h ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life. The ka might be considered equivalent to the term of soul. The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions the travel of the soul into a next world without coming back to earth. As it is well known, the ancient Egyptians embalmed the dead in order that the body might be preserved and accompany the soul into that world. Gradually the concept of a soul developed with a further realization that the soul departed the body at death and entered the body at birth. Soon it was thought the soul leaving a dead body would seek another body to enter, or enter an animal of a lower life form. It was also thought the soul left the body during sleep. This soul was pictured as vapors that entered and left through the nostrils and mouth. Because ideas about a society that lived so long ago are frequently not concrete and can be difficult for present day culture to grasp, many scholars point towards Hinduism as being one of the earliest religions to offer explanations of reincarnation. Hinduism, originating sometime during the fourth millennium BCE is the most ancient of the surviving great religions (G. de Purucker 12). The adoption of the belief of rebirth can be found in Hindu scriptures dating around 600 BCE. A Hinduism belief is the transmigration of souls, or reincarnation. Associated with this belief is the conviction that all living things are part of the same essence. Individuals pass through cycles of birth and death. This means that an individual soul may return many times in human, animal, or even vegetable form. What a person does in the present life will affect the next life. This is the doctrine of karma, the law of cause and effect. The goal of the individual is to escape this cycle, or wheel of birth and rebirth, so that the individual soul, Atman, may eventually become part of the absolute soul, or Brahman. The caste system of India is another historic characteristic of Hinduism. In its most ancient period Indian society was divided into four classes: priests (or Brahmins), warriors, merchants, and servants. These classes, or castes, have since been subdivided into thousands of subcastes, ranging from the Brahmins at the top to the Untouchables at the bottom. These groups have traditionally been hereditary and have married only among. The characteristics of an Indian caste include rigid, hereditary membership in the caste into which one is born; the practice of marrying only members of the same caste; restrictions on the choice of occupation and on personal contact with members of other castes; and the acceptance by each individual of a fixed place in society. The caste system has been perpetuated by the Hindu ideas of samsara, which means, reincarnation, and karma, which means the quality of action. According to these religious beliefs, all people are reincarnated on earth, at which time they have a chance to be born into another, higher caste, but only if they have been obedient to the rules of their caste in their previous life on earth. In this way karma has discouraged people from attempting to rise to a higher caste or to cross caste lines for social relations of any kind . As time progressed, suggestions of reincarnation began to be found in Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. The great Indian Guru Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche introduced the Tantric system of Buddhism, also known as the Vajrayana, in Tibet. While King Trisong Deutsen (740 AD-786 AD) was building the Samye Monastery he was beset with difficulties caused by demons and evil spirits that continuously destroyed whatever was built. Finally, at the advice of the great Indian Buddhist Pundit, Shantirak*censored*a, the king requested the help of Guru Padmasambhava. It is said that, after subduing the obstructive spirits, Guru Rinpoche stayed in Tibet for about 50 years teaching the Vajrayana. In the ho

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hell Purgatory, BCE Hinduism, Kalu Rinpoche, Law Karma, Book Dead, Dreams Birthless, , Lord Buddha, Carl Jung, God God, past lives, memories past, guru padmasambhava, cause effect, law cause, rinpoche holiness, law cause effect, one's life, de arteaga, happen one's life, head 13, karma law, one's life outworking, memories past lives, maha parinirvana buddha,
Approximate Word count = 3392
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)