The followers of this religion believe in the transmigration of souls. World religions confirm the reincarnation of the soul
Reincarnation in Islam, Christianity and other world religions is far from the last place, as is sometimes believed. Learn about the attitude towards the transmigration of souls after the death of representatives of various religious denominations.
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Reincarnation in Islam
It is generally accepted that reincarnation in Islam, as in most orthodox world beliefs, does not exist. Most Muslims hold traditional views on life after death. Few seek to get acquainted with the works of Muslim mystics, who were engaged in deciphering the lines of the Koran devoted to the problem of rebirth in the afterlife.
There is no transparent information about reincarnation in the Quran, and it is generally accepted that Mahomet did not say anything on the subject. This source casually touches on the issues of the rebirth of the spirit after the destruction of the physical body. However, like any other religions, Islam teaches that God did not create man for him to die. The Qur'an contains thoughts of rebirth and renewal. Here is how one of the verses of the scripture sounds:
He is the one who gave life to you, and He will send death to you and then life again.
It's easy to guess that we are talking about Allah. There are several other lines from the Qur'an that also speak of reincarnation, but at the same time serve as a warning to idolaters:
Allah created you, gave you care, and by His will you will die, and then you will live again. Are the idols you call gods able to give you the same? Glory be to Allah!
And although these lines transparently hint at the possibility in a renewed physical body, they are usually interpreted as promises of resurrection. In general, all references to the resurrection in the Qur'an are somehow related to the issue of reincarnation and can be interpreted precisely as promises of rebirth, not resurrection.
Islamic teaching presents a person as a soul capable of resurrecting in the form of a spirit. Bodies are constantly being created and destroyed, but the soul is immortal. After the death of the body, it can be resurrected in another, which is reincarnation. Sufis and other Muslim mystics interpret the Qur'an in this way.
If you believe the interpretations of the Koran, which are considered traditional, after death the human soul goes to the angelic court. Angels in Islam are messengers of Allah. They send the infidels to Jahannam, which can be called an analogy of hell - this is a place for eternal torment after death. Despite the fact that some interpretations of the Koran assure that you can get there only after Sunday, it is generally accepted that the soul goes there after death.
Worthy devout Muslims do not fall into the judgment of angels. Angels come for their souls and escort them to the Gardens of Eden. The true reward for sinlessness awaits them only after the resurrection, but they expect it in a more pleasant atmosphere than the unbelievers. In addition, there are Islamic angels who conduct the so-called judgment in the grave. It is an interrogation about good and evil deeds, and it takes place right in the grave of the buried. There is even a tradition - relatives whisper advice in the ear of the deceased, which should help him in this court and get into Muslim paradise. These are generally accepted beliefs regarding the afterlife in Islam.
At the same time, it is known that the Sufis considered the idea of reincarnation to be a fundamental principle of faith in afterlife. The teachings of the Syrian Sufis - Druses - were built on it. AT recent times it is these principles that influence the opinion of orthodox Muslims. The wisdom of the Sufis is considered lost, but it is known that their teachings had a powerful connection with ancient religious beliefs.
It is difficult to judge what is heresy and what is the correct interpretation of the Koran. That's what he himself said Mahomet:
The Qur'an was sent down in seven languages, and each of its verses has both a clear and a secret meaning. God's messenger gave me a double understanding. And I teach only one of them, because if I also open the other, this understanding would tear their throats.
Looking for esoteric meaning in the Qur'an, with that in mind, does make sense. secret meaning his texts contained information about reincarnation and many other interesting phenomena. However, over time it was forgotten. For some time, the doctrine of reincarnation and rebirth, the principles of the afterlife of which differed from the traditional ones, were considered heretical.
Belief in the transmigration of souls does not endanger a Muslim. Despite this, the reputation of a heretic is feared by many, and on this moment Reincarnation in Islam is treated exclusively as part of the Sufi tradition. Many theologians note that the idea of reincarnation is able to reconcile Muslim morality with religious teachings. The suffering of innocent people can be found in the form of sins committed in past lives.
Reincarnation in Christianity
Reincarnation in Christianity is recognized as a non-existent phenomenon, designed to confuse the mind of a God-fearing person and plunge him into sin. From the first centuries of its existence, this religious teaching rejects the possibility of the soul transmigrating into a new physical body after death. According to its founding principles, after the death of the physical body, the soul waits Doomsday and the second coming of Jesus Christ, followed by the resurrection of all the dead.
