Reincarnation
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latest reincarnation (update) of this page 30th July 2008


Reincarnation and Beyond...
Reincarnation Explained:
Reincarnation: Have We Lived Before?
Reincarnation And Past Life Regressions:
Reincarnation Explained - by Srila ACBSP:

Coming Back - The Science of Reincarnation by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
Genuinely Understanding Reincarnation - Reincarnation: Socrates to Salinger (from Coming Back)

Four-year-old recalls previous life!

Forensic Evidence of Reincarnation
Research Findings Establish Reincarnation as a Scientific Fact

Manika Manika - the girl who lived twice - the movie intro by New York Times

Interesting examples of reincarnation
http://www.ial.goldthread.com/personalaccounts.html

Reincarnation Stories
http://www.beyondreligion.com/su_personal/reincarnation-index.htm

This section of the site contains stories of Reincarnation collected from visitors to Beyond Religion.

Reincarnation links from every imaginable corner of the planet:
http://www.ial.goldthread.com/links.html

Numerous articles on Reincarnation, Out of Body Experience, Near Death Experience


View or Download it HERE

Bhagavad Gita - the Science of Self-realisation:

We're not these bodies:
You Know You're Not That Body... (excerpt from The Life & Legacy of Srtpad Ananda Tirtha Madhwacarya by JTCd)

Famous Quotations from supporters of Reincarnation:

Jesus and Reincarnation from Tirtha dasa - VINA.
Visit our pages all about Death, and Dying links:
Our Near Death Experience pages:
Ghosts - all about them:
Ghost busting services

Get a good understanding of the intricacies and implications of karma (action and reaction):

IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH? Evidence For The Christian's Resurrection
Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife
See our NDE page also:
A true story of reincarnation - Hrishikesh
Islam - Life after death:

Most Reincarnation Claims are True, Says Dr. S.K. Pasricha

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT ORIENTATED ON THE RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF REINCARNATION
(Also found at Articles)

PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH - PARAPSYCHOLOGY and personal survival after death

Bhagavad Gita on-line - all about Karma, Reincarnation, Nature of the Soul etc.
Vegetarianism and Beyond:

Darwin's Evolution Theory pages

Evolution in the Vishnu Purana By Rudi Jansma

Reincarnation in the early church: Book by Len Manson - Auckland

Some Christian links to reincarnation pages:

Only One Life?! - Who Ever Thought We Had Just One Life, Anyway?

Links to similar pages - books, etc.

True Movies on reincarnation:

The boy who lived before

Check out these poor confused souls who have decided  to take reincarnation into their own hands:
 


Reincarnation and Beyond
In August of 1976, Çréla Prabhupäda spent a few weeks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, fifteen miles north of London. During that time Mike Robinson of London Broadcasting Company interviewed him in his quarters. In their conversation, which was broadcast shortly afterward, Çréla Prabhupäda revealed that Kåñëa consciousness is “not some ritualistic ceremony of ‘I believe, you believe,’ ” but a profound philosophical system in which the science of reincarnation is explained clearly and concisely.



Mike Robinson: Can you tell me what you believe—what the philosophy of the Hare Kåñëa movement is?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes. Kåñëa consciousness is not a question of belief; it is a science. The first step is to know the difference between a living body and a dead body. What is the difference? The difference is that when someone dies, the spirit soul, or the living force, leaves the body. And therefore the body is called “dead.” So, there are two things: one, this body; and the other, the living force within the body. We speak of the living force within the body. That is the difference between the science of Kåñëa consciousness, which is spiritual, and ordinary material science. As such, in the beginning it is very, very difficult for an ordinary man to appreciate our movement. One must first understand that he is a soul, or something other than his body.
Mike Robinson: And when will we understand that?
Çréla Prabhupäda: You can understand at any moment, but it requires a little intelligence. For example, as a child grows, he becomes a boy, the boy becomes a young man, the young man becomes an adult, and the adult becomes an old man. Throughout all this time, although his body is changing from a child to an old man, he still feels himself to be the same person, with the same identity. Just see: the body is changing, but the occupier of the body, the soul, is remaining the same. So we should logically conclude that when our present body dies, we get another body. This is called transmigration of the soul.
Mike Robinson: So when people die it is just the physical body that dies?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes. That is explained very elaborately in the Bhagavad-gétä (2.20): na jäyate mriyate vä kadäcin... na hanyate hanyamäne çarére.
Mike Robinson: Do you often quote references?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, we quote many references. Kåñëa consciousness is a serious education, not an ordinary religion. [To a devotee:] Find that verse in the Bhagavad-gétä.
Disciple:
na jäyate mriyate vä kadäcin
näyaà bhütvä bhavitä vä na bhüyaù
ajo nityaù çäçvato ’yaà puräëo
na hanyate hanyamäne çarére

