Reincarnation

Second hand reincarnation: shaggy359

Also known as metempsychosis and transmigration, reincarnation is a manmade theory based on beliefs found in different philosophical systems and religions, including ancient Greek, Egyptian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jain, African and New Age perspectives.

Reincarnation usually involves ideas of karma and grace. It’s believed that after the death of the physical body, the soul (or in some schools, temporary personality attributes) returns for another birth.

In most traditions the self is on an evolutionary path from unconsciousness to consciousness–that is, from lower to higher, or gross to subtle forms of consciousness.

In some branches of contemplative Hinduism, the soul is said to begin in the mineral world and then move upward to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Eventually it takes birth as a human being. After learning about and practicing good ethics from innumerable human incarnations, the soul may reincarnate in astral and heavenly realms before reaching ultimate liberation, awareness and bliss.

But bad ethical choices send the evolutionary process into reverse. If a human being abuses their freedom, they may reincarnate backwards into the animal kingdom or possibly further down into one of various temporary hells.

According to popular wisdom it’s often said that God provides perfect punishments and rewards for one’s deeds. So generally speaking, if one makes good ethical choices in an embodied life, one gains merit and reincarnates into a more auspicious life the next time around.

However, if one makes bad ethical choices, one returns to a less auspicious life. Again, the alleged purpose of reincarnation is to instruct the soul, preparing it for an ultimately perfect, eternal existence. The exact nature of this perfection is described differently among various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Taoism.

Once complete liberation is achieved, the soul (or temporary personality attributes) no longer returns to a body, gross or subtle. This idea is expressed in an old Taoist tale, paraphrased as follows:

A man had led a dissolute life and reincarnates as a horse. After a few years the horse grows weary of being whipped by his masters, refuses to eat and dies. He then returns as a dog. Despising this incarnation the dog bites his master’s leg who has him destroyed. He returns as a snake. By now he’s finally learned his lesson. One must play out the hand one is dealt, patiently seeing it through to learn how to be virtuous. As a reformed soul, the snake avoids doing harm to other animals by eating berries and tries to keep itself out of danger. But one day the snake mistakenly dies under the wheel of a cart. Pleading his case before the King of Purgatory, he finds himself reborn a man—a reward for his good intentions (Raymond Van Over, ed. Taoist Tales, New York: Meridian Classic, 1973, pp. 52-53).

According to this view, suicide is like ‘skipping school’ (in the cosmic sense) and causes regression to a less desirable birth.

But not all believers in reincarnation would take this attitude. Some believe that the very same kind of life situation would arise again, as if the suicide is forced to repeat the same cosmic classroom he or she didn’t pass the first time around.

Meanwhile some New Age thinkers say that every life is consciously chosen prior to birth.

In most Asian religions God’s grace can mitigate or even erase the effects of bad karma, a fact often overlooked in specious critiques of reincarnation.

African pre-colonial tribal beliefs about reincarnation differ from Asian variants. African ancestors are believed to reincarnate into one or several descendents to give a particular family more power. Somewhat similar to the Asian idea, however, the African Ibo believe that one chooses between two bundles before birth – one bundle holds auspicious fortune, the other inauspicious. While the spirit tries its best to choose a favorable incarnation, a formerly evil person undergoes a difficult incarnation as a human or animal.

More variants of reincarnation are found within ancestor cults. And in The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare’s character Gratiano suggests that Shylock is a reincarnated wolf.

In contrast to the belief in reincarnation, the Old Testament says that evil actions are repaid with evil, but not through reincarnation. Evil begets evil through one’s offspring:

The Lord…a God merciful and gracious…forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:7).

In Catholicism, St. Thomas Aquinas refutes reincarnation on the basis of Romans 9: 11-12:

For when they were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil…not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said to her: The elder shall serve the younger.

The Christian New Testament view of the body and its relation to the afterlife is expressed in I Corinthians 15; 51-52; 2 Corinthians 5:1; I Thessalonians 4:14; John 3: 4-7.

Some suggest that the Catholic notion of purgatory was created as a Christian counterpart to the temporary process of punishment and purification as found in non-Christian theories of reincarnation.

At Earthpages.org:

• Articles about reincarnation and karma.

» Anatman, Anthroposophy, Avatar, Cayce (Edgar), Chinmoy (Sri), Deva, Fenris, Free-John (Da), Gawain (Shakti), Hell, Hermes Trismegistus, Karma, Meno, Origen, Ram Dass, Parvati, Plato,  Ramacharaka (Swami), Republic, Roberts (Jane), Samsara, Skandhas, Theosophy, Transmigration, Werewolf, Pythagoras

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Ramacharaka, Swami

Ramacharaka, Swami (1799-189?)

