AboutStephen Sakellarios Expertise I can answer questions about reincarnation (from both Eastern and Western perspectives) and life after death, and how these topics relate to religion and spirituality.
Experience
I produced a documentary entitled "In Another Life: Reincarnation in America" which aired on PBS station KBDI in Denver, CO, Jan. 2003
I have a masters in counseling from FSU, and over thirty years' study of Eastern mysticism from carefully selected sources, plus eight years' study of contemporary Western reincarnation studies. I've published nine related articles online and in print. I offer an online class on the subject and maintain an extensive educational website at www.ial.goldthread.com, as well as giving talks and radio interviews (archived on the website).
Question Could you please answer my question.How many religions have reincarnation in common? I am a believer of it. I don't think life is meaningless when after death remaining the old log.Do the Christianity believe it?
Answer Dear Soe Htet,
First you have to define the word "religion". If, by religion, you mean the teachings of the original founder of the religion, that is one question. If, by "religion," you mean what the current followers believe, that is a different question.
I'll start with the first question, and this is my opinion and conclusions after 30 years of study.
All of the founders of the world's major religions not only believed in reincarnation, but they could see it directly and had first-hand knowledge. It was not always prominent in their teachings. That depended on the spiritual needs of the people they were helping, on what they needed to understand, and what they could understand. Generally, it was something that was understood by the close followers and by followers who had studied the esoteric side of religion. Every religion has an esoteric side, a mystical branch. In the mystical branch of every religion, you will find reincarnation. It is not usually given great importance *in and of itself*, but it is important as it fits in with the overall scheme of things. Reincarnation is simply birth, life, and death, with the one addition that these things are assumed to be cyclical. So, in the larger picture, birth has its importance, no more. Life has its importance, death has its importance, and the state between lives has its own importance. Reincarnation simply says that these things repeat in cyclical fashion.
There are clear references to reincarnation in the version of the Christian New Testament that has come down to us. I think that origially there were more, but they were edited out. Reincarnation as a doctrine was taught by many of the early Church fathers until it, along with the doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, was declared "anathema" by the Fifth General Counsel convened in 553 AD by Emperor Justinian, against the wishes of the Pope who boycotted the meeting. In the 13th century, a group of Christians called the Cathars in France were the first to be persecuted in the Inquisition, partly for their belief in reincarnation.
Meanwhile, the philosopher Plato taught reincarnation, but that portion of his teaching is not taken seriously by most philosophers today, even those who specialize in Plato. Perhaps they feel that he just had a "senior moment" when he taught that idea, and they forgive him for it.
Now, to the second question, what the modern-day followers of the religions believe. This is obviously going to be a matter of percentages. We know that 25% of Americans, for example, believe in reincarnation, but I don't know the statistical breakdown for Christians. However, I do know that some percentage of Christians do believe in reincarnation. Here is a sample web page: http://www.savioroftheworld.net/reincarnation.htm
A large percentage of people who consider themselves to be Christians believe that the Bible teaches against reincarnation. First of all the Bible does not speak with one voice, nor is it one homogeneous work. It is a compilation of writings, not all of which agree. Some of it has been edited by well-meaning people trying to clarify something, or by people trying to promote a philosophical or political agenda. So in portions of the New Testament you can find clear indications of reincarnation; and in other portions, you can find clear pronouncements against it. What Christians who do not believe in reincarnation tend to do is to ignore the indications for reincarnation, and quote the sections against it.
However, you will find that most of the portions of the New Testament which teach against reincarnation were written by Paul. And most of the sections which show a clear indication for reincarnation are quoting Jesus or involve a story about the disciples asking Jesus a question.
So I think if there is a discrepancy, I would prefer to trust what Jesus said than what Paul said.
To see an example of the New Testament where reincarnation is clearly referred to, look at John 9:1. There, the disciples are asking Jesus a question. They obviously have been debating amongst themselves, about the reason that a man was born blind. They put to Jesus the two most likely explanations: 1) that the man sinned, or 2) that his parents sinned.
Since the man was born blind, if he sinned to cause the blindness, it would have to have been before he was born. Since we cannot assume that the disciples were so stupid as to believe that a fetus can sin to such a degree as to deserve to be born blind, there is no alternative except that the disciples gave the first explanation as that the man sinned in a previous lifetime.
The second explanation that the disciples gave to Jesus was that the man's parents sinned. This is the traditional explanation. So in these two alternatives, the disciples are giving Jesus the esoteric explanation, and the traditional explanation.
Jesus answers that it was neither, it was for the glory of God to be manifest. This exchange is typical of a spiritual master and his disciples. Jesus was not refuting either answer, but he was taking the question to a higher level, in my opinion. His exact meaning is open to interpretation. Either the man chose to be born blind before he incarnated; or this is a philosophical answer about the nature of suffering, that the end-result is to glorify God when suffering is handled properly. But the answer does not refute either alternative explanation offered.
Therefore, Jesus had the clear opportunity to refute reincarnation, and He didn't do so. This means that reincarnation was taken for granted by the disciples in their intimate conversations with Jesus.
However, we know from the New Testament that Jesus spoke openly with the disciples, but did not speak to the masses without using parables.
Consider this parable, taken from the Gospel of Thomas, which is from the Nag Hammadi documents, paragraph #109:
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Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a man who had a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And after he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished." (Thomas O. Lambdin translation)
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Here, the treasure is the soul within, and the knowledge of the soul within, which is one with God. The field is the body and the field of experiences in this physical world.
Dying and leaving it to his son means, reincarnating. In the next incarnation he also does not know about the soul within. Selling the field means incarnating again.
Finally, in this next incarnation, the man begins "plowing". Plowing means, to search within oneself for the truth, for the answers to one's questions.
This man who plows, finds the treasure, the direct knowledge of the soul within, which he finds is in and one with God, or Existence itself.
Once he has that experiential knowledge, he begins teaching others. "Lending money with interest" means giving others this treasure, and "with interest" means that when these people have gained this knowledge, they in turn teach others.
So in my opinion this is a sample of Jesus's original teachings about reincarnation, put in parable form to prevent people who weren't ready for it from understanding it.
That parable still works, by the way. People who are ready to understand it, get the meaning immediately. People who aren't ready for it never believe my explanation.
Indeed, life is not meaningless, except in our imagination and dulled perception. Life is so full of meaning that it would overwhelm you if you got a glimpse of it. It is so full of meaning that people who are awakened to the presence of God may look at one small object and be absorbed in the deep meaning of just that small thing for hours. Life is also a supreme adventure, a great quest, and that quest has tremendous meaning. Any suffering we experience is a challenge, an opportunity to be courageous and bring out the best in oneself. A study of the reports of people who have had near-death experiences is instructive. They tell us just how meaningful life is, and what is really important.
