Reincarnation

Reincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul, the "higher" or "true" self, "divine spark", or "I". According to some beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constant throughout the successive lives.[1]

Belief in reincarnation has ancient roots. This doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism (including Yoga, Vaishnavism, and Shaivism) and Jainism. The idea was also entertained by some ancient Greek philosophers. Many modern Neopagans also believe in reincarnation as do some New Age movements, along with followers of Spiritism, practitioners of certain African traditions, and students of esoteric philosophies such as Kabbalah, and Gnostic and Esoteric Christianity. The Buddhist concept of Rebirth although often referred to as reincarnation differs significantly from the Hindu-based traditions and New Age movements in that there is no unchanging "soul" (or eternal self) to reincarnate.

For lessons on the topic of Reincarnation, follow this link.

During recent decades, a significant number of people in the West have developed a belief in reincarnation.[2] Feature films, such as Kundun, What Dreams May Come and Birth, contemporary books by authors such as Carol Bowman and Vicki Mackenzie, as well as popular songs, regularly mention reincarnation.

Scientific Opinion

Some researchers, such as Professor Ian Stevenson, have explored the issue of reincarnation and published evidence of children's memories of earlier lives in peer-reviewed journals and elsewhere. Skeptics are critical of this work and say that more reincarnation research is needed.[3] Thomas Huxley, the famous English biologist, thought that reincarnation was a plausible idea and discussed it in his book Evolution and Ethics and other Essays. The most detailed collections of personal reports in favor of reincarnation have been published by Professor Ian Stevenson, from the University of Virginia, in books such as Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation and "Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects Volume 1: Birthmarks" and "Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects Volume 2: Birth Defects and Other Anomalies".

Stevenson spent over 40 years devoted to the study of children who have apparently spoken about a past life. In each case, Professor Stevenson methodically documented the child's statements. Then he identified the deceased person the child allegedly identified with, and verified the facts of the deceased person's life that matched the child's memory. He also matched birthmarks and birth defects to wounds and scars on the deceased, verified by medical records such as autopsy photographs.[49][50]

A boy in Beirut spoke of being a 25-year-old mechanic, thrown to his death from a speeding car on a beach road. According to multiple witnesses, the boy provided the name of the driver, the exact location of the crash, the names of the mechanic's sisters and parents and cousins, and the people he went hunting with – all of which turned out to match the life of a man who had died several years before the boy was born, and who had no apparent connection to the boy's family.[51]

Stevenson believed that his strict methods ruled out all possible "normal" explanations for the child’s memories. However, it should be noted that a significant majority of Professor Stevenson's reported cases of reincarnation originate in Eastern societies, where dominant religions often permit the concept of reincarnation. Following this type of criticism, Stevenson published a book on European cases suggestive of reincarnation.[52]

There are many people who have investigated reincarnation and come to the conclusion that it is a legitimate phenomenon, such as Peter Ramster, Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. Walter Semkiw, and others. Professor Stevenson, in contrast, published dozens of papers in peer-reviewed journals.[53]

Some skeptics, such as Paul Edwards, have analyzed many of these accounts, and called them anecdotal.[50] Philosophers like Robert Almeder, having analyzed the criticisms of Edwards and others, suggest that the gist of these arguments can be summarized as "we all know it can't possibly be real, so therefore it isn't real" - an argument from personal incredulity.[54]

The most obvious objection to reincarnation is that there is no evidence of a physical process by which a personality could survive death and travel to another body, and researchers such as Professor Stevenson recognize this limitation.[51]

Another objection is that most people do not remember previous lives. Possible counter-arguments are that not all people reincarnate, or that most people do not have memorable deaths. The vast majority of cases investigated at the University of Virginia involved people who had met some sort of violent or untimely death.[55]

Some skeptics explain that claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking and the psychological phenomena of false memories that often result from one's own belief system and basic fears, and thus cannot be counted as empirical evidence. But other skeptics, such as Dr Carl Sagan, see the need for more reincarnation research.[56]

