Universal Law of Reincarnation.txt

As night follows the day, so the law of reincarnation must follow the law of karma. One cannot commit karma and expect it to finish with it in one life. So there must be many lives to resolve one's karma. Once karma is initiated, it must (1) continue until it is spent. In this process, karma must have its repercussion in the forms of (2) consequence and (3) compensation. So we have 3 laws here.

The Law of Continuation: Some of our tendencies, traits, habits, talents and abilities can be carried over to the next life and the next, but not all of them. Our merit and good points may pass over. For instance our ability to meditate. Our kindness and our loving and compassionate nature may be carried over to future lives. However, intellectual abilities like our computer expertise may not. Our emotional memories are more likely to be carried over than the intellectual ones.

The Law of Consequences: Having free choice, we make mistakes as well as good deeds. Consequently, we receive negative and positive sequelae to make us responsible, and thereby we learn from these negative and positive responses. The lesson here is not to make the same mistakes. We should also learn that to hurt others we punish ourselves. In this way, life after life we learn to ascend the spiritual path.

The Law of Compensation: As we progress in our spiritual path, we have to experience innumerable facets of life. For instance, we must experience different races and take on different religions in order to round up our education. Then to know the extremes, we must change sex in different incarnations, and this practice must also include homosexual ones. In some lives we have to be physically strong and some weak. In some we have to be intellectually active and in others mentally subdued.

Definition of Reincarnation

Reincarnation must be properly defined. It is often mixed up with other terms. These are (1) Rebirth, (2) Metempsychosis, (3) Psychic collectivism, and (4) Pre-existence. Pre-existence was accepted in early Christianity. It postulates that there is a pre-existing soul. This soul is born in a human body, and after death returns to the spirit world. It is with exception that a soul is able to return to earth. This is no more the prevailing Christian view. Psychic collectivism embraces all ideas, which include that, the mind only becomes individualise when it enters a body at birth. After death this mind or soul is absorbed by the earth as vapour. This adds vitality to plants, animals and humans. This view state that the psychic field of vital energy is individualised temporarily at birth. Metempsychosis or transmigration means alternate incarnation of human and animals, or if one behaves badly one will incarnate into an animal. Rebirth or psychic transfer is discussed here in specific reference to Theravada Buddhism. This is because of the 'anatta' doctrine, which states that there is no soul or personality. At death, only the mental and psychic traits, characteristics and propensities return to a general pool. Then at the next rebirth these samskaras are issued to another personality who is not the old one. That means there is no individual soul or personality being transferred from the past life to the new one. The analogy given is that 'the light of a dying candle goes to lit another new candle'. This passing on of the baton does not speak of the intermission between death and life.

Materialism is another belief that has to be dealt with. This hypothesis states that there is no soul. In addition the mind including thoughts, concepts, emotions, feelings etc is a by-product of the body. When the body dies, the mind dies with it. There are no consequences, no responsibility, no improvement and no spiritual growth. There is no purpose to life: everything leads to nothing. The Epicureans are attuned to this concept.

Reincarnation: this hypothesis is the most likely situation. It postulates that there is a pre-existing soul before birth and continues after death. The soul incarnates hundreds or thousands of times, depending on which religion or philosophy one follows. The series of incarnations is to promote spiritual growth so that the soul can arrive finally at one with the universe. There are at least six facts that support the thesis of reincarnation:

(1) Near Death Experience.

(2) Out of Body Experience.

(3) Mediumship and channelling.

(4) Hypnosis and other forms of regression.

(5) Spontaneous past-life recalls.

(6) Induction by other techniques other than hypnosis.

Volumes of reputable research in various fields support the above facts with scientific authenticity. University professors and scientists have all researched thoroughly into these topics that they are now accepted without a shadow of a doubt. This article will now work on this premise that reincarnation is the valid hypothesis.

Historical and Geographical Background to the Belief in Reincarnation

Reincarnation is not solely an Eastern or particularly an Indian doctrine. Neither is it a well-defined one. Reincarnation has been loosely accepted by different cultures as a hotchpotch of ideas with false righteousness by the clergy to blackmail the flock into discipline. There is a fantastic amount of delusional speculation in the subject.

