Conclusion
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Obviously there is no definitive conclusion to the question of reincarnation. As suggested at the outset, one cannot know fully or completely of the mysteries of life and the life beyond except by intuition. Certainly enough writings and phenomena have suggested themselves to make us sure that what we suspect is not all that there is to know. Just as everyone once “knew” and accepted that the earth was flat, so too are we in a state where our assumptions might be wrong, but they might be right.
From the verifiable accounts of Dr. Ian Stevenson, to the accumulation of anecdotal evidence, one can be assured that what is often considered “traditional” doctrine of the Western Christian Church is intentionally limited. As it was intentionally limited centuries ago, those doctrines and attitudes have been carried forward and permeate much of our thinking about reincarnation and life after death, the creator, and the soul. Even aside from strictly religious thinking, our society, based as it was and continues to be, on the foundations of the Western Christian Church, is permeated with a sort of built-in resistance to any deep or critical thinking about issues where “authority” has spoken and defined truth. We see this at play in the political arena, and we must be aware of its insidious nature within the personal and spiritual arena as well. Listen to your own inner wisdom and look to no other person for the answer to whether reincarnation is real or not. Let your heart speak and see what you find out in your meditations.