Reincarnation is the belief that when a person dies, he/she is reborn. Reincarnation is regarded as the mental continuum of an individual. Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon and exists in many cultures.
The Egyptians believed in the soul's immortality. In India, the concept of reincarnation is first recorded in the “Upanishads”. Hinduism teaches that the soul goes on repeatedly being born and dying. The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras believed that the soul was immortal and was reincarnated into another living being at death. The belief in reincarnation is central to Greek philosopher Plato’s philosophy. Plato’s concept of metempsychosis edifies that the soul is immortal and passes through cycles of incarnation in birth and release from the body at death.
The Christian concept of resurrection is different from reincarnation; resurrection is the coming to life again of the same being with a transformation of the body into an immortal form of being. Early Christian theologians such as the Egyptians Valentinus, and Basilides believed in reincarnation. In 553 AD, during the second council of Constantinople, the idea of reincarnation was rejected by theologians.
The Italian philosopher and cosmological theorist Giordano Bruno believed in reincarnation, and he was sentenced to be burned at the stake by the inquisition. French writer Voltaire espoused his belief in reincarnation. The American polymath Benjamin Franklin believed that the human soul persisted and returned in a new body after death. English writer Charles Dickens openly supported the concept of reincarnation.
Reincarnation in the Buddhist doctrine
Although the concept of reincarnation is refuted by monotheistic religions, reincarnation (which is an ongoing process) is central to Buddhism. A Dutch orientalist and Indologist, specialising in Buddhist studies and early Buddhism, Johannes Bronkhorst highlights that the Buddha did believe in reincarnation. Sri Lankan philosopher Prof. K.N. Jayatilleke indicated that the Buddha’s explanation on rebirth was based on empirical grounds.
According to Buddhist teaching, there is no eternal “soul”, “spirit”, or “self”. The Buddhist doctrine rejects the premise of a permanent, unchanging soul. There is no soul that bridges the gap between life and death. Buddhism denies the transmigration of a soul. Buddhism regards the mind as a transient mental state. The Buddha replaced the soul with the theory of the mind continuum.
In Buddhist psychology, there are eight levels of consciousness. Five of them are sense-related consciousness like visual consciousness, auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, and tactile consciousness. The sixth is mental consciousness, the seventh is manas consciousness (deluded awareness) and the eighth consciousness is store consciousness (equivalent to the subconscious mind). Store consciousness is both individual consciousness and collective consciousness. The Buddha taught that consciousness is always continuing, like a stream of water. Buddhist teachings indicate that consciousness arises at the moment of conception with the forming of new life in the mother’s womb.
Reincarnation is the mental continuum of an individual. It is a phenomenon of a constantly changing continuity of moments of awareness. Buddhism teaches that stream of consciousness links with life. The stream of consciousness is not a single entity, but a process, and the process continues. The Buddha responded that only karma passes from one life to another.
When a person dies, there is a causal continuum of consciousness. This consciousness is neither identical to nor entirely different from that in the deceased. Re-linking consciousness is not transmigration from the previous existence. It comes into existence by means of conditions included in the previous existences. This process is regulated by the accumulated karmas. Here, the analogy is that the flame of a dying candle can serve to light the flame of another. A flame is transferred from one candle to another. Hence, consciousness is a continuous birth and death of mind states. It is linking an individual to past and future existences. The person who dies here and is reborn elsewhere is neither the same person, nor another.
This process is known as “Purabhava”, meaning reincarnation or multiple incarnations. It is the process of cyclic existence or “Samsara”. Being born and dying continues unbroken but changes every moment. Therefore, the practice of Buddhism aims at ending rebirth.
According to the Buddhist doctrine, “Chuthi Patisandhi”, a thought moment occurs when a person dies. It is the mindset during death in the current existence and then grasping the next life. A dying person has a “Cuti Citta” which is known as exit consciousness. This consciousness is a form of transitory energy. The being to be reborn is known as Gandhabba, which is a non-biological life form or life stream and inter-being. Gandhabba is a form of consciousness. “Cuti Citta” or exit consciousness transforms into Gandhabba conscious form. Between the “Cuti Citta” and the Gandhabba form is called “Antarābhava” (inter becoming) or intermediate existence. These are three different stages. (Some Buddhist schools believe that there is no interval – “Antarābhava” or intermediate existence). A Gandhabba has a “Manomaya kaya”, a non-physical mental body. The Gandhabba can enter another womb when a matching one becomes available. Hence, rebirth occurs. Three conditions are essential for conception: “The union of the mother and the father, the mother in season, and the presence of Gandhabba”. It is important to know that the Gandhabba concept is different from the idea of a “soul”. The Gandhabba is present at the point of conception as a form of consciousness. These processes are governed by the Karmic force or Karmic retribution.
