Reincarnation

 

Reincarnation

One of the controversial subjects that plays a part in most mystical religions and philosophies is reincarnation. So, we may as well take a brief look at it. I came across the subject when I was still a teenager and took a temporary interest in it. I decided that it wasn't worth thinking about. My reasoning was that it didn't make any difference whether I would be reincarnated or not because that next incarnation was essentially a different person. If there was no memory of this life, then there was no continuity from one life to the next. I read the argument that an individual gradually becomes a better person over a series of lifetimes, until he can no longer benefit from being incarnated, at which point he attains permanently a higher state of existence. I had several problems with this doctrine. It didn't seem reasonable to expect someone to change for the better if he had no way of knowing which aspects of his character needed improvement, based on his behavior in past lives. Furthermore, if individuals were gradually becoming nicer, that evolution should be revealed in the behavior of mankind in general, at least to some slight degree. But if such evidence exists, it certainly isn't obvious, in view of the documented history of the most recent few centuries.

However, there was much evidence in support of reincarnation, as I discovered much later in life, when my interests were drawn to mysticism through the experiences of individuals that I had no reason to distrust. I read about those experiences, initially in the book Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation by Ian Stevenson. This work is still continuing at the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies. The concept is widely accepted throughout the majority of the mystical religions including Platonism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and in some form, certain elements of the Jewish and Christian communities.

It is rejected by materialists and the majority of Christian denominations, although there is evidence that it was accepted by some in the time of Jesus, and even by Jesus himself. A passage from the Gospel of John, Ch. 9 states: As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” If he had been born blind because of his own sins, he would have had a previous incarnation. Jesus replies that neither was the cause, but he doesn't refute the concept. 

Jesus's reply to the disciples' question is revealing. He says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him”. If God gave His children free will, then this man must have agreed to perform this service; that is, to be born blind so that this miracle could be performed, then that would provide a reason for his incarnation. But that reason would not be consistent with the thinking of the disciples, who thought he was being punished for past sins.

In fact, when discussing John the Baptist (Matt. 11:2,3) Jesus says: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come”. Later in Matt. 17:10-130 he elaborates on the subject even further, and seems to imply that Elijah comes periodically, as needed

The Eastern philosophy of karma sees reincarnation as a means of atoning for, and correcting, mistakes made in previous incarnations. In this way, one could gradually improve until he is free of error, and can attain a higher state of being. But it would be a mistake to believe that it is a matter of learning what to do and what not to do. In that case one would have to remember his wrongs from previous incarnations. It would make more sense to argue that it is not his actual deeds that are important, but the inner character that motivates those deeds. In that case it would not be necessary to remember past situations. If he can receive and accept instruction in one incarnation, and even between incarnations, then a subsequent incarnation might be looked on as a testing ground for the resulting change in his character and in his understanding.

But there are other explanations for the purpose of incarnation. According to Jesus, John the Baptist and the blind man each had a specific task to perform during his sojourn on earth. And of course he himself had a multiple mission, which he carried out, and then left.

We can go into those considerations in greater depth in subsequent posts, but for the present, let's think about the implications of the idea that each of us is an eternal nonphysical being, living multiple brief periods in various roles as an assortment of different bodies – all, presumably, to fulfill some ultimate long range goal. The first implication that comes to mind is that it validates the Buddhist maxim, “You don't have a soul; you are a soul; you have a body”. The body is merely a mechanism for carrying out whatever mission for which this one earthly life was intended. It follows that our attitude that the body is the only true reality and the soul is only a theoretical concept needs to be reversed, because the true life of the soul has become the eternal one, and the earthly one just a temporary role to play out the way that the free will of the soul chooses. We could engage in philosophical discussions about orders of reality. But we can't argue, as do some idealists, that the earthly life isn't real. It is a real something. It just isn't what it appears to be. After all, a game of Monopoly is real. It's a real game. But the buying and selling aren't real transactions. Eastern mystics often compare life in the physical world to a dream, which isn't what it seems to be; but it is something, and it can serve a useful purpose.

Even if one does accept the possibility of reincarnation, he doesn't have to accept it in its full generality. Perhaps there are some who remain spirits and are never incarnated, or who are incarnated only once, or who, like Elijah, only come at times of specific need. There are many possibilities. The overriding shift in point of view is from life as temporary to eternal. That is a huge shift.

There is one other point regarding the subject of reincarnation that I should mention. It appears that sometimes reincarnation occurs in pairs; that is, as “soul mates”.

Jung, in his book Memories, Dreams, Reflections, describes in detail a vivid dream about Elijah. I have summarized here an excerpt that pertains to our present subject:

“I caught sight of two figures, an old man with a white beard and a beautiful young girl. I . . . approached them as though they were real people, and listened attentively to what they told me. The old man explained that he was Elijah, and that gave me a shock. But the girl staggered me even more, for she called herself Salome! She was blind. What a strange couple: Salome and Elijah. But Elijah assured me that he and Salome had belonged together from all eternity, which completely astounded me.”

Jung would not have been so astonished if he had known that the man Elijah, in the dream was the same being as John the Baptist, because a relationship between John and Salome is clear from the story about them in the New Testament. So, apparently Jung didn't study the New Testament thoroughly, just as he failed to see the true meaning in the book of Job because he didn't study it carefully. In fact, the blindness of Salome does not symbolize her own ability to see, but to Jung's inability to understand her role.

Now there is a new consideration. If we take this dream seriously, it implies that the two of them appear periodically, in a kind of soulmate relationship – but not as we often think of soulmates. I have read of other couples that were convinced, through their dreams, that they were soulmates in the sense of appearing contemporaneously, but not always as lovers, or even friends, but perhaps in an adversarial relationship, as apparently was the situation with Salome and John the Baptist.

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