Could the Human Fall Have Been the Result of Eating a Fruit of a Tree?

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 483

When you look at the conversa-
tion of a loving couple, their words are
more beautiful than any poem or paint-
ing in the world. Moreover, how beau-
tiful and splendid are the words, “just
between two people in love,” and “just
by ourselves,” and “just the two of us”!
(Blessed Family – 887)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1065

You have to be more altruistic. What
does that mean? The one who is most
altruistic will become the leader. Out
of ten people, the one who becomes the
center is the one who lives and loves most
for the sake of the others. All those peo-
ple will come seeking him. In general,
people think that living for others is not
good. Yet, this is the real way to reach
the center, achieving ownership and
receiving everything. This is a universal
principle. Therefore, you should under-
stand this concept of living for others. It
is not something bad that brings losses.
There is no better business than this. (132-
276, 1984.6.20)

The Human Fall

  1. Adam and Eve’s Trangression

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Could the Human Fall have been the result of eating a fruit of a tree? Adam and Eve fell by the sin of illicit love, a transgression that violated God’s ideal of true love. Prior to the fall, when they were constrained by the commandment [not to eat the fruit], Adam and Eve were in an imperfect state, that is, in their growing period. The archangel Lucifer, symbolized by the serpent, tempted Eve, and she spiritually fell with him. She then tempted Adam to eat the fruit before the time was ripe, and they fell physically.
    Adam and Eve had been living in joy in the Garden of Eden and conversing with God. The only possible sin that they would be tempted to commit at the risk of their lives was a sin involving wrongful love.
    The consummation of human ancestors’ first love was also to be God’s own completion. Therefore, it naturally should have been the moment of joy and jubilation for God, Adam and Eve, and all creation. They were to have rejoiced together in continuous festivities of love and blessing. On that joyous occasion, God’s love, life and lineage was to be firmly settled in the first human ancestors.
    Instead, Adam and Eve covered their lower parts and hid in the bushes, trembling with fear. By their illicit act, they had violated the Way of Heaven, forming a relationship that was the origin of false love, false life and false lineage. Consequently all humankind ever since, as descendants of fallen Adam and Eve, came to be born with original sin, from generation to generation.
    The reason why every person experiences inner conflict between the mind and the body is due to the Fall. The reason why human beings act against their original mind, and form societies where the order of love is corrupted, is also due to the Fall. (277:200, April 16, 1996)
 
What was the forbidden fruit? What sort of fruit could cause countless generations of humanity to groan in misery? Why would God create a fruit that could cause misery, destruction and war? My teaching is logical: the fruit is a symbol for love. So many evils spring from love. From love can spring either good or evil fruit, therefore it is called “the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.” (128:86, June 5, 1983)
 
We read that before the Fall, Adam and Eve were both naked, and were not ashamed. (Gen. 2.25) After the fall, however, they felt ashamed of their nakedness and sewed fig leaves together into aprons to cover their lower parts. If they had committed a crime by eating some actual fruit from a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then they certainly would have covered their hands or mouths instead. It is human nature to conceal one’s faults. Thus, the act of covering their lower parts shows that these parts, and not their mouths, were the source of their shame.
    In Job 31.33-34, it is written, “If I have concealed my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom.” Adam concealed his lower parts after the Fall; this indicates that his blemish was in his lower parts. Adam and Eve’s sexual parts were the source of their shame because those were the instruments of their sinful deed.
    In the world before the Human Fall, what act would one be willing to carry out even clearly at the risk of one’s life? It could be nothing else but the act of love. God’s purpose of creation, described in the blessing “be fruitful and multiply,” (Gen. 1.28) can be achieved only through love. Accordingly, from the viewpoint of God’s purpose of creation, love should be the most precious and sacred act. But because the sexual act was the very cause of the Fall, people often regard it with shame and even contempt. In conclusion, human beings fell through an act of illicit sexual intercourse. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 1.3.2)
 
