What Evidence is There to Support the REality of Reincarnation?
When primitive man developed the practice of burying his dead, he evinced a spark of understanding of the dignity of the human being.
This may have been the origin of human culture.
When great and durable rulers of substantial societies or civilisations sought to embellish their claim to have descended from the gods, or of representing the gods, they widened the penumbra of human cultures.
They achieved this by claiming a continuity of their existence, especially in an Afterlife; that is, beyond mortal life on Earth.
It is not difficult to see how a popular or common belief in reincarnation or rebirth on Earth for one and all might then have gradually evolved.
This would have been all over the world, since Man is the same everywhere.
It would seem that, in time, a belief in human reincarnation did prevail over most, if not all, of the globe.
That is, until less than 2,000 years ago, when a burgeoning priesthood decided to do away with this belief.
Reincarnation is not compatible with outright control by a church of its followers.
Ultimately, this church placed the souls of its followers into compartments ranging from sub-terra hell to supra-terra heaven.
A couple of other categories of compartment were made available (or withdrawn) from time to time, reflecting changes of dogma.
Long before this schism, the ancient Hindus had constructed an autonomously- operating mechanism for the operation of human rebirth on Earth, named karma or destiny.
This is not an inflexible Fate, but a process permitting the progressive growth of human souls through successive lives on Earth.
Progress is self-driven, not through control by others.
Freedom of choice by the self is at the core of this Hindu philosophy.
There was no need for any mechanism of considered personal choice pre-birth, with or without guidance, about the life an individual would lead next on Earth.
This latter imputed mechanism of choice clearly reflects the recent 'can do' and 'can be' philosophy of modern immigrant-created Western cultures.
This article is not, however, about how reincarnation operates but, rather, to look for evidence of its existence.
The only reliable evidence comes from the memories of some children, aged between 2 and 4; between 5 and 8 any such memories have been reported by researchers to fade away.
Research over decades by Dr.
Ian Stevenson and others of like calibre has shown conclusively that, because verifiability was indubitably possible in so many cases in Asia and Europe, that the children had indeed lived on Earth relatively recently, and had been re-born after a short sojourn elsewhere.
That is, their memories were confirmed.
The only other claimants to proffer evidence of reincarnation are the hypnotherapists.
These include eminent medicos, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors.
It would seem that their patients or clients were adults.
Since any memory of a past life has been shown to be eroded by 8 years of age at the latest (generally much sooner), what credence might be placed on utterances by adults under hypnosis about past-life experiences? (The potential value of hypnotherapy for therapeutic purposes when the patient or client offers a memory of a past life is not denied; but that is a different issue.
) What has been described as 'false memory' has been acknowledged as likely to taint the statements of those recollecting, under hypnosis, some past event.
Individuals, parents, grandparents, and others have been reported to have been damaged or destroyed by many excavated alleged memories.
Some of the 'memories' have reportedly referred to satanic influences; this suggests a cultural contamination as well.
Yet, some reports under hypnosis may reflect untarnished reality, and would thereby be credible.
Would these cover life between Earthly lives, which are clearly unverifiable, as well as past lives, some of which may be verifiable? Were there accessible information available to enable an unbiased assessment, the latter cases may parallel the research into the past-life memories of little children.
However, the plethora of published claims about the Afterlife, some of it without the benefit of narratives obtained under hypnosis, may be a mountain too high for those who seek verifiable reports.
There is also a cultural cliff created by those imbued with the modern Western ethos that one is free to be or to do whatever one chooses.
Trekking across this cliff face are those who introduce allusions and icons from their religion.
Collectively, these 2 groups have little choice to be otherwise.
Else, would their perception not be Hinduistic? Yet, the Hindus did not deny freedom of choice.
It is the way one lives (and learns) within the unavoidable bounds of harsh reality which influences substantially one's future or lives.
There lies the path of growth.
How one travels on it is a matter of choice - a far more credible concept of choice in the reincarnation process.
Apart from the confirmed memories of some little children, reincarnation remains a very human belief.
