The concept of reincarnation is present in many ancient religions, and it does not cease to exist to this day. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans believed in reincarnation. Although both Christianity and Judaism believe in the immortality of the soul, they do not recognize reincarnation. In both of these religions, the main idea is that after death the spirit goes either to heaven or hell, depending on the earthly life lived.
Christians also believe that the soul is cleansed from all its earthly sins in order to be worthy of entering the heavenly kingdom. Christianity teaches that after the soul leaves the physical body, it “sleeps” for a long time and is not reborn until the last, Judgment Day, when the Archangel Gabriel will sound the trumpet, announcing the beginning of the Apocalypse.
The theory of reincarnation today is based on the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism, which teach that the spirit is associated with the wheel of life and cannot be freed from it until it reaches the final stage of development called Nirvana. At this point, the spirit becomes an independent being and a part of God. According to Hindu concepts, incarnation is an opportunity for an individual soul to engage in self-purification during life in preparation for the ecstasy of Nirvana.
A typical example of the concept of Buddhism is the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual mentor of Tibetan Buddhists who believe that when the Dalai Lama dies, his spirit is immediately incarnated in the body of a boy, who is born when he dies. This child must have a special "tiger mark" on his feet, as well as other special marks of the Dilai Lama. When the boy grows up a little, he is shown various objects and asked to choose which belonged to the Dalai Lama. If the boy chooses the right items, he is considered the embodiment of the Tibetan Dalai Lama.
Many of the Buddhist ideas about reincarnation formed the basis of the spiritualist movement known as the Theosophical movement. It was started in New York in 1875 by the Russian émigré Madame H. P. Blavatsky, who was an exalted personality and also had a brilliant intellect. Helena Blavatsky left Russia at an early age and traveled the world throughout her life, especially often in Asia, where she, according to her claims, met spiritual teachers who gave her knowledge about the secrets of the Universe and chose her to spread this knowledge in the world …
The doctrine of Theosophy is based on three fundamental statements. The first is the concept of a free, eternal and all-pervading principle of unlimited possibilities, which can be identified as the Creative Force of the Universe. The second postulate Asserts the universality of natural cycles and the law of periodicity. As morning, day and night endlessly replace each other in the same order, so birth, youth, maturity and death are replaced by a new cycle, beginning with a new incarnation.
Unlike the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism, which tell us that reincarnation is like a wheel in which we are forced to rotate, deprived of union with God, Theosophists believe that reincarnation is an evolutionary process through which the spirit is perfected on the path to God.
Many prominent historical figures strongly believed in reincarnation, including Queen Victoria, Benjamin Franklin, General George Patton, and Abraham Lincoln. So far, there is no conclusive evidence of the truth of reincarnation, but we are amazed by the many inexplicable phenomena associated with the obvious fact of rebirth, which make us think about the reality of its existence.
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One of the most famous defenders of the theory of reincarnation in the United States was the medium Edgar Cayce. Dozens of books have been written about Casey, who is best known as the "Sleeping Prophet" because he did much of his prophecies in a light trance state. All of them were recorded and collected in so-called meetings, or "readings", containing, along with prophecies, numerous diagnoses and medical recommendations.
Despite his orthodox Christian beliefs, Cayce was an ardent supporter of the theory of reincarnation. He, for example, claimed that in his previous incarnations he was an Arab prince and an ancient Egyptian high priest named Ra-Ta. His wife Gertrudis was also his wife in Egyptian incarnation, and at that time she was an exotic dancer in the temple of one of the gods. It is difficult to imagine Gertrudis, a respectable lady of rather impressive size, performing a ritual dance, but according to Casey, each incarnation is completely different from the last. Thus, the transformation of the sensual Egyptian dancer into the burly Gerdtrudis fits well into the framework of Edgar Cayce's hypothetical concept of reincarnation.
One of the most famous cases of reincarnation reported in the literature concerns Bridey Murphy, a 19th century Irish woman who is said to have reincarnated as the modern American housewife. This case is described in detail in the book of Colorado businessman Maury Bernstein "Finding Bridey Murphy". The book immediately became a sensation and in a few months sold millions of copies. Bernstein himself had a long history of hypnosis, an enthusiastic admirer of Edgar Cayce, and a fervent belief in reincarnation.
Bernstein became interested in the technique of regressive hypnotherapy, with which psychiatrists put the patient into a state of hypnosis and return him to infancy, so that he can remember the traumatic events that occurred at that time and, thus, solve some problems of personality disorder. This method of regressive hypnosis can also be used to immerse the patient in past lives.
