Many ancient religions and indigenous belief systems from around the world believe in the idea of reincarnation. Even in the Christian faith, there are areas of the Bible that hint at an accepted belief in reincarnation by Jesus and his disciples. Today in the west, the belief in reincarnation is growing. According to a 1999 study, around a quarter of Europeans stated that they believe in reincarnation. With a wealth of scientific research into reincarnation, now with over 60 years of recorded data from more than 2,500 verifiable cases, is it time that we gave the idea of reincarnation some serious consideration?
Which Religions Believe in Reincarnation?
- Hinduism: Reincarnation or Punarjanman is central to Hindu beliefs and is closely linked to the idea of Karma. Hindus believe that inside each human body lies the Atman or soul, this Atman lives on after death and is reborn into a new body. This process is part of a cycle of birth, death and rebirth known as Saṃsāra. Our karma is linked to the good deeds we have done in our lives and our new life in the cycle of Saṃsāra will be a direct result of our earthly Karma. According to the Vedanta Society of Western Washington Hindus believe that “our unfulfilled desires are primarily responsible for our rebirth. Reincarnation gives us the opportunity to gradually evolve spiritually through the various valuable experiences”. In Hinduism Jatismaras are people who can remember their past births
- Sikhism: Sikhs believe that the soul is passed from one body to another until ‘liberation’ which is similar to the concept of Karma. According to the teachings of Guru Nanak, Sikhs also believe “that good deeds and actions lead to a better life whereas evil actions and sinful deeds, result in being incarnated in ‘lower’ life forms. Otherwise reincarnation is due to the law of cause and effect but does not create any caste or differences among people”
- Buddhism: Similar to Hinduism and Jainism, reincarnation is central to the Buddhist belief system. Buddhists also believe in Saṃsāra which they incorporate into their Bhavacakra or Wheel of Life. This cosmology defines 6 forms of existence that are possible for rebirth including the human form. These are gods, demi-gods, human, animal, ‘hungry ghost’ and ‘hell creature’. Like Hindus and Jains, Buddhist believe that earthly Karma has a direct impact on the wheel of life and the life we are reborn into.
- Ancient Greek Philosophy: In Ancient Greece there were many references to reincarnation or metempsychosis as it was referred to by the Ancient Greeks. Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato all refer to a belief in reincarnation with Plato putting forward the idea that the soul chooses the next life, an idea that is also held in many other belief systems.
- Christianity: Mainstream Christianity does not promote a belief in reincarnation. However there is some evidence that there was a belief in reincarnation in early Christianity. Many argue that certain verses in the Bible such as Matthew 17:10-13 where Jesus and his disciples discuss John the Baptist as a reincarnation of the prophet Ellijah and John 9:2 where the disciples ask Jesus “who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” are evidence of a belief in reincarnation. In fact, reincarnation was not declared a Christian heresy until 553 A.D.
- Judaism: Reincarnation is not accepted as part of mainstream Judaism but does have a long history in various forms of Jewish Mysticism such as Kabbalah. Interestingly, the idea of a wheel or reincarnation as is found in Buddhism also features in Kabbalah and is known as the Gilgul.
- Native American beliefs: According to research by the Society for Psychical Research reincarnation “beliefs are widespread in native American cultures. Reincarnation beliefs were recorded by the first settlers and missionaries to have contact with native North American peoples. Unlike Eastern belief systems, Native Americans do not associate karma with the idea of reincarnation.When it comes to human-to-human rebirth. It is reported that Shamans may tell who a baby was in a precious life, to ensure that the newborn is given the same name as before as wells as ensuring they stand to inherit property, prerogatives and status enjoyed in the previous life.”
- Celtic Druidism: Although written records regarding the spirituality and beliefs of Celtic Druids are limited, Julius Cesar made a direct reference to the belief in reincarnation by the Celts in his account Commentarii de Bello Gallico. He reported that according to the Celts “the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another” and attributed the bravery of the Celts in battle to this central belief because it removed their fear of death.
Modern Day Research into Reincarnation
Western interest in reincarnation has been growing since the late 19th century. In 1885 the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) was formed in New York City, dedicated to scientific research into various ‘paranormal’ phenomena including the study of reincarnation. The ASPR website holds a wealth of information on the studies into individual case studies of reported reincarnation.
Since then many authors and academics have published research into cases of reincarnation. One of the most notable researchers in this field was Professor Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia, who in the late 1950’s, began to publish his research into possible cases of reincarnation, attracting global attention. Dr Jim Tucker who took over the research from Stevenson when he died currently oversees the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine.
Stevenson said that he began his research into reincarnation to try and explain how phobias, diseases and other physical ailments can often seem disconnected to genetic and environmental factors and wanted to explore a link with possible previous lives.
The University of Virginia has now developed a tested method of weighting the likelihood of a true case of reincarnation based on a points scale. Increased points are given for example to cases where a child possesses knowledge of a deceased person who is not known or related to them and lives more than 25km away. Increased points are also awarded for personality traits, knowledge or talents or physical characteristics associated with the deceased.
How Do People Remember Past Lives?
The most common reported memories of past lives come from children. According to Tucker and Stevensons research “young children are noted to claim memories of a previous life. They tend to start at a very early age, at 2–3 years old, and usually stop making such statements by the age of 6 or 7.”
