Reincarnation

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the belief that after death, one's soul keeps existing and

is reborn another person or animal. It keeps reborning until it redeems itself.

Then it returns to the temple of god, which the Buddhists call "Nirvana" -

eternal tranquillity. Two of the many ancient tribes who believed in

reincarnation are the Greeks and the Egyptians.

Karma, the belief that our actions determine our future, is one of the

foundations of reincarnation. For example, a person who lived a sinful life will

return, after death, as an animal, as opposed to a person who lived an honest

life, who will return as a person.

Despite the resistance of many Jewish leaders, reincarnation also played a

role in Judaism due to the Kabala who developed this idea. Some Jewish

philosophers even believed that a soul of a sinner can enter a live man's body

and "posses" him. Special rituals were used in order to "cure" the man.

T. Gomertz, a famous philosopher, thought of three very good reasons why one

should believe in reincarnation:

1. It is believed that dreams are attempts of the soul to live the body. If this

is true, than the soul can leave the body and it does so when a person dies.

This also means that a soul can exist without a body.

2. If we assume that the soul dies with the body it is connected to, than we

will have to assume there is an endless number of souls which is improbable.

3. Matter is enduring and, therefore, so is the soul. If the soul exists after

death, hens it had existed before birth.

Gomertz believes the origin of this belief is in India, where it was

believed that every action had a hidden reaction, other than the obvious one.

This reaction is obscure at first and is only later revealed, sometimes even in

the next life.

Reincarnation in Different Cultures and Religions

Judaism: In this religion, it was believed that a sinners soul can posses a

living man. This is called an Obsession but it's actually very similar to

reincarnation.

This belief only exists in Judaism. It appears repeatedly in "The Glow"

which is a book written in the 16th century. This book claims that every soul

has its purpose / mission. If this mission isn't completed, the soul returns to

earth and possesses someone. It stays in this state until it either completes

its mission or is banished by special rituals which are performed by the Rabby.

This belief was most popular in the 16th century. At that period, in some

parts, every illness was considered an obsession.