In a 1969 Gallop poll of Christians in the western countries, there were only 10 % to 26% of believers in reincarnation. Ten percent of the Dutch, 12% Swedish, 14% Norwegians, 18% English. 20% Americans, 22% Greeks, 23% French, 25% Germans and 26% Canadians believe in reincarnation. In 1980, 29% of the British believe in incarnation. This is a jump of 11% in ten years. In 1978, a TV poll in Brazil found 78% Brazilians believe in reincarnation!

These Western believers were presumably influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, certain African tribes, Druses etc. Further, the esoteric teachings of Theosophy, Spritualism, Spiritism of Allan Kardec and Anthroposophy all contribute towards this high percentage of western believers.

In Judaism, there is a strong belief in pre-existence, but a weak belief in reincarnation. In Christianity, with a background of pre-existence in some quarters, there are a few passages in the New Testament pointing towards reincarnation. There are passages found in St. Mark, St. Mathew, St Luke and St. John alluding to reincarnation. The obvious one is when Jesus said that John the Baptist was Elijah in a previous life. John 9:1-3 and John 17: 24 are good examples indicating belief in reincarnation.

The Second Council of Nicea in Constantinople in 533 AD did not meet to reject reincarnation. Its main purpose was to decide whether Christ consisted of one or two natures. A secondary consideration was to condemn the views of Origen, who strongly believed in pre-existence and thereby was sympathetic to reincarnation. When his views were condemned, it was erroneously concluded that the meeting was solely to reject his views on reincarnation. Therefore it can be seen that reincarnation was not the purpose of the council meeting. Origen's sympathetic bias towards reincarnation might not even have been on the agenda for discussion. Annie Besant and others initiated this erroneous speculation.

The subject of reincarnation is not explicitly discussed in Islam. Zoroaster, the Persian sage, managed to influence some Sufis towards reincarnation, but it is only for a few lives. It was the Sufi Jalal-Ud-Den-Rumni that taught the evolution of the soul through mineral, vegetable, animal to human and then to angel. The Druses, a partial Islamic sect, believe that the soul immediately re-enters a baby that is being reborn. The Jains believe that the soul is immediately connected to a conception. That is why under these circumstances, the last thought moments of a dying person is so important. Kabbala believes in pre-existence of the soul, which mostly has only one incarnation. This one incarnation is mainly for purification. If the individual fails he becomes a woman in the next life!

Modern philosophers, teachers and pundits all believe in reincarnation in a variety of permutations and combinations. Authors, musicians and artists and other famous thinkers also believe in reincarnation in some fashion or the other.

The subject is very complicating and there is no one finite view. Throughout this diversity and contradictions there is only one major theme of wanting to come back to earth. The religious tend to treat it as reward and punishment. The 'untouchables' in India are deemed to be punished for their bad behaviour in the past life. The esoteric sects believe it is for spiritual growth. The remainder takes it as a process of a universal law, which cannot to be avoided. Some religions deem it as punishment even for simple superstitious acts of neglecting religious rituals etc. This view is as wrong as the one concerning the untouchables. Another very erroneous view is that reincarnation is synonymous with fate or destiny. A wide range of estimates is seen in the number of incarnations of each individual. It ranges between a few in Persia to the Indian number of 840,000. Some teachings do not include intermissions i.e. periods between death and rebirth.

Theosophy: Theosophy has an elaborate doctrine, which has been greatly modified since its inception. It has a wide spectrum of esoteric teaching which involves involution of the monad (soul) and the evolution of the physical vehicle (body) simultaneously in one individual. It uses a language quite different from other esoteric disciplines. Theosophical viewpoints after much modification are now left vague and contradictory. However, these inconsistencies do not alter the theme of moralist karma, intermission and reincarnation. The three tenets of Theosophical thought on karma and reincarnation are (a) these are natural laws that cannot be redeemed; (b) they are for reward and punishment; (c) they a...