(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)

Written by Daniel Barnhart, MFA

Introduction

Reincarnation may be one of the oldest philosophical beliefs of mankind. Though Pythagoras is often erroneously credited with having "invented” the theory of reincarnation, it was already an old belief long before the Greeks.  The ancient Egyptians believed in some form of bodily reincarnation, as well as a type of physical afterlife. Although it later became tied to a "religious” connotation, the doctrine of reincarnation itself is practiced across many faiths, and perhaps just as widely believed as Truth divorced from any particular faith. Indeed, one of the fundamental problems of any discussion on reincarnation is the separation of the essential philosophy from the various Buddhas, Lamas, sages, mediums and the like who claim knowledge and insight into the process of reincarnation, yet offer wildly different views of the process and the possibilities. "A human soul can only be reborn as a human soul.” "The soul may regress under karmic law and be reborn as a beast or insect.” "Skills and abilities may be passed on through the rebirth.” "Skills and abilities are only characteristics of personality and not of the soul.”

Like any thing that has no tangible proof, especially matters of religion, the spiritual or occult, the definitive authorities disagree on many things. Yet to the billions of devotees only the essential matters—the chance to live again. It has been said man’s primal fear is of the unknown, and there is no greater unknown than death. Thus there is no greater fear. Science and medicine can go to great lengths to pacify our fears while the body is living, but when it ceases to exist then science and medicine inevitably give way to religion and philosophy to soothe the psyche as no medicine would. “Death and our attitudes toward it are man’s number one preoccupation. It is time we face up to it realistically in our Western Culture.” (Lewis Loeser)

The philosophy of rebirth is seen around us and so comes to mind naturally as a reassurance. It has a seeming "rightness” to it. We see the cycles of the seasons, spring returning, plants producing fruit; the sun disappears every night and reappears at dawn. So, we see hopes projected onto our visions of the old Gods; essentially physical beings, but immortal. To the mortal, then, is there chance for immortality?
Much misunderstanding has surrounded reincarnation, partly through the fear and dogma of the Christian Church, but also through popular texts and teachings that stem particularly from the widespread Southern Buddhism (which is found to be a corruption of the original teachings of Buddha known generically as Northern Buddhism.) Though Buddhism itself is not the earliest or necessarily most profound authority on the subject, it is nonetheless the most common source of contact in the Western world, owing probably to numbers of high-profile celebrities (like the Beatles) that first publicly explored its teachings.

When confronting a subject without empirical data to support one claim over another, and especially if that subject touches on the communal fears, faiths and curiosities surrounding every culture, as such questions of the meaning of life and the existence of an afterlife undoubtedly do, it is inevitable that at some moment the researcher must rely upon his or her own intuition to come to a judgment. For that reason, I deem it best to avoid making any claims or judgments, but merely to present the findings of others, albeit with an eye toward any inconsistencies or breakdown in argument. That is to say, that while one may see an apple tree, one cannot necessarily claim the presence of "fruit” in a rush to support one’s desire to prove the existence of "fruit.” Unfortunately, and most especially in cases of religion and thoughts about death and the afterlife, hope for a bright and comforting solution often leads to belief, and even faith, by making grand leaps of logic. Only afterward are the holes filled with the substance of storied solutions that utterly confound the thinking of those not holding the belief or faith necessary to overlook fantastic inconsistency. An even cursory review of the rituals, tenets and dogma of the many denominations and religions of the world will attest to this fact. For instance, as we have become more "civilized,” the practice of gaining an enemy’s strength by eating their heart (or various parts of the body), which has been a faith-based practice in any number of cultures, seems an incomprehensible barbarism to those not sharing the beliefs or doctrines of that particular faith.

Along with the healthy dose of skepticism one might also be encouraged to note the irrationality of many traditional faiths to explore ideas such as reincarnation in any thoughtful, logical way. As British physicist Raynor Johnson remarks in The Imprisoned Splendour; " …frequently, religious minded people feel antagonistic, as though some strange pagan faith were subtly menacing their cherished beliefs.” And the Westerner who has not deeply explored or considered the matter often has, " …a reticence that does not match his knowledge.” "The idea of reincarnation presents no logical difficulties, whatever be the emotional reaction to it [emphasis added]. What the soul has done once by the process of incarnation in a physical body, it can presumably do again.”

This argument silences the rational basis upon which the physical or spiritual possibility of reincarnation can be disputed, although it does open the door for another argument, and that is the suppositional starting point of the reality of a material, three dimensional plane of existence in the first place. While the point will be taken up again later, suffice to say that all theories and beliefs based on reincarnation start from the standpoint that the material existence is both real and valid. Pure metaphysics would contend that the material existence is merely an illusory state which, though seeming "real” to our unenlightened consciousness, is no part of Reality and that our true existence is and ever was unfolding in a spiritual realm only.

In order to adequately discuss this topic, one has to go beyond the normal realms of pop literature. While present day culture insures that the bookstores are flooded with talks of past lives, astral projections, near death experiences and such, one should remain distinctly aware of the differences between a market-commodity account of one person’s thoughts and experiences, and that of studied and informed literature and teaching. Aside from Shirley Maclaine’s books, one of the most popular books ever read on the subject of after-life is a book titled Embraced By The Light (1992) by Betty Eadie. In this case, "popular” refers to "widely read in the United States.” That is to say that this book was widely embraced by the public, including (for the most part) the Christian Churches. That may be in a large part due to the fact that Ms. Eadie describes her death, the tunnel of bright light, etc… (such things as are now considered common to the experience), however Ms. Eadie actually meets Jesus, dressed in a monk’s robe.

Now while we do not dispute Ms. Eadie’s experience or her conviction, it must be pointed out that, in the large body of work reviewed for this course, no one else relates meeting Jesus. This point is made only because while unquestionably Ms. Eadie had an experience, in whatever actually occurred she must have brought some of her own convictions into play. That is, either intentionally or unintentionally, her consciousness helped to shape the experience. This caveat is essential to keep in mind when reviewing all accounts and experiences.

So, the literature reviewed for this course is varied from the Bhagavad-Gita to the Bible, from the writings of Edgar Cayce to the scientific case studies of Dr. Ian Stevenson. Needless to say again, not all is in agreement, but all is thought provoking and necessary to any serious exploration. We attempt to present here as widely but clearly as possible the teachings of various thought on reincarnation. It is, in itself, a simply grasped concept, but its intricacies and belief in application are varied. Guiding and shaping it all is the desire to find an assurance of life eternal and the way thereof.

A final note as to the construction of this research: in some instances the research was too “dense” and demanding to compile it by subject, as in, for example, the section on Karma. In such cases, and especially where there are extremely distinguishing variations, you will find the material separated by author or religious philosophy, or, if there is a particular voice making a counter or contrary claim regarding the particular concept, that author or writing is separately distinguished. As an example here, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which has been a base for many subsequent philosophies or interpretations, is presented in its own subsection dealing with several topics around reincarnation.