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment is performed on all people who lived at different times. His goal is to divide them into sinners and righteous. Almost everyone knows that sinners will go to hell, and the righteous will enjoy eternal pleasure in paradise - the kingdom inhabited by God. The human soul lives only one life in one body. After the Day of Judgment, their bodies will be restored, the resurrection will be just bodily.
The idea that Christianity and reincarnation are teachings that went hand in hand at the very beginning of the birth of the Christian faith was introduced. She accepted the idea of reincarnation as the fundamental principle of the structure of the Universe, since in one way or another it is inherent in all the religious teachings of the world. Helena Blavatsky was sure that the presence of the idea of reincarnation in Christianity was deliberately hidden by unscrupulous popularizers of this religious doctrine. According to her, initially the teachings of Jesus Christ contained the idea of the transmigration of souls.
Council of Nicaea 325
It is considered that before First Council of Nicaea 325 reincarnation was present in Christianity. Blavatsky, on the other hand, claimed that this idea was canceled during Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553. One way or another, the transmigration of souls disappeared from sacred Christian texts in the first century after Christ. Theosophists of the 10th-20th centuries and adherents of the New Age movement agree with this concept. Most of them agree with Blavatsky about the common sacred layer of all religious teachings.
The search for the idea of reincarnation in Orthodoxy and Catholicism is usually explained by the importance of this concept in the system of occult ideas about the reality surrounding each person. In addition, it is customary to deny the importance of Christian sources in principle. During the First Council of Nicaea in 325, it was determined by a majority vote of those assembled that Jesus Christ is God. After that, believers everywhere began to worship his dying image. However, Jesus Christ justified his mission quite clearly:
I have been sent down to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
However, after his death, it was decided to declare Jesus Christ the savior of all mankind, and not the Jewish people. Reincarnation was originally present in the Bible, but after the Council of Nicaea, all references to this phenomenon disappeared - they were replaced by ideas about eternal existence in hell or heaven and the only possible salvation through Jesus Christ.
Reincarnation in Buddhism
The possibility of reincarnation in Buddhism is quite clearly emphasized by the words buddha:
Take a look at your condition today and you will know what you did in a past life. Take a look at your deeds today and you will know your condition in the next life.
The idea of repeated rebirths of character for this religious teaching. The purpose of rebirth is the perfection of a person, without which it is impossible to achieve enlightenment. This path to enlightenment lasts for more than one thousand years - it is impossible to become enlightened in one human life. In Buddhism, life after death is possible in one of the five worlds - hell, spirits, animals, people and celestials. The world into which a particular soul enters depends on its desire and karma. The principle of karma, if you do not go into details, is simple - everyone gets what he deserved with his deeds in previous incarnations.
Bad deeds will have to be worked out in the next incarnation in order to eventually achieve enlightenment. There is such a thing as "bad karma". This means that fate constantly sends punishment to a person for the deeds of his past incarnation. Good deeds lead to enlightenment Full time job guarantees over itself happy life. As one of the ancient Buddhist texts says:
The Bodhisattva with his Divine eyes, which saw much more than is available to man, saw how every life died and was reborn again - lower and higher castes, with sad and solemn destinies, with a worthy or low origin. He was able to discern how karma affects the rebirth of living beings.
The Buddha said, "Ah! There are thinking beings who do unskillful things with the body, who do not speak and mind, and who hold erroneous views. When death overtakes them and their bodies become useless, they are again born weak, poor, and sink lower. But there are others who perform skillful deeds of the body, master of speech and mind, and follow the right views. When death overtakes them and their bodies become useless, they are born again - with a happy fate, in the heavenly worlds.
Buddhists great importance are assigned to deliverance from the fear of death and attachment to the physical body. They represent the latter as an aging and dying receptacle of the immortal human spirit. The bodily perception of life is what prevents true enlightenment. Enlightenment is also called a holistic awareness of reality. Upon reaching it, a person opens up a complete picture of the structure of the Universe.
