Simplicity vs Cleverness
By Swami Mukundananda
Question: In spirituality, we are taught to be simple and trusting. But my experience is that people in the world take advantage of my simplicity. This upsets me, and I am apprehensive about my straightforwardness. Can you please guide me?
Answer by Swami Mukundananda: You have correctly observed the paradox. To negotiate the spiritual and the material arenas of work, we must often deploy contradictory principles.
In the material arena, remember that people are under the influence of maya. They are not beyond selfishness, anger, and greed. This makes them inclined to manipulate and exploit us. Expecting worldly people to be your selfless well-wishers is naïve. Do not implicitly trust them. It is advisable to always be cautious in your dealings with them.
If ever you get cheated in the world, learn the lesson and file it in your intellect. The episode will equip you to be more cautious in future. At the same time, release the hurt and resentment, remembering that no one is perfect here. In this way, keep your mind free from bitterness, while at the same time not trusting anyone.
The spiritual path, on the other hand, requires us to be sharanagat (surrendered). Without it, we will not get the grace of the Supreme. For samarpan (surrender), we must take a ‘leap of faith’. If we are unwilling to do so, we will not succeed. The difference in the spiritual realm is that trust in God and the Guru does not make us vulnerable. They have no self-interest to fulfil from us.
Hari Harijan ke karya ko, karan kachhu na lakhay
Par upakar swabhav-vash, karat karya jag ay.
(Bhakti Shatak verse 57)
‘God and the Saints have no other reason behind Their actions. Their sole intention is the welfare of others. For this purpose alone, They come to the world’.
God and God-realized Saints desire nothing from us. Their only objective is to help us become the best version of ourselves. Hence, we can completely trust Them, like a baby trusts its mother. In fact, sharanagati (complete surrender) is a pre-requisite to move forward on the spiritual path.
Therefore, keep both principles in mind. In spiritual matters, work on the principle of faith. In worldly dealings, be cautious and do not allow yourself to get cheated.
Reference:
“Questions You Always Wanted to Ask” book by Swami Mukundananda. Available on https://www.jkyog.org/books and Amazon.com
Swami Mukundananda is a world-renowned Spiritual teacher and a best-selling author who earned his degrees from the prestigious IIT Delhi and IIM Kolkata. He worked with a multinational firm for a short period before renouncing his promising career to enter Monkhood at the age of 23. For four decades he has been sharing his vast knowledge through his books and discourses. His lectures on social media platforms are followed by millions. Swamiji has been invited to speak at various Fortune 500 companies like Google, Oracle, Yahoo, Amazon and for the youth, Swamiji has conducted programs at prestigious universities like Princeton, Stanford, Kellogg, MIT, and Duke.
Swami Mukundananda’s enlightening discourses clarify the deepest concepts of the Vedic scriptures with wit and perfect logic. He has deeply affected the lives of millions of people who have been drawn by his profound integrity, charismatic personality, and his passion to serve. Swamiji divides his time between India and the USA.
Swami Mukundananda ji will be having program in Houston from July 18 through July 29, 2026, from 6:45pm to 9pm. The program details are below –
- Sri Sharadamba Temple, 10315 Clodine Road, Richmond, TX on Saturday, July 18th, Monday, July 20th through Friday, July 24th
- Vadtal Dham, 10825 Clodine Road, Richmond, TX on Sunday, July 19th
- India House, 8888 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston, TX from Saturday, July 25th through Wednesday,29th.
- All Programs are free & dinner prasad is served daily.
- For FREE Registration visit JKYog.org/Houston
For more details text or phone 281-630-5982 or 281-780-4877.
Reincarnation
Question: My friends reject the concept of reincarnation. Is rebirth a fact or just a myth?
Answer by Swami Mukundananda: The soul is eternal – it existed even before birth and will continue to exist even after death. There is, in fact, no birth or death for the soul. ‘Death’ is merely the act of discarding its old dysfunctional body. And what is called ‘birth’ is the soul receiving a new body to continue its journey. This principle of the soul changing bodies is called ‘reincarnation’.
