The Overview Of Different Religions
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
This following information can be somewhat misleading as it is general in scope and taken from references, rather than any deep study of the religious beliefs themselves. It is hoped, however, that it will present enough of an accurate overview with regard to the general beliefs as well as to any peculiarities relevant to the doctrine of reincarnation. Also, only those religions likely to be predominantly familiar in Western thinking, or essential to the development of reincarnationist doctrine are included.
Hinduism: Rather than the Buddha, Hindu’s follow the teachings of Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita. In the teachings of Krishna found here, the sum of life is of compassion and love, rooted not just in sentiment and emotion, but in spiritual knowledge. Such knowledge demonstrates the fundamental Oneness and eternality of all beings in their progression toward a higher life.
The Hindu view holds that spirit no more depends on the body it inhabits than body depends on the clothes it wears or the house it lives in. When we outgrow a suit or find our house too cramped we exchange these for ones that offer our bodies freer play. Hinduism rejects Western thinking (which finds its way even into Western views on reincarnation) that projects its problems and concerns to some source “out there”—even past lives. Hindus hold that our current state of being is ours and nothing more nor less than what we have chosen for our current state of growth. The cards we have been dealt are the ones that we have chosen, but we have freedom to play the hand any way we see fit.
A 1971 survey by India’s Illustrated Weekly magazine entitled, “Will Hinduism Survive?” offered a probing study at the prevailing trends of this religion. Insightful for our purposes is that, regarding the religion itself, it was found that much of the meaning in ritual had been lost and there was an overall antipathy to the sacred writings. It found, however, that Karma and reincarnation are more than mere dogma to them, but a living way of being “like the air they breathe.”
Sikhism: Beings are caught in the whirling wheel of samsara, involuntary births and deaths, because of self-identification with the body and its environment. “The aim of liberation is not to escape from the world of space and time but to be enlightened, wherever we may be. It is to live in this world knowing that it is divinely informed. For those who are no longer bound to the wheel of samsara, life on earth is centered in the bliss of eternity.”
Jainism: The Jains are a large religious body in India, and their teachings closely resemble Buddhism, but the religion predates it by many centuries. The Jainist’s claim that Gautama (the “Buddha” from whose teachings “Buddhism” derives) was actually a student disciple of one of their Mahatmas.
The Jainists believe that present life is nothing more than a link of the great chain of transmigratory circuit, and that the doctrine of karma is meaningless in the absence of a fully developed doctrine of transmigration. The soul is the entity to whom a collection of habits and shapes belong, but the soul is not to be understood through these habits and shapes (personality characteristic traits). In psychological parlay, personal immortality is impossible but individual immortality is one of the deepest truths of life.
Buddhism: Here it is important to point out several things: first, that Buddhism is not the following of the teachings of one particular individual, for Buddha, in Sanskrit, means only “one who is fully enlightened.” According to Buddhism, numerous Buddhas have appeared at suitable intervals, to teach students and to essentially reinvigorate and purify the teachings. Second, as with “Christianity,” not all Buddhist teaching is of the same accord. Just as one might find differences between Christian denominations, so with Buddhist teachings, albeit to a far lesser extent. The most major differences are between what is referred to as “Northern” and “Southern” Buddhism, owing its name to the geography of origin and practice.
Southern Buddhism: is also referred to as the “Doctrine of the Elders,” and this is what might also be referred to as “popular” Buddhism. This form of Buddhism is often read to imply that there is no passage of soul in any sense from one life to another. The Southern version, briefly, is that at death a man’s tendencies and traits of character are, by a chain reaction of cause and effect, reborn in some other person or individual, but without any connecting link of continuing ego.
Northern Buddhism: Northern Buddhism is said to have preserved the teaching given by Buddha to his initiated disciples. Within this teaching is the unmistakable teaching of the doctrine of permanent identity which unites all the incarnations of a single individual. Most adherents of this teaching propose that the doctrine of karma is rendered almost senseless if divorced from the idea of a reincarnating ego.
Another key distinction involves a reading of portion of text of the Buddha’s teaching, which reads, “death, utter death.” While the Southern Buddhists take this to mean that the chain of Karma was severed at the death of Buddha, and that Nirvana is an oblivion, the Northern Buddhists hold that this is a complete misreading of the text. To the Northern Buddhist, Karma endlessly continues, and the text in question involves Buddha entering Nirvana, eternal bliss of true Selfhood, and free from the cycle of reincarnation.
Tibetan Buddhism: This belief system is distinctive for its belief in the successive rebirths of the highest Lamas: the Dalai, the Panchen and some others. The most well known continuation of a soul through various incarnations is the idea that the Dalai Lama is the same soul, reborn over and over as the Dalai Lama, never any other role. This soul returns each lifetime with particular traits, like a particular cowlick in the hair, certain markings and remembrances of certain items that were possessed before in the previous life, and so on. After a Dalai Lama dies, an all out search ensues within a few years, scouring the country for the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama, the same soul. A little boy is always the subject of interest, but some have wondered if it is possible that the Dalai Lama might reincarnate as a female, and that perhaps the lineage has been broken. This has been a point of contention, and it is also wondered if the “real” Dalai Lama is really found each time around. There are often disagreements about who to pick, as there are usually several candidates. In the end, one little boy is selected to be the next Dalai Lama based on various tests. None the less, any little boy raised the way that a Dalai Lama would be raised is going to become a wise and kind being. Who knows if it is really the same soul reincarnating over and over again. The upbringing is the same, and the respect with which the little boy is treated creates a benevolent and wise man who helps his fellow humans. The modern day Dalai Lama, who lives outside of Tibet in order to avoid execution by the Chinese who have waged a war against Tibetan traditions, writes wonderful books and gives many talks and lectures that all portray the benevolent spirit of the Dalai Lama.
Personally, I would think a soul would be bored with reincarnating in the role in every lifetime, but perhaps this is not the case for the Dalai Lama. After all, it is a rather elevated role, and it isn’t as bad as some roles could be. For instance, no one would want to repeat the life of a poverty stricken peasant over and over again! The Dalai Lama role would be preferable.