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Essays on reincarnation
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Reincarnation
Introduction
Reincarnation channels through many cultures and experiences which are examined by skeptics. In this research paper I will examine what is reincarnation, the evidence of people’s experiences of this, some of the views of the skeptics on this issue, and my own beliefs with reincarnation. Reincarnation can’t be given a concert scientific explanation, can’t be fully proven to humans, but there are assumptions and beliefs that make up the idea of reincarnation. This paper will give an analysis on reincarnation and the possibilities of this phenomenon to be true.
According to Ian Stevenson in his book “Children who Remember Previous Lives”, reincarnation “is about children who claim to remember previous lives” (9), how could children up to age 8 have such intense knowledge of someone else’s life? Is it possible for people to be reincarnated into another body? How is reincarnation possible? These questions are what I am trying to review with the literature I gathered. H Wayne House describes reincarnation with a “literal meaning, “enfleshing again” describes the soul’s travel from one physical lifetime to another” (132). Reincarnation is the soul passing from one body to another after a death, where the person has memories of their past life, specific details that are so powerful that the soul holds onto.
Stemman stated that “growing numbers of people are prepared to mix and match the beliefs of teachings that most appeal to them” (Stemman 3) this then suggests that the idea and beliefs of reincarnation are increasing; people are tending to expand their knowledge and beliefs and integrating the different beliefs into their own. Stemman also states that “we already know that at least half of the worlds’ po...
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...LASerials. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Mysore Nagaraj, Anil Kumar, Raveesh Bevinahalli Nanjegowda, and S. M. Purushothama. "The Mystery Of Reincarnation." Indian Journal Of Psychiatry (2013): S171-S176. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Rivas, Titus. "Rebirth And Personal Identity: Is Reincarnation An Intrinsically Impersonal Concept?." Journal Of Religion And Psychical Research 28.4 (2005): 226-233. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Snider, Amber. "The Pre-Existence Of The Soul: An Argument For Reincarnation." Journal Of Spirituality And Paranormal Studies30.2 (2007): 77-79. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Stemman, Roy. The Big Book of Reincarnation. United States: Hierophant Publishing, 2012. Print.
Stevenson, Ian. Children Who Remember Previous Lives. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2001. Print.
Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions such as Christianity and Islam believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different idea about death. Both of these religions originated in India. Buddhists and Hindus believe that death is not final. They believe that a person comes back after he or she dies. This process is known as reincarnation, and it provides opportunities for people to enter the world multiple times in different forms. Buddhists and Hindus want to reenter the world as humans, and they want to improve their status through reincarnation. In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnation, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people such as infant mortality. He carefully looks at the lives of people who have been left behind by deceased loved ones, and he pays careful attention to customs and traditions surrounding death. Tibetan Buddhists view death as a means of reaching spiritual perfection, and they seek to reach this level of spiritual perfection through living spiritually meaningful lives....
The concept of reincarnation is present through countless forms in media and cultures around the world. Defined as the idea that the soul is reborn in a different body or form after death, reincarnation can simply be a belief or even used as a coping mechanism in the face of death. In David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, they explore reincarnation and how a person’s disposition towards death influences their actions and attitudes in specific ways, whether it be fear, acceptance or denial. Split between six different timelines and characters, Cloud Atlas follows their lives and how they all connect together. The Fountain, however, explores the life of a scientist across three centuries and his desire to save his wife. Although Cloud Atlas and The Fountain share
From the beginning of time, our ancestors from all over have told, and retold stories of reincarnations, and have even did they’re best to conceal the evidence they once possibly had. First and foremost, let me remind you that, the Bible is, in fact originally written by mankind’s hand, but here’s another mind-blowing mystery; all different Countries/Nations tell and all have such similar substantial facts, and even evidence.
Dunlap, J. W. (2007). REINCARNATION AND SURVIVAL OF LIFE AFTER DEATH: "IS THERE EVIDENCE THAT PAST LIFE MEMORIES SUGGEST REINCARNATION?". Journal Of Spirituality & Paranormal Studies, 30157-170.
