The process of reincarnation is driven by karma. Karma, to borrow from St. Paul in the Bible, means "As you sow, so shall you reap". Where, when, and in what circumstances we next incarnate is due, in large measure, to our thoughts, words, and actions in the past and present.
To be reborn into a human body is a great blessing. Human bodies, far more so than animal and plant bodies, are capable of devoting themselves to spiritual life. Most animals answer primarily to dictates of nature, but humans have a capacity for self-reflection rarely seen in animals. Vistas of unlimited spiritual growth lie spread before the men and women who turn their attention to inner life.
The capacity to make decisions for ourselves rather than automatically doing what our natural drives tell us to do gives humans our special status : We have free will. With free will comes responsibility, however. you can't blame a tiger if it kills a deer. But if one man kills another out of greed, delusion, or hatred, very serious karmic consequences ensue. Then again, if a person selflessly helps others, superb karmic results will ultimately follow.
We can lose our human status, Hindu sages warn. If we don't take advantage of our human birth but continue living like animals, we may return to an animal body in our next life. ( Perhaps some people would be more comfortable in animal bodies anyway . Then they can just eat, sleep, have sex, and never have to fill out tax forms). Particularly pernicious people, one holy text warns, could even be reborn as " flies, gnats and biting insects"!
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