Reincarnation in Judaism
Reincarnation in Judaism is not a concept alien to this religious teaching. However, the attitude towards it in the religious philosophy of the Jews and their mystical teachings is different. The main source in Judaism is the Old Testament. He does not speak about the phenomenon of transmigration of the soul after death, however, it is implied in many episodes. Old Testament. For example, there is a saying prophet Jeremiah:
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you: I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
It follows from it that the Lord formed an opinion about the prophet even before he was in the mother's womb. He gave him a mission, based on the level of spiritual development of the prophet Jeremiah, as well as his qualities and abilities. In other words, he managed to manifest himself even before birth, which means that this was not his first incarnation on Earth or in some other world. Jeremiah, on the other hand, had no memory of what caused the Lord to choose to carry out the mission.
Some points of the Old Testament are completely impossible to understand if not correlated with the concept of reincarnation. Good example- saying King Solomon:
Woe to you, atheists who have renounced the law of the supreme Lord! For when you are born, you will be born to be cursed.
King Solomon addresses the godless, who will be damned, apparently, after their next birth in a new incarnation. They will only be punished after they are born again. It is impossible not to draw an analogy between the words of Solomon and the Eastern doctrine of karma, which also promises punishment for bad deeds in the next life.
The word “reincarnation” is translated as “re-incarnation”. The theory of reincarnation includes two components:
- The soul, not the body, is the true essence of man. This position is consistent with the Christian worldview and is rejected by materialism.
- After the death of the body, the soul of a person incarnates in a new body after a certain period of time. Each of us has lived many lives on Earth and has experiences that go beyond the current life.
Identification with the body causes a person to experience a strong fear of death. After all, after it, he will completely disappear, and all his works will be meaningless. It makes people act like death doesn't exist at all. In order to distract from the idea of the finiteness of their existence and the lack of meaning in life, people try to forget themselves in fleeting affairs and entertainment. It can be a focus on your family or a strong immersion in work. A person can also resort to such dangerous entertainments as drug use. Belief in the finiteness of life forms a spiritual vacuum in people's hearts. Faith in the eternal nature of the soul allows you to rediscover the meaning of life.
Reincarnation is a law that applies to a person regardless of his faith. The doctrine of reincarnation says that a person is responsible for his own actions. The subsequent birth depends on his deeds in previous lives. Thus, justice is established, and the difficult circumstances of the life of those who have not yet had time to sin are explained. The subsequent incarnation allows the soul to correct its mistakes and go beyond limiting ideas. The very idea of continuous soul training is inspiring. We can get rid of obsession with current affairs, find a new perspective on difficult and depressing situations. With the help of abilities developed in past births, the soul gets the opportunity to overcome those problems that were not resolved before.
Many of us do not have memories of our past lives. There may be two reasons for this:
- We have been taught not to remember them. If the family belongs to another faith or one of the family members is an atheist, then such memories will be suppressed. A child's statement about the details of a past life can be perceived as fiction or even as mental disorder. Thus, the child learns to hide his memories, and subsequently forgets them himself.
- Memories can be difficult or shocking. They can prevent us from maintaining our identity in the current life. We can not stand them and really go crazy.
The idea of reincarnation has been supported by various scientists and sages for thousands of years. At the moment, the doctrine of reincarnation is largely preserved in Hinduism. Many travel to India to get in touch with this religion and get a spiritual experience. However, there were also followers of this theory in the West. Below we will consider the great personalities of different historical periods, supporting soul reincarnation theory.
The doctrine of transmigration of souls in the religions of the East
The doctrine of reincarnation is central to many Indian religions. It is also present in Buddhism. For representatives of Eastern creeds, the idea of reincarnation is natural.
The concept of reincarnation of souls is central to Hinduism. It is written about him in sacred texts: in the Vedas and Upanishads. In the Bhagavad Gita, which contains the essence of Hinduism, reincarnation is compared to changing old clothes for new ones.
Hinduism teaches that our soul is in a constant cycle of birth and death. After many births, she becomes disillusioned with material enjoyment and seeks supreme source happiness. Spiritual practice allows us to realize that our true Self is a soul, and not a temporary body. When material desires cease to control it, the soul leaves the cycle and moves to the spiritual world.