Yet, is it not a useful guide to the Void?
This may have been the origin of human culture.
When great and durable rulers of substantial societies or civilisations sought to embellish their claim to have descended from the gods, or of representing the gods, they widened the penumbra of human cultures.
They achieved this by claiming a continuity of their existence, especially in an Afterlife; that is, beyond mortal life on Earth.
It is not difficult to see how a popular or common belief in reincarnation or rebirth on Earth for one and all might then have gradually evolved.
This would have been all over the world, since Man is the same everywhere.
It would seem that, in time, a belief in human reincarnation did prevail over most, if not all, of the globe.
That is, until less than 2,000 years ago, when a burgeoning priesthood decided to do away with this belief.
Reincarnation is not compatible with outright control by a church of its followers.
Ultimately, this church placed the souls of its followers into compartments ranging from sub-terra hell to supra-terra heaven.
A couple of other categories of compartment were made available (or withdrawn) from time to time, reflecting changes of dogma.
Long before this schism, the ancient Hindus had constructed an autonomously- operating mechanism for the operation of human rebirth on Earth, named karma or destiny.
This is not an inflexible Fate, but a process permitting the progressive growth of human souls through successive lives on Earth.
Progress is self-driven, not through control by others.
Freedom of choice by the self is at the core of this Hindu philosophy.
There was no need for any mechanism of considered personal choice pre-birth, with or without guidance, about the life an individual would lead next on Earth.
This latter imputed mechanism of choice clearly reflects the recent 'can do' and 'can be' philosophy of modern immigrant-created Western cultures.
This article is not, however, about how reincarnation operates but, rather, to look for evidence of its existence.
The only reliable evidence comes from the memories of some children, aged between 2 and 4; between 5 and 8 any such memories have been reported by researchers to fade away.
Research over decades by Dr.
Ian Stevenson and others of like calibre has shown conclusively that, because verifiability was indubitably possible in so many cases in Asia and Europe, that the children had indeed lived on Earth relatively recently, and had been re-born after a short sojourn elsewhere.
That is, their memories were confirmed.
The only other claimants to proffer evidence of reincarnation are the hypnotherapists.
These include eminent medicos, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors.
It would seem that their patients or clients were adults.
Since any memory of a past life has been shown to be eroded by 8 years of age at the latest (generally much sooner), what credence might be placed on utterances by adults under hypnosis about past-life experiences? (The potential value of hypnotherapy for therapeutic purposes when the patient or client offers a memory of a past life is not denied; but that is a different issue.
) What has been described as 'false memory' has been acknowledged as likely to taint the statements of those recollecting, under hypnosis, some past event.
Individuals, parents, grandparents, and others have been reported to have been damaged or destroyed by many excavated alleged memories.
Some of the 'memories' have reportedly referred to satanic influences; this suggests a cultural contamination as well.
Yet, some reports under hypnosis may reflect untarnished reality, and would thereby be credible.
Would these cover life between Earthly lives, which are clearly unverifiable, as well as past lives, some of which may be verifiable? Were there accessible information available to enable an unbiased assessment, the latter cases may parallel the research into the past-life memories of little children.
However, the plethora of published claims about the Afterlife, some of it without the benefit of narratives obtained under hypnosis, may be a mountain too high for those who seek verifiable reports.
There is also a cultural cliff created by those imbued with the modern Western ethos that one is free to be or to do whatever one chooses.
Trekking across this cliff face are those who introduce allusions and icons from their religion.
Collectively, these 2 groups have little choice to be otherwise.
Else, would their perception not be Hinduistic? Yet, the Hindus did not deny freedom of choice.
It is the way one lives (and learns) within the unavoidable bounds of harsh reality which influences substantially one's future or lives.
There lies the path of growth.
How one travels on it is a matter of choice - a far more credible concept of choice in the reincarnation process.
Apart from the confirmed memories of some little children, reincarnation remains a very human belief.
Yet, is it not a useful guide to the Void?