Reincarnation : Hinduism , Buddhism , Christianity ?

Question

Okay people........what do u think about it ...
Hinduism claims that reincarnation is REAL , but Christians do not believe in it .----According to Hinduism , as a person performs his karma ( good or bad ) , he is judged n has to reincarnate accordingly , until he/she does all good.A soul recides in each of us, which after death reincarnates in to a different body.----Christianity says man after death goes to heaven n hell ( mythical places i think).----Now there r many REAL EVENTS in which a person remembers about his past life....
1. A child in California remembers about his previous birth --- shown by Discovery channel.----2. A child in India knows about his previous birth , also has a birth ( bullet) mark on his neck, remembers his previous father,mother,city,his occupation --- soldier( died due to gun shot)..------- covered extensively by Indian medias.
Scientists have not been able to explain this phenomenon ..........r there certain genes --- "may be"....

Hinduism is very much scientifically based . There is also mention of solar eclipse in epic Mahabharata.

So what do u have to say about it.
Please give serious answers , if u donot have ne explainations , then donot write crap...PeAcE

Riya --- how can a small child , who doesnot know ne thing about religions, tell about his past life...

THIS IS THE TRUTH ------ HINDUISM IS THE MOST COMPLEX, SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED , EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND RELIGION.
AS CHRISTIANS BELEIVE THAT REINCARNATION IS FALSE , THEN I CAN FIRMLY SAY THAT IT IS A FALSE,MIS-GUIDED RELIGION ---- WHY I AM SAYING THIS ------ I JUST WATCHED A WHOLE EPISODE ON HISTORY CHANNEL ABOUT REINCARNATION .THEY CLAIMED THAT CHURCHES HAVE MISGUIDED CHRISTIANS FOR SO MANY YEARS , SHOWED ABOUT 20 REAL PEOPLE WHO REMEMBERED ABOUT THEIR PREVIOUS BIRTH........THIS PROVES THAT DEVIL,HEAVEN,HELL R ALL FALSE......NO ONE REQUIRES JESUS FOR GOING BACK TO GOD HIMSELF.......CHRISTIANITY IS BASED ON FALSE BELEIFS ( I AM SORRY TO SAY THIS)...............

Answer 1

While formal Christianity does not teach reincarnation, there are some Christians that do. This is an important point because while the theology does not accept it, there are individuals that when reading the same Bible theologians are, these individuals find references for a belief in reincarnation. So I never say that Christians do not believe in it. I usually word it as Christianity does not teach it. That's an important point.

As a Hindu I believe in reincarnation and I believe that karma is the system of justice inherent in the cosmic system. At the same time as a Hindu I know that God's grace and practicing my sadhana can also help me attain moksha (liberation from samsara and complete union with God). Moksha, not heaven, is the aim of every Hindu...heavenly states of existence are viewed as temporary places between incarnations.

Christians believe that the heavenly states of existence between incarnations are the only other thing that exists after this life. To be fair there have been, in the past, some Hindu sects that believed this too. Then again, there have been enough Hindu sects in the past (if you study them) that I think the full range of religious beliefs today have thoroughly been explored by Hindus over the many many years (from ancient times until today).

My point is that while I believe in reincarnation, I am aware that Christianity does not teach it (as does some other religions). Does this bother me? Not in the least since they are simply approaching God from a different angle. Their teachers of the past approach God from the angle that they could best understand God and that's okay.

We should always remember what the gurus, both past and present, often say about our past lives (which are connected to reincarnation). And that is that we should not focus too much on them, but instead stay focused on the life we are now currently occupying. To do our sadhana, live dharmically, and keep our mind focused on God. To strive for moksha as our spiritual goal whether we attain it on our own or through God's kripa (grace).

Answer 2

I had a past life recall during a dream a year ago. Everything felt so familiar to me, and it was quite profound. It helped explain who I am today, why I am on this path. I had just only recently fell in love with Hinduism and met my Satguru a year prior to that. I was born into a Christian family and did not feel any attraction to that religion. It didn't feel right for me.

In my past life recall, I had remembered that I lived in India. I had moved there from another country. I was a white woman that had been studying spirituality and religions and fell in love with Hinduism the most. I moved to India and had studied under a female guru.

One day, I was to leave for several days, probably out of the country. My guru was really concerned about me as she knew something was going to happen to me. She kept asking me if I had some medicines with me and so on. I ended up horribly sick with smallpox. Some guy carried me to the doctor. The doctor had to bandage my skin all over my body. I had internal bleeding in my intestines and pelvis area. My eyes were covered up. I was suffering really bad. I saw this whole thing from above, not feeling anything but compassion. I had died from this disease.

