Almost everyone who has lived long enough has surely asked themselves: is reincarnation possible? Reincarnation is becoming a popular topic in films, books and TV; so in this article we will try to unveil the truth behind it, approaching the subject from various angles. In the first scenario: “Is reincarnation possible according to science?” we will examine what scientific research has found so far; and in the second: “Is reincarnation possible according to religion?” we will examine the scriptures to try and find what answers faith and history can give us.
Is reincarnation possible according to science?
Initially, there is a concept that is important to note: the “physical” body does not exist. It becomes “matter” only within our brain as a sensory illusion, since quantum physics have shown that everything that makes up our universe is energy and information. The signal that becomes information in our brain is made up of different frequencies of vibrating energy, which once captured by our perceptual apparatus become the shapes that we see.
Understanding this is important to be aware that when it comes to body, we are actually talking about an electromagnetic energy field that vibrates. nothing more, nothing less.
The possibility of reincarnation is an interesting topic, because in these times, the boundaries between science and spirit are becoming increasingly blurred. I know some scientists who have had after death experiences and have told me about a life beyond physical death, and I have read studies of other scientists who support the possibility of reincarnation of the spirit or consciousness in a different body.
Dr. Ian Stevenson
Dr. Ian Stevenson, the late physician and psychoanalyst, is the main scientific reference on the subject of reincarnation. Along with his team from the University of Virginia, he has interviewed many children who claim to remember past lives.
Stevenson has noted that the vast majority of these children suffer anxiety disorders and phobias, and the strangest thing that he has found perhaps, is the birthmarks and scarring of these children, which coincide with those of the people they remember to have been before. As if not only the characteristics of their personality are transferred to a new body, but also physical aspects. Given that our body takes form and shape with our thoughts, it would not be an unreasonable phenomenon, that the information (content) of those thoughts could move to give shape to a new physical body.
Stevenson’s team has statistically researched the phenomenon since 1961 and has published numerous articles and books about reincarnation.
His research studies took place in Asia, North America and Europe. Children from different countries recalling their past lives in detail were analyzed. The American Journal of Psychiatry, featured in April 2005, Stevenson’s conclusions on an article titled “Reincarnation cases in Europe“.
His team also studies the Xenoglosia (the ability to speak unknown languages) and the technique of past life regression, in order to find evidence to back this phenomenon.
Read also: Reincarnation Facts That Science Has Proved
Currently, an experiment on reincarnation is being conducted, with a psychoanalyst and several researchers whose professions are those of authors of books involved. In this case we can not find a scientific basis, especially since the topic usually attracts morbid concern, and the basis of this experiment could be just exploiting the public interest.
Scientific research in this area has a very large reach, and it is the main career of those involved in it. Most scientists do not risk exposing their professional image with a subject so difficult to prove empirically and used by spiritualists and religious with other currents issues. It is difficult to find professionals working on it now, so one has to be careful when trying to find an answer to the question Is reincarnation possible?. That’s why Stevenson remains a benchmark, but we must remember that he framed this phenomenon in the “paranormal” field.
From a forensic point of view and focusing more on the physical evidence of reincarnation, the Hindu forensic Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan is trying to empirically demonstrate the phenomenon.
He has presented his evidence in the National Congress of Forensic Scientists in India, with the case of a six-year-old named Taranjijt Singh, who says he remembers his past life.
Taranjit Singh
Chauhan traveled to the village where the child claimed he used to live and found the deceased’s family, who provided him with a notebook. Chauhan requested handwriting examinations wchich found Taranjijt’s handwriting to be exactly equal to the dead’s, as written by the same person.
Another of Chauhan’s finding about the child, is that he can write properly in English and Punjabi, despite never having been to school.
His research does not provide much more objective data to that already contributed by Stevenson, we should keep in mind that Hindus believe in reincarnation and the idea has been culturally ingrained by religion.
Read also: 7 Reincarnation Stories That Proved To Be True
We continue researching within the framework of the psychological, without reliable studies in the disciplines of physics, that allow us to explain the phenomenon at the level of the body and 90% of the studies available to us today are performed by psychiatrists, psychologists or parapsychologists. It would be good to find studies by professionals from other areas… but we have not found in the current literature.
Perhaps this is the appropriate framework for the study of these phenomena, since we know that the physical body exists only as a sensory illusion.
Given that information transcends the physical (sensory illusion) it would not be so farfetched to conceive a process in which the same information is manifested again in another organism or that it can be transferred in part within the scope of the noosphere.
But since such a process has not been scientifically proven and explained that is why science can not accept (for now) the phenomenon of reincarnation. In short, the answer to the inquiry is reincarnation possible according to science? would be Not yet.
For many religious researchers it would be a hit, many religious leaders and others would like to prove this phenomenon, but so far they have not. It remains a subject of religious, spiritual and parapsychological interest.