In Buddhism, it is stated that there are five levels on which one can incarnate: the inhabitants of hell, animals, spirits, people and deities. The conditions in which the soul will be born next time depend on its activity. The process of rebirth continues until the being disintegrates or reaches the void, which is accessible to few. Jatakas (ancient Indian parables) tell about 547 births of the Buddha. He embodied in different worlds helping to gain liberation for their inhabitants.
Reincarnation in the philosophy of ancient Greece
AT Ancient Greece adherents of the concept of reincarnation were Pythagoras and his followers. Now the merits of Pythagoras and his school in mathematics and cosmology are recognized. We all know the Pythagorean theorem from school. But Pythagoras also became famous as a philosopher. According to Pythagoras, the soul comes from heaven into the body of a person or animal and incarnates until it receives the right to return. The philosopher claimed to remember his previous incarnations.
Another representative of the philosophers in ancient Greece, Empedocles, outlined the theory of the transmigration of souls in the poem "Purification".
The famous philosopher Plato was also a supporter of the concept of reincarnation. Plato wrote the famous dialogues, where he conveys conversations with his teacher Socrates, who did not leave his own works. In the Phaedo dialogue, Plato writes on behalf of Socrates that our soul can come to earth again in a human body or in the form of animals, plants. The soul descends from heaven and is first born in a human body. Degrading, the soul passes into the shell of the animal. In the process of development, the soul again appears in the human body and gets the opportunity to gain freedom. Depending on the shortcomings to which a person is subject, the soul can incarnate in an animal of the corresponding type.
The doctrine of reincarnation was also adhered to by Plotinus, the founder of the Neoplatonist school. Plotinus argued that a man who killed his mother would in his next birth become a woman who would be killed by his son.
Early Christianity
Modern Christian teaching asserts that the soul incarnates only once. It seems that this has always been the case. However, there are opinions that early Christianity favored the idea of reincarnation. Among those who supported this idea was Origen, a Greek theologian and philosopher.
Origen had great authority among his contemporaries and became the founder of Christian science. His ideas have influenced both Eastern and Western theology. Origen studied for 5 years with the Neoplatonist Ammonius Sax. At the same time, Plotinus studied with Ammonius. Origen said that the Bible includes three levels: bodily, mental and spiritual. The Bible cannot be interpreted literally, because in addition to a specific meaning, it carries a secret message that is not accessible to everyone. About 230 AD e. Origen created an exposition of Christian philosophy in the treatise On the Beginnings. In it, he also writes about reincarnation. The philosopher wrote that souls inclined to evil can be born in the shell of an animal and even a plant. Having corrected their mistakes, they rise up and gain the Kingdom of Heaven again. The soul enters the world with the power of victories or weakened by the defeats of the previous incarnation. The actions a person performs in this life predetermine the circumstances of birth in the next.
In 553, the theory of the reincarnation of souls was condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council. The cathedral was founded by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. By means of a vote, the members of the council decided whether Origenism was acceptable for Christians. The entire voting process was under the control of the emperor, some of the votes were falsified. Origen's theory was anathematized.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
During this period, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls develops in Kabbalah - an esoteric trend in Judaism. Kabbalah spread in the XII-XIII centuries. Medieval Kabbalists identified three types of migration. Birth in a new body was designated by the term "gilgul". In the description of gilgul, Jewish texts are similar to Hinduism. The book "Zohar" says that the subsequent birth is determined by what addictions a person had in the previous one. The last thoughts before death also affect him. Kabbalah also mentions two other types of reincarnation: when the soul moves into an already existing body with evil or good thoughts.
Among other figures of that time, the concept was adhered to by Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher. From the school curriculum, we know that he supported the heliocentric views of Copernicus, for which he was burned at the stake. However, few people know that he was sentenced to be burned not only for this. Bruno said that the human soul after the death of the body can return to earth in another body. Or go further and travel through the many worlds that exist in the universe. Man's salvation is not determined by his relationship with the Church, but depends on a direct relationship with God.
new time
In modern times, the concept of reincarnation was developed by Leibniz. This manifested itself in his theory of monads. The philosopher argued that the world consists of substances called monads. Every monad is a microcosm and is at its stage of development. Depending on the stage of development, a monad has a connection with a different number of lower-level monads subordinate to it. This connection forms a new complex substance. Death is the separation of the main monad from the subordinates. Thus, death and birth are identical to the usual metabolism that occurs in a living being in the process of life. Only in the case of reincarnation does the exchange have the character of a leap.
