Why Reincarnate?

[This is a brief excerpt from my book When the Stars Align, from a passage which takes up the question, “Why would someone even want to come back here to earthly existence, when it can be so painful here?” Following are a few possible answers, drawn from an assortment of mystical teachings presented by various teachers in the esoteric traditions.]

Part of the reason (for returning to Earth) undoubtedly has to do with karma. If we have unfinished business from past lives, we are compelled to come back and tie up loose ends until those karmas are cleared up. In some cases, in other words, it may not be so much a matter of wanting to come back as needing to. And on our return, we take on those circumstances which we feel will balance out those karmic legacies.

Another reason for returning has to do with the tangible allures of the physical world; because despite all its pain and disappointments, we’re simultaneously drawn to its enticements as well. That may include physical pleasures like sex or food, of course, but it may even involve negative experiences like violence, revenge, or addictions. Some souls are trapped in negative “tape loops” and drawn over and over again to those “dark” experiences as much if not even more than to more pleasurable ones. That’s because, in their own way, those experiences are pleasurable to them, or at least comfortable, like any deeply ingrained habit tends to be.

Sometimes, a soul will take on difficult challenges in connection with some long-range goal, like an athlete who submits him or herself to a grueling regimen over years in order to compete in the Olympics. Or imagine a soul who has the dream of becoming the world’s greatest blues singer; would you expect them to incarnate into a wealthy childhood where they’re raised with a silver spoon in their mouth—or would they be drawn to a more painful life beset with an assortment of challenges? It seems obvious to me the latter scenario is more likely. In that case, the problems encountered by that person would be part and parcel of their broader life-goal, rather than representing any sort of karmic debt or “punishment.”

Then there are examples of true bodhisattvas, spiritual beings who consciously choose to descend into this world with all of its pain and disappointment, not necessarily out of karma or desire but simply to assist and heal others. I can put this into simple terms which I think almost anyone would understand.

Imagine you were offered a chance to go by yourself on a luxurious cruise to one of the most beautiful regions in the world, with all your needs and desires attended to. But right when you’re scheduled to leave, a beloved child of yours (or a beloved pet, if that’s more applicable) experiences an injury or illness, and suffers terribly as a result. Could you still go on your trip and really enjoy your time away, knowing of the suffering that your loved one back home was experiencing?

The bodhisattva is like that—the sensitive soul who cannot really enjoy “heaven” knowing that souls down here are suffering and need help.

Yet apart from all that, it’s important to mention that there are also extraordinary riches to be found in this highly limited realm, because of how it allows one to develop aspects of psyche and soul probably not available to those outside those limitations. The French poet and novelist Anatole France said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” But we could just as well say that until one has also loved a child, a mother, a father, a sibling, or a friend, many parts of one’s soul remain unawakened. Strange as it may sound, one could even make a case for grief being one of those riches, because of how it scours out spaces in the soul that make room for compassion and wisdom. But whether pleasant or unpleasant, all such things are available only within the worldly limitations of time and space.

I’ll add one more point to that list of mortality’s “fringe benefits.” It’s something of a truism to say you can’t truly appreciate freedom until you’ve been deprived of it, but I suspect that holds true for the Transcendent Ones as well. That is, can any being who’s never experienced physical embodiment truly appreciate their infinite or eternal nature, or realize just how “good they’ve had it” as a Transcendent One? There’s a marvelous bit of dialogue uttered by Achilles (played by Brad Pitt) in the film Troy, which seems apropos here:

I’ll tell you a secret, something they don’t teach you in your temple. The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be more beautiful than you are now.

In short, this realm offers an abundance of opportunities for soul-enrichment unique to mortal beings and their woefully transitory lives, despite all its hardships—and in some cases, specifically because of them.

(Also see my essay ”Suffering and Soul-Making on the Mean Streets of Planet Earth” posted on Substack, Nov. 4, 2025.)

Ray Grasse is a writer, astrologer, and photographer based in the American Midwest. He is author of ten books, including The Waking Dream, Under a Sacred Sky, and An Infinity of Gods. His websites are www.raygrasse.com and www.raygrassephotography.com.