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Reincarnation, also called transmigration of souls, is the rebirth in another body (after physical death), of some critical part of a person's personality or spirit. Its occurrence is a central tenet of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, some African religions, as well as various other religions and philosophies. Most modern Pagans also believe in reincarnation. This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
The Golden Temple is the most important sacred shrine for Sikhs Sikhism is a religion that developed in an environment heavily influenced by conflict between the Hindu and Muslim religions. ...
The holiest Jain symbol is the right facing swastika, or svastika, shown above. ...
Within a European Christian context, paganism is a catch-all term which has come to connote a broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices (see Cult (religion)) of a natural religion (as opposed to a revealed religion of a text), which are usually, but not necessarily, characterized...
It has traditionally also been understood to be akin to the Buddhist concept of Rebirth, but it has always been clear that the two concepts are very distinct - Buddhism teaches that there is no self to reincarnate. There is an alternate view, based on a different set of inherent assumptions, that the teachings of Buddhism as a religion might stress one aspect, the teachings of Hinduism might stress another aspect, but that an advanced Buddhist and an advanced Hindu would directly perceive the phenomenon of reincarnation identically. Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...
According to Buddhism, there is a cycle of death and rebirth that can be transcended by the practice of the Eightfold Path. ...
Origin of the belief
This doctrine has its roots far back in primitive culture. According to some scholars, this idea developed out of three common beliefs: (1) that man has a soul, connected in some vague way with the breath, which can be separated from his material body, temporarily in sleep, permanently at death; (2) that animals and even plants have souls, and are possessed to a large extent of human powers and passions; (3) that souls can be transferred from one organism to another. (This idea still has adherents in many schools of Hinduism, the oldest of extant modern religions) This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
Alternatively, some consider that reincarnation as a phenomenon (not simply a belief) has been occurring through history, and has been discovered and re-discovered by societies both primitive and advanced.
Transmigration of human souls into non-human bodies is implied in totemism. Totemism (derived from the root -oode in the Ojibwe language, which referred to something kinship-related) is a religious belief that is frequently associated with shamanistic religions. ...
Reincarnation in Eastern religions and traditions
Hinduism In India this doctrine was thoroughly established from ancient times. While metempsychosis was not established in the older sections of the Vedas, it was explicated first in the Upanishads (c. 1000 BC - AD 4), which are philosophico-mystic texts held to be the essence of the Vedas. The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ...
The Upanishads (उपनिषद्, Upanişad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ...
The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ...
The idea that the soul reincarnates is intricately linked to karma, whose first explication was also seen in the Hindu books of the Upanishads. The idea is that individual souls, jiva-atmas pass from one plane of existence carry with them samskaras (impressions) from former states of being. These karmic agglomerations on the soul are taken to the next life and result in a causally-determined state of being. In Hinduism, liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, is considered the ultimate goal of earthly existence. This is known as Moksha, mahasamadhi (or nirvana) in Hinduism. Karma is also the name of a 2-D graphing package for scientific computing; for that meaning, see Karma (software) Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म), or Kamma (Pali) action, effect, destiny. In Hinduism and, later, Buddhism, it is the sum of a persons actions, regarded as determining that persons future...
(Redirected from ) This is a disambiguation page for the term atman (or atma). ...
For the movie by this title, see Samsara (2001). ...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, samsara or saṃsāra refers to the concept of reincarnation or rebirth in Indian philosophical traditions. ...
Moksha (Sanskrit: liberation) or Mukti (Sanskrit: release) refers, in general, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. ...
The following article is about the term Nirvana in the context of Buddhism. ...
Even greater philosophical depth was reached as Buddhism and Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta) conversed following the advent of the great Hindu sage Adi Shankaracharya. The idea that stilling one's karmas (actions) and becoming at one, harmonious, with all would free one, ultimately, from reincarnation, became a central tenet of Hinduism. It displaced more complex Puranic systems positing the gradual progression of a soul through 8,400,000 (sometimes more) lives until eventual awakening. Instead, it relied more on the idea of self-growth and enlightenment through Yoga. Buddhism differed in that it felt there was no soul to reincarnate and developed an elaborate complex of metaphysical explanations for temporary states of ego to explain rebirth. Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...
Vedanta, literally meaning the end section of the Vedas, is a branch of Hindu philosophy. ...
Advaita Vedanta is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita. ...
Sri Adi Sankara Adi Shankaracharya or Adi Shankara (the first Shankara in his lineage), reverentially called Bhagavatpada Acharya (the teacher at the feet of Lord), Shankara (approximately 509- 477 BC (though some claim 788-820 CE)) was the most famous Advaita philosopher who had a profound influence on the growth...
The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ...
Hatha Yoga posture Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent in the Hindu cultural context. ...