The theory of reincarnation was developed by Charles Bonnet. He believed that at the time of death the soul retains a part of its body and then develops a new one. Supported her and Goethe . Goethe said that the concept of activity convinces him of the correctness of the theory of the transmigration of souls. If a person works tirelessly, then nature must give him new form life, when the current one cannot hold his spirit.
Arthur Schopenhauer was also a supporter of the theory of reincarnation. Schopenhauer expressed his admiration for Indian philosophy and said that the creators of the Vedas and Upanishads realized the essence of things more clearly and deeply than weakened generations. Here are his reflections on the eternity of the soul:
- The belief that we are inaccessible to death, carried by each of us, comes from the awareness of our originality and eternity.
- Life after death is no more incomprehensible than the present life. If the possibility of existence is open in the present, then it will be open in the future. Death cannot destroy more than we had at birth.
- There is an existence which cannot be destroyed by death. It existed forever before birth and will forever exist after death. To demand the immortality of the individual consciousness, which is destroyed along with the death of the body, means to desire the constant repetition of the same mistake. It is not enough for a person to move to a better world. There needs to be a change within him.
- The belief that the spirit of love will never disappear has a deep foundation.
XIX-XX centuries
Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who developed the theory of the collective unconscious, also believed in reincarnation. Jung used the concept of the eternal "I", which is born again, to comprehend his deepest secrets.
The well-known political leader Mahatma Gandhi said that the concept of reincarnation supported him in his activities. He believed that if not in this, then in another incarnation, his dream of universal peace would come true. Mahatma Gandhi was not only the political leader of India. He was also her spiritual leader. Following his ideals made Gandhi a real authority. Gandhi's worldview was formed thanks to the understanding of the Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi rejected any form of violence. Gandhi did not distinguish between mere service and prestigious work.
He cleaned the toilets himself. Among the many merits of Gandhi, the main ones are:
- Gandhi made a decisive contribution to improving the situation of the untouchables. He did not go to those temples where the untouchables were forbidden to enter. Thanks to his sermons, laws were passed that prevented the humiliation of the lower castes.
- Ensuring the independence of India from Great Britain. Gandhi acted with the tactics of civil disobedience. The Indians had to give up the titles that Great Britain gave, jobs in the civil service, in the police, in the army and from the purchase of English goods. In 1947, Britain itself gave independence to India.
Russia
L.N. Tolstoy is a widely known Russian writer. Many of his works were studied at school. However, few people know that Tolstoy was interested in Vedic philosophy and studied the Bhagavad Gita. Leo Tolstoy recognized the doctrine of reincarnation. Speaking about life after death, Tolstoy showed the possibility of two paths. Either the soul will merge with the All, or be born again in a limited state. Tolstoy considered the second more probable, because he believed that knowing only limitedness, the soul cannot expect unlimited life. If the soul lives somewhere after death, it means that it lived somewhere, and Tolstoy claimed before birth.
N. O. Lossky is a representative of Russian religious philosophy. He was one of the founders of the direction of intuitionism in philosophy. Here is how the Russian philosopher proves the idea of reincarnation:
- It is impossible to give a person salvation from outside. He must deal with his own evil. God puts man in situations that will show the insignificance of evil and the power of good. This requires that the soul continue to live after physical death, receiving new experience. All evil is expiated by suffering until the heart becomes pure. This fix takes time. It cannot happen within one short life person.
- By creating a personality, God gives it the power to create. A person develops the type of life himself. Therefore, he is responsible for his actions, for his character traits and for his external manifestation in the body.
- Lossky noted that forgetting is a natural human property. Many adults do not remember part of their childhood. Personal identity is not based on memories, but on basic aspirations that influence which path a person takes.
- If the passion that caused an unseemly deed in a past incarnation remains in the soul at a subsequent birth, then even without remembering the committed deeds, its very presence and manifestation lead to punishments.
- The benefits and hardships that newborns receive are determined by their past birth. Without the theory of reincarnation, the different conditions of birth are contrary to the goodness of God. Otherwise, the born being itself creates them. Therefore, it is responsible for them.
Lossky, however, denied that a person in the next incarnation could be born in the shell of an animal or plant.