Notes

1. Theosophy and reincarnation
2. Popular psychology, belief in life after death and reincarnation in the Nordic countries, Western and Eastern EuropePDF (54.8 KB)
3. Tucker, Jim B. (2005). Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives, p.186.
4. “This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Indo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supreme postulate or article of faith.” Masih, page 37.
5. Karel Werner, The Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page 34. "Rahurkar speaks of them as belonging to two distinct 'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found evidence for two distinct approaches to the spiritual dimension in ancient India and calls them the traditions of 'truth and silence.' He traces them particularly in the older Upanishads, in early Buddhism, and in some later literature."
6. Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University - Press : UK ISBN 0521438780 - “The origin and doctrine of Karma and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renouncer traditions.” Page 86.
7. Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 “Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies” Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 8120817761: "Yajnavalkya’s reluctance and manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka (a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) can perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them." Page 51.
8. Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 8120811046 : Early Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to incorporate these ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the vedic thought implying a disparagement of the vedic ritualism and recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135.
9. "The sudden appearance of this theory [of karma] in a full-fledged form is likely to be due, as already pointed out, to an impact of the wandering muni-and-shramana-cult, coming down from the pre-Vedic non-Aryan time." Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 76.
10. Tucker, 2005, p.216
11. PTS: Miln 71-72; 82-83; 84 (Pali Canon)
12. Bruce Matthews in Ronald Wesley Neufeldt, editor, Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments. SUNY Press, 1986, page 125. [1].
13. Transform Your Life: A Blissful Journey, pages 52-55), Tharpa Publications (2001, US ed. 2007) ISBN 978-0-9789067-4-0
14. The Five Precepts
15. Transform Your Life: A Blissful Journey, page 52), Tharpa Publications (2001, US ed. 2007) ISBN 978-0-9789067-4-0
16. Lynda Obst (February 2006). "Valentine to science - interview with Carl Sagan". Interview. pp. 2. https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n2_v26/ai_18082728/pg_3. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
17. Bhagavad Gita II.22, ISBN 1-56619-670-1
18. Brodd, Jefferey (2003). World Religions. Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press. ISBN 978-0-88489-725-5.
19. See Bhagavad Gita XVI.8-20
20. Rinehart, Robin, ed., Contemporary Hinduism19-21 (2004) ISBN 1-57607-905-8
21. Karel Werner, A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism 110 (Curzon Press 1994) ISBN 0-7007-0279-2
22. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Translation by Swami Nikhilananda (8th Ed. 1992) ISBN 0-911206-01-9
23. Teachings of Queen Kunti by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Chapter 18 "To become Brahma is not a very easy thing. Brahma is such a big post, and it is given to a very qualified living entity who is highly advanced in austerities and penance. But he is also a living entity like us."
24. Reincarnation as understood by Sikh Religion
25. tr. Giles 1889, p. 304
26. Reincarnation: Socrates to Salinger
27. Reincarnation article, JJ Dewey
28. Much of this is documented in R.E. Slater's book Paradise Reconsidered.
29. Luke 1:56;2:7
30. Luke 1:7;57
31. Matthew 1:25
32. 1 Corinthians,Luke 24:39
33. Tommaso Palamidessi, Memory of Past Lives and Its Technique, ed Archeosofica, 1977
34. Cerminara, Gina (1988). "Introduction". Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 9780451168177.
35. Saadia Gaon in Emunoth ve-Deoth Section vi
36. Martin Buber, "Legende des Baalschem" in Die Chassidischen Bücher, Hellerau 1928, especially Die niedergestiegene Seele
37. Sha'ar Ha'Gilgulim, The Gate of Reincarnations, Chaim Vital
38. Krias Shema she'al ha-mitah: Ribono Shel Olom contains the gilgul reference in some versions
39. What does Islam think about reincarnation?
40. Nicholson, 1950, p. 103
41. [2] The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan
42. Bellow's translation of Helgakviða Hundingsbana II.
43. Boulting, 1914. pp. 163-64
44. Steiner, various dates
45. Does Scientology believe in reincarnation or past lives?
46. Lo, H.W.; Dzokoto, V. (2005). "Talking to the Master: Intersections of Religion, Culture, and Counseling in Taiwan and Ghana" (PDF). Journal of Mental Health Counseling 27 (2): 117–128. https://amhca.metapress.com/index/GX7D7THLVGKJU4PD.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
47. Edwards, L. (2001). A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements. Westminster John Knox Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&id=edT9ZBiroCQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Echankar&ots=WVCd0BkqS-&sig=86sqDx56a6JyKT3KzUL1Q-Y4zKs.
48. Reincarnation and NDE Research (WebCite archive)
49. Cadoret, Remi. Book Review: European Cases of the Reincarnation Type The American Journal of Psychiatry, April 2005.
50. Rockley, Richard. Book Review: Children who remember previous lives
51. Ian Stevenson; Sought To Document Memories Of Past Lives in Children
52. Stevenson, Ian (2003). European Cases of the Reincarnation Type.
53. University of Virginia, Division of Perceptual Studies, Books and Articles by Division Staff
54. A Critique of Arguments Offered Against Reincarnation
55. Tucker, 2005, p.214
56. Sagan, Carl (1996). Demon Haunted World. Random House. pp. 300. ISBN 978-0394535128.
57. Plot summary for Patton (1970)
58. Patton and Hannibal
59. Doniger, Wendy (2005), "Chapter 6: Reincarnation", The woman who pretended to be who she was: myths of self-imitation, Oxford University Press, pp. 112-136 [128-31 & 133-5], ISBN 0195160169
60. IMDb Keyword: Reincarnation

