Which religions believe in reincarnation

Sikhs believe that the soul is passed from one body to another until liberation. God may pardon wrongs and release us. Otherwise reincarnation is due to the law of cause and effect but does not create any caste or differences among people.

Reincarnation is refuted by all the main monotheistic religions of the world. The first life? The last life? Considering this, Quran rejects the concept of reincarnation, though it preaches the existence of soul. The principle belief in Islam is that there is only one birth on this earth. The Doomsday comes after death and will be judged as to one has to once for all go to hell or be unified with God. Modern Sufis who embrace the idea of reincarnation include Bawa Muhaiyadeen.

Reincarnation is not an essential tenet of traditional Judaism. Medieval Jewish Rationalist philosophers discussed the issue, often in rejection. Other, Non-Hasidic, Orthodox Jewish groups while not placing a heavy emphasis on reincarnation do acknowledge it as a valid teaching. The 16 th -century Isaac Luria the Ari brought the issue to the center of his new mystical articulation, for the first time, and advocated identification of the reincarnations of historic Jewish figures that were compiled by Haim Vital in his Shaar HaGilgulim.

The major Christian denominations reject the concept of reincarnation. Christians believe that when a person dies their soul would sleep in the grave along with their corpse. However, there was a schism about understanding Jesus himself in early Christian history. Was he a man who became God? Was he God born as a man? The Roman faction rejected pre-existence and reincarnation and believed Jesus was God become man. The Jerusalem faction knew Jesus was a man who achieved the human-divine at-one-ment, which is the goal of everyone to escape reincarnation cycle of birth and death and have eternal life.

NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism, in which case they will be distinct from pre-existing denominations.

All spiritual schools accept the concept of reincarnation. They admit, with some differences, that the purpose of reincarnation is for the soul to get purified and gain wisdom, so that it comes out of the cycle of birth and death. Osho, also known as Bhagvan Rajaneesh, says that the life is born when the existence looks upon itself. An individual is a consciousness localized in a body. The mind of an individual exists as a set of memories, both good and bad.

Of course more of bad memories than good, as we always tend to remember the insults and criticisms more than praises. Memory is nothing but energy in a very subtle form. Being energy, it cannot be destroyed even at death.

It is liberated into the cosmos and dissolved. Just like riches attract more riches, such memories are pooled up, only to enter another womb. Thus when a person is born, he gets the bits of memories from many people.

So he cannot remember his past birth. Nevertheless, in exceptional cases, when a new born gets the entire memory system of another individual, he can easily recall his past birth, though it is not actually his birth. So in true sense, the person is not born again, only his memories are expressed in another individual. An enlightened person is not born again.

This is because; his mind contains no memories, neither good nor bad. He lives in a moment to moment existence. It is like the path of a fish in water or a bird in the sky. They do not leave any track behind. Thus when an enlightened person dies, he leaves no memories, to be picked up by other beings.

Thus he is not born again. Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, from the University of Virginia, is an authority in scientific research on reincarnation. He investigated many reports of young children who claimed to remember a past life.

He conducted more than case studies over a period of 40 years and published 12 books, including Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation and Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect.

Stevenson methodically documented each child's statements and then identified the deceased person the child identified with, and verified the facts of the deceased person's life that matched the child's memory. He also matched birthmarks and birth defects to wounds and scars on the deceased, verified by medical records such as autopsy photographs, in Reincarnation and Biology. However, a significant majority of Stevenson's reported cases of reincarnation originated in Eastern societies, where dominant religions often permit the concept of reincarnation.

Following this type of criticism, Stevenson published a book on European Cases of the Reincarnation Type. Other people who have undertaken reincarnation research include Jim B.

Tucker, Brian Weiss, and Raymond Moody. Some skeptics, such as Paul Edwards, have analyzed many of these accounts, and called them anecdotal. Carl Sagan referred to examples apparently from Stevenson's investigations in his book The Demon-Haunted World as an example of carefully collected empirical data, though he rejected reincarnation as a parsimonious explanation for the stories. Researchers such as Stevenson have acknowledged these limitations.

Ian Stevenson reported that belief in reincarnation is held with variations in details by adherents of almost all major religions except Christianity and Islam. The authors reported that surveys have found about one-fifth to one-quarter of Europeans have some level of belief in reincarnation, with similar results found in the USA. In India, Satwant Pasricha, Professor of Psychology, is the authority on the scientific study of reincarnation.

Having worked as an assistant to Ian Stevenson, her research methods are similar to Stevenson. She documents the child's statements. Then she identifies the deceased person the child remembers being, and verifies the facts of the deceased person's life that match the child's memory.

She has even correlated the birthmarks of the child with the physical trauma or deformity present in the deceased person of the past life the child has remembered, by verifying his medical records.

If reincarnation is to be examined from an unbiased scientific point of view, it is necessary first of all to find a way of bypassing such unscientific barriers as religious bias. Neither there is strong objective evidence nor specific research methods that can discover the mystery of reincarnation. However, not everything can be known by the humans with their current mind and intelligence that are far limited to perceive such paranormal phenomenon.

Thus there is nothing much to conclude. However, one thing is very clear. Human mind's greatest weakness is to make concepts that fit into its belief and then believe that this is the absolute truth. Such diverse beliefs have led to the origin of masses called religions. Each religion and each spiritual teacher differs in their view of existence or mechanism of rebirths. However, there cannot be many truths. Death is inevitable. Thus, we all will find out sooner or later!

Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Indian J Psychiatry v.

Indian J Psychiatry. Purushothama 1. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Address for correspondence: Dr. E-mail: moc. Later influenced by Christianity and possibly Celtic polytheist religions.

Thus, in voodooism there are deities. More so, people may communicate with them. In addition, voodoo does not have any fundamental doctrines. However, it supports belief in reincarnation and gives importance to the spirits of dead people. Judaism is the oldest of the three great monotheistic religions. To them, death means separation of soul and body.

That is the passing from a world of appearances, a transit, training, and learning, to a spiritual world that does not depend on the matter world of truth. They believe we might not enjoy infinite life. So, they do not officially recognize reincarnation. Even though it appears in the Kabbalah. Also, the immortality of the soul comes to realization through the resurrection. Even more, some Jewish currents believe in the reincarnation of souls.

There, however, does not seem to be hell. But, a place of purification where those who have done wrong remain for a while. It is significant, however, that in the early days of Christianity, reincarnation was part of the belief.

The epistle of James speaks, for example, that our language can put back in motion the wheel of rebirth. Also, there was a mention in the origins of St. Similarly, in the gospels there are more significant references thus:. And if you want to understand, he is the same Elijah who was to come. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot know now. However, when He, the spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.

Outside the Bible, there is a belief that Jesus and the early Christians believed in reincarnation. The view of Christianity is not that souls reincarnate again and again. But, that they return home. Definitely, transmigration of souls, however, is not part of the belief. As souls always reincarnate in a new human being. It was the Emperor Justinian who summoned a synod in Constantinople in that condemned the doctrine of reincarnation to what the Pope at the time opposed.

Since in the absence of the Pope. Who did not attend the synod, no one dared to contradict him. This is a set of philosophic and religious currents that are close to Christianity of the first centuries. Although, it was later declared heretical. Accordingly, it teaches the separation between matter and spirit. Also, that only through awareness of our spirit. And, of its divine character and the truth about its nature, we can attain salvation.

As a result, some teachings of Gnosticism believed in the cyclical return of souls to the prison of matter through reincarnation. Hereafter, the cycle of rebirths will be broken by the gnosis the equivalent of enlightenment in Eastern religions.

In reality, Islam believes that death is not a punishment. It is not bad, nor, is its destruction. Instead, it is merely a stage on the road of life.

Or a way to another life after the physical resurrection at the end of time. To them, upon death, a man reaches hereafter. And, his soul remains in an intermediate stage until Judgment Day. Certainly, in the end, he will pass through judgment for his sins.

Good and evil deeds will be weighed, and his soul will spend life in heaven or hell. One of its cornerstones is the reincarnation or samsara. Hence, it believes that a soul evolves through reincarnation according to what good or bad deeds he has done in a previous life karma. At death, the soul leaves the body and is brought to trial. According to this balance, it can reincarnate in a higher existence heaven , lower existence hell or intermediate human life.

Eventually, they believe one can attain a release of the wheel of reincarnation when the soul through yogic or ascetic practices becomes wholly evolved. Therein, the soul unites with the universal soul. They believe a soul is potentially divine and can reach this goal through severe and purifying practices. According to its actions, the soul is a subject to the wheel of reincarnation. As a result, it can be reborn with a demonic, animal, human or divine status.

More so, the soul loses its omniscience ability to know everything because of its corruption, attachment to material things, aggression and lying, etc. Therefore, to recover its original wisdom, it must get rid of the karma and attain knowledge. Thus, it reaches nirvana where it will be free from suffering. It is a very ancient religion, which disappeared before Hinduism.

Vedism based on the four most ancient texts of India. Generally, they alleged that God communicated the text orally to scholars in the past. Additionally, the Vedas states the immortality of the soul and its successive reincarnation.

At the center of Christian faith, however, is an actual historical person who dies and rises in a glorified body, and who has the power to share this new risen life with others. In his resurrection, Christians see their own future foreshadowed. What should be also observed about both reincarnation and bodily resurrection is that neither have scientifically undisputed, generally recognized data to back them up. When we interpret events that touch upon the afterlife, we do so with reference to a philosophical or religious understanding of human nature and of our origin and destiny.

Many people in the Christian tradition who more or less accept reincarnation may never have really thought through its implications for other aspects of their faith. Thomas Ryan, C. Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

Faith Faith. Thomas Ryan October 21, The Bible and Reincarnation The Bible makes no mention of reincarnation, but there are several biblical passages that set forth how a necessary purification occurs and whether we are granted more than one lifetime.

Significant Divergences Not only are there some significant differences between Christian, Hindu and Buddhist perspectives regarding reincarnation and rebirth, there is also a notable difference between, say, the Hindu perspective of reincarnation and the one espoused by many contemporary Westerners in general.

More: Spirituality. Thomas Ryan Thomas Ryan, C. Show Comments 2. Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more. What has happened in Catholic Catechetical Teaching?

Does anyone know their faith anymore? Heaven Help Us All. But later on many leaders such as the emperor Justinian refused to believe in reincarnation because "they did not remember the past lives" how foolish. We dont go to heaven, we grow into heaven. The resurrection of Jesus should not be seen as disproof of reincarnation but to validate it because he was the perfect being without sin.

Where as if you live immoral life, your soul goes through a process again. Lastly salvation is attained through Gods grace only by a way of our own good effort. We are given manny chances to correct ourselves in this lifetime.

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