Karma and reincarnation
The concept of karma is closely related to the theory of reincarnation. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect, according to which a person's actions in the present determine his life both in this and in subsequent incarnations. What is happening to us now is a consequence of the actions of the past.
In the text of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one of the main Puranas, it is said that the actions of a being create its next shell. With the advent of death, a person ceases to reap the fruits of a certain stage of activity. With birth, he receives the results of the next stage.
After physical death, the soul can be reincarnated not only in a human shell, but also in the body of an animal, plant, or even a demigod. The body in which we live is called the gross body. However, there is also a subtle body, consisting of the mind, intellect and ego. When the gross body dies, the subtle body remains. This explains the fact that in the next incarnation, the aspirations and personality traits that were characteristic of her in a previous life are preserved. We see that even a baby has its own individual character.
Henry Ford said that his talent was accumulated over many lifetimes. He accepted the doctrine of rebirth at the age of 26. The work did not bring him complete satisfaction, because he understood that the inevitability of death makes his efforts in vain. The idea of reincarnation gave him the opportunity to believe in further development.
Relationship Reincarnation
In addition to personal relationships, there are more subtle connections. In previous incarnations, we have already met some people. And this relationship can last for several lifetimes. It happens that we did not solve some problems in front of a person in a past life, and we must solve them in the present.
There are several types of connections:
- Soul mates. Those souls that help each other move to a new level of consciousness. They often have opposite sexes to balance each other out. A meeting with a soul mate may not last long, but it can have a strong impact on the person.
- Twin souls. They are very similar to each other in character, in their interests. They often feel each other from a distance. When you meet, you get the feeling that you have known a person for a long time, there is a feeling of unconditional love.
- Karmic relationships. Such relationships are often difficult, they need a lot of work on themselves. People need to work through a situation together. If there is any debt to a person from a past life, then it's time to return it.
Lossky also wrote about the connection of souls in subsequent lives. The beings of the God realm have a cosmic body and are connected with each other. A person who has true love for another person is connected with him by an indestructible bond. With a new birth, the connection remains at least in the form of unconscious sympathy. At a higher stage of development, we will be able to remember all the previous stages. Then there is the possibility of conscious communication with the person whom we have loved with eternal love.
The soul cannot be content with material enjoyment alone. However, the highest pleasures can be achieved only with the help of spiritual experience, which helps to realize one's spiritual nature. The concept of reincarnation teaches us not to get hung up on transient moments, allows us to realize the eternity of the soul, which will help in solving complex problems and in finding the meaning of life.
And many Western religious movements recognize reincarnation. Without the idea of the transmigration of souls, many religions would lose their relevance. For example, consider the following situation: a newborn child has died. From the point of view of Christianity, after death, each person goes either to heaven or to hell. This means that the soul of the baby should be defined somewhere.
Either the child goes to heaven undeservedly (after all, he did not do good deeds all his life, did not sacrifice himself, did not pray, etc.);
- either the child goes to hell (also undeservedly, for what sins)?
By including the idea of the transmigration of souls in this equation, we get a fairer picture of the world. A reincarnated person gets a chance to start everything from scratch and earn paradise (nirvana, etc.). In addition, the very idea of “cursing for eternity” disappears, which somehow does not agree well with the fact that “God is kind and inclined to forgive human mistakes.”
The attitude of official science to reincarnation
Back in 1998, many scientists began to be interested in the study of fantastic phenomena that are not consistent with the ideas of official science. One of the objects of such research was the transmigration of souls or reincarnation. The German psychotherapist Thorvald Defletson, head of the private institute of psychology, worked in this area. He is known as the author of numerous esoteric works.
Before paying attention to the problem of the transmigration of souls, Dr. Defletson studied. He came to the conclusion that a person in a state of deep meditation can remember all the events of his life ... up to the moment of conception! At the same time, the patient seems to relive everything - he sees images, smells, etc.
Dr. Defletson did not find it absurd that a person could be present at his own conception. The scientist considered that if we separate the physical body and pure consciousness, it will be possible to explain such a phenomenon as the transmigration of souls. It turns out that human consciousness is present during the creation and formation of the body, as well as during its burial.
Given the above, Dr. Defletson argues that the process of raising a child, communication with him should begin even before birth - when the parents realized the reality of the baby's existence. And assuming the possibility of transmigration of souls, we can conclude that the child is able to be spiritually older and wiser than his parents.
