The best documentary on Reincarnation I have ever seen

Steveyboy SG

I believe in the reincarnation because I found many teachings that the Buddha taught made sense. Although I cannot remember my previous lives but I accept reincarnation because Buddha's teachings have been accurate about everything else so I assume he must be accurate about reincarnation as well. That was belief so far until I came across this documentary on reincarnation and I must say that the facts presented is non-biased and documented facts. I love it and it paints a rather convincing picture of reincarnation.

I like the fact that it mentions Hinduism and Buddhism but does not dwell on religious dogma but progressively explains the belief system of reincarnation throughout history from both in the East and the West. What I found astonishing is the fact that reincarnation was the central dogma of Judaism, Christianity and possibly Islam as well. Another interesting fact is that the Greek philosophers believed in reincarnation and taught the respect for all living beings because of this belief. Finally in modern times, past life regression has become a legitimate field of scientific study because there are far too many cases of people remembering past lives that are too convincing to be dismissed as mere coincidence. All in all, this is one great documentary that is a must watch for anybody serious about entering Buddhism.

I can't post the video here which is on a blog but here's the link to the video. :- http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/science-mysteries/ancient-mysteries-reincarnation.html

BroInChrist SG

I beg to differ, reincarnation is NOT a central dogma of Christianity. The Bible clearly teaches that it is appointed for man to die ONCE and after that to face God in judgement. The idea of a second chance in life is foreign to the Bible.

lce SG

the bible is just a book written by man

if man sins so wat makes the bible?

BroInChrist SG

the bible is just a book written by man

if man sins so wat makes the bible?

You digressed.

The issue is whether reincarnation is a central dogma of Christianity. It would take a lot of Scriptural twisting to make the Bible teach reincarnation as a central dogma.

lce SG

man would beleives wat they wan to beleive

tats fact

BroInChrist SG

man would beleives wat they wan to beleive

tats fact

But the fact that you stated is still completely irrelevant to the issue of whether reincarnation is a central dogma of Christianity.

Dawnfirstlight SG

I think I posted this video clip before. It is about an 11 year old American boy who could remember his past life, remember the name of his sister etc. It was reported in Fox 8 News, investigation proved that what he said were all real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWCUjx4nI98

Dawnfirstlight SG

The following is from the website :

Reincarnation & Early Christianity

In December, 1945, early Christian writings containing many secrets of the early Christian religion were found in upper Egypt, a location where many Christians fled during the Roman invasion of Jerusalem. Undisturbed since their concealment almost two thousand years ago, these manuscripts of Christian mysticism rank in importance with the Dead Sea Scrolls. These writings affirmed the existence of the doctrine of reincarnation being taught among the early Jews and Christians. These Christian mystics, referred to as Christian Gnostics, were ultimately destroyed by the orthodox Church for being heretics. Their sacred writings were destroyed and hidden with the belief that they would be revealed at an appropriate time in the future. The discovery in 1945 yielded writings that included some long lost gospels, some of which were written earlier than the known gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Why today's Christianity did not teach reincarnation. A reason given by a friend is whoever has the biggest membership usually controls how the religion will develop.

Steveyboy SG

I think you guys didn't watch the documentary in the link. First of all, Christianity didn't teach reincarnation today but historically, Christianity was developed from Judaism and there's still much proof that reincarnation was a central belief of Judaism. In fact, an esoteric form of Judaism called Kabballah still holds on this belief as part of its core beliefs.

So what happened to Christianity? It is subject to much debate on why it only believe in a single faith. Sociologically, such a belief made it easier for the Christian priests and bishops to control the masses with such a belief because the people would take their belief in God stronger as they only had one life and then eternal salvation or damnation in hell. In fact today, past life regression is an authentic scientific field of study. That means that even the scientific community is slowly and reluctantly accepting the overwhelming proof of reincarnation.

BroInChrist SG

The following is from the website :

Why today's Christianity did not teach reincarnation. A reason given by a friend is whoever has the biggest membership usually controls how the religion will develop.