The word Rebirth has a number of not-quite-identical meanings, including Reincarnation Buddhist Rebirth (sometimes called Emanation) potentially any situation where ones outlook on life is strongly changed or redefined may be named a Rebirth. It happens sometimes in Christian contexts, for instance ...
Buddhism Since according to Buddhism there is no permanent and unchanging soul there is no metempsychosis in the strict sense. However, Buddhism never rejected samsara, the process of rebirth or reincarnation; there is debate, however, over what is transmitted between lives. The Buddhist doctrine of Anatta (Pāli) or Anātman (Sanskrit) specifies the absence of a permanent and unchanging self or soul (ātman). ...
In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, samsara or saṃsāra refers to the concept of reincarnation or rebirth in Indian philosophical traditions. ...
See also: Rebirth (Buddhist) According to Buddhism, there is a cycle of death and rebirth that can be transcended by the practice of the Eightfold Path. ...
In spite of the doctrinal beliefs against the idea of a soul, Tibetan Buddhists do believe that a new-born child may be the reincarnation of someone departed. In Tibetan Buddhism the soul of an important lama (like the Dalai Lama) is supposed to pass into an infant born nine months after his decease. Lama can refer to: the Tibetan word for religious teacher (like the Sanskrit term guru) see Tibetan Buddhism. ...
The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. ...
Jainism In Jainism, gods reincarnate after they die. A Jainist, who accumulates enough good karma, may become a god; but, this is generally seen as undesirable since gods eventually die and one might then come back as a lesser being. The holiest Jain symbol is the right facing swastika, or svastika, shown above. ...
This article is about deities or gods from a non-monotheistic perspective. ...
Reincarnation in the First American Nations Reincarnation is an intrinsic part of many Native American and Inuit traditions. Regardless of the actual religious beliefs and practices of today's Native Americans, with varying religious beliefs, the idea has survived for centuries. In the now heavily Christian Polar North (now mainly parts of Greenland and Nunavut), the concept of reincarnation is enshrined in the Inuit language. The survival of the concept of reincarnation applies across the Nations in varying degrees of integrity. The Nations are, of course, now sandwiched between Eastern [Native] and Western traditions. Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...
Inuit woman Inuit (ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, singular Inuk or Inuq / ᐃᓄᒃ) is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples of the Arctic who descended from the Thule. ...
Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ...
Earths polar regions are the areas of the globe surrounding the poles, north of the Arctic circle, or south of the Antarctic Circle. ...
For the electoral districts of the same name, see Nunavut (electoral district) and Nunavut (Senate Division). ...
Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...
Reincarnation in Western religions and traditions
Classical Greek Philosophy Some ancient Greek philosophers believed in reincarnation; see for example Plato's Phaedo and The Republic. Pythagoras was probably the first Greek philosopher to advance the idea. Statue of a philosopher, presumely Plato, in Delphi. ...
Pythagoras (582 BC – 496 BC, Greek: Πυθαγόρας) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for formulating the Pythagorean theorem. ...
We do not know exactly how the doctrine of metempsychosis arose in Greece; most scholars do not believe it was borrowed from Egypt or that it somehow was transmitted from ancient Hindu thinkers of India. It is easiest to assume that earlier ideas which had never been extinguished were utilized for religious and philosophic purposes. The Orphic religion, which held it, first appeared in Thrace upon the semi-barbarous north-eastern frontier. Orpheus, its legendary founder, is said to have taught that soul and body are united by a compact unequally binding on either; the soul is divine, immortal and aspires to freedom, while the body holds it in fetters as a prisoner. Death dissolves this compact, but only to re-imprison the liberated soul after a short time: for the wheel of birth revolves inexorably. Thus the soul continues its journey, alternating between a separate unrestrained existence and fresh reincarnation, round the wide circle of necessity, as the companion of many bodies of men and animals." To these unfortunate prisoners Orpheus proclaims the message of liberation, that they stand in need of the grace of redeeming gods and of Dionysus in particular, and calls them to turn to God by ascetic piety of life and self-purification: the purer their lives the higher will be their next reincarnation, until the soul has completed the spiral ascent of destiny to live for ever as God from whom it comes. Such was the teaching of Orphism which appeared in Greece about the 6th century BC, organized itself into private and public mysteries at Eleusis and elsewhere, and produced a copious literature. This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ...
Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ...
(7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries) (600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Cyrus the Great conquered many...
Eleusis (Greek, Modern: Ελεύσινα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -is) was a small town about 30 km NW of Athens. ...
The earliest Greek thinker with whom metempsychosis is connected is Pherecydes; but Pythagoras, who is said to have been his pupil, is its first famous philosophic exponent. Pythagoras probably neither invented the doctrine nor imported it from Egypt, but made his reputation by bringing Orphic doctrine from North-Eastern Hellas to Magna Graecia and by instituting societies for its diffusion. Pythagoras (582 BC – 496 BC, Greek: Πυθαγόρας) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for formulating the Pythagorean theorem. ...