The Bhagavad Gita explains reincarnation beautifully as:
vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī (2.22)
‘As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.’
The Nyāya Darshan also gives strong evidence for rebirth. It states that a one-month-old baby, without any visible reason, experiences the emotions of happiness, sadness, and fear:
jātasya harṣhabhayaśhoka sampratipatteḥ (3.1.18)
Sometimes, the infant smiles without a cause. At other times, it cries or becomes fearful, again without reason. These emotions arise because of past life memories that are still not fully erased.
Without accepting reincarnation, it is impossible to explain the disparity that exists among human beings. For example, how can one explain why someone is born blind? If we say it was the will of God, the question arises: Why did the all-merciful God do injustice to a particular soul? If we say it was the result of karma, the question will arise regarding when these karmas were performed by a newborn. Since this baby was just born, it obviously means that its actions cannot be of this lifetime; it is evident the actions had to be of prior lives. The principle of reincarnation offers the only reasonable answer to the disparity of births.
The concept of reincarnation is not unique to Vedic scriptures. It is accepted in most Eastern philosophies. It is an inherent part of Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. In Buddhism, we see that Lord Buddha made frequent references to his past lives.
In ancient classical Western religious and philosophic circles, famous thinkers, such as Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates accepted reincarnation to be true, and their views were also reflected in Orphism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Manichaeism, and Gnosticism.
Within the mainstream Abrahamic faiths as well, many mystics of the three major religions supported reincarnation. Josephus, the great ancient Jewish historian, used language in his writings that ascribes belief in some form of reincarnation among the Pharisees and Essenes of his day. The Jewish Kabbalah prescribes to the idea of reincarnation as gilgul neshamot, or the ‘rolling of the soul’.
Many of the early Christians believed in the concept of reincarnation. Jesus indirectly proclaimed this doctrine when he told his disciples that John the Baptist was Elijah the Prophet reincarnated (Matthew 11:13-14). Solomon’s ‘Book of Wisdom’ says: ‘To be born in a sound body with sound limbs is a reward of the virtues of past lives.’1
The great Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi declared2:
I died as stone, and rose again as plant;
I died as plant and became an animal;
I died as animal and was born a man
…
Yet once more shall I die as man,
To soar with angels blessed above.
Thus, most of the major religions have direct or indirect references to the concept of reincarnation.
References:
1Dass, Ram, Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita, Harmony, New York, 2007, Kindle ebook.
2Ibid.
“Questions You Always Wanted to Ask” book by Swami Mukundananda. Available on https://swamimukundananda.org/books/ and Amazon
Swami Mukundananda is a world-renowned Spiritual teacher and a best-selling author who earned his degrees from the prestigious IIT Delhi and IIM Kolkata. He worked with a multinational firm for a short period before renouncing his promising career to enter Monkhood at the age of 23. For four decades he has been sharing his vast knowledge through his books and discourses. His lectures on social media platforms are followed by millions. Swamiji has been invited to speak at various Fortune 500 companies like Google, Oracle, Yahoo, Amazon and for the youth, Swamiji has conducted programs at prestigious universities like Princeton, Stanford, Kellogg, MIT, and Duke.
Swami Mukundananda’s enlightening discourses clarify the deepest concepts of the Vedic scriptures with wit and perfect logic. He has deeply affected the lives of millions of people who have been drawn by his profound integrity, charismatic personality, and his passion to serve. Swamiji divides his time between India and the USA.
Swami Mukundananda ji will be having program in Houston from July 18 through July 29, 2026, from 6:45pm to 9pm. The program details are below –
- Sri Sharadamba Temple, 10315 Clodine Road, Richmond, TX on Saturday, July 18th, Monday, July 20th through Friday, July 24th
- Vadtal Dham, 10825 Clodine Road, Richmond, TX on Sunday, July 19th
- India House, 8888 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston, TX from Saturday, July 25th through Wednesday,29th.
- All Programs are free & dinner prasad is served daily.
- For FREE Registration visit JKYog.org/Houston
For more details text or phone 281-630-5982 or 281-780-4877.