Hindu-influenced mystic philosopher who writes extensively on astral planes where the self allegedly resides between reincarnations.

In his book Mystic Christianity Ramacharaka offers a personally imaginative, if not scholarly, account of the meaning of the Bible and particularly of the life of Christ.

Most likely Ramacharaka had interior visions or experienced imaginal scenes concerning various personages in the Bible. But the veracity of these visions seems impossible to prove or refute.

Like so many religious thinkers, Ramacharaka seems to adapt sacred scripture to his own personal and cultural filters.

By the same token, it could be argued that most Jewish and Christian believers are prejudiced by interpreting aspects of Biblical scripture according to their respective personal and cultural biases. And the same could be said of any religious or scientific body of believers.

The debate as to ‘who’s got it right’ continues. But ultimately it seems that almost any truth claim, be it religious, philosophical or scientific comes down to belief.

On the Web:

• http://users.telenet.be/ananda/ramach.htm
• Wikipedia asserts that Ramacharaka is a pseudonym for William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932)

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Skandhas

Offerings at the Vulture Peak Buddhist Shrine, Grdhrakuta in Rajgir, where the Buddha inspired Avalokiteshvara to give the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutram, the Heart Sutra, requested by Sariputra | Photo by Wonderlane

Skandhas

Buddhist belief posits five skandhas, or aggregates of attachment said to be the source of all suffering.

1. matter or form (rupa)
2. sensation (vedana)
3. perception (samjna)
4. mental formations (samskara)
5. consciousness (vijnana)

Taken together, the five skandhas form the impermanent personality and the illusion – so it is believed – of individuality.

Impermanent and subject to change, skandhas may discontinuously reappear from one life to another.

Whether or not one agrees with every aspect of Buddhist teaching, the skandas present a conceptual alternative that may be applied toward a contemporary critique of the Hindu view of reincarnation (See, for instance, Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 3).

Although the two religions of Buddhism and Hinduism may seem similar at a glance, Buddhism clearly differs from the Visistadvaita school of Hinduism in that the soul, too, and not just its attachments, is usually seen as illusory in the ultimate sense.

» Buddhism, Corruption, Pollution

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Sikhism

Sikhism

A religious and cultural movement based on the teachings of the Indian Guru Nanak (1469-1539 CE).

The teachings of the Muslim Kabir and the spread of mystical Sufism in Northern India laid the groundwork for this new religion, which originally hoped to synthesize Islam and Hinduism.

Sikhism currently emphasizes the oneness of God and unity of all faiths.

It is believed that a succession of 10 gurus (Nanak and his nine successors) has spread the word of the true guru–namely, God.

The 10 Sikh Gurus by Larry Miller

The last Sikh guru died in 1708.

The sacred scripture of the Sikhs is called The Adi Granth, itself often referred to as a “guru.”

Sikh culture is highly distinctive; most choose to wear a turban within and beyond the borders of their Punjab homeland.

As with other world religions, the noble ideals of Sikhism are at times undermined by extremists, as evidenced by clashes at the holiest site of sacred pilgrimage, the Golden Temple.

On the Web:

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Shinto

Shinto by Chang'r

Shinto (The way of the kami)

This Japanese folk religion has gone through many changes since its inception in the 8^th century BCE and it’s still alive and well in Japan and beyond.

Shinto shrines can be seen dotting the Japanese hillsides and groves as pilgrims make their way to pay their respects or ask a favor from a venerated ancestor.

Today, small shrines have made their way into numerous private homes, not unlike the private Hindu puja.

Shinto ancestor veneration may be directed towards imperial notables or, on a smaller scale, deceased family members.

All objects of devotion are said to share to varying degrees a spiritual essence or power called kami. Kami is found not only in the spirits of the dead, however. It may exist in a mountainside or any natural object evoking a high degree of wonder and awe.

Some say Shinto is not a formal religion as it is based more on ancestor worship than devotion to a transcendent deity (or deities). It does, however, contain the idea of transcendence, which most agree is crucial to a definition of religion.

As with Greek, Roman, Indian and Chinese thought, the line between revering a deceased culture hero and a full-fledged god is often a very fine one.

On the Web:

» Adherents of all religions, Ancestor Cults

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Shaman

The Shaman's vision by Ian

Shaman (From Evenki, saman: ecstatic one)

A healer or wise-person, believed to have the ability to perceive spiritual beings and matrices of power, and in some instances perform magic.

Shamanic practice often involves entering into trance states induced by rhythmic music, drumming, dancing, the wearing of animal pelts or paraphernalia such as feathers and horns, and imbibing in naturally occurring psychedelic drugs like peyote.

