REINCARNATION: The Sicilian-Greek philosopher Empedocles (490-430 BC) said: "I have already been a boy and a girl, a bush, a bird and a dumb fish in the sea". Plato viewed education as remembering things we already know from previous lifetimes on earth. Both Empedocles and Plato had inherited a belief in reincarnation from the Pyniagoreans, and Pythagoras himself had probably learnt it via his contacts in India. Karma and reincarnation form part of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, Parsee and Sihk religions. Even the Druids seemed to believe in reincarnation, to the point that they would borrow money from each other and promise to pay it back in their next life. Among all of the world’s great religions, only the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions reject reincarnation. Even within Islam and Christianity there are "unorthodox" groups such as the Drues, Rosicrucian, Gnostics and many Brazilian Christians, who have accepted reincarnation; but for the orthodox Jews, Christians and Muslims the conception and birth of each human being on Earth, is the creation of a new human soul. Some have maintained that references in the New Testament seem to indicate, that Jesus and his disciples believed in reincarnation, especially his comment: "Elijah has already arrived", and his questions to his disciples: "Who do people say, that the Son of Man is?" However, these arguments are not convincing. Elijah’s return, as predicted, would not be a coincidence of reincarnation, since he was not dead, but was physically transported into heaven in a fire carriage. His reappearance as John the Baptist, would be no greater or lesser a miracle than his ascension to heaven. It was also a normal Jewish understanding, that many other prophets were not dead, but continued their lives in heaven (heaven was not a place for mortals). Therefore, a belief that a prophet could return to earth, was by no means the same as a belief in reincarnation for all humans. Even the Essene teaching, as described by Josephus, may have been misinterpreted: It is claimed, that when they said that humans, after dearth, were moved into another body it was more like Paulus’ "ascension of the flesh", rather than a reference to the teaching of reincarnation. It is a popular understanding today, that Origenes (185-254 AD) supported the belief in reincarnation, but many researchers maintain, that this is a misinterpretation of his writings. According to the researchers, when Origenes speaks about the soul’s previous existence, he is referring to its existence in heaven and not on earth. In De Principils he writes: "Any soul comes into this world strengthened by the victories in previous lives, or weakened by its errors. Its place in the world, as a grail destined for honour or dishonour, is determined by its previous good deeds or misdeeds. Its deeds in this world, determine its place in the world that follows this one". Even so, there have been many believers in the whole Christian era, who have been convinced that souls reincarnate. They have usually reached this conclusion through plain logic. When it is assumed that God is just and loves humanity, it would be unfair and illogical for the individual life situations to be so different, if we were only given one life, and this one life would never be enough to achieve the spiritual progress, which would justify salvation. As Rudolf Steiner says: "If we take a single life on earth …. and look upon what this life alone brings about, it would be like picking a flower from a plant, and imagine that it can have a life of its own. A single life on earth is not understandable in itself, the explanation must be sought on the basis of repeated earth lifetimes." Annie Besant expressed the same thoughts: "With reincarnation, humans become worthy, eternal beings, developing towards an honourable target; without this, a human becomes like a straw in the flow of coincidences, without responsibility for his character, his actions or his fate." We are prone to repeat our most important tests, temptations and sufferings lifetime after lifetime, until we finally master the weaknesses that gave cause to them. It is a long process towards self-perfection. Zarathustra’s writings contained the same idea: "If the soul, in the course of an earth lifetime does not cleanse itself, remains ignorant and submits itself to some kind of earthly desire, it will later have to come back into a physical body again and again, until it is completely cleansed." The Vedic Hindu understanding is, that every soul is a spark of divinity, a part of the Atman or Brahman. