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Reincarnation

Representation of reincarnation in Hinduism

The belief in reincarnation can be equated with a doctrine that a certain immaterial principle ("spirit", "soul", "individual consciousness") is accomplished through successive lives in different bodies (human, animal or plant by beliefs). In this doctrine, the death of the physical body, the "spirit" leaves it to live, after a new birth, another body, which would allow individuality to continue his life experiences and his spiritual evolution or moral.

Reincarnation is a form of transmigration of souls , close to the concepts of metempsychosis , palingenesis , and the Lord returns.

Summary

Origins

We find the belief in reincarnation at different times and in different places (although the term is recent, reflecting a Western-type social appearing in the late nineteenth century, so the question of whether the term "reincarnation "is really appropriate to describe the Hindu and Buddhist concepts is under debate - as evidenced, for example, the discussion page of this article), especially in Greek thought and the Far East , where she is at the heart of the Hinduism from Jainism and Buddhism , and Sikhism. Even if some want to see hints encoded in sacred texts, it is generally rejected by the three monotheistic religions , which prefer the doctrine of the Last Judgement and the resurrection of the flesh. Today, reincarnation is a religious belief shared by more than one billion people (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, followers of African tribal religions plus various spiritualist groups).

Origin of the concept in the Orient

The Indosa-Aryans borrowed the theory of successive rebirths in contact with indigenous non-Aryans of India. Subsequently, the Jainism and Buddhism have also adopted the doctrine as an article of faith .

The first theorist of reincarnation in India, arrives late, after the Vedic, Hinduism in the sixth century BC. AD. These Yajnavalkya, author of Brihad Aranyaka-and-Upanishad-Brahmana Shatapatha.

"Yajnavalkya," continued Artabhaga, when the organ of speech blends into the dying fire, his breath in the air, his sight in the sunlight, his mind in the moonlight, his hearing in the directions of the space, his physical body into the earth, his heart Akasha Akasha in outer space, the hairs of his body in the ground vegetation of the earth and her hair in the trees, his blood and his semen in water, so where is this man then? "Lend me your hand, dear Artabhaga, replied Yajnavalkya, and we will decide this between us, which is impossible in the midst of such a crowd." They put aside and discussed at length the question was what they talked mainly karma, the field of action, and they determined him was also commendable as karma. For it is by doing just that one becomes good, and the wrong action, one becomes ill. Finally, Artabhaga, the line Jaratkaru, remained silent. " (Brihad-Aranyaka-Upanishad, III.2.13) . (isslich lapoche)

In the West

Pythagoras.

Among the Greeks

It is mainly in the Greek world that flourishes the doctrine of reincarnation and metempsychosis. In Greek metempsychosis means "transmigration of souls." In this doctrine, the soul continues its evolution of human existence to existence (reincarnation), and may optionally be embodied in an animal or plant (metempsychosis).

It was around the sixth century BC. BC this belief appears in the Greek world. Its origin is not known with certainty. There is no trace in Homer or Hesiod , it is unlikely that it comes from the Greek mythical past. For the Greek historian Herodotus , the belief in metempsychosis is of Egyptian origin . But Herodotus is mistaken : the Egyptians speak of transformations of the dead (especially birds) or of wandering souls (which sail before the Judgement of the Dead), they do not affirm reincarnation, the transmigration of souls not. It is possible that the belief in reincarnation was inspired by Hinduism. The contacts between Greece and India have however long been complicated by the fact that Persia , hereditary enemy of the Greeks, was between the two civilizations (that later, with the conquests of Alexander the Great in 326 BC. BC, the Greek world and the Indian world have been sustained contact).

