Aurobindo View on Law of Karma and Rebirth:
Law of Karma- Sri Aurobindo is not a fatalist. He believes that man is the maker of his own destiny. Even heredity and environment are determined by the present and past actions of man. A man reaps the consequences, not of his actions alone, but sometimes he shares the results of the actions of others and vice versa because all existence is continuous. There is a continuity between different births. On the whole, the doctrine of Karma is valid. Even the thoughts and feelings have their corresponding results, though action has the greatest amount of results, as life consists more of actions. Moreover, it is on actions that man exercises more control than on thoughts and feelings.
Sri Aurobindo says that the law of Karma does not determine the destiny of the soul. It is the soul which uses the law as one of its instruments. Thus karma cannot work as an impediment to spiritual freedom. As one proceeds towards higher and higher evolution, the grip of the mechanical law gradually breaks down and the individual attains more and more spiritual freedom.
Philosophy of Rebirth- Rebirth is not determined by the law of karma. Human life is not a chance product. Birth and death are not sheer accidents. They are predetermined processes in the scheme of evolution. Rebirth is indispensable machinery for working out a spiritual evolution. It is through human life that the secret spirit in the universe fulfils its purpose gradually by enlarging and ascending individuals soul-consciousness in the body. Sri Aurobindo says, “All the secrets of circumstances of rebirth centre around the capital need of the soul, the need of growth, the need of experience; that governs the line of its evolution and all the rest is accessory”. The soul is not a by-product of body, life or mind. It has a pre-human past and a super-human future.
The soul may take different forms according to its various manifestations. The soul grows through a form to form till it reaches the human form which is only a stage to yet higher levels. Hence there is a reoccurrence of birth in new human forms. The reoccurrence does not stop, because the soul has to realize yet higher possibilities. Therefore rebirth is an absolute necessity.
Sri Aurobindo states that our world is not the only world, so the soul needs not enter the body immediately after death. There might be an interval between birth and death depending upon the unique experience of the soul which needs assimilation. The interval may be a passage to other worlds. After death, the soul may choose to stay temporarily in some imaginary desire constructions. Thus birth and death are intermediate between the same process of evolution of the soul.
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