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says: "There has never been a time I, you or any other of this earth’s princes did not exist, and we shall never cease to exist either. Just as the Lord of this mortal frame experienced childhood, youth and old age, we will meet the same in future incarnations." In incarnation, we are separate individuals caught in illusion (maya), and through repeated incarnations, we gradually develop our soul (jiva) towards true awareness, freedom (moksha or mukti), and finally to the ultimate unity and identity with Reality, Brahman. "As a man throws his worn clothes aside and puts on new ones, the incarnated self throws its worn bodies aside and steps into new ones" (Bhagavad Gita). Another branch of Hinduism (Hindu Theism) is of the opinion, that the constant wheel of reincarnation (Samsara) is a mirror of the divine creative joy of life and "playfulness" (Jila), without being very goal-directed. Individual souls can still strive and develop towards freedom and reuniting with Brahman, but a great number of souls will continue to reincarnate. In the 19th century, reincarnation formed part of the original spiritual (or spiritist) teachings, as stated in The Spirit's Hook, the first anthology about spiritual communications, compiled by H. L. D. Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec (1804-69) and published in 1856. Due to the attempt to reconcile spiritualism with orthodox Christianity, the belief in reincarnation was quickly banished. The references to reincarnation in Kardec's book were channelled through Gelina Japhet, a medium under supervision of a hypnotist (or "mesmerist") by the name of M. Roustan, who himself had a firm belief in reincarnation, and who maybe, maybe not, influenced the contents of the messages. D.D. Horne was among the strong opponents of the reincarnaton doctrines. After Kardec's death, Home presumably received a spiritual message from him: "I regret having put forward the spiritist doctrine". In spite of such opponents, messages handed down through mediums, continued to maintain references to the truth regarding reincarnation, often through mediums who were strongly opposed to the idea. This was the case with Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), whose "life readings" often included references to the patient’s previous incarnations. The messages Bligh Bond described in The Company of Avalon, mentions the reincarnation of a Glastonbury monk, who is identical with the woman, through which the messages were received. Neither she nor Bond originally believed in the reincarnation doctrine. The English medical doctor Arthur Guirdham was , through dreams and spiritual messages, to a group of people who, it became apparent, had incarnated in Languedoc around the 12th and 13th century as part of a Cathar community. A great amount of the empirical proof of reincarnation originates from children between three and five years of age, who spontaneously put forward details from another life. In the Eastern cultures, this kind of memories receives more attention than in the Western ones, especially if the previous life was recent and tracking the relatives is possible. Opponents have observed, that often such children have lived in wealthier families, thus hinting that the present parents hope to receive support or perhaps even an adoption. However, based on the same reasoning, memories of lives in greater poverty than the new life, also a probable case, would more than likely not be followed-up with such enthusiasm. Therefore, the apparent disparity between previously rich and now poor, cannot be considered as a reason to deny the evidence. Many cases of children’s memories from previous lives have been registered and explored by Dr. Jan Stevenson. One case involved an Indian boy, Jasbir, who apparently had died of smallpox, but was later resuscitated as a completely different person, Sobha Ram, from another village (and another caste), who had died after a fall from a cart. He later met many of Sobha Rams family members, recognised them and greeted them by name. He even confirmed the family’s suspicion, that their deceased relative actually was poisoned. Maybe this special case can better be described as a possession, but it seems to point towards the possibility that the personality is able to exist independently of the body, and that it lives in the body. Sobha Ram's wish to explain the circumstances regarding his death, could have lead to his immediate return into Jasbir's body, as both "deaths" took place around the same time. Some children’s dreams and nightmares (fx about drowning) cannot be explained based on the dreamer’s real experiences in their present lifetime, but can be explained as a traumatic memory from a previous life. It is also claimed that reincarnation could explain various phenomenons from phobias, to birthmarks in places where there previously have been wounds, and from infant prodigies (learning old abilities again), to falling in love. Some seem to carry the idea of a "soul partner" too far. Most teaching systems are of the opinion that we try different family relationships with those who are close to us, but seldom or never repeat exactly the same. People sometimes ask how long souls remain on other planes. Ordinarily, it seems that souls that are not very highly developed on the egoic plane, return quicker. When the connection to individuality is strengthened, the lapse between incarnations seems longer. Back