The Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth
As a kid I was taught that after death we would be “judged” based on the thoughts and deeds of our single life on earth. Our fate for all eternity would then be sealed with either the reward of paradise in Heaven or eternal suffering in Hell. Even at a young age, I found this hard to believe. It is beyond my imagination as to how anyone with a reasonable mind could think that a God of pure Love would create divine laws that operate this way. It is the ultimate example of humans trying to superimpose our limited and finite ideas upon our Creator.
I have heard people say that they don't "believe" in reincarnation, or that they don't accept it for religious reasons or simply because they have never been taught about it. Many have probably not even bothered to spend time sincerely contemplating it, or reviewing the large body of evidence for themselves. Some would rather just not think about it, or prefer the illusion that after death we will have earned the right to spend the rest of eternity in paradise, rather than playing an ongoing role in creation.
I have come to the conclusion that reincarnation is a fact, based on my best understanding of spiritual principles and a serious review of the evidence. When I first considered the idea years ago, it seemed like a much more reasonable concept than the Heaven or Hell scenario. The idea that laws of cause and effect (karma) span multiple lifetimes can help us understand events that seem meaningless in the context of a single life. Even so, I still had a hard time with the idea, mostly because I couldn’t understand how you could reincarnate and be the same person. If you don’t consciously remember the events of past lives, what do they mean? If you don’t maintain your conscious mind, emotions, and memories, then what part of YOU remains the same after death and later into future lives?
The part of us that reincarnates is the soul. It is not surprising that I had trouble with this concept, because I was taught very little about the soul when I was younger. It took years of studying and contemplating the references that I list on my recommended page to even get a conceptual idea of what the soul is and what it is trying to accomplish. The soul seems abstract, and the idea takes some getting used to. It also took me a long time to come to the realization that human consciousness is much more than the intellect and the conscious mind. The subconscious and unconscious components of the mind play a significant role. The subconscious mind is the mechanism for psychic perception, even if we have not consciously developed psychic skills and are not aware of them. The unconscious mind contains the patterns, character traits, and "memories" of earlier lives, among other things. Our relationships with friends and loved ones (and enemies) will continue across death and later into future lives. The time that we spend on the "inner planes" between lives can be very short, or it can be hundreds of years, but at some point the soul will be impelled to reincarnate. It is to our benefit to try understand this, and to expand our perspective.
Evolution also needs to be considered from a broader perspective. Religious fundamentalists deny evolution and people who drive around with Darwin fish plaques on their cars probably stop short of considering its full implications. Evolution is a fact, but evolution on the physical plane is only a reflection of the inner reality. It is consciousness (the soul) that is evolving, and it applies to all life forms.
If you need to convince yourself of the reality of reincarnation before spending time contemplating its implications, there is plenty of evidence to look at. The best source of information that I have found on the Internet is the site In Another Life, Reincarnation in America. The author, Steve S., has studied reincarnation and related topics for 30 years, and produced an excellent documentary on it. His site has great articles, commentary, book reviews, streaming video, and links to other sites of interest. His articles are objective and his insight and respect for this subject is obvious. A good starting point for evidence is the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson. Dr. Stevenson is one of the most well known past life researchers. He has documented thousands of cases where children have had past life memories. In a review of Dr. Stevenson's book, Steve writes:
"While Dr. Stevenson cautiously adopts the phrase, "suggestive of reincarnation", in my humble opinion, I have less proof that my backside is currently pressed against the seat of my chair (not being able to see either directly), than he has of reincarnation. Don't take anyone else's word for it, read the original studies yourself, because most of the skeptical criticisms consist of ill-informed sophistry."
Another good site is Carol Bowman's Children's Past Lives. Mrs. Bowman has written two books and has conducted research after experiencing her son's case of past life memories. She is working to spread awareness of the phenomena and that it is much more commonplace that people realize.
I also found it very interesting to review some of the recent cases of people who have described their personal experiences with past life memories. Some good examples are Angela Grubbs (see her interview in the Streaming Video section), Jeff Keene, James Leininger and Capt. Robert Snow. The most interesting thing about these cases is that they help us realize that they are in fact the same person. The memories are there. In many cases personal character traits and even physical appearance is similar (as can be seen in this photo of Jeff Keene and General Gordon). For these people, the memories surfaced in their conscious minds and they were able to verify them as historical fact, not fantasy.
I find the following thought helps me put reincarnation in perspective. Think about the love that a parent has for their children. We love them from the minute they are born. We love them as an infant, a two year old, a twelve year old, and as an adult. If we could be alive when they were ninety, we would still love them (actually we will still love them, despite the temporary physical separation). There is little if any similarity between the physical, mental, and emotional "bodies" of the infant and the ninety year old, yet our love would be the same. It is more than just the body and personality that we love—it is the soul as well. If that soul happens to animate a different physical body in a future life, what difference would that really make?
An excellent work of esoteric fiction that illustrates the workings of reincarnation and karma is “Black Light,” by Talbot Mundy, written in the 1930s. Before each chapter, there are quotes attributed to a yogi astrologer. In the following, he speaks of reincarnation:
FROM THE BOOK OF THE YOGI-ASTROLOGER RAM-CHITTRA GUNGA SINGH
And when I say you have lived thousands of lives in this world, you answer, How then can I not remember some of them? To which I say, Take pen and paper; write down all that you remember of your doings, day by day in this present life; can you recall a tenth part, or a hundredth? Nay. Then how shall you recall former lives? But you answer, I have a diary; and I can read that and remember.
You have a better diary, wherein is written all your history; and not of this life only, but of all your lives. It is you yourself. And I, who know a little of that language, read, in that book that you are, a few humiliating reasons why you cannot read it.
–From Black Light,