References

Scientific Publications

• Edwards, Paul, Reincarnation: A Critical Examination ISBN 1-57392-921-2
• Shroder, Tom (1999). Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence for Past Lives.
• Stevenson, Ian (1980). Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, second (revised and enlarged) edition, University of Virginia Press. ISBN 9780813908724
• Stevenson, Ian, Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects(in 2 volumes) ISBN 0-275-95283-5
• Stevenson, Ian, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation, revised edition ISBN 0-7864-0913-4
• Tucker, Jim, (2005). Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives, ISBN 0-312-32137-6
• Van Lommel, Pim. (2001). "Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands." The Lancet. 358: 2039-45.
• Braude, S.E. (1992). "Claims of Reincarnation: An Empirical Study of Cases in India". The Journal of Parapsychology 56 (4). https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5000166177. Retrieved on 2008-01-27.

Other Publications

• Abd-ru-shin, In the Light of Truth - The Grail Message. ISBN 1-57461-006-6
• About Reincarnation: There are five ways to understand that we have lived before
• Acharya, Pt. Shriram Sharma, The Life Beyond Physical DeathPDF (558 KB), 1999.
• Alegretti, Wagner, Retrocognitions: An Investigation into Memories of Past Lives and the Period Between Lives. ISBN 0-9702131-6-6, 2004.
• Archiati, Pietro, Reincarnation in Modern Life: Toward a new Christian Awareness. ISBN 0-904693-88-0
• Bache, Christopher M., Lifecycles, Reincarnation and the Web of Life, 1991, ISBN 1-55778-645-3
• Boulting, W. Giordano Bruno, His Life, Thought, and Martyrdom, London: Kegan Paul, 1914.
• Bowman, Carol, Children's Past Lives, 1998, ISBN 0-553-57485-X
• Bowman, Carol, Return from Heaven, 2003, ISBN 0-06-103044-9
• Cerminara, Gina, Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation, 1990, ISBN 0-451-03307-8
• Childs, Gilbert and Sylvia, Your Reincarnating Child: Welcoming a soul to the world. ISBN 1-85584-126-6
• Doore, Gary, What Survives?, 1990, ISBN 0-87477-583-3
• Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune, pp 336–47, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-46-3
• Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully: The Profound Practice of Transference of Consciousness, Tharpa Publications (1999) ISBN 978-0-948006-63-0
• Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Transform Your Life Tharpa Publications pp 23–9, (2001, US ed. 2007) ISBN 978-0-9789067-4-0
• Head, Joseph and Cranston, S.L., editors, Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery, 1994, ISBN 0-517-56101-8
• Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (Part I, Chapter IV: Rebirth and the Law of Consequence), 1909, ISBN 0-911274-34-0
• Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter II: The problem of Life and its solution), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3
• Heindel, Max,The Rosicrucian Fellowship, The Light Beyond DeathPDF (361 KB), 2001.
• Josephus, Flavius, The War of the Jews (Book II, Chapter 8, Verse 14: [4]), C.E. 66-73