What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind. One more perspective on personal identity and the one I will attempt to explain and defend in this paper is that personal identity requires both physical and psychological continuity; my argument is as follows:
In the Phaedo Socrates claims that the soul is indeed immortal, that it lives forever and cannot die even after the body has died, thus philosophers spend their lives devaluing themselves from their body. Socrates presents the Theory of Recollection to persuade his fellow philosophers that have convened inside his cell that the soul is immortal. In essence, the recollection argument refers to the act of learning, because the soul is immortal, according to Socrates, then this suggests that when a person is learning something they are actually relearning it, because their soul has existed before they were born. This idea of recollecting knowledge is prominent and is the most convincing argument in proving the existence of immortality through the soul, however, this argument does not suggest that the soul continues to exist after death and lacks clarity regarding what truly happens after a person dies.
Buddhism places a high value on finding the truth. This fundamental principal allows for an acceptance of science, as it is seen as a modern truth to most. Furthermore, Buddhists believe in the evolution of human consciousness—this evolution, along with the truth presented from science, allows for an over arching acceptance of biological evolution. Even more interesting is that in the Agganna Sutta, a sacred Buddhist text, Buddha explains the world as having evolved over time. Though there is no mention of biological evolution, there is still an emphasis of evolution as a whole—both physically and spiritually. Tibetan Buddhism is known as the branch of Buddhism that has the largest emphasis on reincarnation, which is the most relevant to this research. Reincarnation is driven by the decisions made in each life and is basically the knowledge that one’s spirit travels between material beings over different lives. The spirit evolves as one becomes closer and closer to Nirvana, or perfection. Karma, too, influences the lives of the reincarnated as this idea causes the consequences of both good and bad deeds from each past life to be brought over to the current life. Overall, Tibetan Buddhism and evolution flow very well together as various Buddhist beliefs in spiritual evolution and karma, and the search for truth lead to the acceptance of science and evolution.
The problem of personal identity is difficult to solve, especially since there is ambiguity in the terms. Identity may mean the same person or how one sees oneself. Anyhow, philosophers wish to assess this issue and find a suitable explanation, one motivation being responsibility. Humans will hold others responsible for acts such as murder, theft, and fraud. However, the person who will face the consequences must be the one who truly committed the wrongful act. A second motivation is interest in the future. An individual may become concerned or excited for an event that will occur in the future. Surely, these emotions entail that they will be the same person once that event occurs. The last motivation for resolving personal identity is immortality; basically, what will connect a person to whatever lives on after their physical death. Something can be identical in two ways: quantitatively or qualitatively. To be quantitatively identical is to be numerically identical, and to be qualitatively identical is to share exact qualities. There are two criterions on which personal identity is based, but the most important is the metaphysical criterion, which attempts to explain “being” or existence, without the necessity of physical evidence ...
Works Cited for: Pojman, Louis P., and Fieser, James. Introduction to Philosophy – Classic and Contemporary. Readings Fourth Edition. In Defense of Life after Death, 1983, John Hicks, 380-386. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2008.
Nicodemus’s questions function to show what being born again is not: it is not a physical rebirth
I stood in awe as his body dissipated into the air. I had to change the cycle. The timer turned in the blink of an eye. I studied his book he had left behind. How many more had there been of me? What caused this life and death cycle? I couldn´t die, I had just been created. I made him again the same way he had made me. We were all different yet the same, the same cycle over and over again. I remembered his fiery orange and brown eyes, his dull blue striped skin, his old leather vest, his tall pointed ears, our strange teeth, and our unique F-hole markings that we shared. I was going to bring him back. I was hard at work as the timer slowly spilled grains of sand, his life was now in my hands. Every stitch was precisely sewn, his
Resurrection is extremely dangerous, especially since we don’t fully understand the consequences. If we bring someone that was deceased, they may come back lacking the ability to communicate. Death is the cessation of all biological functions
Laribee, Rachel. Tibetan Sky Burial Student Witnesses Reincarnation. 2 July 2004. Web. 23 February 2014.
Let's really explore the topics of past-life regression and reincarnation! I thought it best to start here,"What is past-life regression?"
(Catalano 2009, page 545) Within the Buddhist culture, people carry very unique beliefs regarding the birth and life of people in their group. It is the belief that a person has not completely moved on until they reach enlightenment. In other words, rebirth occurs again and again until they are able to reach the stage of enlightenment and move further along in life. An analogy given for this is that a person is not brought back the exact same, but rather can be compared to a leaf on a tree.