I think you have bought the whole Da Vinci Code fiction. With truth there will come falsehoods. You would have to make the case that what is orthodox is actually not. Simply finding so-called lost teachings/gospels does not mean that they are the secret truths. You wouldn't call into question Buddhism if someone says they found texts that are hidden which teach things contrary to what is considered orthodox, right? But it seems that when it comes to Christianity many are happy to just believe anything that might undermine the faith.

BroInChrist SG

1. I would be frank to say I did not watch. God knows the amount of things and videos I am asked to watch and it would be a long backlog! The OT and NT is the book of the Christians. If you can find any hint of reincarnation it would be in these books, but where? Why appeal to esoteric forms of Judaism? Isn't it because you cannot find it in the main forms? I think this strongly mitigates your position.

2. It is common to hear that Christianity is all about controlling of people. But is this true? Again such explanations only serve to make truth stronger, that it cannot be denied that there was one faith, one baptism, one God. Since it cannot be denied that the Bible does not teach reincarnation, one has to then appeal to secret texts that teach it!

3. Is the idea of reincarnation scientific? I have my doubts! But please provide some references on this, that the scientists are studying this.

http://bible.org/question/what-does-bible-say-about-reincarnation

An Eternal Now SG

http://www.byomakusuma.org/Teachings/MarshlandFlowersPart2.aspx

Issue 38: 15 - 28 October 2007

…Thousands of meditators around the world have remembered vividly incidents in their past lives.

So things like rebirth, miracles, the laws of karma may not have been proven yet by 'science'; but that does not warrant throwing them out of the window by calling them unscientific. Science has very little to do with these things and probably never will prove these things as either false or true because, they do not belong to the field of science. And as we have seen, even according to top level scientists it is false to think/ believe that only the narrow and limited field that science deals with is real / actual / true / non – superstitious. This is a kind of fallacious thinking wrought about in the present day due to excessive outdated over-modernistic education which is already getting to be out of date in the western world.

Since the time of the Buddha till now, for about over 2500 years, reports have come again and again from both Buddhist and non – Buddhist sources of special humans possessing special powers of the mind. Yes there have been fakes who have capitalised on the simple credulous minds; but as the Egyptian Sufi saint of the eleventh century EI Ghazali says, "If there are fake gold that itself is a proof that there is genuine gold. If there were no genuine gold there would be no fake gold."

In the Indian subcontinent it is not only the Buddhist literature spanning 2500 years of history but also Vedic – Hindu literature and Jain literature which speak of miraculous powers and remembering former lives etc. It is not a matter of one human or twenty humans but virtually unaccountable records when we take into consideration all the Buddhist / Hindu / Jain records. Such a vast array of records even if only anecdotal and not validated by scientific methods just cannot be thrown over-board so easily. And it should not be too, as we have seen that the knowledge based on science is not the only true piece of knowledge we humans should treasure.

As far as rebirth or re-incarnation goes, Ian Stevenson (MD), the Head of the Department of Parapsychology of Virginia University has done 'scientific research' on this issue, conducting research all over the world from Alaska, Lebanon, India to Sri Lanka. By the so called 'scientific research' it is meant research that is based on double blind methods and such other modus operandi used by science to prove any hypotheses.

He has come up with a huge four volume work doing research in cases from all around the world, even amongst people who do not have any cultural background regarding reincarnation. Based on his record he says that we can definitely say that science cannot disprove rebirth.

In the context of Samatha meditation, it is possible to bring back memories of past life, just like memories of this life. This is not easy, but even memories of childhood are not easy. But thousands of meditators around the world have remembered vividly incidents in their past lives. We are not talking about imaginations but memories. There is a qualitative difference in experience between a memory and an imagination. Every mentally healthy person can distinguish whether he is imaging or remembering. After all I remember a past event not a future event while we imagine / fantasise the future.

