Reincarnation Essay, Research Paper

Reincarnation

written by: Sivan Kaplan

grade: 10th

score: 90%

date: 16/2/97

Reincarnation is the belief that after death, one’s soul keeps existing and

is 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 in

reincarnation are the Greeks and the Egyptians.

Karma, the belief that our actions determine our future, is one of the

foundations of reincarnation. For example, a person who lived a sinful life will

return, after death, as an animal, as opposed to a person who lived an honest

life, who will return as a person.

Despite the resistance of many Jewish leaders, reincarnation also played a

role in Judaism due to the Kabala who developed this idea. Some Jewish

philosophers even believed that a soul of a sinner can enter a live man’s body

and “posses” him. Special rituals were used in order to “cure” the man.

T. Gomertz, a famous philosopher, thought of three very good reasons why one

should believe in reincarnation:

1. It is believed that dreams are attempts of the soul to live the body. If this

is 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 we

will have to assume there is an endless number of souls which is improbable.

3. Matter is enduring and, therefore, so is the soul. If the soul exists after

death, hens it had existed before birth.

Gomertz believes the origin of this belief is in India, where it was

believed that every action had a hidden reaction, other than the obvious one.

This reaction is obscure at first and is only later revealed, sometimes even in

the next life.

Reincarnation in Different Cultures and Religions

Judaism: In this religion, it was believed that a sinners soul can posses a

living man. This is called an Obsession but it’s actually very similar to

reincarnation.

This belief only exists in Judaism. It appears repeatedly in “The Glow”

which is a book written in the 16th century. This book claims that every soul

has its purpose / mission. If this mission isn’t completed, the soul returns to

earth and possesses someone. It stays in this state until it either completes

its 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 some

parts, every illness was considered an obsession.

Buddhism: Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, renewed reincarnation by stating

the possibility of redeeming one’s self from the endless circle of reincarnation.

Reincarnation is interpreted differently in Buddhism – the Buddhists do not

believe there is a soul. They believe that the force which travels from body to

body is not an individual self but a stream of energy with out a definite

personality. This flow of energy, which is similar to the continuos stream of a

waterfall, is not eternal and at some point it redeems itself and reaches the

“Nirvana”.

Brahminism: Reincarnation is one of the most important principles of

Brahminism. The Brahmins believe that death is not the end of our life but

merely a stop on the long life we live. In this stop our future is determined.

For example, a person who lived a sinful life will return to earth as an animal.

Unlike someone who lived an honest life who will return as a human.

Christianity: According to the Evangelists, Jesus often spoke about the

rewards of the righteous and the punishments of the sinners. According to

Christianity, the people who believe in Jesus and follow his foot steps will get

to live eternal lives while those who are easily tempted by the evils of life

will burn in hell eternally.

Different Views on Reincarnation

Plato: He believed that the soul existed before life. However, he only

speculated about the form it was in. In his opinion, after death, the soul

either enjoyed or suffered from the consequences of its life. However, after a

thousand years, the soul can either keep reincarnating or rest forever.

Rudolf Steiner: He is a 20th century philosopher who came up with a new

philosophical foundation for reincarnation. He based his new foundation on the

theory of heredity which says that there is a significant difference between the

part of heredity in man and in animal. Much like the animal, man gets his

anatomic structure from his birth parents. However, he gets his spiritually

qualities from his prior reincarnations.

Pitagoras: He was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. His belief was that

the soul is immortal and that after death, it returns to earth and gets to be

reborn. He believed that animals and humans coma from the same origin. Therefore,

a person can return after death as an animal too. However, one can avoid rebirth

as an animal by living an honest life.