Having come to know that belief in reincarnation has existed from ancient and even prehistoric times,
we now come to the important question:
Why do we reincarnate?
The reasons for reincarnation are:

• To learn lessons: Consider the whole earth as one training school. We cannot complete our training unless we study and graduate from one level, move on to the next level and continue this process till we attain mastery. This is the fundamental and most important reason for reincarnation. Most of the other reasons are offshoots of this reason. Take the example of a school. If we fail in one grade, we have to repeat the grade till we pass it. So also with our lives on earth. If we do not learn our lessons properly, we keep returning till we learn all the lessons. Learning the lessons properly is the key to our spiritual growth and eventual freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Our spiritual growth depends on how well we learn our lessons.
• To have fun: We incarnate to have fun. We incarnate to experience the beauty of creation, and that is fun. We incarnate to express our creativity, and that too is fun. There is no limit to the beauty of creation. Even our creative abilities are limitless. There are infinite ways of experiencing the beauty of creation. There are also infinite ways of expressing our creativity. Therefore, the experiences possible are far too many to go through in one incarnation and hence the longing for the soul to reincarnate again and again. Though the experiences of the soul are equally valid whether we are in incarnation or not, the joy of creation can be experienced only when we are on this physical plane of existence.
• To teach: After the soul has learnt all the lessons required to be learnt, it does not have to reincarnate. However, such a soul may choose to reincarnate to help in the evolution of the other souls who are still caught in the cycle of birth and death. The main work done by such souls when they reincarnate is teaching. They work for creating a shift in the consciousness of the people on earth.