Belief in the transmigration of souls
I think that almost everyone knows the mathematician Pythagoras. 
So - he also believed in reincarnation, and even willingly talked about his previous incarnations. According to the mathematician himself, he had to be a peasant, a Trojan warrior, a prophet, a shopkeeper and even a prostitute. That must be why he became so wise...
The German psychologist Carl Jung believed he lived in the 18th century. Although he could not say exactly who he had to be there.
Sylvester Stallone believes that he was once a lookout for a nomadic tribe.
The transmigration of souls is an interesting theory, of course, but man is a restless creature - he needs proof. There was one such case. Three-year-old girl Shanta Devi once greatly surprised her parents by declaring that she was a married lady named Luji. Shanta-Lugi described in detail her former family, as well as a house located in another city. The girl also added that she died four years ago during childbirth. Came to Shante ex-husband Luji, whom she immediately recognized. And when Shanta was taken to Mutra, she again surprised everyone by calmly finding the way to her former home. Shanta also remembered by name all the members of the former family except for the child whose birth cost Luja's life. This story took place in 1929.
An even more amazing case of the transmigration of souls occurred on November 22, 1963. In New Guinea, in the Otobei-Ria tribe, the native Araanu was born. This fact would have remained unknown, if not for some circumstances. The fact is that Araanu was born at the moment when the entire civilized world learned about the death of American President John F. Kennedy. Some time later, it turned out that the native Araanu knew to the smallest detail the most secret facts from the life of Kennedy.
Dr. Klaus Demolen, a psychiatrist from the Netherlands, said that a special commission had been set up to examine the native. It is not surprising if some of its members believed in the transmigration of souls - the native told a lot of details about Kennedy's childhood, drew a plan of the White House and quoted some of the president's theses related to the ruling class in Britain. I wonder what force made former president exchange The White house to the hut of the savage?
Belief in the transmigration of souls has always been inextricably linked with.
“The soul enters the human body, as in a temporary dwelling, from the outside, and again leaves it ... it moves to other abodes, since the soul is immortal.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sooner or later we think about death, this is what inevitably awaits us at the end of our path, which we call life.
- Where does it go life force after the death of the body?
- What does our so short stay on earth mean?
- Why does our soul return time after time, living new life first?
Let's try to find answers to these exciting questions in sacred writings.
Reincarnation in Christianity
As you know, Christianity today does not recognize the idea. Here it is appropriate to ask the question: “Has it always been like this?”. Now there is evidence that it was specifically removed from the scriptures.
Despite this, in the Bible, and especially in the Gospel, you can still find passages confirming that the idea of the reincarnation of the soul was present in the Christian religion.
“Among the Pharisees was someone named Nicodemus, [one] of the leaders of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi! we know that you are a teacher who came from God; for such miracles as you do, no one can do unless God is with him.
Jesus answered and said to him: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus says to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised at what I have said to you: you must be born again…” Excerpt from the Gospel of John, Chapter 3
I want to note that the word “above” in translation from Greek also means: “again”, “again”, “again”. This means that this passage can be translated a little differently, namely: "... you must be born again ...". In the English version of the Gospel, the phrase "born anew" is used, which means "to be born again."
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
From the book of the prophet Malachi
At first glance, there is no hidden meaning in these words. But this prophecy was made in the 5th century BC. e., and this is four hundred years after the life of Elijah. It turns out that Malachi claimed that the prophet Elijah would again set foot on Earth in a new guise?
Also unambiguous words were uttered by Jesus Christ himself: “ And His disciples asked: How then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?
Jesus answered and said to them: True, Elijah must come first and arrange everything, but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him as they wished; so the Son of Man will suffer from them. Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.”
Manichaeism
Manichaeism is a religion that included elements of Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. Its ancestor was a certain Mani, a Persian by origin. He perfectly knew Eastern mysticism, Judaism and created a coherent worldview system.
A feature of Manichaeism is that this religion contains the postulate of reincarnation, even more so, the idea of \u200b\u200bis the basis of this religion.
By the way, it was because of this that orthodox Christians considered Manichaeism “ clean water Heresy, while the Manicheans themselves claimed that they were the true Christians, and church Christians were only half-Christians.
