Every person, regardless of religion, at least once in his life thought about what awaits him after death. Someone does not believe in the existence of a parallel reality, someone is convinced that they will go to heaven or hell, and someone is looking for all kinds of evidence of the reincarnation of the soul, hoping for rebirth in a new body. The latest version is gaining more and more popularity. Many people believe that a person is able to be reborn, and even films about reincarnation are made, after watching which the hypothesis looks more than convincing.
Where did the theory come from?
Representatives of Judaism and Buddhism were the first to believe in the transmigration of souls after death. It was these beliefs that formed the basis of religions that embody the love of the world, the wisdom of the ages, and the belief in infinity. Eastern sages have always been sure that they are immortal. Despite the fact that our body ages and then completely dies, the spiritual personality remains.
Each of us has moments when we are forced to say goodbye to loved ones, realizing that we will never see them again. However, if you believe the Eastern sages who know the laws of reincarnation, the deceased can be found, but only in a completely different way. The soul is able to move into another body, which does not have to be human. It can be any animal, for example, a dog.
There are a huge number of stories that relatives of deceased people perceive as evidence of the reincarnation of the soul. Maybe your family has them too. Try to remember. Maybe the same bird often sits on your fence, which is not afraid of you or even behaves strangely, trying to draw attention to itself. Someone refers to such manifestations as a wild fantasy, an ordinary coincidence, but there are those who listen to their inner voice, see this as a sign.
From the point of view of science
Scientists, philosophers and esotericists have been trying for centuries to unravel this mystery, to find convincing evidence of the reincarnation of souls. Many years of work on the version, suggesting the possibility of transmigration of spiritual matter from one body to another, gave rise to a variety of hypotheses.
One of the theories says that the human soul performs a certain function, namely, it maintains the natural balance. In each life, she receives the necessary experience, and after the death of the physical body, she moves to another, but necessarily of the opposite sex.
If the deceased was not buried according to the rules or vandals abused his tombstone, then the person into whom the soul will move will experience serious mental health problems. Perhaps he will develop diseases such as schizophrenia, a split personality or persecution mania. If you believe this hypothesis, then all people with mental disabilities ended their past life unsuccessfully.
The transmigration of souls after death can leave a mark on the body, for example, in the form of moles. One of the theories that arose in the process of studying this phenomenon indicates that large birthmarks are marks from the past. To be more precise, these are the places where there were scars on your "old" body. Perhaps a large birthmark indicates a mortal wound that killed the person whose soul now lives in you.
Some sources claim that the souls of people who led the wrong way of life continue to exist in the body of animals. However, this version causes a lot of controversy among those who professionally deal with this issue. Most are convinced that the human soul is not able to take root in the body of an animal.
Eastern religion has its own views on this matter. The sages believe that the soul of a person who has sinned greatly during his lifetime is doomed to a long and painful existence in the body, for example, of a dung beetle. It is also believed that the energy matter that has left a person who has done a lot of trouble during his life can be imprisoned in a stone or some household item.
Some people tell incredible stories, assuring others that from time to time images and memories arise in their minds that have nothing to do with real life. They are convinced that these are “pre-reincarnation” fragments reproduced at the level of cellular memory.
Most likely, among those who are now reading this article, there are people who know firsthand about deja vu. There are a huge number of explanations for this phenomenon, but no one has come to a consensus that would fully reveal the secret of this strange feeling.
Some believe that this is due to the closure of intracerebral impulses, while others are sure that this is a layering of intertemporal segments on top of each other. Experiencing a state of deja vu, people begin to think that everything that happens around has already happened once. They seem to have been at this time and in this place, they absolutely clearly predict the further development of events and even know what their interlocutor will say next. It is unlikely that so many coincidences can occur at one moment.
Several documented cases
Experiments aimed at establishing the facts of reincarnation were carried out long before the moment when various equipment and scientific laboratories appeared. So, in the eastern countries there were unique burial traditions. A deceased person was punctured in a certain part of the body, and when a newborn was born, they looked for a mole on him in a similar place. Have you ever wondered what your birthmarks are? Perhaps their appearance is not accidental.
Many years later, this custom was carried away by researcher Jim Tucker, who documented the most interesting cases reincarnation. So, one of his texts says that a year after the death of his grandfather, a baby was born. There was a strange mole on his arm, exactly in the place where a mark had been left before the funeral of the deceased.
But the oddities didn't end there. A few years later, when the boy began to talk, he suddenly turned to his grandmother in a diminutive form, just like his grandfather liked to do. After the death of her husband, no one called the elderly widow that way. Everyone was in the deepest shock, and the boy's mother admitted that she saw her father in a dream, who did not want to part with his family and was looking for a way to return home.
Crescent
In the same book about reincarnation, there is another case that makes people think about the likelihood of the existence of this phenomenon. A woman named Diana has worked at a community hospital in Miami all her adult life. In the hospital, she met her soul mate. The man whom Diana married and later married had a birthmark that looked like a crescent moon.
The couple lived for many years in love and joy, but the most interesting thing happened at the reception of a psychotherapist. A woman shared a story that allegedly happened in her previous life. She claimed that she was in the body of an Indian woman who was forced to hide from the colonialists from Europe who occupied America. Once, in order not to betray herself and the crying child she held in her arms, the woman had to close his mouth. By negligence, she strangled the baby, on the back of whose head there was a mole in the form of a crescent.
fatal wound
Modern scientists also had to deal with the example of reincarnation. A boy was born in a Turkish town. After a while, he began to claim that he remembered numerous fragments from past life in which he was a soldier. The boy said that when he was a soldier, he was shot with a large-caliber gun. The wound turned out to be fatal. For the first time, he began to talk about his memories at a very young age, absolutely not knowing what reincarnation is. Later it became known that in the archives of the local clinic, a case was found with the medical history of a soldier who was admitted for treatment with a wound to the right area of the face. A week later he died. Is it worth saying that the boy was born with multiple congenital defects on the right side of his face?
Evidence for reincarnation of the soul
Modern psychotherapists and psychologists often use a technique that is known as past regression. Used in conjunction with hypnosis, you can restore memories that are deep in the subconscious.
Most likely, everyone heard or saw in films how the patient is immersed in a state of hypnosis, after which it is possible to remember not only facts, for example, from early childhood, but even from a past life. When a person is brought to his senses, he remembers absolutely nothing of what he said to the doctor while in hypnosis. This practice makes it possible to understand all the subtleties of the human worldview. There are several cases that describe clear facts confirming the existence of reincarnation after death.
