The Scientific Quest for Reincarnation

 

  The theme 'reincarnation’ opens the gate for all kinds of bizarre theories, individual opinions, ghostly encounters, wild dreams, and the infamous ‘deja-vu’. An overview of this discussion draws us to the very debatable two-sided coin, whether we believe in the afterlife or not. However, as we know, the conclusion is not as easy to determine as flipping a mere coin. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia, has interviewed many children for his research who showed their way back to the homes of their previous lives, or spilled secrets of families they lived with in the past. Many such claimed real-life experiences and religious texts will force you into believing that the chances of this phenomenon existing are pretty clear, while others who completely rely on laws and proof may not agree, no matter how convincing the examples seem to sound.

Well, conflicts and criticisms are an inescapable part of conspiracy theories, but what really is reincarnation? Let’s shift our perspectives from transmigration being a religious theory to a universal phenomenon. What do you think will actually take place? Will we enter a magical door after death, with unicorns, fairies, and rainbows standing at the threshold, welcoming us? Or will we unconsciously transfer from the dead body to another potential living organism? Will we become any organism, or just humans again? By the end of this article, let’s see which side of the coin you fall on.

  The history of this theory begins many moons ago, when it was first mentioned in the Bhagwad Gita. The Gita emphasized the soul never going through birth or death but being an eternal, ever-existing entity. It switches bodies during the time of death of the previous body. Most Asian religions have mainstream belief in reincarnation, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. They simply believe that the karmas in our present life will determine the quality of life in our next birth. In contrast to these religions, Christianity and Islam strictly oppose the theory of rebirth. However, sub-sects of Christianity such as the Gnostics and Manichaeans have believed in reincarnation. It is said that the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 553 A.D. banned the teachings of rebirth of the soul from the Roman Catholic Church, when the Gnostic sects, although severely persecuted by the church, managed to keep the doctrine of reincarnation alive.

  During the 19th century, scholars and thinkers started stating their views and comparisons between the beliefs of the western and eastern parts of the world regarding the happening of reincarnation. A German philosopher from the same time period, Arthur Schopenhauer, stated if there were an Asian to ask him the definition of Europe, he would be forced to answer that Europe is haunted by an incredible delusion that humans were created out of nothing and that their present birth is their first entrance into life. Knowingly, the West has always had the dominant ideology regarding science and proof, which often hindered the acceptance of any pre-existence of the consciousness beyond the present.

Yet, numerous western thinkers and philosophers have given justifiable consideration to the possibility of more than one life. British biologist Thomas Huxley stated that “the doctrine of transmigration” was notable and that “none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the grounds of inherent absurdity.” One of the most popular in the field, well-known psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, is convinced about reincarnation existing in the core of every man’s belief. He noted that nobody can clearly visualize their own existence without assuming that they have always lived and will live thereafter. If we reflect on this, it is difficult to find any opposition to this statement. One never imagines themselves as once dead or nonexistent before they were born, but always finds themselves picturing a middle ground where they were always living and will keep living. Professor John Pfeiffer notes that our bodies do not contain even a single molecule, which they did seven years ago. This means that our body completely changes throughout our lifetime every seven years, from our childhood to adulthood and old age. Yet, our “self” and the “I” in us never change. It is the one aspect of us that remains constant throughout our lives. Many of us may make an assertion of the fundamental working of the consciousness, thereby insisting that it is not rational to compare biological alteration to the mental being, but that can also be interpreted as the difference between soul and body. The ever-lasting entity, our soul, and the ever-changing body. Imagine! We assume we switch bodies after each life, but our entire physique is changing even throughout the period we’re alive; this makes people pay more attention to our real selves and here, our soul. Our confused psyche and hasty thoughts are drastically calmed by meditation techniques, which often pay heed to something way beyond our material body. It focuses on the mind and soul. The same techniques are also used for mindfulness and therapy approaches, such as hypnosis.

The way scientific phenomena align with theories of soul and rebirth is shocking. After all these similar examples to science and theories by renowned thinkers, it may still be hard for some of us to find peace with accepting reincarnation. We may look for solid and reliable proof regarding this prodigy, but it is also notable that there isn’t any proof against it as well. What exactly happens after death is only known to the ones who have experienced it, but we do have some understanding on the basis of certain ideologies. Regardless, what we gain from this potential occurrence is a path to rightfulness. It builds a conscious awareness amongst people to perform what is right, along with being kind and humble, in order to refine their karmas for the next life to be healthy. Humans are goal-oriented social beings with continuous wants. 

We are not able to visualize ‘the end’ and nothingness; it falls beyond the capability of our brain. Imagine you are dead and unconscious forever, and there will never be anything called “life” again. You can see nothing, and by nothing if you’re imagining an entirely black picture, not even that! Can you really imagine this nothingness? Reincarnation promotes an austere lifestyle and gives a hope of continuity to humanity, symbolizing no end and inspiring the masses to keep refining the self in their everyday lives. It makes people contemplate how worthless the material life around them is and that barely any of it will matter after death. This in turn forces us to reflect on what really fills the void of contentment amongst us, promoting compassion amidst each other as well as individual peace. Most of us agree this theory does not encourage anything wrong if it were really a universal event, and that suggestions regarding its occurrence really make it convincing that the possibility of reincarnation is huge.

So, which side of the coin do you fall on?

 

About the Author:

Ishita Jain is your ideal person to approach for a party-planning or sketching spree. She loves clicking random pictures and painting them later, trying different types of tea (of course her favourite is lemon!) and travelling to encounter the best sunsets she will ever seel. Her interest in writing heartfelt poems grew into compiling brief articles and contemplating on ideas to broaden her horizon. Sociological literature gets her ‘worked up’ and her best days include a hot tub, good food and friends! The “lalas” in Gilmore Girls can calm her down despite how strenuous the moment might be.

 

References:

Bhaktivedanta, A.C. (1984). Coming Back: The Science of Reincarnation. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Tucker, J. B. (2008). Ian Stevenson and cases of the reincarnation type. In Journal of Scientific Exploration (Vols. 22–22, Issue 1, pp. 36–43). Journal of Scientific Exploration.