Reincarnation: Mechanics, Narratives, and Implications
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2017, Vol 8, Issue 11
Abstract
This essay explores the mechanics associated with rebirth, noting differences between Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain narratives. It examines the concept of subtle body and the lingam in ˙ Sa¯m . khya. According to the Hindu tradition, the remains of the departed person, when cremated, merge with clouds in the upper atmosphere. As the monsoon rain clouds gather, the leftovers mingle with the clouds, returning to earth and eventually finding new life in complex biological cycles. According to Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism, the remains of a person take a ghostly form for 49 days until taking a new birth. According to Jainism, the departed soul immediately travels to the new birth realm at the moment of death. According to Jain karma theory, in the last third of one’s life, a living being makes a fateful choice that determines his or her next embodiment. The 20th century Hindu Yoga teacher Paramahamsa Yogananda, in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, provides an alternate description of a twofold astral and causal body. One hallmark of the Buddha and of the 24 Jain T¯ırthankaras was that they remembered all the lives they had lived and the lessons learned ˙ in those lives. The Buddha recalled 550 past lives and used these memories to fuel many of his lectures. Mahav ¯ ¯ıra remembered his past lives and also the past lives of others. Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra ¯ states that through the perfection of giving up all things, including psychological attachments, one spontaneously will remember past lives. In the Yogavasi ¯ s.t .ha, a Hindu text, Pun. ya remembers the past lives of his grieving brother as well as his own prior experiences.
Authors and Affiliations
Christopher Key Chapple
Keywords
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- EP ID EP25828
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8110236
- Views 296
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