The other question is whether the methods used (such as regressive hypnosis or graphology) are enough to prove its existence. The Dutch cardiologist Pim Van Lommel, accustomed by their profession to near-death experiences, has his own view on this cases and the experiences of people returning from clinical death.
Lommel has made countless studies since 1988, which led him to conclude that “the body is a consciousness” in his own words, and processes such as memory reside outside the body.
At this point I agree, because the mind is not physical (nothing is) and transcending our bodies, this has already been demonstrated in several scientific experiments. One study of Lommel was published in 2001 in “The Lancet“, whose editors are very strict and do not allow any pseudoscience in the magazine.
Is reincarnation possible according to religion?
Since there are many different religions in the world, we have an entire section of this website dedicated to review beliefs about reincarnation. There you will find whether reincarnation is possible according to several religions. We suggest also reading the following articles:
- What Religions Believe In Reincarnation?
- Do Muslims Believe in Reincarnation?
- Do Christians Believe In Reincarnation?
- Do Jews believe In An Afterlife?
People have asked a thousand times if reincarnation is possible, but they have also had thousands of evidences without even looking at them. Surely you saw people born into families that seem to have economic privileges, or parents that are beautiful, or intelligent, families of light, or maybe unsavory families, maybe in slums.
Why the differences? Why does it seem that some are blessed by fate and others not?
- If God is in all, if our Father is Love; then why this distinction between their children?
- Would a loving Father allow differences between their children, and if so; why?
- Why do some seem tattooed with grief and others with comfort?
- Why do some countries seem to be in better condition than others?
- Why do some races are free and others are persecuted and humiliated?
We would have many more questions if we didn’t have knowledge of the existence of this law.
Spiritualism appeared late last century to show people living in the West the existence of life after death. In the East reincarnation is so well known and logical that no one would doubt it. And it was removed from the Bible, but in some passages it still exists, as in Mark 8, 27; or 9, 13; Matthew 16, 11 to 13; Luke 9, 18 and 19; and its mention is so clear as to leave no doubt.
“And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cæsarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?” (Mark 8:27.)
“Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:17)
Reincarnate, from re-incarnate; means to have a body of flesh again, but it is not the body that matters, it is the soul. If you could see yourself in a previous incarnation, another body, another clothing, another place, you would see that you’re the same person. And sometimes you meet someone that you know you have met before, while other times you do not sympathize with someone and do not know why.
The Law works even if you are not aware or your belief system does not accept it; It is a law, a principle; it’s like the laws of physics, it acts by itself. And it is so wonderful and perfect that unites those families who have formed ties with each other, both love and hate, resentment, etc. so that all may learn to Love one another.
Just as each of us carries its baggage of good and not so good according to what we have done in other lifetimes; the first thing is credit; and the second, the debt we must settle. It is not a punishment, it is simply reaping the fruits of what we have sown, Divine Justice acts impersonally.
This way, the murderer dies killed in the same way, or the generous is rewarded with a good economic situation: This is the best teaching, because by suffering firsthand what we have done to another, even in another life without memory of the previous one, we learn not to do it again.
People wonder why we are not born with memory of previous lives, and the answer is, if that was the case we could not live this life in freedom. Suppose you know your past life, and discover that the person who is now your partner, was your great enemy in a previous life, then that would conspire against the very function of this life, which is to relate again in order to learn to love and not to revive ancient hatreds.
What if you knew that your son was your murderer in a previous life; It would be just awful not being able to love him as a parent, and the debt would never end. Therefore being born with no memory of this is a proof of the great Divine compassion.
Read also: Reincarnation Proof: 6 Real Evidences of Reincarnation
Perhaps a true story, which appeared in a magazine a few years ago, can give us a clearer example.
“A girl born in India, just as she learned to speak, began saying that she was Jane Doe and had lived in the United States, in a certain town, in a specific street, she had three sons and their names were… And as she grew up, she spoke about this story more and more, and greater was her anguish of not being there.
Such was her concern, that research on the case was made, and confirmed that the same person had died shortly before the birth of the child; so that her children were now older people, but they were alive.
The girl was taken to the place, recognizing everything that was there. One son recalled that when his mother died, she did not tell them where she had hid her jewels. To let them know, the girl showed them beneath a tree in the garden, where she had buried them.
After digging at the site, there were the jewels, so many other questions followed as to test her case. The result was convincent enough to show that she had indeed reincarnated”.
It is supposed that she did this as a proof of reincarnation to the West.. There are plenty of previous steps, which often take more than a lifetime; so it is assumed that these types of cases are given to beings who sacrifice to leave a teaching. Or maybe by highly evolved beings who have a very specific task in accordance with the Plan.
The topic is very broad, and the question is reincarnation possible? is a very difficult one to answer. Reincarnation makes possible the expression of our own karma, we act upon it by the Law of Cause and Effect, until we get to a point in our evolution where we no longer need to come to this school, as those we call Masters.
This concludes our article regarding whether reincarnation is possible according to different points of view. Keep reading this blog to learn more about the afterlife.