“For the soul, there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.”
Mike Robinson: Thank you very much for reading that. So can you explain to me just a bit more? If the soul is undying, does everybody’s soul go to be with God when they die?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Not necessarily. If one is qualified—if he qualifies himself in this life to go back home, back to Godhead—then he can go. If he does not qualify himself, then he gets another material body. And there are 8,400,000 different bodily forms. According to his desires and karma, the laws of nature give him a suitable body. It is just like when a man contracts some disease and then develops that disease. Is that difficult to understand?
Mike Robinson: It’s very difficult to understand all of it.
Çréla Prabhupäda: Suppose somebody has contracted smallpox. So, after seven days he develops the symptoms. What is that period called?
Mike Robinson: Incubation?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Incubation. So you cannot avoid it. If you have contracted some disease it will develop, by nature’s law. Similarly, during this life you associate with various modes of material nature, and that association will decide what kind of body you are going to get in the next life. That is strictly under the laws of nature. Everyone is controlled by the laws of nature—they’re completely dependent—but out of ignorance people think that they are free. They’re not free; they’re imagining that they’re free, but they are completely under the laws of nature. So, your next birth will be decided according to your activities—sinful or pious, as the case may be.
Mike Robinson: Your Grace, could you go back over that just for a minute? You said that nobody is free. Are you saying that if we live a good life, we in some way determine a good future for ourselves?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes.
Mike Robinson: So we are free to choose what we believe to be important? Religion is important, because if we believe in God and lead a good life...
Çréla Prabhupäda: It is not a question of belief. Do not bring in this question of belief. It is law. For instance, there is a government. You may believe or not believe, but if you break the law, you’ll be punished by the government. Similarly, whether you believe or don’t believe, there is a God. If you don’t believe in God and you independently do whatever you like, then you’ll be punished by the laws of nature.
Mike Robinson: I see. Does it matter what religion you believe? Would it matter if one was a devotee of Kåñëa?
Çréla Prabhupäda: It is not a question of religion. It is a question of science. You are a spiritual being, but because you are materially conditioned, you are under the laws of material nature. So you may believe in the Christian religion, and I may believe in the Hindu religion, but that does not mean that you are going to become an old man and I am not. We’re talking of the science of growing old. This is natural law. It is not that because you are Christian you are becoming old or because I am Hindu I am not becoming old. Everyone is becoming old. So, similarly, all the laws of nature are applicable to everyone. Whether you believe this religion or that religion, it doesn’t matter.
Mike Robinson: So, you’re saying that there’s only one God controlling all of us?
Çréla Prabhupäda: There’s one God, and one nature’s law, and we are all under that nature’s law. We are controlled by the Supreme. So if we think that we are free or that we can do anything we like, that is our foolishness.
Mike Robinson: I see. Can you explain to me what difference it makes, being a member of the Hare Kåñëa movement?
Çréla Prabhupäda: The Hare Kåñëa movement is meant for those who are serious about understanding this science. There’s no question of our being some sectarian group. No. Anyone can join. Students in college can be admitted. You may be a Christian, you may be a Hindu, you may be a Muhammadan—it doesn’t matter. The Kåñëa consciousness movement admits anyone who wants to understand the science of God.
Mike Robinson: And what difference would it make to someone—being taught how to be a Hare Kåñëa person?
Çréla Prabhupäda: His real education would begin. The first thing is to understand that you are a spirit soul. And because you are a spirit soul, you are changing your body. This is the ABC of spiritual understanding. So, when your body is finished, annihilated, you are not finished. You get another body, just as you may change your coat and shirt. If you come to see me tomorrow wearing a different shirt and a different coat, does that mean you are a different person? No. Similarly, each time you die you change bodies, but you, the spirit soul within the body, remain the same. This point has to be understood; then one can make further progress in the science of Kåñëa consciousness.
Mike Robinson: I am beginning to understand, but what I’m finding difficult is how this ties in with the large numbers of your people we see handing out Hare Kåñëa literature on Oxford Street.
Çréla Prabhupäda: This literature is meant to convince people about the need for spiritual life.
Mike Robinson: And you’re really not concerned whether or not they join the Hare Kåñëa movement?
Çréla Prabhupäda: It doesn’t matter. Our mission is to educate them. People are in ignorance; they are living in a fool’s paradise, thinking that when their body is finished, everything is finished. That is foolishness.
Mike Robinson: And you are basically just concerned to tell them that there is a spiritual dimension to life?
Çréla Prabhupäda:Our first concern is to tell you that you are not this body, that the body is your covering (your shirt and coat) and that within the body you are living.
Mike Robinson: Yes, I think I’ve got that now. If we could go on from there—you said that how you lived made a difference in your life after death, that there are natural laws that determine your next life. How does the process of transmigration work?
Çréla Prabhupäda: The process is very subtle. The spirit soul is invisible to our material eyes. It is atomic in size. After the destruction of the gross body, which is made up of the senses, blood, bone, fat, and so forth, the subtle body of mind, intelligence, and ego goes on working. So at the time of death this subtle body carries the small spirit soul to another gross body. The process is just like air carrying a fragrance. Nobody can see where this rose fragrance is coming from, but we know that it is being carried by the air. You cannot see how, but it is being done. Similarly, the process of transmigration of the soul is very subtle. According to the condition of the mind at the time of death, the minute spirit soul enters into the womb of a particular mother through the semen of a father, and then the soul develops a particular type of body given by the mother. It may be a human being, it may be a cat, a dog, or anything.
Mike Robinson: Are you saying that we were something else before this life?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes.
Mike Robinson: And we keep corning back as something else the next time?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, because you are eternal. According to your work, you are simply changing bodies. Therefore, you should want to know how to stop this business, how you can remain in your original, spiritual body. That is Kåñëa consciousness.
Mike Robinson: I see. So if I become Kåñëa conscious, I wouldn’t risk coming back as a dog?
Çréla Prabhupäda: No. [To a devotee:] Find this verse: janma karma ca me divyam...
Disciple:
janma karma ca me divyam
evaà yo vetti tattvataù
tyaktvä dehaà punar janma
naiti mäm eti so ’rjuna

