Reincarnation
| English | reincarnation |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | rebirth, transmigration, metempsychosis |
| Wikidata | Q128593 |
| Graph (ReQ) | ReQ-0000-0000-0000-0028 |
Reincarnation (from Latin reincarnatio: re- "again" + incarnatio "entering into flesh"; literally "re-entering the flesh"; synonym — rebirth) is the continuation of the soul's life through a succession of new bodies. A person is not the body: the body is mortal, but the soul is immortal and lives many lives one after another. Between incarnations the soul returns to the Spirit World, where it is restored, reflects on what it has passed through, and prepares for the next life. The meaning of this path is the development of the soul: growth in maturity, wisdom, and love from life to life.
Essence
At the heart of reincarnation is the distinction between the eternal soul and the temporary body. Earthly life is neither accidental nor the only one: it is one "class" in the soul's long school. The circumstances of birth, the meetings and trials are not arbitrary — the soul comes into the world with tasks it chose itself before incarnating. Death, in this picture, is not an end but a return home.
The cycle of rebirth
Regression under hypnosis brings a person to memories of past lives and of the interval between them. Thousands of independent sessions form a stable, consistent picture; it was described most fully by Michael Newton. The cycle is conveniently traced beginning with preparation for a new life:
- Planning the coming life. In the Ring of Destiny the soul, together with its spirit guides, selects its future body and destiny, sets out its lessons, and agrees in advance with other souls on key roles — future parents, partners, important encounters.
- Incarnation. The soul enters the body, and memory of home closes — so that the life can be lived in earnest, with freedom of choice.
- Life. The soul lives its earthly life, carrying out what was planned — or departing from it.
- Death and release. The body dies; the soul leaves it and returns through the "gateway" to the Spirit World.
- Meeting and restoration. It is met by a guide, often by related souls; the energy worn down over a lifetime is restored.
- Return to the soul group — reunion with close souls, the eternal "home."
- The Council of Elders. The soul reflects on what it has lived through together with wise guides — without condemnation, as a student with teachers.
- Learning. Between lives the soul learns and grows, ascending the levels of development.
- And again the soul, with the help of its spirit guides, plans its next life — again and again and again.
According to the reincarnationist Maris Dreshmanis, founder of the Academy of Reincarnationology, most people are able to recall more than a hundred past lives: reincarnation is not one or two incarnations but a very long path of the soul through hundreds of lives.
Karma
Karma is not punishment from above but a law of learning and balance: what the soul put into the world in one life returns to it in others, helping it understand through experience what it has caused. The purpose of karma is not to "work off guilt" but to grow. By the testimony gathered by practitioners, in the spirit world there is no hell and no eternal condemnation — there is development, justice, and love.
Evidence
Reincarnation rests not on faith alone:
- in regression sessions, thousands of people who are strangers to one another describe the life between incarnations with striking consistency;
- Ian Stevenson documented for decades the spontaneous, fact-verifiable memories of young children about past lives;
- the idea of rebirth arose independently among peoples of every continent.
In the traditions of humanity
Reincarnation is one of humanity's oldest and most widespread ideas. It underlies Hinduism (the soul passes through samsara under the law of karma toward liberation), Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism; the doctrine of the transmigration of souls (metempsychosis) was held by the ancient philosophers Pythagoras and Plato; traces of it are found in mystical currents and folk beliefs around the world.
Study
Today the subject is studied systematically through past-life regression and the Life Between Lives method. Among the key names are Michael Newton, Brian Weiss, Dolores Cannon, Ian Stevenson, and thousands of other practitioners in the field of activating reincarnation memory.
Related concepts
Soul — that which reincarnates; karma — the law binding lives together; samsara — the round of births and deaths; Spirit World — the soul's home between incarnations.