In medicine, there is such a thing as false memories. Researchers conducted a survey among children of different ages. To their surprise, most of the guys described the last minutes of their previous life in colors. As a rule, death occurred as a result of violent acts, and the events themselves took place several years before the children interviewed were born. The most realistic and plausible stories were from babies aged 2 to 6 years.
Twilight Zone
And here is one of the situations that Brian Weiss, a psychoanalyst with many years of experience, described in his works. During the next session, to which the girl-patient came, the doctor plunged her into a trance state. Katherine (that was the name of the patient) began to say that she felt the presence of Brian's father, as well as his son, who died due to heart problems. It is worth noting the fact that the girl knew absolutely nothing about the doctor's personal life and could not guess what tragedy Weiss had experienced. A similar phenomenon, when someone sees the deceased relatives of his interlocutor, is commonly called the "twilight zone".
The story of two brothers
An even stranger story happened in the 1970s. The young woman had a son named Kevin. At the age of two, the boy died of blood cancer caused by a complex fracture of the leg, which did not heal properly. They desperately tried to save the young patient, they conducted a course of chemotherapy. He was introduced a catheter through the neck on the right side, and in the area of the left ear, due to the deformation of the eye, a scar appeared. The child died in terrible agony.
Ten years later, the woman who lost her son gave birth to another child, but from another man. A newborn boy showed a birthmark exactly in the place where the scar of the deceased baby was. Later it turned out that the second son has congenital problems with his left eye, and also limps on the leg that was broken in his older brother, although no pathologies were found.
Having become quite an adult, the guy told incredible stories, revealing the whole essence of reincarnation. He claimed that the soul of the older brother was reborn in his image. He unmistakably recounted the entire medication course, and also accurately indicated the location of the catheter. In addition to memories associated with pain and suffering, the guy remembered his old place of residence, describing in detail the house in which, in fact, he had never been.
Burmese girl with a Japanese background
The world learned about this story thanks to the work of psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, who described an amazing case in his teachings on reincarnation. In the sixties of the last century, a girl was born on the territory of Burma, who at the age of three began to talk about the fact that in a past life she was a Japanese soldier. According to her, he was burned alive by local residents, tied tightly to a tree.
In addition to the fact that the girl was overcome by terrible memories, she was radically different from her peers in her behavior. She did not recognize Buddhism, did not wear long hair, and slapped the children with whom she periodically walked on the playground in the same way as the Japanese soldiers who attacked Burma did.
It is worth noting the fact that she was an unusual child from birth. On the right hand, the girl had an obvious defect: nameless and middle fingers turned out to be fused, resembling the membrane of waterfowl. A few days later, doctors amputated some of the phalanges, and the child's mother claims that on her daughter's right arm there was a stain resembling a burn, as well as stripes very similar to rope marks.
30 rupees
When asked if reincarnation exists, the inhabitants of the village of Alluna Miana, which is located in India, will give you a positive answer. It was here that a boy named Taranjit Singh lived. At the age of two, he stated that in a past life he was an ordinary student named Satnam Singh, who lived sixty kilometers from his native village of Taranjit.
The boy told his parents that his previous life was cut short as a result of a ridiculous accident, namely, after a scooter flew into a student. The boy also said that he remembers the last seconds of his former existence, as if he was lying in a pool of blood, and notes and textbooks were lying around. Taranjit remembered that at the time of the accident he had exactly thirty rupees in his pocket.
The words of the boy were not taken seriously for a long time, because in the village, where the population is poorly educated, no one knows what reincarnation is. However, the father, tired of the constant stories of his child, decided to look into the situation and get to the bottom of the truth. He became aware that a guy with that name really lived, and then died under the wheels of a scooter. Having gone with their son to a neighboring village, they found the house in which Setnam lived. His parents were shocked by what facts from the life of their son someone else's child operates on. They confirmed that Setnam was dying in a pool of blood, with textbooks scattered around, and that at the time of his death he had thirty rupees in his pocket.
Rumors of an incredible soul rebirth quickly spread throughout the province. Local authorities turned to experts who were asked to conduct an examination. Taranjit was asked to write a few sentences, after which they did judicial handwriting. Everyone was in real bewilderment when it turned out that the handwriting of both guys was almost identical.
Xenoglossia
In medicine, there are often cases when people begin to speak foreign languages, sometimes the most exotic ones. Most often, this phenomenon is the result of clinical death, severe traumatic brain injury or experienced stress. In parapsychology, this condition has its own name - xenoglossia.
For example, a person living in Russia can suddenly speak Turkish, without any accent. The only explanation that comes to mind is that in a past life he was a Turk.
For clarity, we can give a real example that took place in medical practice. So one American woman, born to immigrants from Eastern Europe who spoke Czech, Russian and Polish, began to surprise others. At an appointment with a psychoanalyst, while under hypnosis, a woman suddenly spoke in Swedish, introducing herself as a peasant who once lived in Sweden. Despite the fact that the people who followed the test absolutely did not believe the woman, the polygraph showed that she was telling the truth. There is not a single person in her family who knows Swedish, and she has never been interested in learning it. However, this did not prevent the woman from speaking it without an accent.
Films about reincarnation
Famous directors working with the Mystery genre could not pass by such a phenomenon. The best films in the plot of which are real stories about the transmigration of souls, we can name: "Birth", "Little Buddha", "Restless Anna".
The reincarnation of the soul is a rather mysterious phenomenon, about which practically nothing is known, but there are more than enough theories. Find out what affects the quality of life in the next incarnation, what makes life difficult for the current incarnation, and how animals are reborn.
In the article:
Reincarnation of the soul or spirit
Almost everyone knows that the reincarnation of the soul is its relocation to another physical body after death. That is, if you believe, after death, the intangible component of the human body does not die along with the physical body. She lives the next incarnation.
35 steps of reincarnation
Incarnation and reincarnation are completely different concepts. incarnation is a single embodiment of the human soul. Reincarnation is, in fact, the phenomenon of transmigration of souls. A lot of facts have been recorded that indicate that the transmigration of souls is not an invention of esotericists, but a real-life phenomenon. This phenomenon is categorically incompatible with the Christian worldview - Christians believe that a person can have only one life. In general, the attitude to the reincarnation of different religions is a separate issue.