The real weight and importance of metempsychosis in Western tradition is due to its adoption by Plato. Had he not embodied it in some of his greatest works it would be merely a matter of curious investigation for the Western anthropologist and student of folk-lore. In the eschatological myth which doses the Republic he tells the story how Er, the son of Armenius, miraculously returned to life on the twelfth day after death and recounted the secrets of the other world. After death, he said, he went with others to the place of Judgment and saw the souls returning from heaven and from purgatory, and proceeded with them to a place where they chose new lives, human and animal. He saw the soul of Orpheus changing into a swan, Thamyras becoming a nightingale, musical birds choosing to be men, the soul of Atalanta choosing the honours of an athlete. Men were seen passing into animals and wild and tame animals changing into each other. After their choice the souls drank of Lethe and then shot away like stars to their birth. There are myths and theories to the same effect in other dialogues, the Phaedrus, Meno, Phaedo, Timaeus and Laws. In Plato's view the number of souls was fixed; birth therefore is never the creation of a soul, but only a transmigration from one body to another. Plato's acceptance of the doctrine is characteristic of his sympathy with popular beliefs and desire to incorporate them in a purified form into his system. Aristotle, a far less emotional and sympathetic mind, has a doctrine of immortality totally inconsistent with it. In Classical Greek, Lethe literally means forgetfulness or concealment. The Greek word for truth is a-lethe-ia, meaning un-forgetfulness or un-concealment. In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the several rivers of Hades. ...
Aristotle (sculpture) Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. ...
In later Greek literature the doctrine appears from time to time; it is mentioned in a fragment of Menander (the Inspired Woman) and satirized by Lucian (Gallus 18 seq.). In Roman literature it is found as early as Ennius, who in his Calabrian home must have been familiar with the Greek teachings which had descended to his times from the cities of Magna Graecia. In a lost passage of his Annals, a Roman history in verse, Ennius told how he had seen Homer in a dream, who had assured him that the same soul which had animated both the poets had once belonged to a peacock. Persius in one of his satires (vi. 9) laughs at Ennius for this: it is referred to also by Lucretius (i. 124) and by Horace (Epist. II. i. 52). Virgil works the idea into his account of, the Underworld in the sixth book of the Aeneid (vv. 724 sqq.). It persists in antiquity down to the latest classic thinkers, Plotinus and the other Neoplatonists. For the Indo-Greek king (160–135 BC) see Menander the Just. ...
Lucian Lucian of Samosata (greek Λουκιανὸς Σαμοσατεύς, latin Lucianus; c. ...
Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ...
Quintus Ennius (239 - 169 BC) was a writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry. ...
Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ...
Persius, in full Aulus Persius Flaccus (AD 34-62), was a Roman poet and satirist. ...
Titus Lucretius Carus (c. ...
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English world as Horace, was the leading lyric poet in Latin. ...
For other uses see Virgil (disambiguation). ...
The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. ...
Plotinus Plotinus, (died about A.D. 270) is widely considered the father of Neoplatonism. ...
Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would...
Judaism and kabbalah Classic works of the Kabbalah, Shaar ha Gilgulim ("Gate of Reincarnations") of Arizal or Isaac Luria, describes complex laws of reincarnation gilgul and impregnation ibbur of 5 different parts of the soul. It shows many references of reincarnation in the Hebrew Bible (the Tanach). The work, Shaar HaGilgulim, (Gate of Reincarnations) as the title reveals, is about the Torah concept of reincarnation. ...
Isaac Luria (1534–August 5, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic who was secretly believed by some to be the messiah. ...
Gilgulim neshamot (jewish concept of reincarnation) literally means circles of the souls (around lifes or incarnations to the body). ...
Ibbur literally means pregnancy or impregnation. It is one of the transmigration forms of the soul and has similarities with Gilgul neshamot. ...
11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible, based upon the initial Hebrew letters of each part: Torah [תורה] (The Law; also: Teaching or Instruction), Chumash [חומש] (The five, also Pentateuch or The five books of...
The notion of reincarnation, the transmigration of a soul after death into a new body, is not openly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The classical rabbinic works (midrash, Mishna and Talmud) also are silent on this topic. These beliefs originally existed among the gnostics and other non-Jewish faiths. Although how this occurred is still a matter of debate among Jewish historians, the doctrine of reincarnation eventually made its way into the mainstream of Jewish mysticism. Midrash (pl. ...
The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, Repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ...
The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ...
In the eighth century these ideas had found their way into the beliefs that the belief of reincarnation existed among some Jews despite the inherent "nonsense and stupidities" of such beliefs. The concept was elucidated in an influential mystical work called the Bahir (Illumination) (one of the most ancient books of Jewish mysticism) around 1150. After the publication of the Zohar in the late 13th century, the idea of reincarnation spread to most of the general Jewish community. The Bahir (Hebrew for Illumination) is a pseudonymous mystical work attributed to Nehunya ben ha-Kanah, a first century rabbinic sage, and a contemporary of Johanan ben Zakkai (first century), because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya ben ha-Kanah said. It was first published in the 12th century...