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Bg. 4.9)
Çréla Prabhupäda: God is saying, “Anyone who understands Me is free from birth and death.” But one cannot understand God by materialistic speculation. That is not possible. One must first come to the spiritual platform. Then he gets the intelligence required to understand God. And when he understands God, he does not get any more material bodies. He goes back home, back to Godhead. He lives eternally; no more change of body.
Mike Robinson: I see. Now, you’ve read twice from your scriptures. Where do these scriptures come from? Can you briefly explain that?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Our scriptures are coming from Vedic literature, which has existed from the beginning of creation. Whenever there is some new material creation—like this microphone, for instance—there is also some literature explaining how to deal with it. Isn’t that so?
Mike Robinson: Yes, that’s right, there is.
Çréla Prabhupäda: And that literature comes along with the creation of the microphone.
Mike Robinson: That’s right, yes.
Çréla Prabhupäda: So, similarly, the Vedic literature comes along with the cosmic creation, to explain how to deal with it.
Mike Robinson: I see. So, these scriptures have been in existence since the beginning of creation. Now, if we could move on to something I believe you feel very strongly about. What is the main difference between Kåñëa consciousness and the other Eastern disciplines being taught in the West?
Çréla Prabhupäda: The difference is that we are following the original literature, and they are manufacturing their own literature. That is the difference. When there is some question on spiritual matters, you must consult the original literature, not some literature issued by a bogus man.
Mike Robinson: What about the chanting of Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa...
Çréla Prabhupäda: Chanting Hare Kåñëa is the easiest process by which to become purified, especially in this age, when people are so dull that they cannot very easily understand spiritual knowledge. If one chants Hare Kåñëa, then his intelligence becomes purified, and he can understand spiritual things.
Mike Robinson: Can you tell me how you are guided in what you do?
Çréla Prabhupäda: We take guidance from the Vedic literature.
Mike Robinson: From the scriptures you quoted?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, it’s all in the literatures. We’re explaining them in English. But we’re not manufacturing anything. If we were to manufacture knowledge, then everything would be spoiled. The Vedic literature is something like the literature that explains how to set up this microphone. It says, “Do it like this: some of the screws should be on this side, around the metal.” You cannot make any change; then everything would be spoiled. Similarly, because we are not manufacturing anything, one simply has to read one of our books, and he receives real spiritual knowledge.
Mike Robinson: How can the philosophy of Kåñëa consciousness affect the way people live?
Çréla Prabhupäda: It can relieve people’s suffering. People are suffering because they are misunderstanding themselves to be the body. If you think that you are your coat and shirt, and you very carefully wash the coat and shirt but you forget to eat, will you be happy?
Mike Robinson: No, I wouldn’t.
Çréla Prabhupäda: Similarly, everyone is simply washing the “coat and shirt” of the body, but forgetting about the soul within the body. They have no information about what is within the “coat and shirt” of the body. Ask anybody what he is, and he will say, “Yes, I am an Englishman,” or “I am an Indian.” And if we say, “I can see you have an English or an Indian body, but what are you?”—that he cannot say.
Mike Robinson: I see.
Çréla Prabhupäda: The whole modern civilization is operating on the misunderstanding that the body is the self (dehätma-buddhi). This is the mentality of the cats and dogs. Suppose I try to enter England, and you stop me at the border: “I am an Englishman,” you say, “but you are Indian. Why have you come here?” And the dog barks, “Rau, rau, why are you coming?” So what is the difference in mentality? The dog is thinking he’s a dog and I’m a stranger, and you are thinking you are an Englishman and I am an Indian. There’s no difference in mentality. So if you keep people in the darkness of a dog’s mentality and declare that you are advancing in civilization, you are most misguided.
Mike Robinson: Now, moving on to another point, I gather the Hare Kåñëa movement has some concern for areas of the world where there is suffering.
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, we have the only concern. Others are simply avoiding the main problems: birth, old age, disease, and death. Others have no solutions to these problems; they are simply talking all kinds of nonsense. People are being misguided. They are being kept in darkness. Let us start to give them some light.
Mike Robinson: Yes, but apart from giving spiritual enlightenment, are you also concerned for people’s physical well-being?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Physical well-being automatically follows spiritual well-being.
Mike Robinson: And how does that work?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Suppose you have a car. So, naturally, you take care of the car as well as yourself. But you don’t identify yourself as the car. You don’t say, “I am this car.” That is nonsense. But this is what people are doing. They are taking too much care of the bodily “car,” thinking that the car is the self. They forget that they are different from the car, that they are a spirit soul and have a different business. Just as no one can drink petrol and be satisfied, no one can be satisfied with bodily activities. One must find out the proper food for the soul. If a man thinks, “I am a car, and I must drink this petrol,” he is considered insane. Similarly, one who thinks that he is this body, and who tries to become happy with bodily pleasures, is also insane.
Mike Robinson: There’s a quote here that I’d like you to comment on. I was given this literature by your people before I came, and one of the things you say here is that “Religion without a rational basis is just sentiment.” Can you explain that?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Most religious people say, “We believe...” But what is the value of this belief? You may believe something which is not actually correct. For instance, some of the Christian people say, “We believe that animals have no soul.” That is not correct. They believe animals have no soul because they want to eat the animals, but actually animals do have a soul.
Mike Robinson: How do you know that the animal has a soul?
Çréla Prabhupäda: You can know, also. Here is the scientific proof: the animal eats, you eat; the animal sleeps, you sleep; the animal has sex, you have sex; the animal also defends, you also defend. Then what is the difference between you and the animal? How can you say that you have a soul but the animal doesn’t?
Mike Robinson: I can see that completely. But the Christian scriptures say...