  • The Orphism , dating back from 560 BC. AD, argues that "the souls spend a lifetime in the other according to some revolutions and often enter into human bodies" . Poem: "When the soul of beasts and winged birds sprang from the body and their life has left this soul ... vaulting ... until another animal the snatch, mixed with breath of air. " It is therefore palingenesis , a diversified return to life, more than reincarnation or metempsychosis (there is in these latter cases passage of a soul in a body).
  • Pherecydes of Syros , who was active around 540 BC. AD is the first to argue that the soul is immortal and it returns successively incarnated on earth.
  • Pythagoras (around 530 BC.) remembers his past lives (Diogenes Laertius, VIII, 4-5). Xenophanes says it stopped the arms of a man being beat up a dog and said: "It is the soul of one of my friends. On hearing his voice, I recognized that soul." The soul is immortal because it transmigrates and is moving on the other hand, all living beings are brothers, congeners (which also leads to vegetarianism). Any soul, like the dust in the air can enter any body (Aristotle, the soul, 404a, 407 b). Pythagoras does not explain morality.
  • The doctrine of reincarnation in turn influences the poet Pindar. "And you whose souls dwelt successively three times the abode of light and three times that of the underworld without ever knowing the injustice, soon you will have traveled the route traced Jupiter, soon you reach the kingdom of Saturn in these fortunate islands the cool ocean breezes of fresh breath "(Olympic II).
  • In Plato , there are discussions about reincarnation or allusions to it in the Phaedo (70c, 81b, 107d), the Phaedrus (248D), the Gorgias (525c), especially in the myth of Er in Republic (X, 614 ff.). For Plato, 1000 years passed between a birth and rebirth: the existence of 100 years followed by a purge of 900 years (Phaedrus, 248-249, The Republic, X, 615). The punishment did not place on Earth in the incarnation but underground (Phaedo, 111th). According to the law which requires that "each kind of soul sees its destination determined by its similarity with usual occupation" among those who dominates the gross appetites of the body undergo reincarnation or rather metempsychosis into animals libidinous, like donkeys; among those who dominates anger, tyranny, reincarnate into beasts of prey, wolves, hawks, kites and those from the dominant reason is reincarnated in gregarious animals, bees, wasps, ants (Phaedo, 81-82). Plato is thus binding transmigration of souls and reward of souls and immortality.
  • Among the Neoplatonists, transmigration is accepted by Plotinus (he even admits metempsychosis, Enneads, III .4.2), Porphyry, Iamblichus, but not by .

The Romans

The Roman religion was multifaceted and evolving, influenced by particular religious beliefs of the conquered territories (especially the Gods of the East Mediterranean).

However, currents of Orphic and Pythagorean inspiration have always existed in Rome, especially among the upper classes, philosophers and artists - and thus the belief in metempsychosis. Examples include references to the transmigration of souls in the Aeneid of Virgil (VI, 713 ff).

In Judaism

The doctrine of reincarnation is not part of Judaism traditional, which prefers the concept of resurrection of the flesh, to be held after the arrival of the Messiah came to liberate the Jewish people.

However, the idea of reincarnation seems to have been present in Jewish folk beliefs. It seems for example that many Jews might believe the soul of Adam returned to Seth , then Noah , Abraham and Moses . However, many of these characters are not dead but had been "taken to heaven," it is appropriate here to distinguish between assumption and reincarnation (see below, in the Bible about Elijah). Judaism also makes several references (eg 2 Kings 2:15) is a prophet to be "inspired" by the spirit of another prophet, which again differs from reincarnation.

Some comments in the work of the Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus are sometimes interpreted as a belief in reincarnation . Moreover, in his famous Jewish Antiquities , Josephus says that the Pharisees , a school of Jewish philosophy, seemed to believe in the possibility of a new life on earth for those who were righteous - that is to say reincarnation as a reward. The community of Essenes who lived under Jewish protectorate also seems to have had affinities with the idea of reincarnation .

It's actually in the Kabbalah , the esoteric Jewish mystical tradition and that the concept of reincarnation is most present. The book that deals most directly is the Ha'Gilgulim Sha'ar (The gate of reincarnation). It is inspired by the Sefer Ha Zohar (section Mishpatim), the Book of Splendor, one of the most important works of Kabbalah. The concept used is the Hebrew Ha Gilgulei Neshamot, or simply gilgul, meaning "round", neshamot is the plural of "souls". The book describes the "cycle" of souls or lives through various incarnations, the reasons for this cycle, as well as ways to accelerate spiritual evolution.

Reincarnation is cited by many commentators important, including the Ramban (Nachmanides), and Menachem Rabbenou Ba'hya recant. In the many books of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (Ari), written and transmitted mostly by his main disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital, especially deep ideas are raised about reincarnation. In truth, his work HaGilgoulim Chaar, "Gates of Reincarnation", is devoted exclusively to this subject, details are given in particular the origin of the souls of many biblical characters and that they are reincarnated from that period until at Ari.

