10.0 Reincarnation - Introduction Page 1 of 19 10.0: Reincarnation - Introduction Incarnation literally means ‘embodied in flesh’ which happens when a spiritual being is born as a sentient creature. Thus reincarnation is to do so for at least a second time. Reincarnation is a means to an end. It is a mechanism instituted by our Creator to provide each soul with opportunities to develop. There are natural laws which operate to control reincarnation; they are inviolate. Even though most major religions, at some point in their development, have embraced the concept of reincarnation in one form or another, there is still some debate within them as to whether souls experience such a ‘wheel of life’. The first requirement to appreciate reincarnation is to believe in an Afterlife. A quite logical, but simplistic, argument has been presented as to why Morton Kelsey believes in life beyond our earthly one: 1 In fact one of the reasons why I believe in life after death is the way communication with the Other [God] develops ... There is no good reason to believe that the One [God] who begins this process, and offers us all the care we are able to take, will then end the process just as we are beginning to experience it. The second necessity is for you to believe that life in the flesh is an excellent environment in which your spirituality develops and you learn lessons that only our physical environment can provide. Developing characteristics, such as tolerance, are difficult to achieve in the Spirit World where like souls live together. On earth that certainly is not the case, and to learn to be patient and non-judgmental in such a situation needs a high degree of detachment. Therefore we ought to accept the recommendation of Elizabeth MacDonald Burrows: 2 As long as there are further lessons to learn, the soul will be pressed into human form. Among these unlearned lessons are patience, tolerance, love and understanding... If these two factors are accepted then you should have no trouble in recognising the necessity for reincarnation. You may struggle, but in the end you will follow the path of Dr. Alexander Cannon. He was a 20 th century British psychiatrist, occultist, hypnotist and author who wrote: 3 For years the theory of reincarnation was a nightmare to me and I did my best to disprove it and even argued with my trance subjects to the effect that they were talking nonsense. Yet as the years went by one subject after another told me the same story in spite of different and various beliefs. Now well over a thousand cases have been so investigated and I have to admit that there is such a thing as reincarnation. He bowed to experience – we should learn from such people unless our own actual experience tells us otherwise. These arguments do not constitute any proof that DAJ 04/11/2019 07:32:11 10.0 Reincarnation - Introduction Page 2 of 19 reincarnation happens but they do, somehow, add weight to acceptance. Dr Joel Whitton, a Canadian expert in clinical hypnosis especially in past life regressions and life-between-life regressions, recognised that absolute proof can never be realised. He suggested that all we can do is to be assured through our innermost perceptions: 4 Like the concepts of heaven and hell, reincarnation is a metaphysical proposition and will be constrained neither by earth-bound 'reality' nor judged by our earthly limitations. Proof must yield to perception. Silver Birch recognised that we will only be able to accept it when we are ready: 5 You will only accept it when your consciousness is ready, when it becomes clear to you that it is the Law. That is why there are many in my world who say it does not happen. To try to help your deliberations, perhaps an historical perspective may be useful. In one of her essays entitled ‘The Three Sons of Noah and the History of Mediterranean Civilisation’ the young French mystic Simone Weil discovered that: 6 …the association of the ideas of sacrifice and incarnation probably dates from very ancient times. To add to the historical belief in reincarnation, I look to Joel Whitton again, who informed us that: 7 Long, long ago the scattered tribes of the world accepted reincarnation as a law of life. ...and another, whose research into reincarnation, past life regression, future-life progression and survival of the human soul after death, was Brian Weiss who recognised that: 8 The early Gnostics - Clement of Alexandra, Origen, Saint Jerome, and many others - believed that they had lived before and would again. Looking to the East, Laurie Worger noted that even now: 9 The reality of reincarnation is learned by Buddhists under centuries old methods. Peter Matthews, a great Spiritualist and healer, in his book on Spiritualism and reincarnation, explained that: 10 The red Indians, whom some consider to be the most spiritual of people, believe in reincarnation as do Buddhists and Hindus. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Chaeldonians, in fact, most civilisations considered reincarnation as a fact. Expanding this, Sue Minns, in her book ‘Soulwork’, went a lot further and specifically identified nations, religions and religious organisations that have reincarnation as a fundamental element: 11 DAJ 04/11/2019 07:32:11 10.0 Reincarnation - Introduction Page 3 of 19 The earliest record of reincarnation comes from ancient Egypt. Hindus, Buddhists, Chinese Taoists, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Aboriginies, American Indians, Theosophists, Sufis, Zoroastrians, Rosicrucians, Freemansons and many, many more have a history of belief in reincarnation, karma and the evolution of the soul. Past civilisations accepted re-birth naturally as they accepted the ebb and flow of the sea, the daily appearance of the sun and moon, and the cycles of the year. She also recognised that great thinkers and great minds have: 12 ...pondered on the mysteries of birth, life and re-birth since the beginning of recorded history, and probably before that. Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato through to D. H. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell and Carl Jung freely accepted the philosophy of, 'I am here now, and have been here before'. This statement has been reinforced by Raynor Johnson: 13 Reference has been made to the possibility that in the course of their evolution the soul of human beings may manifest on earth in physical bodies more than once. It is an ancient idea which has had the support of many thinkers throughout man's long history. Specific reference has also been found in many ancient texts. For example, in the Gnostic Gospels, which are a collection of about 54 ancient texts based upon the teachings of several spiritual leaders, which were written from the 2nd to the 4th century AD, we are told that: 14 But those still identified with the body from desire transmigrated to the darkness of continuous rebirth. ...and in the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Alan Young reveals that in the discussion on reincarnation it stated that: 15 We cannot look upon a single life and know that person's karma. We must understand the law that 'Results depend on Cause'. Men are not specks of dust floating about in the air of one short life and then lost in nothingness. We are undying parts of the eternal whole that come and go many times between earth and the spirit plane in order that we may grow. A cause may originate in one life and the results become apparent in another. This is probably why the spirit communicating through the medium Irene Bays remarked that: 16 For nothing is new upon the Earth plane, it is but another cycle. About 2500 years ago in China a poet Po Chu-I was inspired by the writings of the mystic Chuang Tsu to write three poems, one of which contained the following: 17 If I depart, I cast no look behind; DAJ 04/11/2019 07:32:11 10.0 Reincarnation - Introduction Page 4 of 19 If still alive, I still am free from care. Since life and death in cycles come and go, Of little moment are the days to spare. Thus strong in faith I wait and long to be One with the pulsings of Eternity. The BBC journalist Jeffrey Iverson in his book ‘More Lives than One?’ explained that, from a Western perspective, a belief in reincarnation: 18 ...can be traced back for six centuries before the birth of Christ. This creed, which the Greeks called metempsychosis, has been accepted at some time by most of the world’s races and religions – the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, Hindus and Buddhists, Muslims and early Christians, the Red Indians of North America and the Celts of my native Wales. Outstanding individuals in every age have believed they lived before, from Plato to Napoleon and from Plutarch to Henry Ford. In the Middle-East in the 12 th century, the Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet, Omar Khayyám, wrote about a thousand poems. A selection of these were translated by the English poet Edward FitzGerald and grouped under the title of ‘The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám’. One of the stanzas contains: 19 For in and out, above, about, below, 'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show, Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun, Round which we Phantom Figures come and go. Another much more recent treatise, but nevertheless containing ancient wisdom, is ‘Unto Thee I Grant’ which recognised the fact that the body is animated by spirit: 20 Yet shall come a day when from the Heavens thy Soul returneth and shall gather up the dust and animate it.