Coming Back: The Science of Reincarnation
             A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
             Coming from a Western background, all the logistics of reincarnation were unclear to me. Does the human soul only reincarnate into other humans or does it spread into animals as well? Where did the soul originally come from? Do peoples' actions in their current lives affect the type of future lives they are granted? Coming Back answered all of these questions from accounts by experts and legends.
             The first question that came to my mind was: if the amount of souls stays the same then how does it account for the tremendous human population growth. The answer found was that there are fewer organisms such as bugs in the world today. This answer also reveals that the souls transmigrate through bodies of animals, insects, and all sorts of other living beings in the Universe. The book did not make it clear whether souls are able to transmigrate into plants. It said that this was only a possibility.
             Swami focused on the concept that the soul is in no way the body. It is just a temporary shell that we are given for one lifetime out of billions. Becoming too materially involved in the material world is a waste of time according Hinduism yet not punishable. It is simply unproductive and will not give the person the best future life.
             Coming Back reveals the type of future lives granted to people based on specific actions they make. It was said that if a person desires for meat during his or her human life, then in the next life he or she would become an flesh eating animal. It advocates that a man gets the life of what he is thinks at the time of his death. This is backed up by the legend of Jada Bharata. Jada Bharata was a King who had too much affection for his deer. One day, he lost his deer and while searching for him fell and died. Since the deer was so dear to him, his next body was that of a deer.
             The tales of Jada Bharata also answer the...