The teachings of the Ari and his world view after his death spread like wildfire among the Jewish communities of Europe and the Middle East. Previously, reincarnation had been generally well accepted notion by the Jews, both among people and among the intelligentsia. Ari after she became part of the term and know Jews and nurtured the thought and writings of great scholars and leaders, beginning with the classical commentators of the Talmud (eg, the Maharshi, Rabbi Moshe Eidel ), to the founder of the Hasidic movement, the Baal Shem Tov, as well as to leading non-Hasidic world, the Gaon of Vilna.

This trend continues today. Even the greatest scholars who are not known for their predisposition to mysticism see reincarnation as an accepted principle.

One of the texts that followers of mysticism like to remember is the allusion to the principle of reincarnation in the following verse from the book of Job: "Behold, all that God made the two or three times in favor of the man, to bring back his soul from the edges of the abyss and be enlightened with the light of the living. " (Job 33, 29-30)

In other words, God allows humans to emerge from "the abyss" (an expression denoting the biblical Guehinnom or "Purgatory") and return to the World "live" again and even a third if not multiple times. In general, the mystics see in this verse and other verses in an allusion quite clear to the concept of reincarnation. Its real source is thus deeply rooted in tradition.

In Christianity

Argument of "censorship of reincarnation" for political reasons

There is a movement of esoteric groups and "spiritualists" (eg the spiritualist movement or theosophy ), often born in the nineteenth century with the renewed interest in the occult , who believe in reincarnation, and present it as a belief shared by many religions and spirituality through the ages and places. They include in this list the origins of Christianity. According to them, the early Christians (or at least part of them) believed in reincarnation, but this belief would have been censored and declared heretical the Second Council of Constantinople , for political reasons. These were intense political power struggles between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Empire (Rome and Byzantium), between different churches and patriarchs of the early centuries of Christianity, and especially important theological conflict between different denominations of the early Christians, at a time when Christian doctrine was still hotly debated: Origenism , Monophysite , Nestorian , Orthodox , etc..

Proponents of this thesis is based on some particular passages in the Gospels , which behave according to them veiled allusions to reincarnation (see below, in the Bible). They also stress that if the Fathers of the Church condemned the doctrine of metempsychosis, there are several ambiguous allusions, which show it was at least "in tune with the times." For example, in St. Augustine , probably the most influential of the Fathers of the Church, in his Confessions:

"Tell me, Lord ... Tell me, my childhood she succeeded at an age that I lived, interrupted by death before? Was it that I spent in the womb of my mother? ... And before this life, O God of my joy, I found myself somewhere, or in another body? To answer, I can not find anyone, neither father nor mother, nor the experience of others, nor my own memory. "

Or, in Contra Academicos:

"The message of Plato, the purest and most luminous of all philosophy, finally dispersed the darkness of the error and now it shines especially in Plotinus the Platonist, who looks so much like his master might be think that they lived together, or rather - since a long period of time separates them - that Plato was born again in Plotinus. "

According to them, there is indeed a body of evidence tending to show that belief in reincarnation - that they attribute to the early Christians - should have been censored for political reasons.

Rebuttal

Saint Augustine

However, this approach is vigorously disputed by most theologians, particularly Catholics. This is for example the case of Cardinal Schnborn , in numerous articles published in Documentation Catholique.

They insist that this view is often from a new anti-clericalism (for example, in France, around the philosopher Michel Onfray ) that drain the dogma of the church history in favor of pure politics.

They highlight the fact that early Christians were primarily "believers" and that the doctrine of metempsychosis, if it existed, was the fact heterodox minority group. For them the doctrine of the Church on this issue has always been that of the resurrection of the flesh. None of the Fathers of the Church has taught reincarnation, they remind us. From Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-208), it is unambiguously refuted. It is also the case of Tertullian , Hippolytus and John Chrysostom. As for Augustine , if we saw earlier comments that may seem ambiguous, it clearly states in City of God :

"Is not it much more honorable, I say, to believe that the souls return once and for all in their bodies at the resurrection rather than return many times in different bodies? "

When the church father mention reincarnation, it's always the way, and mostly to refute it.

The Origenism is sometimes spoken in support of the idea of an ancient Christian belief in reincarnation. Indeed, during the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, mentioned above, Origen and Origen himself (who died three centuries, but maintained a strong influence), were declared anathema. However, the vast Origenism is a doctrine, and its relation to reincarnation is not clear. What underlies Origenism is the preexistence of souls in the bosom of God, but scholars differ on whether Origen taught metempsychosis or not. The ambiguous phrase: "As to why the human soul obeys sometimes evil, sometimes to good, we must seek the cause in a previous birth body present at birth. "Has been interpreted by some as a validation of reincarnation, but it could refer to the pre-existence of souls. The culmination of the theology of Origen is the apocatastasis , that is to say the full forgiveness of all moral creatures - humans, angels, demons but also - and their final reconciliation in the Kingdom of God.