James Matlock’s view is that adults seem to have more of a “mental block against remembering past lives” and memories in adults come from the external triggers such as music, objects the person and places. According to the research by the ASPR, “Past lives are remembered in a similar way to current lives, except that autobiographical knowledge – the abstract concept of the life-story as a whole, which can also be used as a mental filing system for accessing memories of specific events – is absent”. Matlock adds that adults however seem to remember more of their past lives than children.
Memories of past lives can present in adulthood, prompted by certain triggers. According to Frederick Lenz music, objects and places can trigger a memory. According to Lenz, the most common stimulus was “an encounter with a person who seemed familiar” i.e. someone from the previous life. According to Lenz “only 10% of his subjects’ memories came in the waking state, while 15% came in dreams and 13% during prayer or meditation.”
Past Life Regression
When memories of past lives don’t come spontaneously or a person wants more information about triggered memories that they don’t understand, a type of hypnosis known as past life regression is a common method to help ‘unlock’ these memories.
Two notable past life regression experts Dolores Cannon and Michael Newton have written many books documenting the cases of their clients past life regressions. These case studies bear a striking similarities in their descriptions of life after death and the process of reincarnation.
Is Reincarnation a Result of a Violent or Premature Death?
According to the ASPR, many Native American tribes believe that reincarnation is only as a result of traumatic or premature deaths. This may be due to the higher occurrence of memory of past lives in those that describe a violent or premature death in a previous life. This correlates with Professor Ian Stevenson’s research which stated that “Both adults and children seem to be motivated to remember past lives due to unfinished business and need for resolution or healing”. Stevenson’s research found that “children remember violent deaths at a much higher incidence than occur generally.”
Do We Reincarnate as the Same Gender?
In addition to ancient stories of reincarnation as the opposite sex such as the story of King Purañjana who reincarnated as a woman in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, there are many documented cases of previous lives as both genders. According to Stevenson “in gender-change cases, more girls remember past lives as men than boys remember past lives as women”. Overall, Stevenson’s research suggest that a soul changes gender in only 10% of cases.
Are Fears and Phobias Connected to Past Lives?
There is evidence including Stevenson’s research to suggest that phobias in our current lives may be as a direct result of incidents in previous lives including the previous cause of death. Stevenson’s work followed a number of other researchers who had tried to explain childhood phobias that appear not to correlate with any learned experience. In the case of Jenny Cokell in her autobiographical work Past Lives Eternal she describes a deep fear of getting hit by a truck and later discovered that she had been killed in this very manner in a previous life as young boy.
Do We Choose Our Identity When We Reincarnate?
Many ancient beliefs focus on the idea that souls are involved in the decision to reincarnate into a particular body. Ikegawa Akira co-authored a 2014 paper on statements of children who claim to remember the reincarnation process. According to Akira’s research “Of the 21 children studied, seventeen said they chose their parents.” This idea correlates with research from Stevenson where children also describe a spiritual entity who was involved in the selection process. According to Stevenson, “the strongest motivator in free choice selection is emotional attachment to other people”. This often means that souls reincarnate back into the same family and can mean that souls reincarnate together as brothers and sisters and as twins if they choose to reincarnate at the same time. This idea regarding twins reincarnating together has long been debated with research dating back to a study in 1898 by Henry Fielding Hall. Since this study, many other investigations into the phenomena of twins and a connection to past lives has been published. Stevenson even suggest in his research an intervention causing the egg to split.
Accounts published by authors such as Dolores Cannon and Michael Newton from cases of past life regression in adults also describe in detail the process of purposeful selection of the new life often with the aid of a spiritual entity or ‘spiritual guide’.
Do We Retain Our Personalities When We Reincarnate?
Research into past lives and the similarities between those remembering the past life and the deceased suggests that our personalities, interests, mannerisms and nature travel with us from one lifetime to another. This similarity between the person claiming to be reincarnated and the deceased forms part of Jim Tucker’s weighting criteria for verification of a past life. These similarities between the living reincarnation and the deceased can even extend to distinct preferences for certain foods.
Do We Look the Same When We Reincarnate?
There are many cases of reincarnation where the past life appears to directly impact the physical appearance after reincarnation. This phenomena is discussed in Ian Stevenson’s 1997 book Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect. These physical factors can include birthmarks from wounds, including fatal wounds in the previous life as well as missing fingers, hands and surgical scars. There are also many cases where the subject has a strong physical resemblance to their identity in previous lives down to facial features. This aspect of reincarnation forces us to challenge our current understanding of genetic selection.
Does Reincarnation Really Exist?
The main purpose of the extensive scientific research that has been conducted into reincarnation has not been focussed on spiritual matters, it has primarily been conducted to try to explain various medical and psychological phenomena. If true then reincarnation would help to explain why identical twins are identical according to genetic and environmental factors but display very different characteristics and personality traits. It could also explain the talents of child prodigies who display extraordinary intelligence and creative talents at a very young age, possessing knowledge that has not been gathered in the few years that they been alive. It would also help to explain the phenomenon known as Xenoglossy, particularly in cases of amnesia where patients are suddenly fluent in foreign languages.
The more that one reads the breadth of research available on reincarnation the stranger the topic seems from the point of view of what we accept as our reality in the modern western world. However, the similarities in cases and the number of verifiable cases challenges us to question what we accept as our reality and our understanding of the meaning of life.
As quoted by the Society for Psychical Research “not everything can be known by the humans with their current mind and intelligence that are far limited to perceive such paranormal phenomenon.”
If you would like to understand more about past lives and reincarnation then why not check out the recommended reading list on reincarnation in our shop.
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