Hemant Mehta

[Little Rik]

Suppose that you are a teacher and one or some of your students fail.
What would you do?
Would you punish them?
No, you would not but you rather would fail them so they will repeat the year.
If these students are not ready to go higher in their studies it is obvious that they can not pass and go
higher.
Their consciousness and intellect is not ready to go higher so the only logic thing to do is to repeat and wait for an other opportunity to go higher.
At the same time if humans are not good enough to be humans they should be lower to the level of animals, plants or matter waiting for future opportunity do become humans once again and do right this time.  

Of course to be lower down is felt as a punishment but it really isn't.
It is like a jigsaw puzzle.
There are many pieces and there are many puzzles.
The rule is that every piece must go in the correct puzzle as every creature must be located in the correct place whether is in a human body, animal, plant or matter.

The question still remains though, what role do you ascribe to the 'cosmic thinker'? Ie whether punishment or rehabilitation, as an arbitrary judge/teacher, assigning devolutions on a case-by-case basis? Basically, as an intelligent agent making arbitrary decisions? As opposed to some systematic cycle without need for any arbitrary element.

It certainly need an element which I rather would describe as a super mind.
It is needed a mind and a big big mind to see, to understand to record and to sort out a proper decision.
By the way this super mind is not only there to devolve consciousness but is there also for doing the
opposite which is to evolve who deserve or better say to allow those who deserve to be reincarnate into a better medium whether is a better human body or to let them merge in Him and realize that they are Him.

It doesn't work like that Em.
There is no such a thing as punishment but as I just explain above is all about putting a particular consciousness in a medium that most fit it in order to perform better.
If a human behave like a dog then a dog body is most suited to his-her ability to perform and when that dog will be sick and tired of being a dog then he-she will develop the intuition to go higher and reach once again the human consciousness.
If however some people like killing other people they may be reincarnated as carnivorous animals and when these animals will be sick of killing then they may be reincarnated in something else that doesn't required killing.
It is all about what people wish to do in life.
If they do bad and are turned into lower form of lives then they wouldn't know why they are in an animal body since their consciousness has been lowered.
Why should they remember?
They have chosen that change.
The feeling to go higher once again will help them to change for the better.  

But I would argue a similar point to my previous point; that since (at least most) non-human animals lack reflective capabilities (at least presumably) then it's still the same problem as before... that a non-reflective animal cannot wish to be anything other than it is, and therefore seems that in those cases there can be no impetus for 'evolution'.

Wrong.  
Let us see what the instinct is all about Em.
Instinct is not only to drive lower form of lives to survive.
It also work as a stimulant to go ahead in the journey to higher consciousness.
Take a simple climber plant.
She will move and move in search of better opportunities so she can prosper, thrive and live better.
Every time this happen more and more consciousness pop up in her feeling.
This feeling will not stop.
It doesn't stop in plants it even doesn't stop in the matter in which energy-try to escape (see uranium and other) so you can imagine if it stop in animals and human being.
You are the classical example Em.
Right now you are here to expand your consciousness.
What you think it is the driving force Em?
You guess.