Everything in the universe is created to be governed by God through love. Thus, love is the source of life, the key to happiness, and the essence of the ideal to which all beings aspire. The more one receives love, the more beautiful one appears to others. When the angel, created as God’s servant, beheld Eve, the daughter of God, it was only natural that she looked beautiful in his eyes. Moreover, when Lucifer saw that Eve was responding to his temptation, the angel felt the stimulation of her love to be deliciously enticing. At this point, Lucifer was seducing Eve with the mind to have her, regardless of the consequences. Lucifer, who left his proper position due to his excessive desire, and Eve, who wanted to open her eyes and become like God before the time was ripe, formed a common base and began give and take action. The power of the unprincipled love generated by their give and take led them to consummate an illicit sexual relationship on the spiritual plane.
    All beings are created based on the principle that when they become one in love, they exchange elements with each other. Accordingly, when Eve became one with Lucifer through love, she received certain elements from him. First, she received feelings of dread arising from the pangs of a guilty conscience, stemming from her violation of the purpose of creation. Second, she received from Lucifer the wisdom which enabled her to discern that her originally intended spouse was to be Adam, not the angel. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 2.2.1)
 
How did Eve feel while the archangel Lucifer was raping her? She felt pangs of conscience. She dis-liked what was happening, but let herself be pulled along as he seduced her. When we make love, we are supposed to feel joy with every cell in our body. Our passion should be like a flower at the height of spring. Eve, however, grimaced as she made love, her heart shriveling and her every cell withering. (33:330, August 23, 1970)
 
Eve was to become the future wife of God. This is because Adam was to be one body with God—that is, God Himself… From this perspective, the Fall was Satan violating God’s wife. (22:208, February 4, 1969)
 
Once Eve had united with the Archangel through their illicit sexual relationship, she stood in the position of the Archangel with respect to Adam. Thus, Adam, who was still receiving God’s love, appeared very attractive to her. Seeing Adam as her only hope of returning to God, Eve turned to Adam and tempted him, playing the same role as the Archangel had played when he had tempted her. Adam responded and formed a common base with Eve, and they began give and take action with each other. The power of the unprincipled love generated in their relationship induced Adam to abandon his original position and brought them together in an illicit physical relationship of sexual love.
    When Adam united in oneness with Eve, he inherited all the elements Eve had received from the Archangel. These elements in turn have been passed down to all subsequent generations without interruption… and humanity has multiplied in sin to the present day, perpetuating the lineage of Satan. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 2.2.2)
 
 
 
 
 
 

“I Am Acting on Behalf of God”

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1470

Where is the righteous path in life?
From where did human beings origi-
nate? They were born from love; then
what path should they follow in life?
It is that of love. For what should they
die? The logical conclusion is love. What
kind of love is that? It is that which can
be welcomed by the macrocosm, not just
the microcosm. The purpose of life can
be perceived as originating in the heart
of the macrocosm and approved by God,
the angelic world, all creation, all peo-
ple, and our parents. That purpose is to
live in the universe, to love in it, and to
die in it. (83-164, 1976.2.8)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1265

What do true parents signify? They
are the symbol of hope for everyone.
They are the absolute symbol of hope for
fallen humankind. They are the fruit of
past history, the center of this era, and
the starting point of the future of hope
which connects to the world we live in
today. (35-236, 1970.10.19)

Richard: Learn more about True Parents.

Uniting Heaven and Earth

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God created human beings to live both in the spirit world and on earth through the harmony of spirit and flesh. God, who is spirit, communicates with the human spirit; the human spirit communicates with the flesh; and through this harmony of spirit and flesh a person attains dominion over the creation. This is the Principle of Creation. (2:80, March 3, 1957)
 
The spirit world transcends time and space. Hence, if we are united in our mind and body, if our mind and body are in resonance, we can experience telepathy. It is like tuning our radio to a certain frequency; then we can hear the sound.
    In that state of resonance, when you desire to go somewhere, you will be taken there in spirit. If you want to see someone, that individual will appear instantaneously before your eyes. If you are close to that person, he or she will appear with a friendly appearance, but if you have a hostile relationship, he or she will appear as an enemy. Regardless, the vision will be something unforgettable. (187:311, February 12, 1989)
 
God began His creation from His own essence, investing for the sake of love, investing repeatedly and forgetting what He had invested. Therefore, if God’s partner is to receive it, he must likewise invest and forget. Thus there is investing from above and also from below. In this way, heaven and earth join together harmoniously and become one. They become one centering on the love that can embrace and move heaven and earth. This generates great power. (237:130, November 13, 1992)
 
