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"The Pathways of the Soul: a Reflection upon the Implications of Reincarnation"

"The Pathways of the Soul:
A reflection upon the implications of Reincarnation."


Transmigration, Metempsychosis or Reincarnation. These are concepts that, while slightly different, address a common belief, that the soul not only is eternal, but is capable of permuting bodies. The term reincarnation means "to be made flesh again", while the other terms address the possibility of a human soul to manifest in another forms other than human, which can be animal, plant or inanimate, after the physical body perishes. (Collier's)

While common in many religions and philosophies, theories of reincarnation are rigorously absent from Christian and Jewish belief, although such absence is disputable, regarding certain passages of the sacred texts. Similarly, the case of mainstream science has been consistently of promoting an unbounded skepticism regarding reincarnation, (and even the transcendental nature of the soul, to a degree) but this a tendency that can be assessed more as a reflex of our western materialistic worldview than anything else.

On the other side, eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism present quite developed perspectives pertaining this supposed phenomena. Also, many ancient tribes such as Australian aborigines tend to believe that every newborn child is an embodiment of their ancestors' spirits. A discussion of this matter can also be tracked down to Ancient Greece, and it's an important subject in the writings of Plato, for instance. Furthermore, many contemporary esoteric trends such as Spiritism, Scientology, Theosophy and New Age exhibit a full compliance to such beliefs, as they are actually based upon the idea of reincarnation. (wiki).

Should we begin this analysis with the favorable positions, one of the most consistent is likely to be found in the Dharmic religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Dharma is a metaphor for the wheel of death and rebirth, a cycle that repeats indefinitely until the spirit is cleansed, or enlightened, and in such remembrance returns to the Source from where it had come in the first place, joining God. This cycle represents the ascent of the soul, and it is implied that in its course, the soul experiences many bodies, and many lives.

This is a very instrumental notion, in such religions. For instance, the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, is chosen by the Panchen Lama, an embodied spirit whose main purpose is to recognize the leader's whereabouts in the present incarnation, trough dreams and visions. Although such methods of election seem odd in our western perspective, the matter of fact is that the present Panchen Lama is currently held captive by the government of China, with the intent of subduing the Tibetan people, by preventing the revelation of whom the next spiritual leader will be (a task that only the Panchen Lama can hope to accomplish).

In western culture, there is a widespread debate on concepts such as past lives regression, near death experiences, past memories etc.; all of which have been assessed scientifically to different degrees, despite the reluctance of mainstream science, who often dismisses such attempts as undignified, unscientific pursuits, despite the evidences that such efforts provide, which sometimes can be quite baffling and convincing.
This matter is cause of a great controversy, but for some people, the belief in reincarnation is merely internal and empirical, and translates a higher belief in the transcendence of the soul over the body; these people know they're more than flesh, and acknowledge a part in them which is eternal. Some people actually claim to remember past lives experiences (naturally or as a result of a traumatic experience, such as a near death). Furthermore, there seems to be nowadays a steadily increasing number of children who claim recollections of past lives, and even of the process of reincarnation itself (which is consistently described as deliberate, meaning that it is the soul sets a plan and decides where it will be appropriate to manifest in the next life, and under which terms). One of the most detailed collections of such reports is to be found in Ian Stevenson's books, such as "Reincarnation and Biology: A contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects".

Plato was possibly the most important classical author, who defended these concepts, as he integrated the theme of reincarnation and the nature of the Soul in several of his greatest works; without his contribute, it is very likely that this subject wouldn't be taken half as seriously as it is today. For instance, in the ending of the "Republic", he exposes the myth of Er, who returned to life after 12 days of death, with a rapport of the secrets of the world, above as below.

According to Platonic philosophy, souls are fixed in number. New births don't imply the creation of a new soul, but rather the transmigration of an old one. Hence the classical notion that we don't acquire knowledge, but instead remember what we intrinsically knew, and sequentially forgot as a result of the distress of birth.