There is an opinion that it is the spirit that reincarnates, not the soul. One particular person can have several souls. The soul is an energy-informational entity, which is the body of a person's memory, or rather, a specific incarnation of him. The soul of a dead person exists in our world for some time, when his spirit has already followed its path further.
Transmigration of the soul after death - various theories
The theory of reincarnation is the only thing that can lift the veil of secrecy. This phenomenon has been repeatedly studied by scientists, parapsychologists and esotericists who lived at different times. For example, the idea of rebirth was supported by the 19th century esotericist. However, there is no exact information about this phenomenon. This knowledge is not available to humanity at the moment. But there are many guesses that are considered generally accepted.
One of them says that the transmigration of the soul after death always occurs in the human body of the opposite sex. In other words, if you are a woman, then in your next life you will be a man. You were male in the last incarnation. The alternation of gender is considered necessary for balance when the spirit gains experience necessary for further development.
Sometimes the uncovering of the soul of the previous incarnation affects the qualities that appear in the new incarnation. For example, these are female character traits in men or, on the contrary, qualities inherent in men in women. A personality formed in a past life can manifest itself in future incarnations. Adherents of the theory of the transmigration of souls attribute split personality to disorders in which the past incarnation is “guilty”.
The transition from the animal form to the human form is called by most authors a natural phenomenon, considering the transition from the human form to the animal form impossible. However, not everyone agrees with this opinion. Sometimes you can hear that the soul of a person can only move into the body of a person. There is another opinion - the rebirth of the soul after death can occur in the body as a person, like an animal, or even a plant or stone.
It is believed that the transmigration of the soul into the human body can occur only in the fourth month of pregnancy. After the birth of a child, the memory of past lives is turned off. Most people do not remember their past lives, but children often talk about events that they could never have known about. This is often described in the reincarnation literature. General impressions about the path traveled before the new birth almost always remain. It is they that are felt by people who are trying to remember past lives using various techniques.
There is another unusual theory of reincarnation in the roles of actors. According to her, this is a temporary phenomenon. When an actor plays a role, the role is played by him - almost everyone has heard this expression. Many famous artists agree with him. Perhaps that is why the acting craft was not approved by the church for a long time. For some time, it was customary for actors to be buried outside the cemetery fence, as their souls were considered corrupted.
The theory of reincarnation also tries to look into what happens after all the lessons have been learned by the spirit. Our world is a school for young, immature spirits. What will happen after it? Most likely, after graduating from school on planet Earth, the spirit will have to receive a "higher education", and then work in the chosen direction. Of course, these are rough comparisons, but the meaning is generally clear. Another example of reincarnation is shown in the movie Avatar.
How a person's karma affects his next incarnations
Karma of a person is the main factor that affects what his next incarnations will be. Almost every person knows what karmic debts are - these are mistakes made in a past life that will have to be corrected in the present. In addition, there is also family karma - the influence of the karma of the clan, the family on the life of each of its individual members. However, this is a completely different topic, we will return to it later.
Each incarnation has its own karmic tasks. They are exhibited by the very spirit of a person who has decided to receive the appropriate lessons. If you believe this, it turns out that your life is the way you yourself chose it for a specific purpose.
Do not forget about working on the mistakes of past incarnations. For example, if you mocked ugly people, you can get a serious flaw in the next incarnation. Thus, the spirit understands what consequences his behavior had in a past life and extracts experience. This is not a punishment, but something like a teaching method that allows you to see the world with completely different eyes. If your life is not at all what you would like, most likely you are working off karma.
The same karmic tasks can haunt people for more than one incarnation. It is not always possible to learn a certain lesson the first time. If the training of the spirit takes place in this way, he is forced to solve the karmic problem again in order to find its solution and gain the experience necessary for its further development.
Animal reincarnation
The reincarnation of animals is considered as possible as the transmigration of human souls after death is possible. There are many opinions about this. Some are sure that the souls of animals can only move into the bodies of animals, and only of the same species. Many believe that the spirit can incarnate both in the form of an animal and in the form of a person.
Many people believe that dead animals can return to the family in which they once lived. If the pet was loved by its owner, and the latter really wants his return and misses him, then a dog, cat or other animal will definitely appear in the life of the owner in a new body. It can be a homeless kitten, like two drops of water similar to a dead cat, or a puppy born by a friend's dog - this is how animals return to this world who want to return to their family again. Interesting fact- the rest of the pets in the house quickly accept a new incarnation of an old friend.
Reincarnation of cats is a separate issue. If you believe, then she has nine lives. There are several opinions about this. For example, some believe that only nine lives can be lived in the body of a cat - no more and no less. Another version of the rebirth of cat souls - they have only nine incarnations, after the ninth life, cats go to afterworld or go to the next level of development.
On the question of how an animal becomes a person, reincarnation in the modern view cannot give an answer - there are too many theories that often contradict each other. According to some beliefs, animals are reborn into animals, and people are reborn into people. According to others, a person can become an animal, and an animal can become a person. In the first case, the spirit loses its accumulated experience, and in the second, it passes to a higher stage of development.
Do suicides reincarnate?
Suicide is unacceptable in most religious beliefs. The church considers suicide a terrible sin. Those who committed suicide at will are not buried and are not buried in the territory of the cemetery. But does the reincarnation of suicides take place, are there karmic consequences of suicide and how does it affect the further existence of the spirit as a whole?
From the point of view of the theory of rebirth, suicide is a manifestation of the conscious neglect of the opportunity to gain valuable experience of incarnation. Accordingly, it cannot be called a plausible act.
Before answering the question "Does reincarnation exist?" it is necessary first to look at how the Christian religion differs, for example, from Buddhism and Hinduism. (Detailed articles about death and from the point of view)
The main difference between Christianity
Christianity recognizes just one life b, after which we return to the spiritual world, where we have two roads - either heaven or hell.
The Vedas and Buddhism believe that this life, this incarnation, is not the only one. What our soul is capable of incarnate many times in different bodies. In addition, the karmic law is recognized, according to which we are responsible for all our actions and thoughts. Moreover, which is very important, not only in this life, but also in the next.
Forever!
You just pay for bad luck with eternal suffering!