Events Åhus, Sweden gains city privileges City of Airdrie, Scotland founded King Sverker I of Sweden is deposed and succeeded by Eric IX of Sweden. ...
The Zohar (Hebrew זהר Zohar Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ...
While ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates attempted to prove the existence of reincarnation through philosophical proofs, Jewish mystics who accepted this idea did not. Rather, they offered explanations of why reincarnation would solve otherwise intractable problems of theodicy (how to reconcile the existence of evil with the premise of a good God.) Statue of a philosopher, presumely Plato, in Delphi. ...
Socrates This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, c. ...
Theodicy is a branch of theology that studies how the existence of a good or benevolent God is reconciled with the existence of evil. ...
Rabbis who accepted the idea of reincarnation include Levi ibn Habib (the Ralbah), Nahmanides (the Ramban), Rabbenu Bahya ben Asher, Rabbi Shelomoh Alkabez and Rabbi Hayyim Vital. The argument made was that even the most righteous of Jews sometimes would suffer or be murdered unjustly. Further, children would sometimes suffer or be murdered, yet they were obviously too young for them to have committed sins that God would presumably punish them for. Jewish supporters of reincarnation said that this idea would remove the theodicy: Good people were not suffering; rather, they were reincarnations of people who had sinned in previous lifetimes. Therefore any suffering which was observed could be assumed to be from a just God. Yitzchak Blua writes "Unlike some other areas of philosophy where the philosophic battleground revolves around the truth or falsehood of a given assertion, the gilgul debate at points focuses on the psychological needs of the people." (p.6) Nahmanides is the common name for Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi; the name is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Ben Nahman, meaning Son of Nahman. He is also commomly known as Ramban, being an acronym of his Hebrew name and title, Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman, and by his Catalan name...
Bahya ben Asher or Bahya ben Asher ben Halawa also known as the Rabbeinu Behaye, born about the middle of the thirteenth century at Saragossa, died 1340 was a 13th century rabbi and scholar of Judaism. ...
Gilgulim neshamot (jewish concept of reincarnation) literally means circles of the souls (around lifes or incarnations to the body). ...
Other rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation include Hasdai Crescas, Yedayah Bedershi (early 14th century), Joseph Albo, Abraham ibn Daud and Leon de Modena. Crescas writes that if reincarnation was real, people should remember details of their previous lives. Bedershi offers three reasons why the entire concept is dangerous: (a) There is no reason for people to try and do good in this life, if they fear that they will nonetheless be punished for some unknown sin committed in a past life. (b) Some people may assume that they did not sin in their past life, and so can coast on their success; thus there is no need to try had to live a good life. In Bedershi's view, the only psychologically tenable worldview for a healthy life is to deal with the here-and-now. (c) The idea presents a conundrum for those who believe that at the end of days, God will resurrect the souls and physical bodies of the dead. If a person has lived multiple lives, which body will God resurrect? Joseph Albo writes that in theory the idea of gilgulim is compatible with Jewish theology. However, Albo argues that there is a purpose for a soul to enter the body, creating a being with free will. However, a return of the soul to another body, again and again, has no point. Leon De Moden thinks that the idea of reincarnation make a mockery of God's plans for humans; why does God need to send the soul back over and over? If God requires an individual to achieve some perfection or atone for some sin, then God can just extend that person's life until they have time to do what is necessary. de Modena's second argument against reincarnation is that the entire concept is absent from the entire Bible and corpus of classical rabbinic literature. Hasdai ben Abraham Crescas (c. ...
Joseph Albo was a Spanish rabbi, and theologian of the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of the work on the Jewish principles of faith, Ikkarim. ...
Abraham ben David was a Jewish, French commentator on the Talmud. ...
The idea of reincarnation, called gilgul, became popular in folk belief, and is found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews. Among a few kabbalists, it was posited that some human souls could end up being reincarnated into animal bodies. These ideas can be found in a small number of Kabbalistic works from the 1200s, and even existed among a few mystics at least into the late 1500s. Gilgulim neshamot (jewish concept of reincarnation) literally means circles of the souls (around lifes or incarnations to the body). ...
Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ...
Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, Standard Hebrew Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzîm), are Jews who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria and Eastern Europe. ...
"Over time however, the philosophical teaching limiting reincarnation to human bodies emerged as the dominant view. Nonetheless, the idea that one can reborn as an animal was never completely eliminated from Jewish thought, and appears centuries later in the Eastern European folk tradition". [Simcha Paull-Raphael,Jewish Views of the Afterlife, p.319]
While many Jews today do not believe in reincarnation, the belief is common amongst Orthodox Jews, particularly amongst Hasidim; some Hasidic siddurim (prayerbooks) have a prayer asking for forgiveness for one's sins that one may have committed in this gilgul or a previous one. Orthodox Judaism is one of the three major branches of Judaism. ...
Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning pious from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ...
The siddur is the prayerbook used by Jews the world over, containing a set order of daily prayers. ...
Gilgulim neshamot (jewish concept of reincarnation) literally means circles of the souls (around lifes or incarnations to the body). ...
Gnosticism Many Gnostic groups believed in reincarnation. For them, reincarnation was a negative concept: Gnostics believed that the material body was evil, and that they would be better off if they could eventually avoid having their 'good' souls reincarnated in 'evil' bodies. Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge) that only a few possess. ...
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. ...
The Gnostic Gospel of the Nazirenes - Chapter 69 (http://messianic.nazirene.us/gospel_seven.htm#chapter69):
- 1. As Yeshua sat by the west of the temple with his disciples, behold there passed some carrying one that was dead, to burial, and a certain one said to Him, "Master, if a man die, shall he live again?"
- 2. He answered and said, "I am the resurrection and the life, I am the good, the beautiful, the true; if a man believe in me he shall not die, but live eternally. As in Adam all (1997 = are bound to cycles of rebirth) die, so in the Messiah shall all be made alive. Blessed are the dead who die in me, and are made perfect in my image and likeness, for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them. They have overcome evil, and are made pillars in the temple of my God, and they go out no more, for they rest in the eternal."
- 3. "For them that persist in evil there is no rest, but they go out and in, and suffer correction for ages, till they are made perfect. But for them that have done good and attained to perfection, there is endless rest and they go into life everlasting. They rest in the eternal."
- 4. "Over them the repeated death and birth have no power, for them the wheel of the eternal revolves no more, for they have attained to the center, where is eternal rest, and the center of all things is God."
The texts contains several parallels to the Gospels, which are, though, traditionally interpreted differently in their context: - "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:25f RSV
- Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. Revelation 3:12 (NIV)
Christianity Also see Bible and Reincarnation. Belief in reincarnation is held by many Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists but such beliefs are held by relatively few Christians, Jews, and Muslims. ...
Parallels to reincarnation are often seen by outsiders in the Christian concepts of rebirth and resurrection which are taught by all mainstream branches of Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant) as well as most non-traditional branches (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.). But these groups reject the concept of reincarnation, though some smaller groups (Christian gnostics, the Liberal Catholic Church, and the Christian Community) do include the concept of reincarnation in their doctrine. Born again is a term used originally and mainly in Christianity, where it is associated with salvation, conversion and spiritual rebirth. ...
This article is about the religious meaning of the word Resurrection. For other meanings see Resurrection (disambiguation). ...
Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ...
Mormonism (also called Latter Day Saint theology or Mormon theology and Latter Day Saint culture or Mormon culture) is a religion, ideology, movement, and subculture originating in the early 1800s as a product of the Latter Day Saint movement. ...
The word gnosis (from the Greek word for knowledge, γνώσις) has several uses: Classical meanings Among the gnostics, gnosis was the privileged knowledge of the heart or insight about the spiritual nature of the cosmos, that brought about salvation to the pneumatics - people who believed they could achieve this insight. ...
The Liberal Catholic Church is a form of Christianity based on theosophical ideas. ...
The Christian Community (German: Die Christengemeinschaft) is a worldwide anthroposophic church community. ...
In related groups it is frequently maintained, based on certain Bible texts and church fathers (especially Origen), that the early Christians did believe in reincarnation and that the reincarnation proofs had been destroyed by the church later on. Origen was a Christian scholar and theologian and one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church. ...
Bible verses used as proof texts for the reincarnation teachings of early Christians are, e.g. Mt 11:14 and 17:12f and John 9,1 ff. Read with a new-age worldview, these texts can indeed be interpreted as referring to reincarnation. :Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the returning prophet Elijah in Matthews 11:14.
- When the disciples ask Jesus about a blind man who had sinned: John 9:2 (NIV) His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
- John 9:34 (NIV) To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.
- In the Old Testament, David writes:
- Psalms 51:5 (NIV) Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
It is also maintained that the 3rd century church father Origen had been an adherent of reincarnation. Origen stood for the pre-existence of the soul -- the concept that the human soul existed already before birth. "The soul has neither beginning nor end... [They] come into this world strengthened by the victories or weakened by the defeats of their previous lives" (De Principiis). He knew the teachings of reincarnation and mentions them in his writings. In his exegesis of the above Bible verses, he discusses how they are interpreted by adherents of reincarnation. Origen, Comment on the Gospel of John, Book VI, Chapter 7 (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/101506.htm). (2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century - other centuries) Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ...