The Manicheans believed that the apostles in difficult times always reincarnated into other bodies in order to come to Earth and guide humanity on the true path. I want to note that Blessed Augustine himself professed this religion for 9 years.
Manichaeism disappeared at the end of the 12th century, leaving its mark forever in the religions of Christianity and Islam.
The idea of reincarnation in Buddhism and related religions
The religion of Buddhism came out of Hinduism, so it is not at all strange that these religions are very similar to each other. Although the teachings of the Buddha will later begin to be perceived in India as apostate.
The basis of early Buddhism, like Manichaeism, was the idea of the reincarnation of souls. It was believed that how a person lives his life depends on who he will be in his next incarnation.
In other words, the early Buddhists were sure that a person was given to live far more than one life, but each subsequent incarnation depended on the previous one.
So it was during the life of the Buddha, after his death the most dramatic period of this religion began. The thing is that soon after the departure of the Enlightened One, his like-minded people created 18 schools, in each of which all the teachings of the Buddha were explained in their own way. Therefore, there are many conflicting opinions.
One of the most influential was the Theravada school, which spread its teachings to many parts of South Asia.
Adherents of this religion believed that the human soul dies with the body, that is, they completely denied the possibility of reincarnation.
The main and, to some extent, irreconcilable opponents of Theravadiks are Tibetan lamas and all those who profess Mahayana Buddhism.
The Buddha taught that the soul is an eternal substance, and it cannot disappear without a trace. His opponents, Hindu monks, on the contrary, said that there is no eternal “I”, they were convinced that everything comes and returns to non-existence.
Gautama also taught that in everyone there is a particle of divine light - atman, which incarnates on Earth over and over again to help a person achieve enlightenment.
Reincarnation in Northern Buddhism
The idea of the reincarnation of the soul had its place in northern Buddhism, based on the traditions of the Mahayana ("great vehicle of incarnation"). Tibetan Buddhism and Lamaism can also be attributed to the same religion.
It was in the Mahayana doctrine that the concept of "bodhisattva" became widespread. Bodhisattvas are people who have achieved enlightenment, but consciously chose an endless rebirth in order to help suffering humanity. In Tibet, such a bodhisattva is the Dalai Lama, who constantly returned in the guise of another person, that is, his soul was constantly reincarnated.
The Tibetan doctrine is very contradictory, on the one hand, they recognize that a person lives far from one life, but at the same time they are skeptical about the idea of reincarnation. For Tibetan Buddhism, it is extremely important that determines everything that happens.
Reincarnation in China
The Chinese, in principle, do not recognize the idea of reincarnation, or rather, it contradicts their worldview, 
since they all believe that the soul after death will have a very long journey in the afterlife, for which one must prepare while still living life on Earth.
That is why all the things that he used during his lifetime were put in the grave with the deceased. For example, the tombs of the kings contained everything that the rulers were accustomed to during their lifetime: rich utensils, clothes, food, wives and servants.
Such a serious preparation is proof that all the Chinese believe that after death they will live happily ever after in the afterlife, and incarnation in a new guise on Earth is not at all included in their plans.
The Chinese especially revered the cult of ancestors, they believed that all deceased relatives became their guards on Earth, so they need to constantly bring gifts, communicate with them and be sure to ask for advice. It is also proof that the Chinese did not believe in the possibility of reincarnation.
Reincarnation and the Dalai Lama
In countries where Lamaism is the official religion, it is recognized at the state level that a person after death can be born in a new guise.
The Dalai Lama is a prime example of this, as he is the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Mercy, Chenrezig, who has been reincarnating on Earth over the past 500 years. Adherents of Lamaism believe that the soul of the Dalai Lama independently chooses a new body for itself. The task of the monks is to find the boy, in whom the deceased lama decides to incarnate this time.
The future Dalai Lama was born in 1935 in the northeast of Tibet in the province of Amdo, in the small village of Taktser, into a poor family of pastoralists, two years after the death of the then high priest.
The Dalai Lady answers the question of reincarnation,
given by Maris Dreshmanis, head of the Reincarnation Institute.
All his life a person belonged to the varna in which he was born. It was impossible to go from one varna to another. Within the four varnas, the population of India was additionally divided into groups according to professions - castes. The laws and rules of caste regulated every step of the Indian.