reincarnation
Uploaded by nkotb90210 on Mar 26, 2004
Do human beings live only once, or are we granted the opportunity to return after death and experience many different lives? Reincarnation is an anglicized word of Latin derivation, meaning "reinfleshment," the coming again into a human body of an excarnate soul. Today approximately 30 million Americans, one in four, believe in reincarnation. The process of reincarnation is the continual rebirth in human bodies, which allegedly continues until the soul has reached a state of perfection and merges back with its source, either God or the universal Soul. The question of reincarnation has been examined for thousands of years and has been embraced to varying degrees by numerous religions. Although to some people the idea of reincarnation is ridiculous, others would call this reaction uneducated and boneheaded (Bache, 27). I will show evidence of evoked and spontaneous cases which, in light of my personal experiences, are creditable.
The ideas of reincarnation are not concrete and can be difficult for present day culture to grasp. Many scholars point toward Hinduism as one of the earliest religions to offer explanations of reincarnation. Hinduism, originating sometime during the ninth century BCE, is the most ancient of the surviving great religions. The adoption of the belief in rebirth can be found in Hindu scriptures dating around 600 BCE. As time progressed, suggestions of reincarnation began to be found in Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, and Christianity (Ludwig 31). Though all of these religions do not fully embrace or teach the theory of rebirth, they do reflect a great desire among diverse beliefs and lifestyles to know what happens after death.
With regard to the search about what transpires posthumously, many people see reincarnation as an explanation for many of the great questions about life. Such as, why do we suffer? Does life have meaning? How do we explain child prodigies? Are memories about past lives valid? The following discussion of how the theory of rebirth can answer some of life’s most difficult questions will provide supportive evidence collected throughout the years to appeal to Western minds that find the idea of multiple lives difficult to accept or grasp. “For better or for worse, we are a culture that deeply values the weight of evidence” (Bache 17). Religion in the Western regions of the world is predominately Christian. Among the people practicing...