Çréla Prabhupäda: Don’t bring in any scriptures; this is a commonsense topic. Try to understand. The animal is eating, you are eating; the animal is sleeping, you are sleeping; the animal is defending, you are defending; the animal is having sex, you are having sex; the animals have children, you have children; they have a living place, you have a living place. If the animal’s body is cut, there is blood; if your body is cut, there is blood. So, all these similarities are there. Now, why do you deny this one similarity, the presence of the soul? This is not logical. You have studied logic? In logic there is something called analogy. Analogy means drawing a conclusion by finding many points of similarity. If there are so many points of similarity between human beings and animals, why deny one similarity? That is not logic. That is not science.
Mike Robinson: But if you take that argument and use it the other way...
Çréla Prabhupäda: There is no other way. If you are not arguing on the basis of logic, then you are not rational.
Mike Robinson: Yes, OK, but let’s start from another hypothesis. Suppose we assume that a human being has no soul...
Çréla Prabhupäda: Then you must explain the difference between a living body and a dead body. I have already explained this at the beginning. As soon as the living force, the soul, is gone from the body, even the most beautiful body has no value. No one cares for it; it’s thrown away. But now, if I touch your hair, there will be a fight. That is the distinction between a living body and a dead body. In a living body the soul is there, and in a dead body the soul is not there. As soon as the soul leaves the body, the body has no value. It is useless. This is very simple to understand, but even the biggest so-called scientists and philosophers are too dullheaded to understand it. Modern society is in a very abominable condition. There is no man with a real brain.
Mike Robinson: Are you referring to all the scientists who fail to understand the spiritual dimension in life?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes. Real science means full knowledge of everything, material and spiritual.
Mike Robinson: But you were a chemist in secular life, were you not?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, I was a chemist in my earlier life. But it doesn’t require any great intelligence to become a chemist. Any commonsense man can do it.
Mike Robinson: But presumably you think that material science is also important, even if today’s scientists are dullheaded.
Çréla Prabhupäda: Material science is important just so far. It is not all-important.
Mike Robinson: I see. Can I come back to a question I had from before? When we were differing a few minutes ago you were saying, “Don’t bring the scriptures in; just use common sense.” But what part do the scriptures play in your religion? How important are they?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Our religion is a science. When we say that a child grows into a boy, it is science. It is not religion. Every child grows into a boy. What is the question of religion? Every man dies. What is the question of religion? And when a man dies, the body becomes useless. What is the question of religion? It is science. Whether you’re Christian or Hindu or Muslim, when you die your body becomes useless. This is science. When your relative dies, you cannot say, “We are Christian; we believe he has not died.” No, he has died. Whether you are Christian or Hindu or Muslim, he has died. So when we speak, we speak on this basis: that the body is important only as long as the soul is in the body. When the soul is not there, it is useless. This science is applicable to everyone, and we are trying to educate people on this basis.
Mike Robinson: But if I understand you correctly, you seem to be educating people on a purely scientific basis. Where does religion come into it at all?
Çréla Prabhupäda: Religion also means science. People have wrongly taken religion to mean faith—“I believe.” [To a devotee:] Look up the word religion in the dictionary.
Disciple: Under religion the dictionary says, “recognition of superhuman control or power, and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience, and effecting such recognition with the proper mental attitude.”
Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes. Religion means learning how to obey the supreme controller. So, you may be Christian and I may be Hindu; it doesn’t matter. We must both accept that there is a supreme controller. Everyone has to accept that; that is real religion. Not this “We believe animals have no soul.” That is not religion. That is most unscientific. Religion means scientific understanding of the supreme controller: to understand the supreme controller and obey Him—that’s all. In the state, the good citizen is he who understands the government and obeys the laws of the government, and the bad citizen is the one who doesn’t care for the government. So, if you become a bad citizen by ignoring God’s government, then you are irreligious. And if you are a good citizen, then you are religious.
Mike Robinson: I see. Can you tell me what you believe to be the meaning of life? Why do we exist in the first place?
Çréla Prabhupäda: The meaning of life is to enjoy. But now you are on a false platform of life, and therefore you are suffering instead of enjoying. Everywhere we see the struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling, but what is their enjoyment in the end? They are simply suffering and dying. Therefore, although life means enjoyment, at the present moment your life is not enjoyment. But if you come to the real, spiritual platform of life, then you’ll enjoy.
Mike Robinson: Can you explain to me, finally, some of the stages you go through in spiritual life? What are the spiritual stages a new devotee of Kåñëa goes through?
Çréla Prabhupäda: The first stage is that you are inquisitive. “So,” you say, “what is this Kåñëa consciousness movement? Let me study it.” This is called çraddhä, or faith. This is the beginning. Then, if you are serious, you mix with those who are cultivating this knowledge. You try to understand how they are feeling. Then you’ll feel, “Why not become one of them?” And when you become one of them, then all your misgivings soon go away. You become more faithful, and then you get a real taste for Kåñëa consciousness. Why aren’t these boys going to see the cinema? Why don’t they eat meat or go to the nightclub? Because their taste has changed. They hate all these things now. In this way, you make progress. First faith, then association with devotees, then removal of all misgivings, then firm faith, then taste, then God realization, and then love of God, the perfection. That is first-class religion. Not some ritualistic ceremony of “I believe, you believe.” That is not religion. That is cheating. Real religion means to develop your love for God. That is the perfection of religion.
Mike Robinson: Thank you very much for talking with me. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
Çréla Prabhupäda: Hare Kåñëa.