The universe does not of itself have internal sensibility toward God. Hence, God does not govern the universe directly. Rather, God endowed human beings with sensibilities to all things in the universe and gave them the mandate to rule over the universe directly. God created the human body with elements from the physical world—such as water, clay and air—to allow us to perceive and govern it. To make it possible for us to perceive and govern the spirit world, God created our spirits with the same spiritual elements that compose the spirit world… Human beings, composed of flesh which can dominate the physical world and spirit which can dominate the spirit world, likewise have the potential to rule both worlds.
    God created human beings to be the mediator and the center of harmony of the cosmos. When a person’s flesh and spirit unite through give and take action and become God’s substantial object partner, the physical world and spirit world can also begin give and take action with that person as their center. They thus achieve harmonious integration to construct a cosmos that is responsive to God. Like the air that enables two tuning forks to resonate with each other, a true person acts as the mediator and center of harmony between the two worlds.
    However, due to the human Fall, the universe has lost its master. St. Paul wrote, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8.19) —that is, people who have been restored to the original state. Tragically, with the Fall of human beings, who should have served as the center of universal harmony, the give and take between the physical and spiritual worlds was severed. The two worlds have been rendered utterly unable to achieve integration and harmony. Since they remain divided, Paul continued, “the whole creation has been groaning in travail.” (Rom. 8:22) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 6.2)
 
The spirit world and the physical world should be united by true love. Yet because true love did not appear, the spirit world and physical world were not united; because true love did not appear, the mind and the body of each individual were divided; and because true love was not erected, religions and politics were separated.
    Through true love, all can be united. Through true love, individuals, families, societies, nations, the world and cosmos can be connected. We must make it happen. Otherwise, we cannot inherit the original Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world and on earth. (216:105-06, March 9, 1991)
 
If there is a man who can gain dominion over Satan, he can liberate both the spirit world and the physical world. (161:243; February 22, 1987)
 
You should be able to mobilize the spirit world. However, when you reach such spirituality, you will face things that are difficult for you to handle. In that situation, your attitude should be, “I am acting on behalf of God.” It is not enough for you to do things by your own power; the question is how you can mobilize the spirit world, and carry out your mission in multi-dimensional ways. (102:117, November 27, 1978)
 
There are people in this world who can perform wondrous feats. Some can fly through the air. Some can walk on water. Some can travel thousands of miles in an instant. Soon the day will come when I will summon them from the Himalayas and other places where they are pursuing the path to enlightenment. (60:195, August 17, 1972)
 
To restore the physical world and spirit world means to bring them back to their original state. It may cost me 70 to 80 years of my life to restore both the earthly world and the spirit world. I could have become a successful businessman, yet there is no greater business than this. I have spent my entire youth trying to accomplish it. (15:146, October 3, 1965)
 
Without unifying the spirit world, it is impossible to bring unity on the earth. If unity is not attained on earth, oneness will also not be found in the spirit world. They share a common destiny.
 
    It is a very good thing that Western people are marrying Asians and Asians marrying Westerners. When their ancestors look down from the spirit world, how pleased they are! Why? In the spirit world, white people have clustered only among white people, black people dwelt among other blacks, [and yellow people lived only with others of the yellow race]. The spirit world has been all divided, therefore on earth the races have been in conflict continually. But because earthly people are now marrying interracially, those in the spirit world are being softened up to the idea of becoming one, and unification is proceeding there. All are being unified, making one world. Like the prayer, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” because this is happening in the spirit world, even more of the same will occur on the earth. (99:188, September 18, 1978)
 
 
 

The Time Is Coming When Earthly People Will Have Dominion Over the Spirit World

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1179

As I was born on earth as a human
being, I have loved all of the original
creation on this earth as God does. I
have loved the animals and I have loved
humankind as God has. Thus, I was able
to become His partner in love. We came
from God and return to God. He wish-
es all of you to become billions of times
greater than Him during your lifetime.
Thus, the truth is that God wishes you to
return to Him as children who are more
wonderful than He is. (268-291, 1995.4.3)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

