Which religions believe in re-incarnation?

Question

Does each person get to choose their next life, or is it decided for them?

So much to learn....thanks everyone!

L'Chaim....that is an incredible link! :)

Answer 1

Reincarnation is a componant part of Vedic knowledge the only way to understand this, is to understand your real identity as an eternal spirit soul, rather then the material body. Vedic understanding must be learned in its entirity to gain knowledge of the science of reincarnation and release from the cycle of the repetition of birth and death.

With this in mind, there is no question that reincarnation is a reality, we, as individual spirit souls are reincarnating within these very bodies, the material body is composed of gross molecules and atomic particles,that are constantly changing, every seven years each cell is completely replaced, so the body we had seven years ago is different to the body we have now, this is reincarnation, even within this life.

At the end of this life when the gross material body is no longer operational, being simply a temporary biological machine, then the subtle material mind replays the events of one's life, those events in one's life that are most prominant propel the spirit soul, the real self, to the next destination, the basis for this to happen is by the activities that we perform and the desires that are most prominant, man proposes and God disposes, so we are creating the next body through the desires and activities performed in this life.

If we live a spiritual life, with activities and desires to please the Supreme, then the original spiritual body is revived and we can return home, back to Godhead, however if the desires are more worldly then we will attain another material body perfectly suited to the mentality that we have developed whilst being in the human form of life, therefore the knowledge of the science of reincarnation is of paramount importance to understand.

The early Christian church also taught reincarnation, up untill the 6th century A.D., in 553 A D when the Roman empire started to collapse, the emperor Justinian at the 5th Ecumenical council at Constantinople removed and altered the teachings of Jesus to gain more social control over the uneducated masses, by establishing the "scare tactic" of a singular life, as anyone who opposed these types of alterations was considered a heretic, it is not difficult to understand how these gross misconceptions came to be accepted.

Generally the memories of previous lives are eradicated when the soul leaves the previous body, otherwise it would be very difficult to function in this life with the attachments and memories of the last, the burden of these memories would be unbearable. The memories we carry around from just one life are sometimes sorely distressing. Multiply such memories manyfold, and they would surpass our ability to deal with them.

The primary purpose of the human form of life however is to revive or in Christian terms, ressurect, the original spiritual body that is covered over by the gross material elements and subtle conditioned mind, therefore it is vital to approach a bona-fide spiritual master to receive the knowledge by which the living entity can transcend the cycle of the repetition of birth and death and return home, back to Godhead.

Answer 2

Hindu faith says alott about the next life and they say if you do good in this life you get a good next life and if you do bad you suffer and get an unwanted things like bad parents or bad nationality, and you may be already suffering this life from something in the past and only thing can fix this is donating for example you have a problem graduating so you donate to other students and help them that's why many people with no children for many years soon have a baby after they adopt an orphan.

Answer 3

As far as I know most of the Eastern based religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism to mention a few believe in reincarnation.

It is based on the cause and effect theory... Do acts that are benevolent, receive results that are benevolent...eg. Spend your life making others lives healthy or happyl... possible results for a future birth: A healthy body or be born among people who will be helpful to you.

or spend a major portion of your life saying nasty things or lies to others... possible results... Hear nasty things from others or No matter what we say... people never seem to listen or believe us... Notice how some people, no matter how logical or truthful they try to be... people automatically ignore them... :)

You decide your rebirth by your actions, thoughts and speech. What we are right now is a combination of millions and billions of benevolent and harmful acts to ourselves and others.

Answer 4

Largely, its most well-known believers are Hindus and most Buddhists. Also Jainists, some Gnostic Christians, the Druze (a sect of Islam), and according to Wikipedia, the Scientologists.

Answer 5

Hmmm. It relies upon on the form of reincarnation. What you're describing is a Westernized style of Vedic mythology referred to as Theosophy (the transmigration of souls, particularly) which has an implied linearity of time and getting to understand.

Answer 6

Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism, Gnosticism, Druze, and the religion that the native Americans used to believe in.

Answer 7

I always believed that the spirit or soul hung around in the astral plane long enough to forget most of what it learned in it's previous life and the person it was reborn into happened mostly by chance

Answer 8

Hinduism, Buddhism, and the New Age religions all believe in reincarnation.

No, the soul transmigrates to the next "assigned" position, chosen for them based on the works of their latest life. If they were especially "good" the soul moves "up". If they were rascally, it moves down!

Answer 9

I am a priestess of the great goddess, Isis (my namesake). In our religion we believe that the "ka", the soul, passes to the West and does not return to Earth unless there is some problem. To be reincarnated is bad because it means something has gone seriously amiss in your life.

Answer 10

Many Jews believe in reincarnation.
http://www.aish.com/rabbi/ATR_browse.asp?s=reincarnation&f=tqak&offset=1