Reincarnation Explained


Remembrances of past lives can be fascinating, but the real goal of understanding reincarnation is to become free from the painful cycle of birth in death. In a lecture delivered in London in August of 1973, Çréla Prabhupäda warns, “This is not a very good business—to die and take birth again. We know that when we die we’ll have to enter again into the womb of a mother—and nowadays mothers are killing the children within the womb.”

.
dehino ’smin yathä dehe
kaumäraà yauvanaà jarä
tathä dehäntara-präptir
dhéras tatra na muhyati
.
“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth, and then to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gétä 2.13]
Generally, people cannot understand this simple verse. Therefore, Kåñëa says, dhéras tatra na muhyati: “Only a sober man can understand.” But what is the difficulty? How plainly Kåñëa has explained things! There are three stages of life. The first, kaumäram, lasts until one is fifteen years old. Then, from the sixteenth year, one begins youthful life, yauvanam. Then, after the fortieth or fiftieth year, one becomes an old man, jarä. So those who are dhéra—sober-headed, cool-headed—they can understand: “I have changed my body. I remember how I was playing and jumping when I was a boy. Then I became a young man, and I was enjoying my life with friends and family. Now I am an old man, and when this body dies I shall again enter a new body.”
.
In the previous verse Kåñëa said to Arjuna, “All of us—you, Me, and all the soldiers and kings who are present here—we existed in the past, we are existing now, and we shall continue to exist in the future.” This is Kåñëa’s statement. But rascals will say, “How was I existing in the past? I was born only in such-and-such a year. Before that I was not existing. At the present time I am existing. That’s all right. But as soon as I die, I’ll not exist.” But Kåñëa says, “You, I, all of us—we were existing, we are still existing, and we shall continue to exist.” Is that wrong? No, it is a fact. Before our birth we were existing, in a different body; and after our death we shall continue to exist, in a different body. This is to be understood.
For example, seventy years ago I was a boy, then I became a young man, and now I have become an old man. My body has changed, but I, the proprietor of the body, am existing unchanged. So where is the difficulty in understanding? Dehino ’smin yathä dehe. Dehinaù means “the proprietor of the body,” and dehe means “in the body.” The body is changing, but the soul, the proprietor of the body, remains unchanged.
Anyone can understand that his body has changed. So in the next life the body will also change. But we may not remember; that is another thing. In my last life, what was my body? I do not remember. So forgetfulness is our nature, but our forgetting something does not mean that it did not take place. No. In my childhood I did so many things I do not remember, but my father and mother remember. So, forgetting does not mean that things did not take place.
Similarly, death simply means I have forgotten what I was in my past life. That is death. Otherwise I, as spirit soul, have no death. Suppose I change my clothes. In my boyhood I wore certain clothes, in my youth I wore different clothes. Now, in my old age, as a sannyäsé [a renunciant], I am wearing different clothes. The clothes may change, but that does not mean that the owner of the clothes is dead and gone. No.
This is a simple explanation of transmigration of the soul.
Also, all of us are individuals. There is no question of merging together. Every one of us is an individual. God is an individual, and we are also individuals. Nityo nityänäà cetanaç cetanänäm: “Of all the eternal, conscious, individual persons, one is supreme.” The difference is that God never changes His body, but we change our bodies in the material world. When we go to the spiritual world, there is no more change of body. Just as Kåñëa has His sac-cid-änanda-vigraha, an eternal form of bliss and knowledge, so when you go back home, back to Godhead, you will also get a similar body. The difference is that even when Kåñëa comes to the material world, He does not change His body. Therefore one of His names is Acyuta, “He who never falls.”
Kåñëa never changes. He never falls down, because He is the controller of mäyä, the material energy. We are controlled by the material energy, and Kåñëa is the controller of the material energy. That is the difference between Kåñëa and us. And not only does He control the material energy, but He controls the spiritual energy also—all energies. Everything that we see, everything manifested—that is Kåñëa’s energy. Just as heat and light are the energies of the sun, everything manifested is made up of the energies of Kåñëa.
There are many energies, but they have been divided into three principal ones: the external energy, the internal energy, and the marginal energy. We living entities are the marginal energy. Marginal means that we may remain under the influence of the external energy or we may remain under the influence of the internal energy, as we like. The independence is there. After speaking Bhagavad-gétä Kåñëa says to Arjuna, yathecchasi tathä kuru: “Whatever you like, you can do.” Kåñëa gives this independence to Arjuna. He does not force one to surrender. That is not good. Something forced will not stand. For example, we advise our students, “Rise early in the morning.” This is our advice. We do not force anyone. Of course, we may force someone once or twice, but if he does not practice it, force will be useless.
Similarly, Kåñëa does not force anyone to leave this material world. All conditioned souls are under the influence of the external, or material, energy. Kåñëa comes here to deliver us from the clutches of the material energy. Because we are part and parcel of Kåñëa, we are all directly Kåñëa’s sons. And if a son is in difficulty, the father suffers also, indirectly. Suppose the son has become a madman—or, nowadays, a hippy. The father is very sorry: “Oh, my son is living like a wretch.” So, the father is not happy. Similarly, the conditioned souls in this material world are suffering so much, living like wretches and rascals. So Kåñëa is not happy. Therefore He comes personally to teach us how to return to Him. (Yadä yadä hi dharmasya glänir bhavati. .. tad-ätmänaà såjämy aham.)
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When Kåñëa comes, He comes in His original form. But unfortunately we understand Kåñëa to be one of us. In one sense He is one of us, since He is the father and we are His sons. But He’s the chief: nityo nityänäà cetanaç cetanänäm. He’s more powerful than us. He’s the most powerful, the supreme powerful. We have a little power, but Kåñëa has infinite power. That is the difference between Kåñëa and us. We cannot be equal to God. Nobody can be equal to Kåñëa or greater than Him. Everyone is under Kåñëa. Ekale éçvara kåñëa, ära saba bhåtya: Everyone is the servant of Kåñëa; Kåñëa is the only master. Bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà sarva-loka-maheçvaram: “I am the only enjoyer; I am the proprietor,” Kåñëa says. And that is a fact.
So, we are changing our body, but Kåñëa does not change His. We should understand this. The proof is that Kåñëa remembers past, present, and future. In the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gétä you’ll find that Kåñëa says He spoke the philosophy of Bhagavad-gétä to the sun-god some 120,000,000 years ago. How does Kåñëa remember? Because He does not change His body. We forget things because we are changing our body at every moment. That is a medical fact. The corpuscles of our blood are changing at every second. But the body is changing imperceptibly. That is why the father and mother of a growing child do not notice how his body is changing. A third person, if he comes after some time and sees that the child has grown, says, “Oh, the child has grown so big.” But the father and mother have not noticed that he has grown so big, because they are always seeing him and the changes are taking place imperceptibly, at every moment. So our body is always changing, but I, the soul, the proprietor of the body, am not changing. This is to be understood.