As a rule, when you have to dis-
pose of real estate that was sanctified,
you must do so in stages after receiving
approval. (9-78, 1960.4.11)

Spiritual Error and the Occult

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are of God; for many
false prophets have gone out into the world.
    1 John 4.1

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do
not want you to be uninformed. You know that
when you were heathen, you were led astray to
dumb idols, however you may have been moved.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus
be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord!”
except by the Holy Spirit.
    1 Corinthians 12.1-3

Evil spirits have power over fearful men but can-
not disturb the fearless.
    Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 7 (Buddhism)

A Muslim is not turned back from anything
because of an omen. When he sees something
indicating misfortune he should say, “O God,
You alone bring good things, You alone avert
evil things, and there is no might or power but
in God.”
    Hadith of Abu Dawud (Islam)

To maintain the existence of a ghost,
Only brings about mischief;
To understand the non-existence of a ghost
Is the way of Buddha;
To know that ghost and Reality are one
Is the way to Liberation.
Knowing that the ghosts are all one’s parents
Is the right understanding;
Realizing that the ghost itself is Self-mind
Is glory supreme.
    Milarepa (Buddhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Since a fallen person stands in the midway position between God and Satan and relates with both of them, the works of a good spirit may be accompanied by the subtle influences of an evil spirit. In other cases, phenomena which begin as the works of evil spirits may, as time passes, merge with the works of good spirits. Discerning the spirits is thus very difficult for those who do not understand the Principle. It is a pity that many religious authorities, in their ignorance, condemn the works of good spirits by lumping them together with evil spirits. This may place them in inadvertent opposition to God’s Will. In the present era, spiritual phenomena are becoming ever more prevalent. Unless religious leaders can correctly distinguish the works of good spirits from the works of evil spirits, they cannot properly instruct and guide those who experience spiritual phenomena. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.4)

Do you think that when I meet spiritualist ladies, I simply follow their advice? No way. They do not know the whole picture. They can testify to the present situation, but they do not know how things operate. (68:276, August 5, 1973)

Spiritualists differ among themselves because they each insist on their own viewpoint. This is a common problem among spiritual people. One hundred spiritualists will have one hundred different viewpoints. Being self-centered, each believes that his or her view is the best one. However, they should be the best by centering on the Center, not on themselves. (325:289, July 2, 2000)

Through spiritualists, shamans, fortune-tellers and the like who are in touch with the spirit world, the spirit world has been taking advantage of earthly people. In the future this will no longer be permitted. The time is coming when earthly people will have dominion over the spirit world. (219:78, August 25, 1991)

Today Many People Are Suffering from Psychological Disorders

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 643

When you enter heaven, if being able
to speak the language of the homeland
is one of the requisites, what are you
going to do? You will be asked whether
you speak it. This is the viewpoint of the
Principle, according to which Adam and
Eve’s children would speak the language
of their parents and not another. Eng-
lish is the fallen archangel’s language.
It is a shame. This is the viewpoint of
the Principle. When you go to the spirit
world, your ancestors will point at you
and accuse you, saying, “Even though
you served the True Parents, you did
not learn Korean!” Korean is the True
Parents’ language. There is nothing we
can do about them having been born in
Korea. (128-244, 1983.6.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

Alaska, where the ceremony of The
Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight
Stages was held, is becoming famous. The
last time I came here I said I would build
a church at the North Pole. If the Sovi-
et Communist Party opposes it, I will
take the responsibility. I will build the
Unification Church at the North Pole.
You have to spend your life in order to
build the foundation of blessing for all
people of the world, but before you die,
come to our Church at the North Pole
and offer your devotion for forty days
and then you can die. Think about this.
An ideal city will be created in a world
of icebergs. Then, even though it will be
thousands of miles away, everything can
be supplied by the air. You should try
living like this. It would be a wonderful
thing. With the power of science today,
that would be nothing. We can use pre-
fabricated systems. So we will build an
airfield and try to live there, so what
problem could arise? We are creating
a base in the tourist area of Kodiak…
think about it. It will become a gate-
way unprecedented in history. (193-217,
1989.10.4)