Origen was a Christian scholar and theologian and one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church. ...
Contemporary movements and thinkers
New Religious Movements At the Renaissance we find the doctrine in Giordano Bruno, and in the 17th century in the theosophist van Helmont. During the classical period of German literature metempsychosis attracted much attention: Goethe played with the idea, and it was taken up more seriously by Lessing, who borrowed it from Charles Bonnet, and by Herder. It has been mentioned with respect by Hume and by Schopenhauer. Modern theosophy, which draws its inspiration from India, has taken metempsychosis (or rather reincarnation as a cardinal tenet; it is, says a recent theosophical writer, "the master-key to modern problems," and among them to the problem of heredity. The idea of reincarnation is also part of the New Age culture. Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600), a. ...
Jan Baptist van Helmont. ...
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German writer, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ...
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (January 22, 1729 – February 15, 1781), writer, philosopher, publicist, and art critic, is the most outstanding German representative of the Enlightenment era. ...
Bonnet Charles Bonnet (March 13, 1720 - May 20, 1793), Swiss naturalist and philosophical writer, was born at Geneva, of a French family driven into Switzerland by the religious persecution in the 16th century. ...
Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder (August 25, 1744 - December 18, 1803), German poet, critic, theologian, and philosopher, is best known for his concept of the Volk and is generally considered the father of ethnic nationalism. ...
David Hume David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776) was a Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid among others, one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. ...
Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher. ...
Today, among newer movements, belief in reincarnation is widespread in New Age and Neopagan circles. It is an important tenet of Theosophy, and central to Spiritism, founded by Allan Kardec. New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...
Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism, meaning New Paganism) is a heterogeneous group of religions which attempt to revive ancient, mainly European pre-Christian religions. ...
Seal of the Theosophical Society Theosophy is a body of belief which holds that all religions are attempts by man to ascertain the Divine, and as such each religion has a portion of the truth. ...
Spiritism is a generic term for various beliefs that claim the existence of immortal souls that can somehow be communicated with and interact with the real world (often through channeling) even after death. ...
Allan Kardec was a pseudonym of Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail (October 3, 1804 - March 31, 1869), founder of a doctrine/religion known as Spiritism. ...
Similarly, Scientology holds that the people of earth have been brainwashed into believing that they cannot exist without a physical body, and that the resulting fear of death and compulsive need to reincarnate immediately after death are responsible of much of their misery. The Church of Scientology's Sea Org has been known to issue employment contracts with a duration of one billion years and a clause specifically stipulating that the contractual obligations continue after death. A Scientology Center in Los Angeles, California. ...
Official Scientology Cross Symbol The Church of Scientology was founded by author L. Ron Hubbard as an organization dedicated to the practice of Scientology, an applied religious philosophy formulated by Hubbard. ...
Official Scientology Cross Symbol The Church of Scientology was founded by author L. Ron Hubbard as an organization dedicated to the practice of Scientology, an applied religious philosophy formulated by Hubbard. ...
Toward the Light is an example of a contemporary work originating in the western world, which very detailed accounts for reincarnation. Toward the Light (in Danish Vandrer mod Lyset) is an ethical, philosophical and religious work, first published in Denmark in 1920. ...
Reincarnation in contemporary thought
Evidence of reincarnation The most detailed collections of personal reports in favor of reincarnation have been published by Dr. Ian Stevenson in works such as Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects, which documents thousands of detailed cases where claims of injuries received in past lives sometimes correlate with atyptical physical birthmarks or birth defects. Dr. Ian Stevenson is a researcher at The Division of Personality Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia. ...
Perhaps the most significant anecdotal evidence in this regard is the phenomenon of young children spontaneously sharing what appear to be memories of past lives, a phenomenon which has been reported even in cultures that do not hold to a belief in reincarnation. Upon investigating these claims, Stevenson and others have identified individuals who had died a few years before the child was born who seem to meet the descriptions the children provided.
In the most compelling cases, autopsy photographs reveal that the deceased individuals have fatal injuries that correspond to the unusual marks or birth defects of the child; for example, marks on the chest and back of a child line up precisely with the bullet entry and exit wounds on the body of an individual who has been shot. For the former Death Metal band called Autopsy, see Autopsy (band). ...
However, Stevenson cautions that such evidence is suggestive of reincarnation, but that more research must be conducted.
Objections to reincarnation Objections to metempsychosis include: that personal identity depends on memory, and we do not remember our previous incarnations. An answer given by Hindu philosophers (like Swami Vivekananda) is that though we do not remember our infanthood, we cannot deny its reality. Memory is a property of the human mind: the ability to retain information. ...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
Introduction Swami Vivekananda (Narendranath Dutta) (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902) is considered one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the Hindu religion. ...