We are all individual souls, and we are eternal, but because our body is changing we are suffering birth, death, old age, and disease. The Kåñëa consciousness movement is meant to get us out of this changing condition. “Since I am eternal, how can I come to the permanent position?” That should be our question. Everyone wants to live eternally; nobody wants to die. If I come before you with a revolver and say, “I am going to kill you,” you will immediately cry out, because you do not want to die. This is not a very good business—to die and take birth again. It is very troublesome. This we all know subconsciously. We know that when we die we’ll have to enter again into the womb of a mother—and nowadays mothers are killing the children within the womb. Then again another mother... The process of accepting another body again and again is very long and very troublesome. In our subconscious we remember all this trouble, and therefore we do not want to die.
So our question should be this: “I am eternal, so why have I been put into this temporary life?” This is an intelligent question. And this is our real problem. But rascals set aside this real problem. They are thinking of how to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex, how to defend. Even if you eat nicely and sleep nicely, ultimately you have to die. The problem of death is there. But they don’t care about this real problem. They are very much alert to solve the temporary problems, which are not actually problems at all. The birds and beasts also eat, sleep, have sexual intercourse, and defend themselves. They know how to do all these things, even without the human beings’ education and so-called civilization. So these things are not our real problems. The real problem is that we do not want to die but death takes place. This is our real problem.
But the rascals do not know it. They are always busy with temporary problems. For example, suppose there is severe cold. This is a problem. We have to search out a nice coat or a fireplace, and if these are not available we are in distress. So severe cold is a problem. But it is a temporary problem. Severe cold, winter, has come, and it will go. It is not a permanent problem. My permanent problem is that because of ignorance I am taking birth, I am accepting disease, I am accepting old age, and I am accepting death. These are my real problems. Therefore Kåñëa says, janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi-duùkha-doñänudarçanam: Those who are actually in knowledge see these four problems—birth, death, old age, and disease.
Now, Kåñëa says, dhéras tatra na muhyati: “A sober man is not perplexed at the time of death.” If you prepare yourself for death, why should you be perplexed? For example, if in your childhood and boyhood you prepare yourself nicely, if you become educated, then you will get a nice job, a nice situation, and be happy. Similarly, if you prepare yourself in this life for going back home, back to Godhead, then where is your perplexity at the time of death? There is no perplexity. You’ll know, “I am going to Kåñëa. I am going back home, back to Godhead. Now I’ll not have to change material bodies; I’ll have my spiritual body. Now I shall play with Kåñëa and dance with Kåñëa and eat with Kåñëa.” This is Kåñëa consciousness—to prepare yourself for the next life.
Sometimes a dying man cries out, because according to karma those who are very, very sinful see horrible scenes at the time of death. The sinful man knows he is going to accept some abominable type of body. But those who are pious, the devotees, die without any anxiety. Foolish people say, “You devotees are dying, and the nondevotees are also dying, so what is the difference?” There is a difference. A cat catches her kitten in its mouth, and it also catches the mouse in its mouth. Superficially we may see that the cat has caught both the mouse and the kitten in the same way. But there are differences of catching. The kitten is feeling pleasure: “Oh, my mother is carrying me.” And the mouse is feeling death: “Oh, now I’m going to die.” This is the difference. So, although both devotees and nondevotees die, there is a difference of feeling at the time of death—just like the kitten and the mouse. Don’t think that both of them are dying in the same way. The bodily process may be the same, but the mental situation is different.
In Bhagavad-gétä [4.11] Kåñëa says,
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janma karma ca me divyam
evaà yo vetti tattvataù
tyaktvä dehaà punar janma
naiti mäm eti so ’rjuna
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If you simply try to understand Kåñëa, you can go to Him at the time of death. Everything about Kåñëa is divine, transcendental. Kåñëa’s activities, Kåñëa’s appearance, Kåñëa’s worship, Kåñëa’s temple, Kåñëa’s glories—everything is transcendental. So if one understands these things, or even tries to understand, then one becomes liberated from the process of birth and death. This is what Kåñëa says. So become very serious to understand Kåñëa, and remain in Kåñëa consciousness. Then these problems—birth, death, old age, and disease—will be solved automatically, very easily.
A dhéra, a sober man, will think, “I want to live eternally. Why does death take place? I want to live a very healthy life. Why does disease come? I don’t want to become an old man. Why does old age come?”
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Janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi. These are real problems. One can solve these problems simply by taking to Kåñëa consciousness, simply by understanding Kåñëa. And for understanding Kåñëa, the Bhagavad-gétä is there, very nicely explained. So make your life successful. Understand that you are not the body. You are embodied within the body, but you are not the body. For example, a bird may be within a cage, but the cage is not the bird. Foolish persons take care of the cage, not the bird, and the bird suffers starvation. So we are suffering spiritual starvation. Therefore nobody is happy in the material world. Spiritual starvation. That is why you see that in an opulent country like America—enough food, enough residences, enough material enjoyment—still they are becoming hippies. The young people are not satisfied, because of spiritual starvation. Materially you may be very opulent, but if you starve spiritually you cannot be happy.
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A spiritual rejuvenation is required. You must realize, ahaà brahmäsmi: “I am not this body; I am brahman, spiritual soul.” Then you’ll be happy. Brahma-bhütaù prasannätmä na çocati na käìkñati samaù sarveñu bhüteñu. Then there will be equality, fraternity, brotherhood. Otherwise it is all bogus—simply high-sounding words. There cannot be equality, fraternity, and so on without Kåñëa consciousness. Come to the spiritual platform; then you will see everyone equally. Otherwise you will think, “I am a human being with hands and legs, and the cow has no hands and legs. So let me kill the cow and eat it.” Why? What right do you have to kill an animal? You have no vision of equality, for want of Kåñëa consciousness. Therefore, in this material world, so-called education, culture, fraternity—all these are bogus. Kåñëa consciousness is the right subject matter to be studied. Then society will be happy. Otherwise not. Thank you very much.




