A painting and a poem

Sunil, 'Tamping down the frustration of rising expectations regarding reincarnation', Oil on MDF, 20" X 48"

On reincarnation - A poem

You only live once,
contrary to the scriptures.
There is no reincarnation
no lifting up of souls,
no second comings
or the dead arising.
No paeans to souls.
All poppycock.

But,
It was not all drivel,
more, a clever way of getting people to listen,
to tune in,
to make better
from their humdrum existence. Any other way
would have risked misunderstanding
and unwanted interpretation.
Diluting the concept
and
muddying the big picture.

Instead of telling us
that piecemeal acts of selfishness
slowly accretes
to become a
cancer on the coming generation,
and the ill will generated
rebirths itself on the coming fold
like force fields that fashion our neurons
conditioning them for extended injustices
to silently transform and shortchange
our futures -

they gave us a simpler message,
more palatable.
They said something illogical,
hoping to pass it off for deeper truths.
It sometimes works.
It's what politicians do.
They said that the souls do not really expire
along with the body.

They told us that
It just passes on
from one mortal coil to other.
Supposedly satisfied and smug
with concepts like endless cycles.

When in actuality was something else
they had understood.
It was really an endless dance of the packets.
They were of two types:
Packets of deeds well done
instilling in the progeny
the need to carry forth in better ways,
rebirthing the essence of the original souls,
and multiplying the goodness all around.

And, packets of ill deeds,
also accumulating
this time rebirthing in the progeny
with effects more pronounced,
more deadly.
Multiplied through transmission.

Unless of course, one breaks out of the cycle
and achieves redemption.

In that sense,
there is reincarnation of the souls,
a banding together of the fields
good or bad
blotting the collective consciousness.
not literal,
not figurative
not in the real sense.

A litany of simpler explanations
devoured by the common lay
ensuring our continued survival.

Achieving a state of perfect bliss may be difficult,
the entropy only increases - they say,
but one makes best of what one has
and passes to the collective
an abstract body of
feelings,
deeds,
thoughts,
actions
to be
multipled forthwith.