When discussing views that are contrary to reincarnation, arguments that are likely to manifest frequently are in nature mostly Christian, Jewish, or plainly denotative of scientific skepticism. Oddly enough, most of these arguments seem to be lopsided and easily refutable, however impartial one may want to be. For instance, one common argument is that if reincarnation is real, people should remember details from previous lives. But the matter of fact is some people do remember details from their past lives. One straight example is the aforementioned studies of Dr. Stevenson, or the Tibetan Panchen Lama, whose role is to recall where the next Dalai Lama will reincarnate, and in whom.

But if one seeks scientific evidence, one can just as easily find it:
A Good point in case lies in the work of Dr. Brian Weiss, a respected psychologist whose work has focused on the consistent documentations of past life experiences from his patients. In his book "Many lives, many masters", the author expresses his own astonishment at what he discovered, since he was originally quite skeptical. Up until the time when, dealing with a troublesome patient, he decided to recur to hypnotherapy as something of a last resort; so as he had the patient regress to his early years, he ended up gaining further access, into a previous life; and it was there he found the cure, as the patient was apparently suffering from residual trauma in the present as a consequence of a cruel death in the other life.

Dr. Weiss' body of work has undertook from that time a major shifting point, as he begun further inquiry into similar scenarios, building an amazing documentation and insight of the relevance of past life trauma in present life psychological disturbance.

Other arguments opposite to the concept of reincarnation are expressive of typical religious narrow-mindedness.

For example, Hasdai Grascar, a Jewish Rabi from the Middle age, summarized his opposition in three points:
People will be discouraged to be good in present life if they feel they can be punished by behaviors they undertook in a past life, trough identities which in time have dissolved; conversely, they may simply assume they have been virtuous in past lives, and refrain from doing their best in the present life. Further, if God is to resurrect the Souls and bodies of the dead, at the end of days, how can he manage that unless the soul is settled?
Other similar religious skepticisms would be: "Why would God need to send a Soul over again if he could just extend one's life until he has either atone for his sins or achieved perfection?", Also, there's a claim that the whole concept of reincarnation is absent from the Bible. This is poor reasoning, once we consider passages of the Holy Scripture such as Matthew 16:13-14, where Jesus asks his disciples, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' And they said, 'Some say that you are John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the other prophets.' I, for one, find it very hard not to associate such a reply with an ingrained belief in reincarnation. And still, the conservative body of Christianity insists in dismissing such beliefs as heretical, an attitude that sounds quite odd, once we consider references such as this. In other holy texts there are similar references that could be interpreted as a testament to reincarnation; but such interpretations are consistently discouraged by the corresponding religions. It's obvious that not only they don't believe in this idea, but they fear that people may believe, and this is quite odd.

Skeptics also tend to dismiss past lives memories as mere imagination, but that's generally what skeptics do: Contrary to anything mystical or ethereal, they embrace only that which they can touch, and reject the rest as the fruits of fancy. The main reasoning behind the rejection of reincarnation seems to be of the kind "it can't be true because we all know it can't be true", while on the opposite side, there are some very concise argumentations supporting such belief. And it's understandably so, because if the transmigration of souls really is true, then it stands as a proof of how our understanding of life and reality, and ourselves is quite limited.

Ultimately, I believe reincarnation is an overwhelming concept, as it requires one to leave the comfort of his ready-made conceptions of reality and venture into the mysteries of the unknown. Such a decision is seldom easy, but as a matter of fact, and in light of the evidences, I believe it's a decision that, once taken, will forward one to a personal search that will provide a considerable insight on the purpose of self and mankind.







Works Cited:

Holy Bible
Plato, the Republic
"Reincarnation" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reincarnation>
Stevenson, I. Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects
"Transmigration" Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol 22
Weiss, Brian L. 1996. Many Lives, Many Masters
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Posted by: Natalie Saturday

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