In fact, from the First Council of Constantinople in 380-381, which gave the dogmatic summary of preceding councils, the Christian creed is defined. It is the symbol of Nicaea-Constantinople , which concludes: "we await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."

Belief in reincarnation opposes, in fact, the dogma of the "resurrection of the dead" at the end of time and the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ to save the world visible and invisible by a single incarnation. In the Apocalypse , the souls of saints are groaning under the altar of God until their body to be returned. As for Christianity, both the spirit and the body are unique, and constitute the whole person. There is a profound unity of living things, which makes the soul and body are inseparable - an argument that is also found in Aristotle.

It is the uniqueness of the incarnation (a soul in a body), which excludes reincarnation in Christianity. There is finally the real divorce between reincarnation and Christian faith "dogmatic" while in reincarnation, the body is a "vehicle" or a "clothes" whose soul changes with each new incarnation, in Christianity is called the flesh is also to resuscitate.

During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II reiterated the Church's hostility to the doctrine of reincarnation.

In the Bible

Some groups "spiritualists" refer to passages from the Gospels which they believe would indicate a belief in reincarnation original Christianity. However, an alternative interpretation "not reincarnationists" can often be given of those passages.

An example given in the Gospel according to John Ch.3 (Jesus and Nicodemus), "Jesus replied:" Yes, I say to you is the truth: no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born not again. . Jean-Baptiste said, "I am not" (John 1:21), but the mere existence of the matter is considered by some as a sign of belief in reincarnation.

The confusion here is between reincarnation and assumption. Besides the Virgin Mary (as the Catholic dogma), several characters, historical or mythical, has been the assumption, therefore, have not experienced death: Enoch, Moses, Elijah. Thus, nothing in the Bible does say that the prophet Elijah is indeed dead. The text mentions a "rapture" into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). The priests and Levites spoke (perhaps) a return of Elijah, but as a living entity and has never experienced death.

Also 2 Kings 2:15 and Luke 1:17 allow to clarify this issue: it is possible that John the Baptist is accompanied by "the spirit and power" of Elijah, but that means provided he is the reincarnation (see above notion of engendering spiritual).

On the same subject, in the pericope of the Transfiguration , we read:

"And the disciples asked him," What therefore say the scribes that Elijah must come first? "
He replied: "Yes, Elijah must come and put everything in order;
gold, I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they have not recognized, but treated as they wish. So the Son of Man will also suffer from them. "
Then the disciples understood that his words were John the Baptist. "
(Matthew 17:12,13)

Some have again concluded that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. But the ancient Jewish literature rejects the idea of reincarnation. It is therefore more likely to understand that John the Baptist was Elijah another: what it was for his time, Jean-Baptiste is for his (and more so, as we have seen above, that the spirit of Elijah have inspired Jean-Baptiste).

There is also the issue ambiguous laid the disciples in the Gospel of John (9:2) to Jesus Christ, about a man born blind: "Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents, to be born blind? . This could be interpreted as suggesting the existence of another life (and therefore sins) before it. In fact, this is probably a rhetorical question. Indeed, in the biblical tradition, it is customary to believe that a disease can be a curse from a sin committed by oneself or a family member.

Conversely, in the Epistle to the Hebrews , attributed to St. Paul , it is written: "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgement, the same Christ who offered himself to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time without sin to those who wait for their salvation. "(Hebrews 9:27-28) This is a clear denial of the concept of reincarnation. However, proponents of the thesis "reincarnationists" argues that the Greek word hapax, translated as "once" can also mean "entirely". He also cast doubt on the attribution of the Epistle to the Hebrews to Paul, saying that he, in his Epistle to the Galatians (2:7-8), his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (10:13-16) and especially in his Epistle to the Romans (15:20) had always defended want to evangelize Jews.

In the end, it appears that the dogma of Christian churches is the resurrection of the flesh. However, it remains possible for heterodox groups, Christian or not, to see in some Bible passages, and especially the New Testament, more or less metaphorical allusions to reincarnation, the price of freedom interpretation of texts.

The Gnostics

In the Christian movement, it is undoubtedly among the Gnostics that the theme of reincarnation is most explicitly present.

