Reincarnation Essays (1490 words) - Afterlife, Kabbalah, Death

Reincarnation Biological death is defined and accepted. Winstead- Fry points out that within sensory science, death is the termination of certain biophysical functions. "We can empirically confirm the existence and ending of life." ( 163) The criteria for brain death are accepted as proof of biological death. Of course if one considers the human being and the human body as one, then death must be a definite ending. But what about those who believes the soul never dies? There is the belief that the body is like a set of clothes the soul changes when the body gets worn out. Can the human body be considered such a worthless object? Many say no and yet others believe it truly. The debate about death is in the question of existence after death. It is not possible at present to recreate or validate existence after death using our senses. This is why there is so much of an interest in near-death experiences. Dr. Morse and his team have proven that a person actually needs to be near death to have a near death experience. The team compared seriously ill people with those near the brink of death and people who had near-death experiences were clinically dead at the time of their experience and ?were brought back from the dead.'(183) This is the closest one can get to death ; therefore, it is reasonable to use these experiences to learn about death. Near- death phenomena are as old as recorded history. Such an experience is reported in Plato's Republic, written in the fourth century before Christ.(Blackmore 79) The phenomenon is wide spread. Over eight million adults in the United States have claimed to have a near- death experience. Dr. Stevenson believes that by him writing books it will 7 encourage more people to share their experience. He believes many people may not share their story for fear of ridicule.( Santos F1) Mr. Underwood reveals that one in three people who recover from coming close to death or becoming clinically dead reports having a near-death experience. (245) Some critics argue that the near- death experience results from the brain's response to distress. They claim that the brain reacts to the threat to the body so that fantasies and memories of the ?childhood flood the consciousness'.(264) However, if the skeptics were right the experience would be unique to the individual. We know what the brain is capable of, but to say that the content of every brain is the same is farfetched. There are common components in experiences described irrespective of differences of the people who experienced it. The sense of being dead, being in a tunnel, meeting people of light, life review and the presence of light. These people were different in age, nationality and religion. It is recognized that every human being is unique. Then, why should everyone's brain produce the same images? Children and adults differ in the memories they gather and the way they comprehend the world, yet their core experiences were the same. Therefore, the argument of the brain flooding one with past memories does not seem logical. Some argue that the experiences contain cultural and personal marks of those who have them. Then the near- death experiences of Hindu's would differ from those of Christians and Americans different from Japanese. But here too the core experiences were the same. There is obviously two sides of the story. One must look at both sides with careful eye and determine for themselves what they believe is true. This is where the idea of reincarnation comes in. Because it is 7 incorporated in so many religions, you find an answer to a question which you truly want to know the answer to and do not abandon your faith in doing so. Reincarnation is detected in many religions. Reincarnation is normally thought of as a Hindu philosophy and it is traced back to Hinduism, yet it can be found in Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and in many more religions. In Judaism, reincarnation is known as Gilgul. Though it has a different name it has almost the exact same meaning. Gilgul was a dominant teaching in Judaism for over three hundred years. Cabala, a book of Judaism which is often studied by Rabbi's, one of the holy books of the Jews which talks of reincarnation. Rabbi Steinsaltz (Cranston 181) is an authority on the Cabala. He states: According to Cabalistic doctrine, the Torah contains not only manifest but also hidden truths: the same transcendent God whom the Bible celebatres as supreme king and