The second is that the soul, whatever it may be, is influenced throughout all its qualities by the qualities of the body. Modern psychology discredits the idea that the soul is a metaphysical essence which can pass indifferently from one body to another. If the soul of a dog were to pass into a man's body it would be so changed as to be no longer the same soul; and so, in a less degree, of change from one human's body to another. The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ...
With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual, and contrasts with soul, personality and behavior. ...
Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul and logos = word) is the study of behaviour, mind and thought. ...
Metaphysical may refer to: Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with the ultimate nature of reality; or The Metaphysical poets, a poetic school from seventeenth century England who correspond with baroque period in European literature. ...
Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The Dog is a canine carnivorous mammal that has been domesticated for at least 14,000 years and perhaps for as long as 150,000 years based on recent evidence. ...
A great number of scientists and skeptics, such as Paul Edwards, have analyzed many of these anecdotal accounts. In every case they found that further research into the individuals involved provides sufficient background to weaken the conclusion that these cases are credible examples of reincarnation. Paul Edwards (born February 21, 1961) is a Manitoba politician and lawyer. ...
Anecdotal evidence is evidence stemming from a single, often unreliable source which is used in an argument as if it had been scientifically or statistically proven. ...
Others, such as philosopher Robert Almeder, having analyzed the criticisms of Edwards and others, say 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."
Critics who claim that reincarnation is impossible often espouse the alternate theory that a large number of mental phenomena such as memory and ability are already accounted for by physiological processes; and may point to moral and practical inconsistencies in the various theories of reincarnation. To the materialistic mind, Occam's Razor would then seem to dictate that the critical view is to be preferred, as it demands no extraordinary new evidence beyond what is already known to science. This article primarily focuses on the general concepts of matter and existence. ...
Occams Razor (also Ockhams Razor or any of several other spellings), is a principle attributed to the 14th century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham that forms the basis of methodological reductionism, also called the principle of parsimony or law of economy. ...
A more skeptical view is that without solid evidence showing that reincarnation exists (regardless of the current state of science), the theory of reincarnation cannot be considered to be a valid scientific theory regarding the real world. Skepticism (British spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical...
In mathematics, theory is used informally to refer to a body of knowledge about mathematics. ...
Some skeptics explain the abundance of claims of evidence for reincarnation to 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 accounted as empirical evidence. Selective thinking is the process by which one selects out favorable evidence whilst ignoring unfavorable evidence for a belief. ...
A false memory is a memory of an event that did not happen or is a distortion of an event, as determined by externally corroborated facts of the event. ...
Empirical research is any activity that uses direct or indirect observation as its test of reality. ...
Another argument often made is that claims of reincarnation by casual adherents are usually of having been some famous historical figure instead of being another animal or an insignificant person. This argument, however, is seldom substantiated with a quantitative count of famous and non-famous reincarnation claims.
Another theory of reincarnation A belief in reincarnation does not discount the existence of heaven, hell, or a final judgment. There are a number of small children who have reported having memories of past lives prior to their present life, and some also report being able to recall a time between lives (see books by Dr. Ian Stevenson, Carol Bowman, and Elisabeth Hallett). In some cases these children have also reported being in a place like heaven between lives, and sometimes that they were given some degree of choice as to whether and when to be reborn, and even in selecting their future parents. Dr. Ian Stevenson is a researcher at The Division of Personality Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia. ...
Carol Bowman is an author, and the maintainer of a web site dealing with Childrens Past Lives, which is also the title of one of her books. ...
Some of these children claim that being reborn is not necessarily a punishment for past bad "karma", but rather an opportunity for a soul to grow spiritually. Additional lifetimes could give individual souls a greater opportunity to accomplish more for God, if that is a person's goal, and to develop better character traits. Eastern views of reincarnation vary and several parallels with this idea are to be found in certain branches of Hinduism and Buddhism. Karma is also the name of a 2-D graphing package for scientific computing; for that meaning, see Karma (software) Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म), or Kamma (Pali) action, effect, destiny. In Hinduism and, later, Buddhism, it is the sum of a persons actions, regarded as determining that persons future...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...
Quote: "So convincing is the evidence in favor of past life influences that one can only conclude that those who refuse to consider this to be an area worthy of serious study must be either uninformed or excessively narrow-minded." -- Stan Grof M.D., Holotropic Mind
Jane Roberts In the Seth series of books Jane Roberts talks about reincarnation and life after death. Seth believed that time and space are basically illusions. Consistent with this view, Seth argues not only that each person lives several lives (in what only appear to be different time periods) in physical reality simultaneously, but also that only parts of each person incarnate (appear in physical reality). This last argument is part of Seth's view that man is a multi-dimensional entity simultaneously alive in many contexts. Jane Roberts, a poet and psychic, wrote a number of books including The Education of Oversoul Seven and Adventures in Consciousness. ...
