2019t. It makes too much sense to me! So believing that my soul will return, why do I work hard in this life?<\/p>\n

I work extremely hard at self improvement and barely give myself a moment\u2019s rest in the quest for enlightenment. How can that be if I believe, as I do, that I\u2019ll have more chances in the future?<\/p>\n

Asking on my Facebook page, I found that my Hindu friends have similar motivations to me. Here\u2019s what keeps me moving forward:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Life has a lot of pain in it. Do you really want to have to go through the heartache over and over and over and over and over forever?<\/li>\n
  2. I have respect for my past self and all the work that I\u2019ve put in previously. I want to honor that work and continue it<\/li>\n
  3. Life now is fine, but there\u2019s a grand and lasting bliss available if we work towards it.<\/li>\n
  4. Some branches believe that a human embodiment is rare. I think that all believe the human embodiment is the only one from which one can become enlightened (attain Moksha\/Samadhi). When you manage to get a human body, it\u2019s not worth wasting that opportunity<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"\"<\/a>
    http:\/\/www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk\/p\/keep-calm-and-achieve-moksha-3\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s what friends on Facebook had to say\u2026<\/p>\n

    \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s because of the average\/expected length of a lifetime and the painful process we go through to be born and grow up and die\u2026something that we don\u2019t want to see happen in vain. Personally when I feel I am suffering I think, \u201cI don\u2019t want to have to come back and do this again, what can I learn from it now to prevent that?\u201d But that\u2019s negative\/pain motivation, which is not the most high-level kind, and it\u2019s probably aggravating my suffering to focus on it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201ci think the biggest motivation should come from this \u2013 that there is no surety that i might be a human again !\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cIf I get it *right* THIS time\u2026 I dont have to come back for another round of this crap and can move on to the next grand adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cTo find the truth. To connect with it. To grow. My motivation spiritually is to grow and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201d\u00a0I don\u2019t care about next life I m given this life so I have to do my Karma without thinking of results who knows Shri Krishna may give me moksha\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis is where suffering comes in. When one undergoes suffering in any form like bad health, stress, then one wants to end suffering for ever and just be happy and peaceful again. When one undergoes this suffering again and again, they start striving towards freedom from suffering altogether in the form of salvation or moksha. Just imagine undergoing this suffering again and again for counteless births. It is so much wiser to try to overcome it altoghter now in this human birth when possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cNot coming back is a huge motivation! I\u2019ll need a very long rest after this one!\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is a question that is often asked of religious people of all types. What keeps you motivated in this life if you\u2019re thinking about the next (whether that\u2019s reincarnation or the idea of heaven)? I believe in reincarnation. I tried not to once but I just couldn\u2019t. It makes too much sense to me! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1305,"featured_media":5422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[134,1774,1771,59,6,53,1773,1769,1772,60,1770,5],"class_list":["post-5188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy-corner","tag-american-hindu","tag-embodiment","tag-enlightenment","tag-heaven","tag-hindu","tag-hinduism","tag-human-life","tag-moksha","tag-motivation","tag-reincarnation","tag-samadhi","tag-white-hindu"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Be Motivated If You're Coming Back?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a question that is often asked of religious people of all types. 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