The term "Gnostic" means a set of "sects" (understood here as minority groups) in the first centuries after Christ, Christian-based but largely syncretic, incorporating in their teaching of oriental myths and elements from the Greek philosophy, especially Platonism. They are found in the Jordan River to Asia Minor , and especially in Egypt. Gnostic doctrines were varied, but they generally had in common to consider that the incarnation in the material was a trap set by an evil spirit, and that only initiatory knowledge (gnosis, the Greek "gnosis," knowledge) can enable the soul to free itself from this trap and trace its purity. In this context, reincarnation has a negative meaning: while the more advanced souls, having paid through gnosis , can reach the divine, others are rejected down, tormented in hell , before being submitted to forget their previous life and returned in a new body. The Gnostics called the reincarnation of "decanting" (mtaggismo), a kind of transfer from prison to prison, from body to body.

In the Middle Ages, Bogomil and the Cathars were influenced by Gnosticism - and also considered heretical and opposed by the Church. The Cathars believed in reincarnation, probably not in the transmigration of souls .

The begetting spiritual

Without believing in reincarnation, Eastern Christians are committed to the notion of spiritual procreation. According to this belief, someone may at some point in their life, integrate them into the spiritual qualities of another person (usually a saint), the latter is alive or dead.

In Islam

Reincarnation does not appear either in the Islam as such, it prefers, like other monotheistic religions , the doctrine of resurrection.

Some verses from the Koran are sometimes interpreted as moving in the direction of reincarnation. For example in verse 28 of the second sura, "The Cow" (Al-Baqara), it is said: "How can you reject Allah, and He gave you life when you were in private, then it you did die, then He revives you and then you return to Him. "

However, a different translation of this verse contradicts this idea: "How can you deny God who gave you life in you pulling out of nothing, then you will die, then you rise again, to bring you back to Him?" (Edition of Mr. Hamza Boubakeur, former rector of the Islamic Institute of the Mosque of Paris, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1995)

It is in the esoteric teachings of Islam as Sufism , which can find texts reincarnationists. For example, in The Way of Perfection , a book that presents a summary of the spirituality of Ostad Elahi , Bahram Elahi said that the man has many lives to accomplish his spiritual perfection.

Furthermore, we found an influence of Gnosticism (see above) in the Muslim Shiites , particularly in faith Druze and Alawite. Druze and Alawite believe, they say (their doctrines are theoretically secret), in metempsychosis.

However, orthodox Islam strongly condemns this doctrine.

In Hinduism

Reincarnation is one of the central beliefs of Hinduism. In all likelihood, that even this religion that comes from the idea of reincarnation - at least as a doctrine held. Cependant selon l'anthropologue Robert Delige , cette croyance est loin d'tre solidement ancre en Inde . Pour certains hindous, la rincarnation est une certitude, pour d'autres, une possibilit, pour d'autres encore, une interrogation. Certains mme se moquent ouvertement de cette croyance. Et parfois, la croyance en la rincarnation coexiste aussi avec d'autres notions, qui la contredisent.

Pour les hindous, au moment de la mort, l'esprit est spar du corps. Alors que l'initi saura trouver la porte de la libration, le non-initi sera pris d'une irrsistible envie de retrouver un corps, ce qu'il fera. travers ce processus de rincarnation, l'tre vit des expriences qui lui permettent d'apprendre et d'voluer spirituellement. Finalement, au terme de son volution, il cesse de renatre.

Selon le Bhagavad-Gt , . L'me transmigre donc de vie en vie : .

La rincarnation est galement prsente dans le janisme , autre grande religion traditionnelle de l' Inde.

Les hindous croient en la rincarnation, qui est un processus o l'me prend constamment un corps physique travers une naissance sur Terre. La rincarnation est une croyance fondamentale des hindous. Les anciennes critures sacres de l'hindouisme enseignent que l'me ou l'tre immortel prend naissance, encore et encore. travers ce processus, il a des expriences, apprend et volue spirituellement. Finalement il cesse de renatre.