Reincarnation and the New Age movement There are many nowadays who " remember" their past lives and use that knowledge to help them with their current lives; in fact this kind of occurrence is fairly central to the new age faith. Some of the people who remember simply remember without any effort on their part. They simply " see" previous times and see themselves interacting with others. Most of the people who experience this kind of happening are certain of the veracity of their experience. As this type of experience is not in the canons of western science and knowledge it can create tension with the world around one and most people are circumspect as to whom they confide in. The beliefs of the New Age are not at odds with reincarnation. on the contrary they are in line with Buddhism and Hinduism and indeed Christianity before the Council of Nicae sometime in the 560s.
Mostly it could be explained as follows. There is a central belief that we are all splinters of the divine out to experience this third dimension in an attempt to “report” to the divine on completion of our journey.
The journey takes many many incarnations; counted in hundreds and thousands; depending on whether the individual is counted as one soul or merely the portion of one soul. Many think that one person is only one-eighth of a soul; hence parallel lives; soul mates; instant recognition,etc
The richness contained in the ability to remember is that it reinforces the knowledge of who one is at a deep level i.e what one’s original journey was about (not every soul is out for the same trip of discovery we are all specialists in one way or the other) and therefore and that is the crux of the matter to be more apt more astute in one’s daily dealings with all the people and events surrounding us and more likely to be of useful service to Humanity and the Divine Universe
Of course if one does not effortlessly remember their past times here on earth they can always have recourse to specialist therapists who do past life readings. Some of them use hypnosis; but many use psychic aptitude; some psychics can “tune” into others and “read” their past incarnations. This is always done for didactic and therapeutic motives and never for simply voyeuristic desire.
Chapter2 in the following link contains much about reincarnation and adjunct topics
http://uk.geocities.com/riteshantiq/phoenix.html
See also - gilgul, ibbur
- Hinduism, Hindu philosophy, Atman (Hinduism), karma, tantra, yoga
- Buddhism, Anatta, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Theravada, Rebirth (Buddhist), Tulku
- Edgar Cayce -- Carol Bowman
- Afterlife -- Bible and Reincarnation -- Death -- Life
- False memory
- Metempsychosis
Gilgulim neshamot (jewish concept of reincarnation) literally means circles of the souls (around lifes or incarnations to the body). ...
Ibbur literally means pregnancy or impregnation. It is one of the transmigration forms of the soul and has similarities with Gilgul neshamot. ...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
Hindu philosophy (one of the main divisions of Indian philosophy) is traditionally seen through the prism of six different systems that are listed here and makes up the main belief systems of Hinduism. ...
Beginning with Vedantic Hindu philosophy, the Ātman — Sanskrit (masculine nominative singular: Ātmā) is regarded as an underlying metaphysical self. ...
Karma is also the name of a 2-D graphing package for scientific computing; for that meaning, see Karma (software) Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म), or Kamma (Pali) action, effect, destiny. In Hinduism and, later, Buddhism, it is the sum of a persons actions, regarded as determining that persons future...
Tantra (Sanskrit: loom), tantric yoga or tantrism is any of several esoteric traditions rooted in the religions of India. ...
Hatha Yoga posture Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent in the Hindu cultural context. ...
Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...
The Buddhist doctrine of Anatta (Pāli) or Anātman (Sanskrit) specifies the absence of a permanent and unchanging self or soul (ātman). ...
A mandala used in Vajrayana Buddhist practices. ...
Relief image of the bodhisattva Guan Yin from Mt. ...
Theravada (Pali; Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty) Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of Buddhism. ...
According to Buddhism, there is a cycle of death and rebirth that can be transcended by the practice of the Eightfold Path. ...
In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a reincarnated lama. ...
Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) was known in the press by the titles The Sleeping Prophet and Americas Greatest Mystic. Edgar Cayce is known as one of Americas most famous psychics, although he himself would probably have preferred to be viewed as a healer, rather...
Carol Bowman is an author, and the maintainer of a web site dealing with Childrens Past Lives, which is also the title of one of her books. ...
Afterlife (also known as life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual and experiential, beyond this world, or after death. ...
Belief in reincarnation is held by many Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists but such beliefs are held by relatively few Christians, Jews, and Muslims. ...
Death is either the cessation of life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event. ...
Life is a multi-faceted concept. ...
A false memory is a memory of an event that did not happen or is a distortion of an event, as determined by externally corroborated facts of the event. ...
Reincarnation, also called metempsychosis or transmigration of souls, is the rebirth in another body (after physical death), of some critical part of a persons personality or spirit. ...
References - Ian Stevenson, Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects ISBN 0275952835
- Paul Edwards, Reincarnation: A Critical Examination ISBN 1573929212
- Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation by Gina Cerminara
- Joseph Head and S.L. Cranston, editors, Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery ISBN 0-517-56101-8
- Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Erin L. Prophet, Reincarnation: The Missing Link in Christianity ISBN 0922729271
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