And this is the Almighty God?! Is this universal justice? And if so, then I spat on her! If there is a Lord, if there are immutable laws of the universe, then they certainly have nothing to do with this. (I recommend two articles: and about)
And they are! I can't help but think that, hearing my heart beat and the hearts of my children, when I hear the birds singing, the rustling of the leaves and the murmur of the stream. I can’t help thinking like that when I can’t take my eyes off the sea waves that disturb my soul, from the cries of seagulls calling to heaven and giving a feeling of freedom. This world cannot be described in words. It can only be felt, felt. It's impossible not to love him.
So why is life the way it is?
But how so? And is it?
The answer is that the reincarnation of the soul exists.
Our life can be much more multifaceted and deep than we think. And why not actually?
How does reincarnation solve questions of justice?
There's always a chance to make things right, there is a chance to see life from different angles and to know all the shades of suffering and joy. Now it does not seem unfair to have unequal conditions at birth for each of us. In the prism of reincarnation, this looks quite logical to itself. So it should be, I can accept it without resistance, I do not feel a dirty trick and a lie.
Reincarnation makes it possible for the embodiment of many of our cherished desires. In different lives.
The goal of any religion is spiritual development human, spiritual self-realization. Now, in the case of reincarnation, I can believe that this is possible. And it is possible for each of us. For some, it will take more lives to understand and realize something important, for some it will take less.
From this it is clear why there are people full of love and kindness (), listening to and looking at them, you understand how imperfect you are.
It is clear why there are people among us who know how to selflessly help and serve others, who give their lives, for example, for the treatment of drug addicts, or spend years in remote areas of Africa, trying to somehow help children dying of AIDS.
And yet, there is so much hatred, evil and inhumanity among us.
Everyone in this life must take out their own, personal lesson. Each has its own purpose. You may have to experience severe pain, endure the most severe suffering. Yes, it's a hard life. But this is only one life out of many births.
The life of the soul in this body is only one lesson, your lesson. And sometimes we may not know or understand its true meaning and meaning. But this life will end and the next one will begin.
Reincarnation realizes karma.
Reincarnation assumes that you are not only responsible for what you have done in this life, but also a tangle of past memories and incarnations is trailing behind you. Based on them, we get our new incarnation. For the soul, this is one life, only passing in different bodies. But each subsequent life is connected and dependent on the previous ones.
The present life is, as it were, the result of what has been done in past lives. The main goal of all incarnations is our spiritual self-realization. Someone is now at a higher stage of spiritual development, someone at a lower one.
You must think about what you are doing. Because everything will return. If not in this life, then in the next. Therefore, it is important to be very careful.
Perhaps many skills and abilities from past reincarnations come with us. This explains why musical instrument talents, great writers, mathematicians, and physicists are born.
Reincarnation removes the question of the injustice of God. Personally for me.
I can't help but believe in the soul, because I know that it exists. Accordingly, I cannot but believe in God, knowing that He exists. I cannot but believe that the life of the body must be connected with the life of the soul. And it is the rebirth from one body to another that puts everything in its place.
Therefore, the answer to the question "Does reincarnation exist?" I have one. Yes, soul reincarnation exists.
We do not write life from scratch. We already have the experience of past lives behind us. And so we were born here, in this body and with this destiny. It is in our hands to make not only this life better, but also the next one.
Reincarnation is a matter of course for two and a half billion people on Earth. Many great people of our planet believed in it. And I believe in her.
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Priest Andrey (Khvylya-Olinter),
Ph.D. vice rector for science
Belgorod Theological Seminary
The term "reincarnation" means, as you know, "incarnate again." The word "incarnate" comes from the Latin word inkarnatio - incarnation. The term carnal means "flesh and blood" - that is, something physical, material. The concepts of "reincarnation", "transmigration of souls", "reincarnation", "metempsychosis" have an almost identical meaning. Religious experts note the existence of various conjectures trying to justify reincarnation depending on key features relevant creeds. True Christianity is fundamentally incompatible with the idea of reincarnation. If any person sympathizes with the fabrications about reincarnation, or even shares them, then he is clearly not Orthodox. A number of remarkable studies are devoted to the criticism of reincarnation, primarily by deacon Andrei Kuraev and Doctor of Philosophical Sciences V. Shokhin. This article provides additional information useful to Orthodox missionaries.
Orthodox missionaries should know as accurately as possible the views of their spiritual opponents. Therefore, first, let us briefly outline the understanding of reincarnation by those of its supporters who stand on the position of a pseudo-eastern synthetic dogma (for example, supporters and followers of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada). We will use here fragments of texts from their own books.
Similar creeds that accept the hypothesis of reincarnation define it as the transmigration of a person or soul from an old or useless body to a new body. Knowledge about reincarnation, according to its non-Oriental adherents, can be obtained in two ways:
By the ascending method, that is, by trying to understand the Absolute Truth by the power of sense perception and mental analysis;
The descending method, that is, by receiving information about the Absolute Truth from the Absolute Truth, from God, through the scriptures, through the Paramatma (the Lord in the heart), sages or saintly persons of the past living spiritual teacher- guru.
Proponents of the reincarnation hypothesis point out that a permanent and self-identical person (“I”) is not a body, based on the fact of the dynamic variability of the body in the process of metabolism (metabolism). On the other hand, they separate the mind (thoughts) from the personality, noting that inferences can be controlled by the personality. They write that "your gross and subtle bodies are material in essence, but your essence is spirit." They consider this spirit (spiritual energy) to be the universal basis of any manifestation of life in plants, animals, people. In turn, they call the material energy the lowest, because it is not alive and does not have consciousness. They call individual spiritual energy a vital particle, a soul, and consider it an eternally indivisible unit that cannot be divided or destroyed. In the literal sense, there is no dying, there is only the presence of a person either in the body or outside the body. According to their teaching, the existence of the soul cannot end, because it is a spark of God. Understanding this they consider the beginning of self-realization by the personality of its true essence.
If a person is conscious of God, then after physical death he returns to the spiritual world, the Kingdom of God. But if she is not fully God-conscious when she leaves her body - if she still has material desires and attachments and still has a karmic reaction due to her - then, according to the reincarnationists, she gets another material body, she must reincarnate. Advocates of reincarnation think that the transmigration of souls is analogous to metabolism, especially such as occurs in insects with their metamorphoses, such as eggs, caterpillars, pupae and butterflies. According to the ideologists of neo-Oriental cults, the migration of the soul from the old body to the new one does not occur abruptly, but continuously. Between these two gross material bodies there is a connection - a subtle material body. It is important that it is neither spiritual nor personal.