Le mcanisme de la rincarnation dans l'hindouisme

Pour les hindous, le corps n'est qu'une enveloppe matrielle temporaire. Lorsque survient le moment de quitter la vie, l'me ou l' tman , sort du corps et peut enfin atteindre la libration ou moksh. Cependant, si son karman a accumul le fruit de trop d'actes ngatifs (les mauvaises actions), l' s'incarne dans un nouveau corps sur une plante comme la Terre (ou infrieure qui compose l'enfer), afin d'y subir le poids de ses mauvaises actions. Si son est positif, il ira vivre comme un dieu ou , sur l'une des plantes clestes (suprieures la terre, ou paradis). Une fois puis son , l'me retournera sur terre dans un autre corps au sein d'une caste. Ce cycle est appel . Pour briser ce cycle perptuel, l'hindou doit vivre de manire ce que son ne soit ni ngatif, ni positif, selon ce verset de la Bhagavad-Gt ( II .10) : Ni les vivants, ni les morts et ni les divinits, le sage ne pleure ou pardonne. Le yoga lui enseigne le moyen de parvenir ce rsultat, l'hindou ayant le loisir de choisir la mthode qui lui convient le mieux en fonction des coles de philosophie indienne. Aujourd'hui, le croyant hindou, puisqu'il vit dans une poque matrialiste ou , prfre choisir la voie du ou de la dvotion...

In Buddhism
Tenth and eleventh Panchen Lama, gouache painter Claude-Max Lochu , Gendhun Choekyi Nyima , is considered by Tibetan Buddhists as the reincarnation of the tenth Panchen Lama.

Reincarnation ( punarbhava , rebirth) is one of the most outstanding features of the themes of Buddhism. Note however that Buddhism does not believe in the existence of a "soul" or spirit of or "heart-mind" (citta) is more precisely the concept Hindu of atman , the Self, that Buddhism opposes the idea of anatta , no-self, the impersonality of which it is a feature of all: there is no self that is reincarnated, but "everything is no self. "

The thought of more - whether Western or Eastern - is the belief that personality, the ego and its aggregates are reincarnated. Thus, it is possible to say or believe that we were in a past life, a pharaoh or a prostitute, etc.. And explains some impressions of dj vu, some trials of life or ... love at first sight!

But Buddhism has, in place of a soul and body, the distinction of five aggregates of attachment, skandha. Aggregate describes the individual as a set of different phenomena; attachment insists that these constituents are be taken for a for a self, and lead to cling to this idea of ego, where there are only phenomena ephemeral, impersonal and unsatisfactory: they are the three characteristics of all conditioned phenomena.

Although the term "reincarnation" might appear in some translations, the term most used is the "rebirth". There are, indeed, continuity - death does not mean that packaging continues. The Samsara form a cycle of life strung one after the other under the law of causality. The suffering and continues from life to life, but according to Buddhaghosa , every life is hard, in fact, that single moment.

If there is continuity, it is interpreted differently by different schools of Buddhism. If there is no soul, where is the continuity? This question of interpretation is evident in the study is made of the co-arising. This instruction provides details of the different phenomena that are dependent on each other and that makes the suffering continues from life to life. The karma is responsible for this perpetuation. According to Ajahn Brahm , the analogy that best explain that there can be rebirth without a soul, provided that endures is the classic mango: mango kernel will birth to a new mango tree that will manifest again the characters of the original mango, so far without a single atom, this mango has been transmitted. Karma is thus comparable to the genetic code: it is information that is transmitted, it is not a sustainable entity from body to body.

According to some schools, the rebirth is immediate at death is the consciousness of death and then succeeded by a consciousness of being reborn. For Tibetan Buddhism , death involves intermediate stages, the Bardo.

For Chinese Buddhism as described in the novel esoteric, historical and legendary " The Journey to the West "(Journey to the West) by Wu Ch'eng-en , the here-below as the afterlife are two forms of illusion, unreality, and even if this vision of reality is unreal, too, is the sole basis of our experience.
This question is exemplary of two realities of different philosophical approaches in Buddhism, and if all its branches distinguish a purely conventional reality and ultimate reality, Paramartha , the analysis is done varies greatly.

Serge-Christophe Kolm in his book Happiness parole (PUF, 1982) distinguishes the level of popular belief in reincarnation which is required for reality of the physical world, whereas higher levels of Buddhism, Buddhism deep (as far there is a single vehicle profound common to all Buddhists), this concept only gives a sense of parable, a simplified and colorful way to define a concept too complex to be delivered to the faithful unfit understand. Reincarnation should therefore be regarded as an objective reality but as a spiritual transcendence.

But he who does not believe in reincarnation, kalama sutta teaches her four consolations, which reads the second: "Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, result, actions made, good or bad. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and happy, I stand. "

Whatever the interpretation of the "rebirth", Buddhism teaches that the purposes and education only makes sense that the aim of putting an end to suffering. Gautama Buddha parse not only dissatisfaction, but taught the four noble truths , having caused the dissatisfaction, its cessation and the path leading to it.