I knew nothing about small pox prior to this recall. When I looked up online the symptoms of this disease. I was amazed how so many of the symptoms that were listed were exactly what I was experiencing in this recall. That was remarkable.

It also showed me that I was taking up where I left off in this life continuing on the same path that I did in the previous life. I still have a female guru and am studying Hinduism. It taught me that who we are always stays with us life after life.

Answer 3

Chriatians do believe, Jesus himself appeared in spirit after the crucification.

Any way, I do not wish to get into who believes and who doesn't. The question here is whether there is such a thing called reincarnation?

If no, why then this religion is rooted in the principle and if yes where is the sceintific evidence?

Let me try this answer as follows:

1. We all are conditioned by the external environment and the mind itself is never ever free from thoughts. At time we know the answers, yet we want to ask a question to affirm the answer or just argue to prove a point. In other words we start setting up a thesis with a hypothesis and then prove the null set. Most questions on views, ethics, spiritual life are thus answered by reducing things to abusurdity "redexio ad absurdum".

2. Our logical "world" is all about fragmenting things. This is the way of science. Split up to know things better. But when we try and attempt to understand the Universe, we have to start unifying things from the particles or the quantun world. Often it leads to Metaphysics. We have very few tools such as chaos theory etc to comphrehend the symmetry of this Universe.

3. How do we then know what is life and what is death and is there a connection. Life and Death is Unique and trillions of light years of vast existence this is just unique as if the Universe itself was built for this phenomenon to occur.

4. Life does not exist for ever, but Death is the Only Truth for that is permamnent. " I" Exists as long as life exists but where are we after Death? Can I answer this question with the existing method of science? How can I without first integrating. So far I have been only differentiating and which is life all about, now you need to first integrate. Mathematically it will mean if t= time then dt has to approach zero. Effectively you will need to experience death to know the answer.

5. There are techniques and ways.

6. My experience is that there is and I just Know....

Answer 4

Well, actually, in Gnostic and Mystical/Esoteric Christianity there is a belief in reincarnation.

The early Christian Gnostics believed that the soul was reincarnated again and again until it reached salvation through Christ. The Medieval Christian sect known as the Cathars whose Gnostic interpretation of the Scriptures became so popular and thus so threatening to the Church believed this very idea. For them the world was a prison of material illusion created by a Fallen Angel designed to keep the human soul from its true home in the bosom of God. They believed that Christ was an emissary of the Light sent to this world to help us return. Each individual soul would reincarnate until it was able to reach the state of spiritual purity which would enable it to return to God. This was their interpretation of Eternal Life, a release from the cycle of suffering and incarnation through realising the Christ/Holy Spirit in oneself.

Esoteric/Mystical Christians have held this view also eg Max Heindel, Rudolf Steiner, Jan van Rijckenborgh.

There is also evidence in the Gospel that there was/is a belief in reincarnation. You will notice that many observers in the Gospels say that John the Baptist is Elijah reborn. Indeed in Matthew (I think it is, or it may have been Mark), Christ says as much. Some call Christ David. There was one early Gnostic Christian sect which believed that Christ was the reincarnation of Adam & Eve's third son, Seth.

So the idea is not alien to Christianity, even though it has been suppressed by its mainstream expression. Its interesting. Think about it... If you are an Established Church and you want to control people through the Guilt/Sin/Salvation interpretation of Christianity the last thing you want people to believe is that they have more than one life to work out their redemption. Reincarnation means one is free of the spiritual terrorism of so much exoteric Christianity. If you only have one life then to avoid hell one must exist in a state of spiritual panic. If you have many, then there is time to work on oneself. That means a bunch of Priests demanding this, that or the other have less control over you. What religious authority was going to go for that?

Interestingly, the Cathars' belief in reincarnation was key to the egalitarian humanism of their spirituality. Since everyone had been reincarnated they discriminated against no-one on grounds of gender or class. Thus women and peasants had equal status among their ranks where in the rest of Europe they were second/third class citizens. How could one exclude anyone when in a previous life one could have been a man or a woman, a nobleman or a milkmaid?

Interesting.

Answer 5

MIKE you ask

'if the body dies then why would he have a scar/birthmark in his next body? the 2 bodies are not related.'

At the time of death if the death is unexpected as in the case of death by the bullet-- this sudden jolt is taken back with you into the next life. By your own thoughts you create this scar knowing you were shot.
The body is different but the soul is the same.
The characteristics of your Karma hence travels with you.