Besides the meditators remembering when they go into deep levels of Samatha / Samadhi there are hundreds of cases of young children all around the world who remember, their previous life – their names, family names, city / village / town, the details of their old street / house / rooms and even what was in the cupboard in the room. (To be continued)

Issue 39: 29 Oct - 4 November 2007

Hypnotic trance facilitates revivification of lost memories…

Reincarnation

Dr. Ian Stevenson has done a lot of research on such children and he has shifted fraudulent from the genuine. And he has come up with four huge volumes of genuine ones which he says cannot be scientifically disproved in any way. His four volumes are: Cases of reincarnation type: India; Cases of reincarnation type: Sri-Lanka; Cases of reincarnation type: Lebanon and Turkey; and Cases of reincarnation type: Thailand and Burma. He has also written another book - Twenty cases suggestive of reincarnation.

Then again there is the world famous psychotherapist Helen Wembach, who also used over 20 years of her own clinical work in hypnotherapy. She too claims that even though she herself is a Christian whose beliefs contradict the idea of reincarnation and her training in psychotherapy did not in any way prepare her for this; cases she dealt with for over 20 years, overwhelmingly pointed rather clearly at cases of former lives.

Hypnotic trance facilitates revivification of lost memories of this life especially those from birth onwards. Everything that the child sees, hears, smells, feels, remembers are stored in the subconscious/unconscious. These memories can be teased out into awareness through various methods like 'free association' in Freudian psychoanalysis, active imagination in Jungian analytical psychotherapy and hypnotherapy etc.

When Helen Wembach used hypnotherapy, which is a powerful tool to bring out lost memories entrenched stubbornly in the subconscious, she often found that her patients went further than birth into former lives. She also found that if memories and wounds of former lives were healed the effect was seen in this life's mental life. These are records that cannot be easily explained away; as actual mental and physical healings had also taken place.

I would like to recount the case of a multi-millionaire that Helen had dealt with. One of her patients was a millionaire who had suffered from strong pains in his right ribs. Being a millionaire, he had the best of doctors and his personal physician made him go through all the possible checkups possible at the time in the States. Since no physical cause was found in spite of repeated tests of various kinds, his personal physician finally suggested that it could be of a psychological origin and he should try a psychotherapist as well. Then he met Helen.

Helen started digging up his subconscious mind to cull out some experience / event in his childhood which could be the cause of his excruciating pain. Many physical pains and pathologies originate in some traumatic experience in childhood. The purpose of all forms of psychotherapy, be it Gestalt psychotherapy, Freudian psychoanalysis, Jungian Analytical psychotherapy, transactional psychotherapy or hypnotherapy or their combinations etc., is to bring the traumatic experiences hidden in the recesses of the subconscious to conscious awareness.

In both Buddhism and all forms of psychotherapy, awareness is curative. If the root cause (usually traumatic experiences but also sometimes just plain old childhood confusions) is brought clearly in front, to be scanned by awareness, the process of being cured begins. As long as the root causes are hidden in the dark nooks and crannies of the subconscious mind, there is no chance that we can free ourselves from its grasp and all that it entails. That is why Smriti – Samprajanya (mindfulness and comprehension) is of the utmost importance in the Buddhist path be it Sravakayana or Mahayana.

Even in the loony bin, a person who has flipped out begins to get cured only when he himself becomes aware that he has flipped out. The loony bin is an extreme case where people whose neurotic tendencies have become psychotic; but in society even amongst those who are considered socially acceptable, same neurotic tendencies found in the psychotic to an uncontrollable level, is to be found in a lesser or greater degree. Just like the lunatic we too can get cured or be freed of our neurotic tendencies, only as and when we become aware of them within us.

Thus awareness is curative and one of the purposes of most therapies is to bring the unconscious into awareness. This is called integrating the unconscious. The unconscious here means all the neurosis and complexes hidden within us. In Buddhist terminology, we can become free of our Klesha (emotional defilements) only if we are fully aware of the workings of the emotional defilements within us. That is why the Shasta (Master) prescribed living ones life in full mindfulness with comprehension - Smriti Samprajanya.