Rebirth as a human being ("valuable" according to the texts, as both unlikely and only capable of carrying the Unconditional) is then presented as a great opportunity to break the cycle of existences, where low lives do not allow it and the gods are not aware of the suffering.

These remarks should not obscure the divergence of views between Buddhist schools: whether to end suffering is the consensus opinion, what direction should we choose? The current of Hinayana Buddhism emphasizes personal enlightenment, being thus becoming Arhat and left the Samsara to reach the Nirvana , while schools Mahayana promote the awakening of altruistic Bodhisattva , who will voluntarily in Samsara for help others to awaken. The disciple thus renounces itself in the state of Buddha , because he knows that entering Nirvana he leaves the cycle of rebirth in Samsara to enjoy the fair return that earned him his asceticism and his actions .

The revival is not an "article of faith" of Buddhism (even if a method is disclosed in the texts to see its past existences, by projection of the mind in the fourth dhyna ). Unlike the essential concepts of the Absolute ( Nirvana ) and anatman , which are characteristic of Buddhism, the theme of rebirth or future life can be ignored (what the Zen for example, which is primarily concerned of the here and now ") even if he does not doubt for advanced meditators.

In modern times

Origins

In the late nineteenth century that reincarnation makes a comeback in the West, under the combined influence of a renewed interest in the occult and more systematic study of religions from India (Hinduism and Buddhism) by Western anthropologists and philosophers (including Schopenhauer).

Several groups "esoteric" place of reincarnation (or at least a Western version of reincarnation) in the heart of their teachings. Among these include the Theosophy , founded by Helena Blavatsky in 1875.

Moreover, the spiritist doctrine , codified Allan Kardec in The Book of Spirits in 1857, is based in part on the belief in reincarnation .

Today, the continuation of this tradition is reflected in the movement known as New Age.

General considerations

The Western concept of reincarnation is an evolution of the ancient idea and Eastern Europe. But while the Hindu , the Buddhist and Jain consider reincarnation as a disaster - the purpose of life is to free themselves from the cycle of existence in both cases - many Westerners believe that reincarnation is desirable. Indeed, if we learn with each incarnation, our characters can only become more sophisticated and complex. Reincarnation can be so attached to notions of human evolution and progress, concepts that have raised so much hope in the early twentieth century. Reincarnation can even be a spiritual explanation for the evolution of species as we know it. It suffices to note that since the first life forms to humans, individual intelligence (which is a component of the spirit animating every living being) has only advance Increase radical life expectancy and artificial reincarnation

It has been suggested that some form of artificial reincarnation (not actual death) could be created. This is one of ideas to refine the one that says that life expectancy greatly increased (or even the immortality ) would be boring. This idea is in the current transhumanist.

The memories of a living being could be fully or partially erased. He could then see again what he has forgotten intentionally, perhaps even from the point of birth. He could then live a new "life."

Scientists are already interested in treatments to remember specific experiences (traumatic events), and current research on amnesia gradually reveal the mechanisms of forgetting.

In the context of the more futuristic spirit transfer computer , erasing memories selected would likely be a mere formality. All this is of course, for now, the science fiction and speculation.

Ian Stevenson

Thinking "scientific" about reincarnation was animated in the United States until 2002 (year of her 82 years) by Canadian Ian Stevenson which they said he was either a great joker, or the Galilee twentieth century. The official findings of Ian Stevenson are extremely conservative. Stevenson has recorded 2,600 cases, but released 64 full, in six large volumes that were published in English by University Press of Charlottesville. In all cases, allegations of children claiming to remember their previous incarnations have been verified. And in the last book he published, he added 6 observations collected in rural west, because the 64 original observations were only collected from cultures that accept the idea of reincarnation (Ian Stevenson, Twenty cases suggesting the phenomenon reincarnation. The most serious investigation to the world, 1st ed. 1966, trans. 1985). Buddhist masters of science education as Ajahn Brahm consider the work of Stevenson as quite reliable and constituting a scientific proof of reincarnation, regretting that the scientific community ignored .