Forensic Evidence of Reincarnation

Is there a scientific basis for reincarnation? Indian forensic scientist Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan is trying to prove reincarnation is real. He has presented his findings at the National Conference of Forensic Scientists in India.  www.unknowncountry.com

Chauhan has discovered a six-year-old boy named Taranjijt Singh who says he remembers his previous life. According to his parents, he’s been talking about this since he was two years old and used to run away from home. The boy knew the village he lived in during his former life, as well as his and his father’s names. He knew the name of the school he attended as well. On September 10, 1992, he was riding his bike home when he was hit by a motor scooter. He received head injuries and died the next day. His present father, Ranjit Singh, says as the boy became more and more insistent, so he and his wife went to the village where he claimed to have lived in the past. At first, they couldn’t find anyone who resembled the descriptions of his former parents. Then someone told him to go to another nearby village, where they met a teacher at the local school who confirmed the story of the motor scooter accident. They found out where the boy had lived and went there to meet the parents.

When they told the family their story, Ranjit Singh mentioned that his son claimed the books he was carrying when the accident occurred had gotten blood on them. He also described how much money he had in his wallet. When the woman heard this, she began to cry and said she had saved the blood-stain books and the money in memory of her dead child. Taranjit Singh’s parents and siblings from his former life soon came to his new home to meet him. The boy recognized a wedding picture his former parents brought with him.

At first, Vikram Chauhan refused to believe this story but he eventually became curious and decided to investigate. He visited both villages and found the boy and both sets of parents repeated the same story. He spoke to a shopkeeper who told him that the boy had owed him the money that was in his wallet when he was hit, and was probably bringing it to him to pay for a notebook he’d gotten on credit.

Chauhan took samples of both boys’ handwriting and compared them. He found they were identical. It’s a basic tenet of forensic science that no two handwriting styles can be identical, because each person’s handwriting has specific characteristics. Experts can usually spot even expertly forged handwriting. A person’s handwriting style is dictated by individual personality traits. Chauhan’s theory is that if the soul is transferred from one person to another, then the mind – and thus the handwriting - will remain the same. A number of other forensic experts examined the handwriting samples and agreed they were identical.

"I have some scientific basis to claim rebirth is possible", says Chauhan, "but I wish to do more research on the subject and am closely monitoring the development of the child." Singh’s former parents wanted him to move back with them, but his current family still claims him, even though they are poor. Chauhan says, "In his present birth, Taranjit has never gone to school as he belongs to a poor family, but yet when I told him to write the English and Punjabi alphabet, he wrote them correctly."

Taranjijt Singh - http://science.krishna.org/Articles/2002/10/025.html
http://science.krishna.org/Articles/2003/03/016.html
 




Research Findings Establish Reincarnation as a Scientific Fact

This controversial statement is backed by thirty five years of research by an engineer who focused on assembling physical evidence to verify Plato's ancient hypothesis by using a scientific approach and the tools furnished by modern technology. It was easy to do and any scientific mind can duplicate my findings, says Joseph R Myers, P.E., a professional engineer with more than 40 years of consulting experience and a W.W.II rank of Joseph R. Myers. P.E.

"The turning point was finding an hypothesis to use to make an investigation that hinged upon finding physical evidence, rather than examining mythology, religious or superstitious beliefs, children's stories or hypnotic trances," according to Myers. The hypothesis requires the coordination and comparison of a vast number of elements, which could not possibly occur by chance or be produced or duplicated fraudulently.

Possibly the most amazing aspect regarding this reincarnation hypothesis is that it dates around four hundred years B.C., and is very specific. However, it could not be demonstrated conclusively until modern technology brought the development of photography and the ability to draw upon centuries of historical data regarding individual lives.

Very Briefly, the hypothesis simply states that the soul-entity returns in a body similar to its last one and has the same inclinations, natural abilities and talents. Of course, this means that not uncommonly outstanding individuals reappear by reincarnation and distinguish themselves again in the field in which they excel. It is also true that the soul-entity is inclined to re-associate with family members, friends, and others from its past. "I am my own grandpa" is not uncommonly true!
Because he believes his findings convey a wonderfully hopeful understanding of life and provide the incentive on a scientific basis to practice the Golden Rule, he is dedicated to promoting worldwide dissemination of his findings. He has lectured and shown slides to many groups, including universities, clubs, churches, done nationally syndicated TV and radio programs and newspaper interviews for which he often furnishes pictures and handwriting samples of a few case studies. He has the background to do an excellent interview and respond to diverse questions.

See the website http://www.reincarnation2002.com for more details.




Famous Quotations from supporters of Reincarnation:

"We were in being long before the foundation of the world; we existed in the eye of God, for it is our destiny to live in Him. We are reasonable creatures of the Divine Word; therefore, we have existed from the beginning, for in the beginning was the word."
St. Clement of Alexandria - (150 - 220 A.D.)

"... it is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth, it must be accomplished in future lives."
St. Gregory - (257 - 332 A.D.)

"The message of Plato, the purest and the most luminous of all philosophy, has at last scattered the darkness of error, and now shines forth mainly in Plotinus, a Platonist so like his master that one would think they lived together, or rather, since so long a period of time separates them - that Plato was born again in Plotinus."
St. Augustine - (354 - 430 CE.