The material mind that covers the soul supposedly serves as a bridge between incarnations. The desires and attachments of this mind, which a person develops during the life of his gross material body, do not die after the death of this body. They remain with the soul and serve as a connecting link to the next gross body. The mind is the repository of the experiences of the senses of previous and even future lives. Moreover, living beings can remember only by the grace of God. It is material desires that are the cause of reincarnation, according to the views of supporters of this hypothesis. The death of the body causes the destruction of the means of sense gratification, but does not mean the death of the material desires themselves, the soul takes them with it. This is the desire of the soul to be in the material world.
God knows the desire of the soul, respects its will, and therefore returns it to the world in a body whose type corresponds to these desires. As long as the soul has the desire to enjoy matter, then, as those who accept the hypothesis of reincarnation, God will give it gross material bodies one after another. At the same time, the mind is like a nucleus around which a new material body develops. The subtle body, the seat of all kinds of desires and plans, is the form according to which the gross body is chosen and grows. Here already nature gives the soul a body of a certain type. That to which the soul is most attached will prevail at the time of death. If, at the time of death, a person is immersed in love for God, then he goes to God.
The consciousness of the individual, according to the supporters of reincarnation, determines its future body, but it is the current actions of a person, or karma, that determine his consciousness. The Sanskrit word karma - karma means "rite, action, deed". It is karma that creates subtle body. Actions performed in the loving service of God do not give any karmic reaction, do not create material energy.
Good karma means good action and pleasure, while bad karma means bad action and pain. In addition, a person can go to heavenly, middle or hellish planets. In the first case, the pleasures are the strongest, and in the latter, respectively, the pains. Eternal hell supporters of fabrications about reincarnation do not recognize.
Animals, however, do not create any karmic reaction. According to the followers of the reincarnation hypothesis, only in the human form is this or that karma created and the soul goes up or down. The wandering of the soul from one death to another is called samsara. But any soul sooner or later allegedly necessarily returns to the human form of life and then can get off the wheel of birth and death. human form life is the only form in which the soul is responsible for its actions. But it is not a goal: it serves as a launching point to the real goal, the Kingdom of God, it is a form of responsibility. One can realize the Absolute Truth and begin to develop one's God consciousness.
Consciousness of God means to be aware of Him, to be aware that the person is His child, His supposedly integral part. He is the Dearest Friend and Supreme Beloved, the True Owner of the personality. However, often the souls in the material world try to become false masters, rulers and counterfeit gods. Such actions, or karma, bind them to the wheel of birth and death. One who loves God with pure love, who works for Him out of the mere joy of serving Him, is called a bhakti yogi. Such a soul is freed from the wheel of birth and death. She, after leaving her body, immediately attains the nature of God.
To achieve such salvation, according to the fabrications of reincarnation, three conditions are necessary:
One has to be free from material desires;
There is no need to create any new karmic reaction, and the subtle body must be cleansed of all karmic reactions that it has;
There should be no attachment or so-called love to any material form, including people.
The trusted servants of God, who live in pure service to Him, are called paramahamsas or swan-like by the supporters of the reincarnation hypothesis.
In such creeds, the entire material world, the higher and lower planets, is a place of suffering. The entire current historical period is attributed to the age of Kali (chaos, quarrels, confusion). For them, from top to bottom, matter itself (prakriti) and material existence are hellish, temporary, miserable, imperfect. The material world is perceived as an allegedly perverted reflection of the spiritual world.
On the other hand, according to the creeds under consideration, material nature is the energy of God. The material world, in their view, is meant to be a restorative center, a school, a reforming part of God's Kingdom for rebellious souls. The Lord deliberately and deliberately made the material dimension a place of material suffering as well as pleasure. Everyone is equally given the freedom to choose to serve God or not. The law of karma applies to everyone.
For those who have accepted the doctrine of reincarnation, it is not the suffering or unhappiness of living beings that is unnatural, but the presence of the soul here, in the material world. Paradise is just more high level sense gratification and again death, and therefore does not attract the devotee of God. A pure soul in these material worlds is allegedly not really where it seems to be. In fact, she is with God, she is a living continuation of the Kingdom of God, manifested in the material world. In turn, immersion in hell deprives the soul of the memory of God, reduces its consciousness of God. These are some of the features of one of the pseudo-oriental inventions about reincarnation, summarized.
Let us consider the view of Scientologists on this problem. According to this pseudo-scientific dogma (according to many specialists in religions - a variety of Satanism, which everywhere declares its special thorough scientific character), "man himself is a spirit that controls the body through the mind." This spirit (according to Newspeak of Scientologists - a thetan) "is capable of creating space, energy, a lot of time." The thetan is "separable from the body (which does not cause the death of the body) and is able to manage and control it while being outside of it." The thetan "doesn't care to remember the life he has just lived - after he leaves body and mind." “Dying, a person always exteriorizes, that is, he falls into such a state of thetan (the person himself) when he is outside the body and gains confidence that he is himself, and not his body.” A human being a thetan, "having exteriorized, as a rule returns to the planet and usually gets himself another body belonging to a race of the same type."
Para-Scientologists are trying to define “the area between lives: what happens to a thetan in the time gap between losing a body and gaining a new one. After the death of the body, the thetan leaves it and goes to a certain place where he "reports" and where he is made to forget everything. It is then sent back to Earth into a new body just before it is born.” In self-confident sectarian fashion, Scientologists claim, allegedly well established, that the thetan is immortal and that he himself cannot actually die, and "fakes death by forgetting." However, they introduced the concept of "time track", which means "successive recording of mental images - pictures that accumulate throughout a person's life or lives." This track is allegedly “very accurately dated”. The time track is “a complete sequence of “now” events that completely contains all the perceptions received by a person during the entire time of his existence.”
That is, according to Scientology, in earthly bodily life a person does not remember his past being, but somewhere a detailed record of the previous events of all his lives is stored. Such an understanding of reincarnation has developed in Scientology, as they themselves, not at all embarrassed, write, due to the fact that “the knowledge underlying this creed originates in nuclear physics, higher mathematics and in the understanding that the ancients in the East had ".
