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Belief in reincarnation is not common in the west, although the concept is embodied in Christianity. Fundamental to Christianity is the belief that each of us has a soul that moves beyond this earthly existence to heaven, hell or purgatory. From time immemorial mankind has believed in some kind of afterlife, and many cultures around the world buried artefacts with the dead that might prove useful in the continuing journey. A stage of the journey in another physical body is an eastern concept, although the spirit of Jesus chose to incarnate in the baby growing in the womb of Mary.
Unfortunately, the essence of reincarnation is embodied in colourful folklore and myth used to convey the message amongst illiterate people, and so westerners can smile indulgently at the superstitious man who thinks he might be reborn as an insect. But whilst discarding the packaging we should take care not to throw away the teaching inside. Every atom in nature is reborn again and again. The leaf falls from the tree, decays, the nutrients are absorbed into the soil, gases are released, and the atoms that were part of the leaf become part of new molecules in some new life form. Matter becomes energy, and energy becomes matter. Natural laws are not selective. Everything is reborn. The part of us that is energy or spirit will also be reborn. The question is, will it be reborn as the same identifiable spirit or as an entirely new form of energy?
As it is common to most myths and religions let us assume that spirit is reborn in some identifiable way. There are two possibilities:
o Spirit enters the human body, lives a single life, and then goes straight to some non-physical afterlife;
o Spirit enters the human body, lives a life, enters more bodies to live more lives, and eventually moves on to some non-physical afterlife.
Rather than go down the metaphysical route it might be more productive to take a common sense approach. Because of the nature of spirit we should not expect physical proof. There are reported cases of other life memories, but these are supportive in an anecdotal way rather than as hard evidence.
Everything in nature evolves, and it is in the nature of spirit to evolve. Some of us show more sign of evolving in a single life than others, but would it be logical for that single life to provide all the evolution necessary for each spirit? When a baby dies within a few hours of birth, has the baby spirit evolved fully, and is some decision on heaven or hell now appropriate? Far more sense for the baby spirit to come again, so that over many life times we will all experience short lives, long lives, sad lives, happy lives.
A belief in some greater purpose will encourage us to be more selfless; without that belief we can justify our lives by animal standards. But adding the logic of reincarnation gives a more complete explanation of apparent injustice, and provides a greater framework for karma to unfold from every minute action.
Author Bio :
Harvey Tordoff left a successful career in the business world to study theosophy. He wrote “O Lanoo!”, a poetical interpretation of the ancient Book of Dzyan, telling the story of Mankind, God and the Universe. Dzyan is the central theme of Madame Blavatsky’s “The Secret Doctrine”. Theosophical interests led naturally to ecology, and Tordoff has campaigned actively for an appropriate response to climate change, helping establish several community wind farms in the UK.
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