Going back to the story of the millionaire; while fishing for early memories of childhood, in a hypnotic trance, he suddenly slipped into a dungeon in the Roman period. He started wailing and crying, holding his ribs. When asked what was happening he described that he was in a prison in Rome and a Centaurian was towering over him and kicking him to death. When asked where he was being kicked, he pointed at the same ribs which had been causing him trouble since a long time. Thus he died being kicked on his ribs. When he was brought back to the present, he was commanded that he would remember the incident clearly even after he woke up. After he woke up from the hypnotic trance with full memory of the incident, it was found that he had 'miraculously' become free from the pain that had troubled him for such a long time. (To be continued)

(continued in URL)

Steveyboy SG

3. Is the idea of reincarnation scientific? I have my doubts! But please provide some references on this, that the scientists are studying this.

http://bible.org/question/what-does-bible-say-about-reincarnation

Dear BroInChrist,

First of all, I didn't say that Christianity believe in reincarnation but I am saying that there is a high possibility that it did because in Judaism, they did believe in reincarnation. We all know that the Christianity came from Judaism. You cannot refute that because the Old Testament and the Torah (jewish bible) are virtually the same. Jesus was a Jew and all the prophets of the Old Testament were Jews as well. The documentary explained that there was a possibility that when the bible was being translated over, it was largely rewritten to suit the needs of the Church. Hence, I am sorry but I cannot believe in most of the things that they say in the bible. In fact, bible scholars who had researched and studied the archaelogical sites in the middle east have come to the conclusion that very little of the bible can be historically verified. Here's a very interesting debate on the topic - 'Is the bible still relevant today' on BBC. It is a forum with bible scholars, Christian, Jewish and Professor Richard Dawkins...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CAEpc1zhcuo

On the topic of control, I have no comment. This is subjective. Religion no matter how we look at it is a form of control but the purpose of this control is what makes us believe or not believe.

On the topic of reincarnation, please google 'past life regression'. This is not theological or religious studies anymore, it is documented proof that many people who underwent hypnosis are able to recall their previous lives. Some of these people are able to speak in languages they had never spoken before and some are able to remember details that can be verified to be true and that there's no way they could have known otherwise. If you need proof of that, refer to this site on what some professors and doctors have commented on the research of past lives:-

http://www.victorzammit.com/evidence/pastliferegressions.htm

I just type reincarnation in Youtube and there's a whole slew of documentaries that showcases people from all over the world with evidence of a previous life. Just because you don't recall your previous life doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Here's just one I picked up for you :-

http://www.victorzammit.com/evidence/pastliferegressions.htm

Please bear in mind, the professors and doctors who commented and even the people who claimed to recall their previous lives are not Buddhists or Hindus. So, I think this information is very compelling for me to believe that a past lives does exist. There's just too much proof to disprove it.

BroInChrist SG

Dear BroInChrist,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CAEpc1zhcuo

On the topic of control, I have no comment. This is subjective. Religion no matter how we look at it is a form of control but the purpose of this control is what makes us believe or not believe.

http://www.victorzammit.com/evidence/pastliferegressions.htm

1. Not only does Christianit not teach reincarnation remotely (not to say central dogma!), neither does Judaism teach reincarnation remotely. I have read the OT through before and there is nothing therein to suggest reincarnation. Consider Genesis 1 and 2 where God created. If reincarnation was true, it wouldn't make sense there at all.

2. You cannot believe all the things in the Bible but you can believe all the things that people say about the Bible? Why?

3. The idea that religion exists to control people is an argument without merit. People who tout this line of argument cannot produce any evidence to support this. Yes, there are instances whereby religious leaders have controlled their flock, but that would be to throw out the baby with the bath water.

4. The Bible mentions the existence of fallen angels that have been around for a long time and have lived alongside people for thousands of years. I believe the so-called memories of past lives from hypnoticism is a result of diabolical influences from such spirits to mislead mankind. When you undergo hypnoticism you allow yourself to be influenced by man and any spiritual powers. Can you say this is impossible? I would say it is evidence that there is a supernatural realm, but Christians already know this, but this does not prove reincarnation.

