Death is not opposite to life. Death is a part of life. Human beings have a unique perception of time that is finite and we are the being-toward-death. Each breath that is exhaled is a form of dying. Identity is not fixed, we ‘die’ many times over in our lives, we change and transform and so does everything in life, society, culture and nature.
Rebirth, or saṃsāra, is the concept that all life forms go through a cycle of reincarnation, that is a series of births and rebirths. The rebirths and consequent life may be in different realm, condition or form. The karma theories suggest that the realm, condition and form depends on the quality and quantity of karma.
Karma means ‘work’ or ‘deed’ and sacrifice is declared as the “greatest” of works. Karma is the letting go of something and allowing transformation, it is an evolutionary concept where one simultaneously includes and transcends themselves through the act of exclusion and negation – it is abjection of self.
The immediate purpose of the Agnicayana (sacrifice) is to build up for the sacrificer an immortal body that is permanently beyond the reach of the transitory nature of life, suffering and death that, according to this rite, characterizes man’s mortal existence. So Karma is the effort to let go of what we have incorporated, like a stone covered in moss, we begin to move and roll and break free of our limitations.
It is the acceptence of neccessity over desire in this world that allows this kind of transformation.
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