The visions and journeys of the shaman are said to transcend the usual boundaries of space and time. And some shamans apparently perform magical feats such as creating a butterfly out of thin air.

Many shamans adhere to a cosmology of three interconnected worlds:

1. The underworld of demons and spirits of the unhappy dead
2. The middle world of everyday earthly life
3. The upper world of helpful spirits

In shamanism mental and physical illness is often seen as a loss or theft of the soul. To heal another person, the shaman apparently embarks on a spiritual voyage to recover a soul to its rightful owner. Alternately, they may remove a spiritual object from a sick person’s soul that is presumably responsible for the illness.

Because it is believed that illness may be brought on by spiritual attack or molestation, the shaman battles negative spiritual forces, beings and objects, which in subtle planes may be tampering with a sick person’s soul.

Most negative forces are said to emerge from the underworld into the middle world, where the shaman battles them by harnessing the helping powers of upper world spirits.

dream of the shaman by Cornelia Kopp

Anthropological research on shamanism suggests that many shamans undergo some form of crisis at a young age, which in contemporary society would likely be viewed as a breakdown or the onset of a mental illness.

This crisis may involve an inner experience of being dismembered, seeing one’s skeleton or being skinned alive.

While some may uncritically accept the enchanting and miraculous truth-claims made by shamans, most psychiatrists would probably say we have no way of knowing whether or not shamanic altered states are genuinely transpersonal and spiritual or mere personal wishes, physiologically induced hallucinations or, perhaps, the activation of memory or primitive brain regions. As for stories about magic, these in large part remain part of an oral tradition, sometimes recorded by anthropologists but clearly not part of the mainstream media or scientific community.

Meanwhile some traditional Christians see the whole shamanic experience as an egotistic and spiritually unclear demonic deception.

Regardless of where one stands on this issue, it seems valid to ask the following questions: Are some shamans psychologically wounded opportunists capitalizing on the vulnerability or gullibility of others? Might some shamans be deceiving themselves and really believe they’re doing valuable spiritual work when, in fact, they’re suffering from a personality disorder? Or, conversely, might the shaman truly have access to realms, powers and abilities that most of us don’t understand nor possess?

The Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade notes that not all initiated into shamanism emerge as successful shamans. Some fail to regain a sense of psychological balance deemed meaningful by self and society. Others choose to pursue another vocation if being a shaman is not economically viable in their community.

At Earthpages.org

• Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls’ 50th Anniversary Teaching
• Why Study Shamanism
• Alchemy, Egypt, and Shamanism
• Spirit Guides & Totems
• The Shaman’s Journey: Impeccability
• The Shaman’s Journey: Intent
• The Shaman’s Journey: The Value of Emotional Control

» Animism, Controlled Dreaming, Evil, Fasting, Hendrix (Jimi), Odin, Saint, Song, Soul Loss, Ticket, Witch, Yoda

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Saint

Calling all Saints... by CHILDREN AT RISK FOUNDATION - CARF

Saint

(Latin sanctus = sacred ) The word saint has several meanings.

In everyday usage, saints are unusually kind, ethical people who perform good works on a local or grand scale which most everyone can appreciate.

The term also denotes the faithful Jews of the Bible and the body of Christian believers.

Moreover, saints may be Buddhist arhats (monks having achieved Nirvana) and bodhisattvas (monks forgoing entry into Nirvana in order to help others reach that threshold).

Saints also refer to Taoist, Confucian and Hindu sages and gurus (Skt. guru = teacher), African and Amerindian elders, as well as the Shamans of Central and Southeast Asia, Oceania, North America and the Arctic.

In Islam the righteous departed are said to mediate between heaven and Earth.

Robert Ellsberg regards great figures like Galileo Galilei, Leo Tolstoy, Stephen Biko and Dante Alighieri as saints in his book, All Saints.

Some believe that all public figures called “saints” are equally holy but this view arguably is more of a human hope than God’s assessment of individual holiness.

In Catholicism, the canonized saint leads an exceedingly holy and humble life serving God, is often persecuted, may be martyred and performs by the power of God at least two verified miracles.

Catholic sainthood often involves the idea of intercession. Intercession is the belief that God’s divine power and grace may be mediated by one soul to other souls on Earth, purgatory and hell.

Catholics also believe in the communion of saints, the idea that all souls, except for the damned, are united in a “mystical body” with Christ as head. From this we can see that the idea of interconnected souls is not necessarily something of the occult (unless one views Catholicism as a Satanic cult, which some do).

Another essential element of the Catholic faith is the belief that individuals cooperate with God’s Plan of Salvation through vocal and mental prayer (i.e. interior contemplation).

Prayerful saints cooperate with the Divine Plan but do not effect salvation through their own power.