It must be remembered that there are extremely many interpretations of reincarnation in Eastern and pseudo-Eastern creeds, but all of them appeared not as a result of direct divine Revelation, but as the fruit of a subjective pagan mystical vision of “rishis” - ancient sages-seers or modern “gurus” claiming this role - teachers. Therefore, in the study of Eastern and pseudo-Eastern literature, historical changes in the understanding of reincarnation and the cosmological, anthropological, soteriological and other problems associated with it are observed. In Jewish Kabbalistics, the possibility of reincarnation is also allowed (not rejected).
Orthodox Orientalists-Indologists point to serious and insurmountable contradictions in the hypothesis of reincarnation. “The concept of karma is identified, first of all, with the so-called law of karma, according to which the “history of an individual” is subject to a rigid determination of cause-and-effect relationships, which determines both qualitative and quantitative characteristics. real life individual by his previous bodily, verbal and mental actions.
Samsara is a single hierarchical ladder of reincarnation, along which countless individuals ascend or descend depending on the balance of merit or vice that has developed in previous incarnations (mainly in the last one). It is beginningless, and therefore the world itself is also beginningless as the scene of this game with different bodies, but for those whose ignorance is eliminated, it can have an end that coincides with the achievement of “liberation” (moksha) as the highest goal of human existence.
But there is one important question: Who or what, “actually, reincarnates in accordance with his deeds, for the highest Atman (essence, essence, self-identity) does not undergo any changes through good or evil deeds - just as one who has reached the knowledge of Atman no longer worries about why he did not do good or do evil. It is impossible to accept the very principle of retribution (the retributive principle), which is the basis of this teaching. “Fallen” people are punished by an incarnation, in which, on the one hand, they cannot, in their new state of radical degradation, realize either the extent of their previous misdeeds or the degree of their punishment, on the other hand, they are firmly “fixed” in these forms in their fallen state. . In the animal state, they are not able to evaluate their past, draw the necessary conclusions and correct themselves. Therefore, it turns out the fiction of retribution, that is, the retributive principle. The doctrine of reincarnation presupposes, firstly, the beginninglessness of what corresponds to the soul, and, secondly, the “free”, “unfixed” nature of its connection with bodily formations that perform some external function.
In general, reincarnation, as all Orthodox experts unanimously point out, is in no way compatible with the following basic Christian dogmas (the list of Doctor of Philosophy V. Shokhin):
With the dogma of creation - since it means that only God, who is the Creator of all things, including the soul, can be an uncreated, beginningless beginning.
With the dogma of the creation of man in particular - since the first man was already created as an inseparable personal unity of one soul (reflecting the image of the Uncreated being, but created by nature) and one body, created together and “attached” to each other by their common Creator, and passed it is an indivisible unity to all its descendants.
With the dogma of the Incarnation - since God himself “accepts” into his personal hypostatic unity one human soul, inseparably connected with one body, and does not change its bodily forms during each world period (which are beginningless and countless).
With the dogma of the Atonement - since it presupposes, firstly, the deep, ontological unity of the human race, which, in the light of the doctrine of karma and samsara, is completely “eroded” and, secondly, unique opportunity"erase the handwriting" of human transgressions, which is incompatible with the very principle of the "law of karma".
With the dogma of the Resurrection - since the incarnated God unites after his human death with his only body, and after him, human souls must unite with their only (and not infinite) bodies at the end of time.
With the dogma of the Ascension - since the resurrected God “confirms” here his hypostatic unity with his only body forever so that not only the human soul, but also the body can be “deified”.
Therefore, the ultimate task of man, set before him in Christianity - "deification" - the ideal, directly following from the doctrine of reincarnations - "liberation" is opposed in the most radical way. In the first case, we are talking about the complete restoration of the personality in the spiritual and bodily unity of its nature and the realization in man of the “likeness” of God. In the second - about the complete separation of what can be called the mental and bodily components of the individual through the consistent dismantling of personal self-consciousness (the result of which is conceived as the final recovery of the subject).
It is not for nothing that Buddhists, who all believe in reincarnation, write: “A completely false view is the obscurity of the mind, which denies past and future lives, the law of karma and the like, or believes that the root cause of beings is God, Nature and the like” (From the creed books of Je Tsongkhapa). For them, this is the worst of all ten kleshas, that is, factors that "stir up the flow of the psyche." Buddhists are well aware of the absolute incompatibility of the Christian faith in God and the law of karma.
It is necessary, in connection with some speculations of the supporters of the hypothesis of reincarnation, to recall the difference between the flesh and the body. The first is the entire dynamic human organism at each particular moment of continuous metabolism. The flesh is always and continually changing. What kind of flesh will be after the Resurrection, we do not know. In real conversations, the body is that physical, neuropsychic and other reality that makes all atoms, molecules, cells, organs and their aggregates function in the necessary way and in the places necessary for the body, regulates metabolism, movements and other processes of the flesh. The mind governs the body, not the flesh itself. By will, automatically, and often in addition to the will of a person, the body controls the flesh. It can be assumed that after the death of a person, his body is left to the soul, and the flesh, consisting of specific atoms, is buried.
Let us now briefly consider the Orthodox attitude to this problem. The key is the Bible verses: “And God said, Let us make man in Our image [and] in Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, [and over the beasts] and over the cattle, and over all the earth.” and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea [and over the beasts] and over the birds of the air [and over every livestock and over all the earth] and over every living thing that creeps on the earth” (.). It follows from them, first of all, that man was created by the One God from nothing (in the original text of the book of Genesis, a special Hebrew verb was used, meaning creation from nothing) in His own image, that is, also unique, integral and inimitable, having no prehistory. . The following verse of the Bible is also important: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (.). It testifies to the qualitative difference between man and any other living creature, because only in him God Himself directly breathed the breath of life.
In the lengthy Christian Catechism of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, St. Philaret says that at the resurrection of the dead, in accordance with Orthodox dogma, all the bodies of dead people, uniting again with their souls, will come to life, and will be spiritual and immortal. “A spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised. There is a spiritual body, there is also a spiritual body” (.). “But this I tell you, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption does not inherit incorruption. I tell you a secret: not all of us will die, but we will all change suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory” (.). All the dead will be resurrected; and for those who remain alive until the time of the general resurrection, the gross current bodies (flesh) will instantly change into spiritual and immortal ones. The resurrection of the dead will take place at the end of this visible world. This corruptible world will end by being transformed into an incorruptible world through fire. Until the general resurrection, the souls of the righteous are in light, rest, and the beginning of eternal bliss; but the souls of sinners are in the opposite state. A complete recompense for deeds is predestined to be received by a complete person, after the resurrection of the body (in new flesh) and the last judgment of God. “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. But if life in the flesh bears fruit for my cause, I do not know what to choose. Both attract me: I have a desire to resolve myself and be with Christ, because this is incomparably better” (.).