Culture

Bibliography

  • Helena Blavatsky , The Voice of Silence, 1889, La Voix du Silence ditions Adyar.
  • Paul Carus , The Gospel of Buddha told by the old document, 1894, translation Millou, 1902, Editions Aquarius.
  • Jean-Marie Dtr , Reincarnation and the West, Volume 1 and 2, published by Triads.
  • Bahram Elahi, "The Way of Perfection", Albin Michel * Narada Thera , The Buddhist doctrine of the Renaissance, 1979, Library of America and Orient Adrien Maisonneuve.
  • Sogyal Rinpoche , The Tibetan Book of Living and the Dead - Publishing Round Table (book drawn from the Bardo Thdol ).
  • Rijckenborgh Jan van , The Mystery of Life and Death - Publishing Septenary. Rose-Croix.
  • Rudolf Steiner , The Science of the Occult (1911), Triads Editions, 1993. Anthroposophy.
  • Ian Stevenson, Twenty cases suggestive of reincarnation (1966, 1973), trans. I have read, 2007, 667 p. Scientific inquiry without conclusion trench.
  • Didier Treutenaere, Buddhism and re-births in the Theravada tradition, Asia, Library of America and Orient Adrien Maisonneuve, Paris, May 2009, ISBN: 9782953405606. A reference book on the subject of rebirth from the perspective of Buddhism is the oldest: 600 pages, 1000 quotes retranslated from the Pali canon, a glossary and an annotated bibliography.
  • G. Wachsmuth, Reincarnation, metamorphosis, Triads editions.
  • Michael Tramontana, pseud. Teston Michel (writer) , On psychoanalysis in reincarnation, 1985, ed. Teston, 07530 Antraigues (France).
  • Maupassant, "the Doctor Heraclius Gloss" 1876

Filmography

  • The Eye 2 (by Danny Pang and Oxide Pang, 2003)

Notes and References

  1. A comparative study of religions by Y. Masih, page 37 editions Motilal Banarsidass
  2. A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington, page 35, Routledge 1982
  3. Louis Renou and Jean Filliozat, classical India, t. I, p. 342, 334.
  4. "This is still the Egyptians who were the first to say that the human soul is immortal and that when the body perishes, it is housed in another living being who is born then, that when she inhabited by turns all terrestrial species, aquatic and air, so she re-enters the body of a man at the moment he is born, after a migration of three thousand years. "- Herodotus, Survey, II, 123.
  5. H. Hat, in der Reallexikon gyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin, 1952, p. 76 ff.
  6. Orpheus, magical and cosmological poems, Les Belles Lettres, 1993, p. 145.
  7. Richard Sorabji (ed.), Animal Minds and Human Morals, Ithaca, 1993, p. 188-194.
  8. Rabbi Moses Gaster, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, article "Transmigration".
  9. For example, in The Jewish War, in exhortation to the Jewish soldiers not to kill himself (to avoid being captured by the Romans): "The body, of course, are mortal in all the living and consisting a corruptible matter, but the soul is immortal and lives forever in the body as a part of God ... Do not you know that those who leave a life according to the law of nature ... gain an eternal glory, that their homes and families are strengthened, and that their souls remain pure and helpful, they get the most holy place in heaven where, thanks to the cycle of ages, they return to live again in the bodies of saints? But those who are foolish to put your hands on themselves, a darker Hades receives their souls ... "
  10. see the books of Daniel and Anne Givaudan Meurois
  11. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the day of the LORD comes." - Malachi (IV: 5)
  12. "The brothers prophets saw him at a distance and said: 'The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha!" And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. "- 2 Kings 2:15
  13. (About John) "He shall go before him with the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, preparing for the Lord a people prepared. "- Luke 1:17
  14. J. Duvernoy, Religion ds Cathars, Toulouse, 1989, p. 93-115.
  15. B. Elahi, The Way of Perfection, Albin Michel, Paris, 2002
  16. Hindus they believe in reincarnation? Humanities
  17. Bhagavad Gita 11, 22
  18. Bhagavad Gita 11, 27
  19. Buddhists they believe in reincarnation?
  20. A Brief Introduction of Buddhism
  21. a and b Reincarnation - Here We Go Again
  22. See The Voice of Silence - Treaty mystical Tibetan editions Adhyar.
  23. "It is half of the nineteenth century that this doctrine was a great success from the publication of the first five books of the corpus which was sacred. Founded on the belief in reincarnation of one mind in different bodies at Over the centuries, it is part of a movement of thought in both science and philosophy that developed in France before the Revolution ... " Marion Aubre, The New Dynamics of Kardec spiritism, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, CNRS, 2000.

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