Spiritual Error and the Occult

There is a current of deep distrust for spirits and their communications within the major religions. since they are not comparable to ultimate reality, spirits are not privy to the highest truth. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam teach that ranks of angels fell into error and sin. Buddhism even regards the creator god (the Hindu god brahma) as one of these subordinate deities, subordinate to the Dhamma revealed by the Buddha.
    Spirits are often fallible, motivated by selfish ends, and liable to mislead people who rely on them for guidance. Furthermore, the spirit world is also populated by evil spirits, demons and fallen angels, as well as intermediate spiritual beings including the jinn, spirits of the dead, and various classes of ghosts. occult practices, such as seeking information from mediums, witches and shamans, can lead people astray through communication with spirits from the lower realms. Father Moon has experience of this from Korea, a society where shamanism is still widespread. he also recognizes an insidious connection between occultism and the human Fall, where eve placed herself under the power of a spirit.
    Therefore, we are advised to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God,” based on the higher authority of revealed truth. Faith, purity, adherence to revealed truth, and performance of good deeds are superior ways to insure fellowship with spiritual beings of the highest levels. World Scripture II V8 013107.ind234 2342/1/2007 3:14:18 PM
 

1. Spirits, Being Fallen Themselves, are False Guides

O Lord, how can a god or a demon know all the
extent of Your glory? You alone know what You
are, by the light of Your innermost nature.
    Bhagavad-Gita 10.14 (Hinduism)

Even in His servants He puts no trust,
and His angels He charges with error.
    Job 4.18

Alas for the blindness of the sons of men, all
unaware as they are how full the earth is of
strange and invisible beings and hidden dan-
gers, which could they but see, they would mar-
vel how they themselves could survive on the
earth.
    Zohar 1.55a (Judaism)

God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the
    destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
They have neither knowledge nor
    understanding,
they walk about in darkness,
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I say, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless you shall die like men,
and fall like any prince.”
    Psalm 82

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Spiritual phenomena include the activities of ghosts or evil spirits. However, these do not lead to resolving our relationship with God. Unless we are taught the correct relationship with God, and unless we understand the influences of evil spirits on us, we cannot find our proper place in the universe. (191:11, June 24, 1989)
 
The spirit world is in the Cain position and the earth is in the Abel position. Up to now, the spirit world, in the Cain position, has been dominating humankind. When people allow themselves to be guided by spiritual mediums, they are only allowing spirits to command earthly people for their own benefit. (83:15, February 5, 1976)
 
Today many people are suffering from psychological disorders, and some mutter to themselves. Do you know why this happens? It is caused by the spirit world. Spirits from the lower realms cannot ascend to the higher realms on their own, so they manipulate earthly people. But low spirits do not have a good viewpoint or direction; [therefore their influences always have an adverse affect on people]. Good spirits, on the other hand, have a clear direction. (91:273, February 27, 1977)❖
 
 

There is No Such Thing as a Return to This Life for the Punishment of Souls

Pictures from the March for President Trump

10s of Thousands rallied to Stop the Fraud, count only legal votes and support President Trump on November 14, 2020. I loved the fiery Latino speaker ‘Remember the Alamo, we have only just begun to fight!’. Many incoming Congressmen and women spoke. They are on fire. We will prevail.
The atmosphere was beautiful and supportive. I saw about 3 (yes, one, two three) counter protesters and I estimate 30,000 to 50,000 or more supporters of President Trump.
The mainstream news reports were pitiful. You should have been there!

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1919

For this reason, when the era of the
Pacific civilization draws near, every-
body must become one. Then we can
explore outer space. Unless people
become one, they would even fight over
the ownership of the sun, with everyone
claiming that right. They would ask who
the master of the starry realm is and
they would all claim to be the one. They
are bound to fight among each other.
Our sun is about 1.3 million times larg-
er than the earth. How could human
beings, who don’t even amount to a tiny
speck, claim to own this vast entity?
The universe would roar with laughter.
A unified world is bound to appear in
the era of the Pacific civilization. That
is why everything must be overhauled.
Democracy in America does not work,
and neither does communism. That is
why the head-wing ideology, known as
Godism, must appear in this age. (207-46,
1990.10.28)

Richard This is very similar to the Rheama from three days ago. Godism is the God-centered thought taught by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. At the core of that is the teaching on absolute sexual ethics that I have been covering in my 10 part series on the Richard Urban Show. You can find the teaching of the Original Root Substance of the Principle, the teaching of the Unification Movement and Rev. Moon here.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1242

You must understand how impor-
tant the Blessing is from a providential
point of view. God’s Blessing is received
where the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit
world meet. It is the place where the eter-
nal world and the corporeal world meet
horizontally. (Blessed Family – 544)

Richard: Find out more about the Blessing here.