St. Jerome, "the transmigrations (reincarnation) of souls was taught for a long time among the early Christians as an esoteric and traditional doctrine which was to be divulged to only a small number of the elect."  The elect included some of the early Church Fathers.
 

"I can well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries ... that I had to be born again because I had not fulfilled the task Memories, Dreams and Reflections given to me."
Carl Jung (Psychologist)

"I adopted the theory of reincarnation when I was twenty-six ..... it was as if I had found a universal plan."
Henry Ford (Car manufacturer)
San Francisco Examine Aug. 26 1928

"I am not only a mystic. I am also the reincarnation of one of the greatest of all Spanish mystics, St John of the Cross. I can remember vividly experiencing divine union, undergoing the dark night of the Soul ... I can remember the monastery and many of St John's fellow monks!"
Salvador Dali (Painter)
New York Herald Tribune Jan. 24 1960

"The conventional heaven with its angels perpetually singing, etc., nearly drove me mad in my youth and made me an atheist for ten years. My opinion is that we shall be reincarnated."
David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister)
Lord Riddel's Intimate Diary

"I find myself in some scene which I cannot have visited before and which is yet perfectly familiar: I know that it was the stage of an action in which [ once took part and am about to take part again."
John Buchan (Novelist)
Memory Hold-the-Door

"They will come back--come back again--as long as the red earth rolls. He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls?"
Rudyard Kipling (Poet)
The Sack of the Gods

"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding) lies here, food for worms: but the work shall not be lost, it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition .... revised and corrected by the author."
Benjamin Franklin (American Statesman)
Ep



Four-year-old recalls previous life!
By SP Singh in Ghaziabad
Friday, 01 August , 2003, 04:44
http://sify.com/news/offbeat/fullstory.php?id=13214297

Believe it or not, a four year old child has fuelled discussion on re-birth. Aishwary resident of Chandner village in Ghaziabad not only remembers his previous birth but also went to the place where he actually lived with his wife and children. They were too happy to receive their father, even though, he happened to be a four year old child.

Aishwary has become cynosure of all eyes in Chandner. The re-birth story has been attracting curious visitors. Aishwary was born on January 26, 1999 in the family of one Mukesh Chauhan, a resident of village Chandner in Ghaziabad.

One day, the child told his father that he was an electrician and his name was Vir Pal. His father's name was Mathan Singh and mother was Chandrawati. They were residents of Kamalpur of Bulandshahr district. He had two brothers and two sisters. He was married to Rani. He had three children. He used to live in Sohna road, Faridabad. He used to work at Vinayak factory at Ballabgarh. He died of electrocution while working on July 27, 1997.

His family initially took his utterings casually. But after the repeated narration of his previous birth, his father informed the villagers of Kamalpur and asked them to verify the facts. As the villagers came, the child reportedly recognised them and discussed his previous birth in detail.The villagers endorsed his claim and told the child's family that his previous father Mathan Singh, now resides in DM colony, Bulandshahr. The present father of the child Aishwary took him to Kamalpur where the locals warmly greeted him. He recognised his uncle, aunt and his old friends.

The child also recognised his previous parents, brothers and sisters. Aishwary asked about his wife and children. The family took him to Faridabad where he met his wife and children.

Courtesy of http://www.HinduismToday.com/
 



Movies:

There's another true story available on vidoe at United Videos and probably other video stres called "Manika Manika the girl who lived twice."
Manika Manika - the girl who lived twice - the movie intro by New York Times

Another quite famed true story is that of Audrey Rose, both should be available to hire out.
Reviews call it Science Fiction, Fantasy Horror, the thinking man's horror movie etc.

For some interesting articles on factual incidences of recorded reincarnation



Reincarnation in the Early Church - a book by Len Mason of Auckland who has obviously done a lot of reseach into the matter. Len comes from a Christian background himself, so the book is primarily from that perspective anyone interested in a copy of that book it is NZ$25 including postage within New Zealand, add NZ$10 for overseas posting and handling.
E-mail me for Reincarnation in the Early Church

Coming Back, (view it on-line) is a small book that overviews the entire scenario of life after death, reincarnation, etc., A Second Chance, is a book compiled from the section of the scripture Srimad Bhagavatam that describes the pasing away of Ajamile, his attachments, and final release.

FREE Downloadable Books on Spiritual topics HERE:

More HERE:

Jesus and Reincarnation from Tirtha dasa - VINA.
Visit our pages all about Death, and Dying links:
Our Near Death Experience pages:
Ghosts - all about them:

IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH? Evidence For The Christian's Resurrection
Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife
See our NDE page also:
A true story of reincarnation - Hrishikesh
Islam - Life after death:

REINCARNATION - Its meaning and consequences
[A) Reincarnation in world religions; B) Past-life recall as proof for reincarnation; C) Reincarnation and cosmic justice; D) Reincarnation and Christianity]

PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH - PARAPSYCHOLOGY and personal survival after death

Bhagavad Gita on-line - all about Karma, Reincarnation, Nature of the Soul etc.
Vegetarianism and Beyond:

Darwin's Evolution Theory pages

Evolution in the Vishnu Purana By Rudi Jansma
 



Check out these poor confused souls who have decided  to take reincarnation into their own hands:

Tom Leppard - Leopard man shuns society for hut on Isle of Skye:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_435810.html?menu=

Tiger man' wants fur graft - A San Diego computer programmer who has spent £100,000 on tattoos and plastic surgery to turn himself into a 'tiger' wants a fur graft:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_365440.html?menu=

Lizard man -
http://bmeworld.com/amago/

More Articles on Reincarnation HERE:


Changing bodies pictures Copyright ©2005 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
International, on the web at http://www.krishna.com. Used with permission.


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