Atman, Karma, and Yoga: reincarnation for mere mortals

I read the fanzine Vision-Ka #7 and it provided some much needed ideas that help me clarify my own ideas for reincarnation in my homebrew setting.

As explained in the article on Yoga, the human soul (Sol, Solar-Ka) has two parts: the Atman and the Karma. The Karma is the record of life, while the Atman is the immortal soul that originates from the Brahman (the collective unconscious, the origin of the Subtle Planes). When a person dies, their Atman leaves the body and reincarnates, while the Karma remains within the corpse and decays with it. The Karma is the dead spirit that Selenim speak to with Necromancy.

In my campaigns the Nephilim are fusional beings, an alchemical marriage of a human Atman and an elemental Pentacle born when the two meet under the right stars. This process awakens the Atman to knowledge of its true immortal nature, altering the Immortal’s worldview compared to their ignorant Karma alone. When a Nephilim dies, their Ka-elements dissolve into the magic fields, their Karma decays with the corpse, and the Atman transmigrates. They aren’t destroyed, but it will take geological time for them to reunite—if at all. More often bits and pieces of that Ka are incorporated into other Immortals born since, who thereafter may suffer partial flashbacks to a fraction of the life experienced by their forebear. 

Long before recorded history, the Nephilim Hern invented the Stasis Objects to preserve the Nephilim. The Stasis Object anchors the Ka-elements and Karma, drawing them like iron filings to a magnet. This is how the Nephilim are able to clearly recall their past lives. The link to the Atman is complicated by its transmigration: the Pentacle must find the next incarnation of the Atman in order to reincarnate the Nephilim whole.

Fortunately, the Atman is not bound by linear conceptions of time. A Nephilim may die and shortly reincarnates as an adult in ideal conditions, rather than as a newborn. However, this seeming act of body-hopping—combined with the shift in worldview caused by awakening the Atman—gives the impression that the elemental is possessing the body of the human, rather than reuniting with its old friend.

Practicing esoteric yoga allows a mortal to preserve their memories for use by future incarnations, by transmuting their Karma into Atman. The limitation is that this doesn’t allow the yogi to recall lives that didn’t preserve their Karma. However, some believe that practices exist to tap into the Brahman and recall lost Karma. Yoga is of profound interest to Nephilim because practicing it may allow them to avoid their Ka-elements and Atman separating upon death!

Hope you enjoyed!

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