Steveyboy SG

@BroInChrist,

1. Don't try to convince me. I am not the scholar here. It is the idea of certain intellectuals and bible scholars. For me, it is pretty compelling because when one look at the history of bible, it is written and rewritten so many times, it is not surprising that ideas changed and gets readapted.

2. Well, most of what the bible says is inconsistent and many don't even make sense when you read it at face value. What they say about the origin of the bible makes sense because it takes into consideration of archaelogy, history and socio-political developments of the area in which the bible was written.

4. Your answer to past life regression is way... way out there. I am sorry but it sounds almost superstitious.

Well BroInChrist, thank you for your response. I am not sure what you hope to gain from spreading your word of God to stalwart Buddhist like me. I love Buddhism and after coming into contact with such powerful logic and teachings, I really cannot look back at Christianity without being overly critical. I hope you don't get too offended. Thanks.

BroInChrist SG

@BroInChrist,

4. Your answer to past life regression is way... way out there. I am sorry but it sounds almost superstitious.

1. Are you saying that your mind is made up and you refused to be convinced? I don't think that should be the approach to take. One does not need to be a scholar to be convinced. What do you mean by saying that the Bible has been written and rewritten many times? Wouldn't you need to have some kind of basis to make this assertion? On the other hand, perhaps it should be noted that in the most recent Buddhist council held in 1954, there were corrections made to the Buddhist Scriptures. Had such happened for the Bible I am sure the critics would make much of it!

2. Which parts of the Bible are inconsistent and does not make sense at face value? Better to support such allegations than make sweeping motherhood statements, don't you agree?

3. Why is my explanation for supposed cases of reincarnation superstitious but not yours?

4. I am not offended by your views of Christianity. It serves the purpose that wrong views of Christianity can be corrected.

An Eternal Now SG

2. Which parts of the Bible are inconsistent and does not make sense at face value? Better to support such allegations than make sweeping motherhood statements, don't you agree?

3. Why is my explanation for supposed cases of reincarnation superstitious but not yours?

4. I am not offended by your views of Christianity. It serves the purpose that wrong views of Christianity can be corrected.

1. By corrections it meant minor issues (e.g. grammar?) probably due to corruptions of transmission. It does not mean altering its contents or meaning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Buddhist_council

During the two years that the Council met, the Tipitaka and its allied literature in all scripts were painstakingly examined with their differences noted down, the necessary corrections made, and collated. Not much difference was found in the content of any of the texts.

BroInChrist SG

Whether it was mere grammar or not, I don't think it can be verified.

But compare this with the Bible, written less than 60 years of the events that transpired, with more than 24000 extant manuscripts, and textual criticism shows that the texts are almost 99% similar with the rest being shown to be spelling errors or minor copying errors which do not affect any doctrines. Yet we still hear allegations that the Bible has been being changed and rewritten? Wouldn't you agree that such allegations are spurious and stem from ignorance?

Steveyboy SG

@BroInChrist

It is not out of ignorance. If you had watched the videos I posted, you will see that authentic bible scholars agree that much of the bible is fiction.

Watch this:-

The Big Question: Is the Bible still relevant today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfDJbi5gfC0&playnext=1&list=PL22EC954EB904C8DF&feature=results_main

Dr francesca stavrakopoulou in the video above is a biblical scholar and historian. She tells us that according to archaelogy and scriptural research (meaning they look into the difference between the original Hebrew text and compare it with the modern Christian bible) concludes that much of the bible is fiction. However, majority of scholars still believe that Jesus did exist.

2009novice SG

@BroInChrist

It is not out of ignorance. If you had watched the videos I posted, you will see that authentic bible scholars agree that much of the bible is fiction.

Watch this:-

The Big Question: Is the Bible still relevant today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfDJbi5gfC0&playnext=1&list=PL22EC954EB904C8DF&feature=results_main

Got mixed opinions after watching it... i feel it will be good if people choose to believe in God and do good for the society. But, on the other hand, not so good if they insist what they think is the truth and hard-sell to non-believers...