Freudian and Jungian perspectives on reincarnation
Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud thought that the belief in reincarnation relates to the denial of death. For Freud, the rebirth fantasy seems to be a universal fantasy in the human mind, connected with the experience of both destruction and creation. According to the psychoanalytic notion, the belief relates to initial hopes for a better life and the fantasy of life after death is universal. Following the death drive, man has a desire to return to inanimate matter in a form of rebirth. For Freud, the concept of rebirth is an attempt to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. Freud saw that belief in reincarnation is a way for individuals to come to terms with their own mortality. A human being has a compulsion to repeat his/her life over and over again and this unconscious wish is expressed as a belief in life after death.
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung believed in reincarnation and the collective unconscious. For Jung, the “collective unconscious” is supposedly the universal consciousness of mankind that lies at a subconscious level. It apparently consists of inherited memories shared by all human beings that go back countless generations into prehistory. (In Mahayana Buddhism, the storehouse consciousness is known as “ālāyavijñāna”). Some psychologists openly argue that past life memories are merely a result of the collective unconscious. Jung saw psychoanalysis as a path of redemption, of revitalisation, of rebirth.
Does consciousness continue after death?
For American philosopher William James, consciousness was our own personal experience of perceiving, thinking, emoting, and acting. He used the phrase “stream of consciousness” – consciousness flows linearly with time. Consciousness is directed toward an object, and it has intentionality and transience. Neuroscientists believe that the brain creates consciousness. Neural information becomes conscious when it gains access to the global neuronal workspace. Consciousness does not disappear during general anaesthesia. Consciousness requires a functioning brain. Neural activity translates into conscious experiences, and after biological death, this neural activity ceases to exist.
Consciousness after death is not universally agreed upon. However, some experts say that we cannot find the actual conscious experience while measuring brain activity because we are measuring from the wrong cognitive frame of reference. Moreover, they tend to say that the brain does not create our conscious experience and that consciousness is a fundamental property of all physical systems (panpsychism).
Disruptions of human consciousness occur due to pharmacological, neuropathological, or psychiatric causes. The brain is structurally and functionally connected and neurochemical processes produce subjective experiences. Are near-death experiences (NDEs) a conscious experience after death? NDEs are caused by reduced blood flow, coupled with abnormal electrical behaviour inside the brain. Sri Lankan academic Prof. Carlo Fonseka elucidated (in a personal communication to this writer) that there is no consciousness after biological death. With biological death, essential neural activity disappears.
Is Ian Stevenson's work suitable evidence for reincarnation?
Canadian-American psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, from the University of Virginia, tried to offer some evidence to support the reincarnation hypothesis. His 1966 book, Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation emphasises the spontaneous recall of information about previous lives by young children. Some investigators have tried to debunk the work of Stevenson by questioning his methodology. They point out methodological flaws in Stevenson’s research methods. They state that he had confirmation bias in these studies. Moreover, his hypotheses were not falsifiable, and his data were not definitive to suggest reincarnation. When investigating reincarnation cases in other counties, Stevenson had no cultural competence and sometimes his translators consciously and instinctively offered data confirming reincarnation. Stevenson disregarded the role of cultural conditioning. Most of his cases were based on anecdotal evidence.
Does deja vú explain reincarnation?
Deja vu is the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. Deja vu is a psychological experience. Those who support the concept of reincarnation explain that déjà vu experiences are memories of past lives. However, researchers point out that déjà vu experiences do not confirm the reincarnation hypothesis. Déjà vu experiences can occur as a result of certain brain dysfunction, the assimilation of information by the brain’s hemispheres in two different times or in cryptomnesia. Furthermore, déjà vu is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.
(The writer is a registered psychotherapist)
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.