Reincarnation :: essays research papers

ReincarnationReincarnation is the belief that after death, ones spirit keeps brisk andis reborn another person or animal. It keeps reborning until it redeems itself.Then it returns to the temple of god, which the Buddhists call "Nirvana" -eternal tranquillity. Two of the many ancient tribes who believed inreincarnation ar the Greeks and the Egyptians.Karma, the belief that our actions determine our future, is one of thefoundations of reincarnation. For example, a person who lived a sinful life willreturn, after death, as an animal, as opposed to a person who lived an honestlife, who will return as a person.Despite the resistance of many Jewish leaders, reincarnation also played arole in Judaism due to the Kabala who developed this idea. Some Jewishphilosophers even believed that a soul of a sinner rear enter a live mans carcassand "posses" him. Special rituals were used in order to "cure" the man.T. Gomertz, a famous philosopher, thought of three very g ood reasons why oneshould believe in reincarnation1. It is believed that dreams are attempts of the soul to live the body. If thisis true, than the soul can leave the body and it does so when a person dies.This also means that a soul can exist without a body.2. If we assume that the soul dies with the body it is connected to, than wewill have to assume there is an endless number of souls which is improbable.3. Matter is invariable and, therefore, so is the soul. If the soul exists afterdeath, hens it had existed before birth.Gomertz believes the origin of this belief is in India, where it wasbelieved that every action had a hidden reaction, other than the obvious one.This reaction is saturnine at first and is only later revealed, sometimes even inthe next life.Reincarnation in Different Cultures and ReligionsJudaism In this religion, it was believed that a sinners soul can posses aliving man. This is called an Obsession but its actually very similar toreincarnation.This belief onl y exists in Judaism. It appears repeatedly in "The Glow"which is a al-Quran written in the 16th century. This book claims that every soulhas its purpose / commission. If this mission isnt completed, the soul returns toearth and possesses someone. It stays in this state until it either completesits mission or is banished by special rituals which are performed by the Rabby.This belief was most popular in the 16th century. At that period, in someparts, every unwellness was considered an obsession.