1. Karma and Reincarnation – 6 to 10 – Lesson 1
Karmics Truth for Ages 6 to 10
Overview of Lesson 1 - Pages 1-32
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- All of nature, including man, lives in cycles.
- Reincarnation is the process of man being born many times to learn the laws of life.
- Karma is the law of the return to us of what we have sent out.
- Karma is God’s love helping our souls learn though experience.
- Jesus taught about reincarnation.
All of nature, including man, lives in cycles.
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SUGGESTED MUSIC: Music by Mozart is a good choice since he is mentioned in this lesson. You can also use the largo movement of any well-known classical piece.
BOOK SECTIONS: 1 through 6 from chapter 1 Karma and Reincarnation by Elizabeth Clare Prophet
MATERIALS:
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- Music by Mozart (The Magic Flute opera on video is a great choice for children.)
- Materials to plant seeds
- Paper and colored pencils, crayons or paints
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LESSON: Cycles of Life
Year after year, the seasons change. They never stop. We have spring and then summer. It cools off into fall and then comes winter. In some places you see the seasons more noticeably than in others, but the cycle is always moving all over the world.
We get older every year just like animals. We see flowers and vegetables mature that we grow in our gardens. It is the way of life. Everything has a cycle of growth.
When we walk on the beach sometimes we find beautiful sea shells. Seashells come in many shapes and sizes, but each was once the home of a little creature. When the creature grows too large for the shell, it leaves that shell and grows a new one. This is another way we can see the beautiful cycles of life.
Activity 1: Planting
Let’s plant some seeds.
If you water them and
they get the right amount of sun,
your plants will grow into little seedlings.
From there they grow tall and strong
and depending on the kind of seeds you planted,
maybe they will flower or bear fruit.
A most interesting thing about plants is that when they die,
they leave a seed that can be planted again.
In a very real way,
the life of the plant never really ends,
it just changes.
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Plant some seeds.
Your child may wish to decorate the plant pot first.
Care for it by frequent watering and observations.
Reincarnation
You are like that plant. You are born in a body, you use that body to live your life and at some point you leave that body and get ready to come back again in a new body. Do you know what this is called? (Pause and let child reflect and respond) Reincarnation.
Our souls reincarnate hundreds and even thousands of times. Have you ever thought about reincarnation or that you ever lived before? (Pause and let child reflect and respond)
God loves us so much he wants us to return to him. But he wants us to return to him when we are ready and when we have learned the lessons of life and paid back to life all the debts we owe even from other lives.
Karma
Did you know you have debts you have to pay back to life?
(Pause and let child reflect or respond)
Jesus taught a great law of life, called the law of the circle or the law of karma. He said: ”Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap. ” The word “sow” means to plant.
If you plant beans you will grow beans, not roses.
If you plant a rose, you will get roses and not carnations.
If you plant a thorn bush, you will get thorns that can prick you.
Jesus is teaching us that if your thoughts, words and deeds are kind, kindness will come back to you. If your thoughts, words and deeds are selfish and unkind, those will come back to you as well.
What happens to you now, in this life, is a result of things you have done (or not done) to others in this or in other lifetimes.
Hurt not others
with that which pains thyself.
Buddha, Fifth Century B.C.
A Story of One Little Boy’s Good Karma
A little boy named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born into a family in Austria a long time ago. Austria is a beautiful, mountainous country in Europe.
A village on a lake in Austria
His father was a musician and there was music in the home all the time. By the time Wolfgang was four, he could play the harpsichord, the violin and the organ. By the time he was five he was composing his own music.
People were amazed. When he was six his father began to take him around the country so he could play his beautiful music for people. They loved it! He even played for royalty. By the time he was thirteen Mozart was composing many kinds of advanced pieces of music. People wondered about how a little boy could have so much musical talent and ability.
Can you tell me why you think Mozart could play so well at such an early age?
(Pause let child respond)
The law of karma explains it. In a former life, Mozart had studied music and became an expert. Then he was born into a family of musicians so his musical ability would be immediately recognized and nurtured.
Activity 2: Listen to Mozart Music
Out of all the great western composers,
Mozart is considered one of the best.
He wrote hundreds of pieces of music that
people all over the world enjoy.
Try listening to some or watching some of his operas.
The Magic Flute is a Mozart opera that many children enjoy.
Mozart’s Good Karma
Mozart had the good karma to be born into a family that could support and teach him. Because God loves us so much, he has designed a plan for each of us to have opportunities to keep on developing our talents, like Wolfgang did, and to make up for all the wrong we have ever done. Each of our souls will have new opportunity to use the talents we have developed and to complete our divine plans.
The law of karma is the law of love. Why do you think it is considered the law of love? (Let children respond and reflect)
God loves us so much he wants us to learn from the consequences of our actions so we will not make the same mistake again. Have you ever make a mistake and learned from how it made you feel, not to do it again? Allow time for discussion.
Jesus Taught about Reincarnation
The teaching of karma and reincarnation comes from the world’s religions that are practiced all over the entire world. Jesus taught about reincarnation.
Examples of How Karma Works
In a very old Biblical text called “Pistis Sophia”, from a group of Christian devotees called the Gnostics, Jesus teaches us that a person will come back into the world again according to the kind of sins he has committed.
Jesus gives some examples. A person who curses or says unkind words to others will come back and be constantly unhappy and troubled in his heart. A person who was very vain and arrogant will come back in a lame or deformed body. In both these cases, people’s souls experience what it is like to be in the situation they once criticized and looked down upon.
Great Men Have Believed in Karma and Reincarnation
Some of the world’s greatest men have believed in karma and reincarnation. One of those is America’s founding father, Benjamin Franklin. When he was an old man he wrote this verse for his grave marker.
The body of B. Franklin, printer,
like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out&
lies here food for worms,
but the work shall not be lost,
for it will as he believes appear once more
in a new and more elegant edition
revised and corrected
by the author.
Think about the things you want to do in this life. Are these special talents and skills you have that you think might have come from another lifetime that you can use to serve others in this life? (Let children reflect and respond)
Activity 3: Show What You Want to Grow Up to Be
Will you be a doctor or a teacher, an artist or a cook? Will you be an athlete or a singer, a mechanic or a business executive? Will you be the president or a senator, a parent or a world traveler? How would you like to show what you would like to become?
a.) Drawing or painting – Make a picture of you when you are grown up, doing the things you would like to do
b.) Charades – Do a charade so your family can guess what you would like to do.
Review of Main Points
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- All of life lives in cycles, including man.
- Reincarnation is the process of man being born many times to learn the laws of life.
- Karma is the law of the return to us of what we have sent out.
- Karma is God’s love helping our souls learn though experience.
- Jesus taught about reincarnation.