Running the Risk of Death.

Such a so-called philosopher has no vision of the soul, which is transmigrating in the 8,400,000 species of life. But the atheists do not care about such transmigrations. Even if they are informed that if they act in such a way they will become trees in their next life, they say, "It doesn't matter. Let me enjoy." Or they say, "If I become a tree, what is the harm? I will forget." People have become so hardened that they have lost their self-interest. One may tell a child, "You are always playing and not receiving any education. For this you will suffer. You will have no position in society." But the child will say, "I do not care." This child may speak in this way out of his ignorance, but the risk is still there. Similarly, one may deny the transmigration of the soul, but the materialistic way one is acting will assure one a body in the lower species-animal, aquatic or reptile.

By ignoring such facts, people do not show very good intelligence. One can easily understand that the transmigration of the soul is a natural fact. At this stage in our lives we accept past, present and future. One has had his past as a child or a boy, and now he may be a young man, and in the future old age is waiting. There is past, present and future in all stages of life. Just because one is an old man, one should not think that there is no future. We have experienced the past, and we are experiencing the present, so there must be a future also. For an old man-or for anyone, actually-there must be a future, and that future means taking another body, the body of either an animal, a man, or a demigod. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, one can prepare himself for the next body. The ultimate goal, however, is to attain a body in the kingdom of God.

"The wise, engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of action in the material world. In this way they can attain that state beyond all miseries." (Bg. 2.51)