The Christian Catechism reveals the attitude of Orthodoxy to the existence of a person after his death, that is, to speculation about reincarnation. But within the framework of religious philosophy, one can also succinctly formulate the grossest flaws in this hypothesis. This idea, accepted in most Eastern and pseudo-Eastern creeds, contradicts a number of the most important theological, philosophical and moral principles. First of all, the principle of the absoluteness of the Creator and the basic principles of the existence of created being are violated:
1. The principle of the absoluteness of God's creative potential.
Creation by the Absolute as an absolutely effective process, is carried out with minimal resource costs (up to vanishingly small) and gives the maximum of the target diversity to the created.
2. The principle of God's absolute love.
God Himself in His energy is absolute Love. Therefore, the Creator in love gives the maximum possible good being to each created individual as a whole and any combination of them. The existence of the entire created world and each person is limited only by the will and measure of this person, as well as the totality of the wills and measures of all other people.
3. The principle of God's absolute sacrifice.
As absolute Love, the Creator, for the complete salvation of any created personality in its integral being, is ready for the absolute sacrifice of love, that is, to sacrifice Himself to Himself through Himself in His inner Trinity super-existence. For the world, according to Orthodox teaching, this is the Sacrifice of Golgotha. Acceptance of this sacrifice by people depends on the desire of the created personality itself.
4. The principle of the absolute perfection of the creative energy of God.
Each created individual and any combination of them is the only and most possible perfect. But the perfect does not mean static completeness or maturity, as it is also perfect in its dynamism in time. The perfection of personality does not end with earthly death. Otherwise, God is responsible for killing, which is impossible because of points 2 and 3. Reincarnation assumes that only a part of the individual is perfect.
5. The principle of the absolute fullness of the created being.
Inside and outside of each created individual (special) everything is connected with the most complete number of connections and represents an integral system. This follows from paragraphs 1-3, for the weakening of at least one connection is a belittling of the Absolute. Reincarnation breaks the completeness of internal connections in individuality.
6. The principle of the all-encompassing integrity of the created being.
Each created individual is an integral system in which all its parts are involved to the maximum. This follows from paragraphs 1-4, because the partial use of at least one link is a belittling of the Absolute. Man is created whole by nature. Reincarnation divides the whole individuality into transmitted and discarded parts.
7. The principle of the absolute uniqueness of the created being.
It is impossible to have two identical individualities or any of their parts in all created existence, time and space. It is also impossible to pass without destroying nature and qualitative changes any part of one individuality into another individuality. Otherwise the Absolute is diminished. Reincarnation violates the principle of uniqueness by the transition of the same soul into different individuals.
8. The principle of complete dependence of every created thing on everything created.
The energy of God affects everything to everyone and through everything. Therefore, the past depends on the future, space on time, large on small and vice versa. From this follows, for example, the general responsibility of all people for the private sins of each person and vice versa. Reincarnation involves the moment of independent transfer of karma from one body to another in the act of transferring it to a subsequent incarnation.
9. The principle of conservation of the created.
Everything inherent in the created does not disappear, but can pass into another form. After death, the body changes, but is not lost to the personality and does not change its nature. Reincarnation is contrary to this, as it involves a change of body and its nature.
10. The principle of the impossibility of exact predictability and foresight on the part of the created.
Any prediction, foresight or understanding of God's instructions to the creatures cannot be accurate, but is only partial (such a truth that is known only after the event has taken place), because an accurate prediction or foresight contradicts point 7 and detracts from the Absolute. This principle applies not only to the future, but also to the past. Any model cannot exactly correspond to the created reality, because it is a belittling of the Absolute. For example, “memories” of supposedly past lives, identified as their own by one and the same person, are obviously false, since identification is the appropriation of another integral and unique individuality. This contradicts the so-called "evidence" of the truth of reincarnation, based on known cases of such memories.
11. The principle of full personal responsibility for the self-realization of one's being.
Each person is responsible to himself, any other individuality and the Creator for self-realization with the whole integral fullness of his nature (body, psyche, will, mind, consciousness, conscience) in the entire space and time of his being. This responsibility cannot be transferred to another person without his or her mutual and voluntary consent. In the theory of reincarnation, responsibility is transferred by impersonal karma, therefore, in this case, one whole person does, and another answers.
12. The principle of complete forgiveness by God.
True and complete repentance before God, according to the rules given by Himself, completely removes the consequences of sin for the person and his nature in all integrity and completeness. Denying this is contrary to points 2 and 3 and detracts from the Absolute. The choice depends only on the free will of the individual. So there is no need for reincarnation.
13. The principle of absolute respect by God for the will of the individual.
The Creator absolutely respects the will and desires of each individual when choosing this or that action, but the result of this action depends on the will and desire of all individuals. Not everything is done according to the will of God, but nothing is done against the will of God. But will is a quality of the unified and integral nature of man, and not of any part of him. Reincarnation dismembers the will.
14. The principle of communication between souls.
The souls of any people can communicate with each other outside the time and space of the visible world, as they connect the visible and invisible worlds. The latter has a different, non-physical structure. Presumably, this explains the cases of “remembering supposedly previous (and even supposedly future!) Lives”, which are actually impossible due to the inevitable dismemberment of the whole individuality when reincarnation is recognized.
15. The principle of respect for the rights and freedoms of the individual.
In the legal sphere, the doctrine of reincarnation grossly violates the rights and freedom of the individual. According to this idea, each person, through impersonal karma, becomes responsible for the deeds of other people (the so-called other incarnations).
Special attention should once again be paid to authentically recorded cases of “recollection of supposedly previous (and even supposedly future!) Lives”. Spiritually and mystically, this phenomenon can be explained if we remember that the true bearer of faith is always one or another spirit accepted by a person. Through the spirit of faith chosen by the personality, there is a rapprochement and, as it were, a union (unity) of spiritually kindred human souls, and the content of one life is as if imitated in the memory of another mind.