I assume this soul carried the sudden shock of his death into his next life and therefore in this exceptional case he even remembers vividly his previous life.

Its perhaps why not everyone remembers their previous lives.

Answer 6

Jesus believed in re-birth, christians later removed those verse. Now Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, jainism, Druzes (a sect of Islam), some pagans... all believe in Reincarnation.

Reincarnation is a truth ... If one book does not mention it, Truth does not become false...

Reincarnation is perhaps a wrong word used...hindus and Buddhists use Re-Birth instead.

Our soul starts its journey in chemicals...and after each awakening find itself in plants, animals and finally human beings.

As humans we have to learn millions of lessons of pains and joys, richness and poverties, cruelty and kindness, killing and be killed, ...till we reach our next mind evolution i.e. Divinity.

One life is not sufficient for all these lessons. hence our soul, after death goes to another body to learn other sets of lessons

The paradoxes as to why some are born rich some poor, some without mind or without limbs...some from poverty going to utter richness...some spiritual from childhood... can not be explained without Re-birth

Dont ask proof, because no one can give proof of God or heaven/hell...there are certain things which are beyond physical proofs

Many during the hypnotic state have remembered their last birth. Many remember past lives during deep meditation. In high stages of Samadhi, one knows his all previous births.

Why we dont remember past birth?

Because Nature does not want us to get entangled to our last relations...so that we can freely learn new lessons...that z why She takes away the gross memory at death or at new birth..and leads soul to new body with the resultant progress earned during last births

Answer 7

The answer to your question is very simple.
Reincarnation is a reality except for those who accept Christ as their saviour.
It is a shortcut to Gods kingdom and came at a high price.

Answer 8

You have made a very good point.
Perhaps Christians are misinterpreting the Bible somewhere?


All of us are in the family of one God. It is not that there is one God in England, another in America, and still another in India. The Christians, Muslims and Hindus are not worshiping different Gods. The names Allah, Brahma, Jehovah, Krsna and Yahweh refer to the same God, called by different names according to differences in language and culture.

Answer 9

Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment ... (Hebrews 9:27)

Catholics and most other Christians believe there is no "reincarnation" after death.

Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When "the single course of our earthly life" is completed, we shall not return to other earthly lives.

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

Hints of reincarnation are also common in the history of Judaism and early Christianity. Information about past and future lives is found throughout the Cabala, which according to many Hebraic scholars represents the hidden wisdom behind the scriptures. In the Zohar, one of the principal Cabalistic texts, it is said, "The souls must reenter the absolute substance whence they have emerged. But to accomplish this, they must develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not furfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God." According to the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, the Hasidic Jews hold similar beliefs.
In the third century A.D., the theologian Origen, one of the fathers of the early Christian Church, and its most accomplished Biblical scholar, wrote, "By some inclination toward evil, certain souls ... come into bodies, first of men; then through their association with the irrational passions, after the allotted span of human life, they are changed into beasts, from which they sink to the level of ... plants. From this condition they rise again through the same stages and are restored to their heavenly place."
There are many passages in the Bible itself indicating that Christ and his followers were aware of the principle of reincarnation. Once, the disciples of Jesus asked him about the Old Testament prophecy that Elias would reappear on earth. In the Gospel of St. Matthew we read, "And lesus answered them, Elias shall truly first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not.... Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."Matthew. 17:9-13. In other words, Jesus declared that John the Baptist, who was beheaded by Herod, was a reincarnation of the prophet Elias. In another instance, Jesus and his disciples came across a man blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"John. 9:2. Regardless who had sinned, Jesus replied, here was a chance to show a work of God. He then cured the man. Now, had the man been born blind for a sin of his own, it must have been a sin done before his birth-that is, in a previous life. And this was a suggestion that Jesus did not dispute.
The Koran says, "And you were dead, and He brought you back to life. And He shall cause you to die, and shall bring you back to life, and in the end shall gather you unto Himself."Sura 2:28.Among the followers of Islam, the Sufis especially believe that death is no loss, for the immortal soul continually passes through different bodies. Jalalu 'D-Din Rumi, a famous Sufi poet, writes,
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as a plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?10
The timeless Vedic scriptures of India confirm that the soul, according to its identification with material nature, takes one of 8,400,000 forms and, once embodied in a certain species of life, evolves automatically from lower to higher forms, ultimately attaining a human body.
Thus, all of the major Western religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-have definite threads of reincarnation throughout the fabric of their teachings, even though the official custodians of dogma ignore or deny them.