Wanting to test this, Bernstein undertook an experiment in Colorado with his friend Virginia Ty. Their first session took place in November 1952. In a deep hypnotic trance, Virginia began to speak with a strong Irish accent and said that she was an 8-year-old girl, Bridey Murphy, who lived with her family in County Cork in 1805. In her sessions, Bridey - through the mouth of a hypnotized Virginia - described unusual details about her family, the place where they lived, the stores they shopped at, and many other details of daily life.
A journalist named Barker, learning about this case, wrote a series of articles in one of Denver's magazines, which formed the basis of Bernstein's book. Immediately across the United States, there was talk of Bridey Murphy and reincarnation. It seemed that everyone could remember similar cases or had similar experiences himself. Never before has the theory of reincarnation received such widespread publicity.
But then, following the enthusiastic sensational hype, almost as unexpectedly a backlash began in the form of stinging attacks against Bridey, Virginia and Bernstein. The first attack was launched by psychiatrists, irritated that Bernstein was using, or rather, abusing regressive therapy. They were quickly joined by indignant historians, who pointed to many serious errors in Bridey's descriptions of life in Ireland in the early 19th century.
However, perhaps the most severe curses came on Bridey Murphy from the churchmen, who declared that the concept of reincarnation was contrary to the Bible. They called the theory of rebirth anti-Christian and declared it dangerous for Christian teaching.
One of the most curious books ever written about reincarnation is the Canadian psychiatrist Ian Stevenson's Twenty Cases Suggesting Reincarnation. As the title suggests, the book contains 20 cases personally studied by Dr. Stevenson, who is confident that they are evidence of a real experience of reincarnation.
There are no cases in the book that would seem ambiguous and suspicious - like the case of Bridey Murphy, or ambiguous theories - like Edgar Cayce. Dr. Stevenson did not use hypnosis in his research and did not rely on any mystical or theosophical principles. His methods were empirical and scientifically flawless, making him a strong and convincing advocate of reincarnation theory.
One of Dr. Stevenson's strangest cases is that of a Lebanese boy named Imad Elawar. His family belonged to the Druze religious sect, who believed in transmigration and reincarnation. Imad was nearly 5 years old when Dr. Stevenson arrived in 1964 in his village 15 miles east of Beirut. At the age of 2, Imad began to talk about his past life in another village not far from his own.
But although there were no more than 20 miles between the two villages, they were separated by impenetrable mountains. Therefore, the villagers had little contact with each other.
Stevenson was most interested in the fact that Imad claimed to have lived in this village several years before his current birth. His story could be easily verified, as the child gave the dates and names of people he said were members of his former family, as well as his friends and neighbors.
Dr. Stevenson visited a nearby village accompanied by Imad and his parents. Arriving there, they quickly tracked down several people who confirmed Imad's information. For example, Imad said that his last name was Bauhamzi, and his wife's name was Jamila. One member of his family died in a car accident.
The villagers took Dr. Stevenson, Imad and his parents to the house that belonged to Ibrahim Bauhamzi 10 years ago, that is, 5 years before the birth of Imad. Ibrahim Bauhamzi actually lived with a wife named Jamila and died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, and one of his cousins named Said died in a car accident.
That is, Imad's story was fully confirmed, but Dr. Stevenson was not so easy to convince. He insisted that the child be asked to describe the interior of the house in the smallest detail that could not be seen from the outside. The child began to describe everything in detail, including the household barn and the cattle corral. He also named other members of the Bauhamzi family and their neighbors who were still alive and whom he had never seen before.
After examining this information and continuing to interview Imad and his parents for several more weeks, Dr. Stevenson concluded that Imad Elawar's case "suggests" the existence of reincarnation. There was no other explanation for Imad's amazing revelations, except that before his present life he was Ibrahim Bauhamzi.
• Approximately 50% of the cases of children recalling their past lives investigated by Dr. Stevenson, they died there violently or prematurely. Dr. Stevenson found that those killed by a knife or bullet were born in a new reincarnation with moles or scars at the site of injury. In this life, the child may have had phobias associated with a past life cause of death.
• 90% of the cases investigated by Dr. Stevenson, the child returned of the same sex as in the previous life. Thus, in 10% of cases, the sex changed during reincarnation.
The observation that gender changes in only 10% of rebirth cases brings insight into issues of homosexuality, transsexuals, transsexuals and gender identity.
• In Dr. Stevenson's research, there were 2 cases of physical similarity when two twins who were sisters in past lives were reincarnated in Burma. That is, the two sisters reincarnated as twin girls.
This example shows that souls can plan their new incarnations in such a way as to be together with their loved ones again.
This case of twins was part of a study of 31 pairs of twins conducted by Dr. Stevenson. The past lives of these people have been objectively confirmed. In 100% of these cases, the twins had close relationships in past lives.
Gonzales-Whippler Migen