But the Spirit of truth guards the uniqueness of man, which is a consequence of the fact that all people are created in the image of God. In the case of the action of the spirits of lies, the true unique being appears in a distorted, deformed, illusory form, supposedly connecting unique and integral individuals. Artificial algorithmic cycles of reincarnations appear, and the caricature model displaces the real picture in the human mind. This is a kind of spiritual illness. Then such a person begins to perceive another as if he were himself, identifies, identifies himself with another unique personality, becomes disoriented, loses a sense of his own and other unconditional value.
Some speculators of the reincarnation speculation try to find support for their position in New Testament verses. In particular, they very freely interpret the words of the Lord Jesus Christ about the prophet John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah. Deacon Andrey Kuraev showed the inconsistency of references to New Testament when trying to justify fabrications about reincarnation. In addition, the need for a deep stay in the Holy Tradition (the living word of God) is clarified once again when studying Holy Scripture. “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; when the perfect comes, then what is partly will stop ... Now we see, as it were, through a dull glass, guessingly, then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know, just as I am known” (). God's Revelation is not comprehended by self-confident human reason or the help of evil spirits, including in relation to the posthumous future of each person and mankind.
In conclusion of the article, we will give some practical examples showing what the acceptance of the idea of reincarnation leads to.
Let us first consider some of the key aspects of the teachings of the Center for Societies for Krishna Consciousness in Russia (TSOSKR), which are related to the hypothesis of reincarnation. The leaders and adherents of this organization have repeatedly stated that the basis of their activities is the principle of non-violence. Therefore, it would be expected that the CSOCR is among the most peaceful and harmless religious organizations. Is it so? In a guide to destructive cults published by the Synodal Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, numerous examples from their original books are given, showing the understanding in ISKCON (and therefore in the CSOCR) of the principle of "non-violence" in relation to people. In accordance with it, “violence” is any action that moves a person’s soul away from Krishna, and “non-violence” is no matter what action, as long as it brings the soul closer to Krishna in her reincarnations (reincarnations). Therefore, the killing of people, depending on the views of the ISKCON, can be interpreted by them either as violence or as non-violence. Killing a person who does not believe in Krishna can even become a boon for the person being killed. Further, the physical death of a person is for the Hare Krishnas only a “change of body” as clothing for the eternal soul. It is important that the highest criteria of Hare Krishna morality are outside good and evil, outside the material world (as an illusion). Everything is determined by the goals of Krishna, but as they are understood by the leaders of ISKCON.
As a result, the principle of “non-violence” in the cult turns out to be completely different from what is understood by law and traditional human morality. Allegedly, “non-violence” turns into violence justified by a religious attitude.
Such texts in the ISKCON creed books allow the justification of extremism and violence if they are interpreted by the cult itself or its offshoots as being committed in Krishna consciousness or, which is the same, in the name of Krishna, or, which is the same, in obedience to the representative of Krishna, in fulfillment of the instructions of the true spiritual master, in the role of the servant of the servant of Krishna. We have to admit that there is a system of justification for violence against non-believers in Krishna and even incentives for it.
To a large extent, this is explained by the choice of the ISKCON as its main creed book, namely the Bhagavad Gita, which describes, in the socio-political plot line, the preparation of rulers for a bloody battle for the sake of power and justifies the war from religious and philosophical positions, but is only a small part of the giant Indian pagan epic - Mahabharata.
The clue to such a striking metamorphosis of the concept of "non-violence" among the Hare Krishnas lies mainly in reincarnation. The fact is that, as noted above, the value of each individual person in the eyes of the supporters of this anti-Christian hypothesis becomes vanishingly small. And for the Orthodox, each individual person is more valuable than the entire impersonal world, for he is created in the image of God.
Human sacrifice in one form or another is practiced by almost all cults that recognize reincarnation. Hinduism has similar ancient customs. Sometimes they are “ordinary” rites Everyday life Hindus. For example, the so-called "sati" - self-immolation of widows. In today's India, several thousand such rituals are recorded every year. This rite is directly related to the idea of reincarnation. "Sati" is perceived as atonement for the sins of past lives. Completion of the life path in the flame of a funeral pyre is considered the spiritual feat of a widow. The Brahmins compose hymns about those who have committed “sati”, in their honor at Hindu temples they put special stones with the image of the sun, moon and right hand with an open hand. And women who do not dare to commit this terrible suicide, in the eyes of many modern Hindus, become pariahs, outcasts.
Tibetan Buddhism also brings bloody human sacrifices in the form of secret ancient tantric rituals, where bliss is achieved through the torment of a living being. In the yurts of the supreme lamas, human skin, torn from innocent victims, hangs - this is their necessary prayer accessory “tulum”. It turns out that the ritual murder of a person cleanses the soul of “peace-loving” Buddhists.
The followers of E. Blavatsky and the Roerichs are ready to bring large-scale human sacrifices on the altar of progress and evolution, disguising them as an artificial selection of the most worthy races and civilizations.
Satanists, who believe in reincarnation, highly value human sacrifices. Russian Satanist teacher Aleister Crowley boasted that from 1912 to 1928 he sacrificed an average of 150 babies annually. He wrote before his descent into hell: “it is foolish to think that by killing the victim, we bring harm to it. On the contrary, it is the most blessed and merciful of all deaths, since the elemental spirit is immediately united with the Divine, that is, it reaches the goal towards which it has been striving for many incarnations. Here the main Satanist of our era, the author of the Krishnaite book “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” and other admirers of reincarnation are surprisingly unanimous.
Orthodoxy and reincarnation are incompatible!
Christians reject reincarnation and, in principle, cannot shed human or any other blood for the sake of a cult ritual. For the salvation of faithful Orthodox Christians, anyone who wants this people and the whole world, God Himself brought the true Sacrifice once and for all. “For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (.). “This is how our High Priest should be: holy, without evil, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above heaven, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for the sins of the people, for he did this once, sacrificing himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have infirmities; but the word of oath, after the law, set the Son perfect for ever” ().
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 a 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 the highest source of 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
IN 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 a new form of life when the existing 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. For this, it is necessary that the soul continues to live after physical death, gaining new experience. All evil is expiated by suffering until the heart becomes pure. This fix takes time. It cannot happen within one short human life.
- 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.