Reincarnation

Belief in Reincarnation is common to the religions born in India: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. this is the belief that the individual soul passes from one earthly life to another, each life conditioned on the deeds of the previous lives. Differences in fortune, wealth, social position, and endowments are the consequences of actions done in previous lives. as the cosmos revolves in its cycles, the wheel of samsara turns for each human being as he or she rises and falls through countless births and deaths—sometimes as humans, sometimes as animals or even insects.
    On the other hand, Christianity largely rejects reincarnation, holding that God provides everyone the opportunity for salvation within a single lifetime. even the buddha spoke against easy reliance on reincarnation as a comfort to misbehaving sinners, thinking that they could easily obtain a second chance.
    According to the doctrine of reincarnation, souls have the opportunity to progress to the ultimate goal of perfection only when they are incarnated as human beings. thus, spirits seek out human bodies in which to be reincarnated, in hopes of a chance to right wrongs and make progress on the path. Father Moon also teaches that spirits can only progress while linked to a human body. however, instead of souls transmigrating from one body to another, he describes a process of spirits descending to cooperate with earthly people, which he calls “returning resurrection.” through assisting people on earth who face similar difficulties, spirits can resolve their unfinished business and be liberated to rise to a higher level. sometimes this is a painful and even pun-ishing encounter for earthly people, who have to deal with ancestors whose agonizing experiences they never imagined. believers in reincarnation simply misconstrue the spirits’ thoughts and experiences as if they were their own deeds in an earlier lifetime. regardless of where the truth lies, to see oneself as inextricably bound up with the lives of others—extending from the distant past into the future endless future—leads to an attitude of humility and patient endurance.

According to his deeds (karma) the embodied
    one successively
Assumes forms in various conditions.
Coarse and fine, many in number,
The embodied one chooses forms according to
    his own qualities.
Each subsequent cause of his union with them
    is seen to be
Because of the quality of his acts and of
himself.
    Svetasvatara Upanishad 5.11-12 (Hinduism)

The universe is peopled by manifold creatures
who are, in this round of rebirth, born in differ-
ent families and castes for having done various
actions.

Sometimes they go to the world of the gods,
sometimes to the hells, sometimes they become
demons in accordance with their actions.

Sometimes they become soldiers, or outcastes
and untouchables, or worms or moths….

Thus, living beings of sinful actions, who are
born again and again in ever-recurring births,
are not disgusted with the round of rebirth, but
they are like warriors, never tired of the battle
of life.

Bewildered through the influence of their
actions, distressed and suffering pains, they
undergo misery in non-human births.

But by the cessation of karma, perchance, living
beings will reach in due time a pure state and be
born as men.
    Uttaradhyayana Sutra 3.1-7 (Jainism)

“Frequently I have been born in a high family,
frequently in a low one; I am not mean, nor
noble, nor do I desire social preferment.” Thus
reflecting, who would brag about his family or
about his glory, or for what should he long?
Therefore a wise man should neither be glad nor
angry about his lot: he should know and con-
sider about the happiness of all living creatures.
Carefully conducting himself, he should mind
this: “I will always experience blindness, deaf-
ness, dumbness, be one-eyed, hunchbacked,
black, white, and every color; because of my
carelessness I am born in many births, experi-
ence many feelings.”
    Acarangasutra 2.50-55 (Jainism)

There is no such thing as a return to this life for
the punishment of souls… How can the return to
bodies which are gifts of God be punishment?
    Saint Augustine, City of God 12.27 (Christianity)

Sooner, do I declare, would a one-eyed turtle, if
he were to pop up to the surface of the sea only
once at the end of every hundred years, chance
to push his neck though a yoke with one hole
than would a fool, who has once gone to the
Downfall, be reborn as a man.
    Samyutta Nikaya 5.455 (Buddhism)