Some Protestants object by saying that the Catholic saint is just a manmade god or goddess. Catholics reply to this charge that saints are friends and servants of God, not a god nor God.

Many Protestant Christians pray for other people yet object to the Catholic idea of interceding saints. To this Catholicism replies: If someone on Earth can pray for another on Earth, why can’t someone in heaven pray for another person on Earth?

According to Catholic teaching there are many unrecognized saints. These unsung heroes of the spirit are said to achieve a great degree of spiritual purity without ever having set foot in a monastery or abbey.

This is good to remember. Otherwise we might misunderstand some individuals in contemporary society not primarily concerned with sex, wealth or raising a family.

Considering the great diversity of individuals and spiritual paths throughout the world, to insist on rigid criteria for sainthood seems both arbitrary and, considering the world today, unwise.

» Brahman, Clairaudience, Confucianism, Faith and Action, Fasting, George (St.), God, Goddess vs. goddess, Great Mother, Guru, Heaven, Hinduism, Holy Rosary, Icon, Intercession, James (William), Jewish Mysticism, Karma Transfer, Koran, Meditation, More (St. Thomas), Mysticism, Numinous, Social Darwinism, Solitude, Targ,  Taoism, Russell, Vivekananda (Swami), Wisdom, Yogi, Yogini

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Taoism

Misty mountains by Bill Tyne

Taoism

Generally speaking, Taoism is an outlook on life that attempts to harmonize the individual will with the natural and spiritual influences of the cosmos.

Personal thoughts and actions are said to alternately coincide or conflict with the flow of the universe, or in some commentaries, the Will of Heaven.

The advent of Taoism is usually attributed to two Chinese sages, Lao Tzu (mid fourth-century BCE) and Chuang Tzu (369-286 BCE), although other profound Taoist authors are available in translation.

In the poetic Lao Tzu (also called the Tao-te-Ching), its author, Lao Tzu, tells of the 10,000 things (representing the visible world) that flow synchronously with an underlying ground of being which, although cannot be named, he calls Tao (often pronounced Dow, as in Dow-Jones).

Chaung Tzu’s writings are more mystical than Lao Tzu’s. Later developments in Taoism include the use of magic, alchemy and polytheistic worship. These trends were taken by many Chinese as degradations of the original message–that being the cultivation of virtue through naturalness and simplicity.

In recent times Alan Watts has popularized Taoism. Fritzoff Capra, Gary Zukav and others have followed suit by likening the cosmological aspects of Taoism to those of contemporary sub-atomic physics.

» Ancestor Cults, Anthroposophy, Confucianism, Evil, I Ching, Lao-tzu, Pantheism,  Particle-Wave Duality, Reincarnation, Saint, Soul, Spinoza (Baruch), Wu Wei, Yin-Yang

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Visistadvaita

Vishnu

Originally uploaded by 7E55E-BRN

Visistadvaita

Visistadvaita is a school of Indian philosophy founded by the Indian sage and philosopher Ramanuja (1017-1137 CE).

Ramanuja challenged Sankara’s claim that only the Brahman is real and individuality is illusory (maya).

For Ramanuja the Brahman is real and beyond pain and suffering but individual souls (jivas) emerging from and ultimately resting within the Brahman are also real.

While the Brahman is beyond the law of karma, the individual soul (jiva) is not.

As a result, the jiva experiences the pleasure and pain of earthly life.

Liberation from samsara, the round of rebirth due to karma, is gained through individual effort as well as the grace of God (Vishnu).

» Self, Suffering

Further reading:

• P. D. Devanandan, The Concept of Maya, London: Lutterworth Press, 1950.

On the World Wide Web:

• http://www.jstor.org/pss/1397514 †

—

† JSTOR may be accessed from university and many public libraries. It’s also an application at Facebook.

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Vishnu

Vishnu backlit

Originally uploaded by JotoLo02

Vishnu

In Hinduism Vishnu is the second deity of the Hindu Trimurti (i.e. triad) of Brahma, Visnu, and Siva.

He rides the great eagle Garuda with his consort, the goddess of prosperity and good fortune, Lakshmi, at his side.

Hindus believe that the universe passes through endless cycles of creation and destruction.

While Brahma is seen as the creator of the universe, Vishnu is the benevolent preserver and Siva is at times regarded as the cosmic destroyer.

Vishnu is said to have had nine incarnations (avatars) on Earth, including Krishna. The tenth avatar, Kalki, is yet to come and will ride on a white horse.

It is believed that Kalki will reestablish dharma in our present age of alleged moral decline, the Kali-yuga.

On the World Wide Web

• The incarnations of Visnu at http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/vishnu.htm

» AUM , Avatar, Underworld, Visistadvaita, Yuga

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