• Leland, Kurt. Otherwhere: A Field Guide to Nonphysical Reality for the Out-of-Body Traveler. Hampton Roads Publishing (2001). ISBN 978-1571742414
• Leland, Kurt. The Unanswered Question: Death, Near-Death, and the Afterlife. Hampton Roads Publishing (2002). ISBN 978-1571742995
• Lönnerstrand, Sture, I Have Lived Before: The True Story of the Reincarnation of Shanti Devi, 1998, ISBN 1-886940-03-7
• Newton, Michael, Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, 2004, ISBN 0-73870-465-2
• Newton, Michael, Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives, 2000, ISBN 1-56718-499-5
• Nicholson, R.A. Rumi, Poet and Mystic. London: Allen & Unwin, 1950.
• Nikhilananda, Swami. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, (8th Ed. 1992) ISBN 0-911206-01-9
• Prophet, Elizabeth Clare, Erin L. Prophet, Reincarnation: The Missing Link in Christianity, 1997, ISBN 0-922729-27-1
• Palamidessi Tommaso, The Memory of Past Lives and Its Technique, ed. Archeosofica, 1977
• Palamidessi Tommaso, Reincarnation And Christianity
• Ramster, Peter, In Search of Lives Past, ISBN 0-646-00021-7
• Rinehart, Robin, ed., Contemporary Hinduism, (2004).
• Roberts, Jane. Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul, (1972). ISBN ISBN 1-878424-07-6
• Roberts, Jane. The Nature of Personal Reality. Prentice-Hall (1974). reprinted (1994) Amber-Allen Publishing. ISBN 1-878424-06-8
• Roberts, Jane. The Oversoul Seven Trilogy. Amber-Allen Publishing (1995). ISBN 1878424173 Edition: Paperback; May 1, 1995 (originally published as three separate books: The Education of Oversoul 7 (1973). The Further Education of Oversoul Seven (1979). Oversoul Seven and the Museum of Time (1984).
• Semkiw, Walter, Return of the Revolutionaries: The Case for Reincarnation and Soul Groups Reunited, 2003, ISBN 1-57174-342-1
• Semkiw, Walter, Born Again: Reincarnation Cases Involving International Celebrities, India's Political Legends and Film Stars, 2006, ISBN 81-85250-37-5
• Steiner, Rudolf,Karmic Relationships: Esoteric studies, 8 volumes, various dates, Rudolf Steiner Press. ISBN 0-85440-260-8 and others.
• Steiner, Rudolf, Manifestations of Karma. ISBN 1-85584-058-8
• Steiner, Rudolf, Reincarnation and Immortality. ISBN 0-8334-1706-1
• Steiner, Rudolf, Reincarnation and Karma: Two fundamental truths of existence. ISBN 0-88010-501-1
• Steiner, Rudolf, A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma: selected lectures and writings; ed. and intr. by René Querido. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, c1997, ISBN 0-88010-399-X
• Steinpach, Richard, Hidden Connections Determine Our Earth-Life, 1988, ISBN 1-57461-013-9
• Taylor, Michael, "Master of the Rose", Comstar Media LLC, 1997-2007, ISBN 1-933866-07-1
• Weiss, Brian L., Only Love is real: the story of soulmates reunited, 1996, ISBN 0-446-51945-6
• Weiss, Brian L., Many Lives, Many Masters, 1998, ISBN 0-671-65786-0
• Werner, Karel, A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism (Curzon Press 1994) ISBN 0-7007-0279-2
• Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn, Messages from Michael on the nature of the evolution of the human soul, 1979, ISBN 0-872235-26-2