Six decades ago, a 21-year-old Navy fighter pilot on a mission over the Pacific was shot down by Japanese artillery. His name might have been forgotten, were it not for 6-year-old James Leininger.
Quite a few people — including those who knew the fighter pilot — think James is the pilot, reincarnated.
It is not surprising to be born more than once; everything in nature is resurrection.
– Voltaire
Reincarnation is spoken of in many cultures and religions as something that occurs to souls when they have lessons that still need to be learned in physical incarnation. Some return for lessons, some apparently return to alleviate karma from past-lives, and some return simply to do good work on the earth and help other souls evolve here.
However, reincarnation is not something you can objectively measure. So the question becomes: Is there enough evidence to justify a belief in reincarnation?
Dr. Ian Stevenson, Ph.D., former Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, spent 40 years researching reincarnation stories with children.
This former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology investigated over 3000 independent stories of children who claimed to have memories and know people from their alleged past lives. According to Stevenson, the number of cases that are worth considering is so high that it exceeds the ability of him and his team to investigate them all.
Facial recognition software confirmed that there was in fact a facial resemblance to their alleged prior incarnation. Some had birth marks on places where they allegedly suffered fatal wounds from in their past life. They were often dramatic and sometimes bizarre lesions, such as malformed digits or missing limbs, misshapen heads, and odd markings.
About 35% of children who claim to remember previous lives have birthmarks and/or birth defects that they (or adult informants) attribute to wounds on a person whose life the child remembers. The cases of 210 such children have been investigated.
The birthmarks were usually areas of hairless, puckered skin; some were areas of little or no pigmentation (hypopigmented macules); others were areas of increased pigmentation (hyperpigmented nevi). The birth defects were nearly always of rare types. In cases in which a deceased person was identified the details of whose life unmistakably matched the child’s statements, a close correspondence was nearly always found between the birthmarks and/or birth defects on the child and the wounds on the deceased person.
In 43 of 49 cases in which a medical document (usually a postmortem report) was obtained, it confirmed the correspondence between wounds and birthmarks (or birth defects). – Dr. Stevenson in ‘Birthmarks and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds on Deceased Persons’
In an article where 3 cases were looked at in great detail by Dr. Stevenson, he reported that each of the 3 children made roughly 30-40 claims regarding memories that had of their past lives, 82-92% of which were both verifiable and correct.
The particularities and specific details that were given by the children ranged from the names, personalities, and occupations of their former parents and siblings, to the precise layouts of the houses they lived in.
It was not uncommon for Stevenson to encounter a child who could go into a town he had never been in before and give him the details of the village, former personal belongings, the neighbourhood in which he lived in a past life, and the people who he use to associate with.
What seems to be more than mere chance is that children were able to accurately identify former acquaintances and relationships they had with people in their prior lives. Most impressively was a Lebanese girl who was able to remember and identify 25 different people from her past life and the interpersonal relationships she had with them.
During a presentation at Penn State University in 2005, Dr. Jim B. Tucker, a child psychiatrist at the University of Virginia, described how a mother was leaning over the changing table to change her son’s diaper. Her young toddler unexpectedly said, “When I was your age, I used to change your diapers.” Sam Taylor, of Vermont, was born 18 months following his grandfather’s death.
When he made this comment, he was only a few years old. When he was four and a half years old, however, Taylor was able to pick out his grandfather from a class picture of about 20 people and identify his grandfather’s first car from a photograph.
Upon examining all these findings and publications, we must ask ourselves:
What is the best explanation that can accommodate all of this evidence?
Why are there be so many cases of children who claim to have been other people, who know the specific names and interpersonal relationships of the person they recall being, have similar behaviour and personalities as the people they claimed to be, have birthmarks and abnormalities where they claimed to have suffered wounds in their past lives, and have phobias linked back to alleged past life traumas if reincarnation did not exist?
It seems as though we are not only justified in believing in reincarnation, but it may be the best explanation we have.
What do you believe?
> Evidence for Rebirth | Spirit Science and Metaphysics
“”Unaccomplished activities of past lives are also one of the causes
for reincarnation. Some of us reincarnate to complete the unfinished
tasks of previous birth. The is evident from my own story of
reincarnation:
“My most Revered Guru of my previous life His Holiness Maharaj Sahab,
3rd Spiritual Head of Radhasoami Faith had revealed this secret to me
during trance like state of mine. This was sort of REVELATION.
HE told me, “Tum Sarkar Sahab Ho” (You are Sarkar Sahab). Sarkar Sahab
was one of the most beloved disciple of His Holiness Maharj Sahab.
Sarkar Sahab later on became Fourth of Spiritual Head Radhasoami
Faith.
Since I don’t have any direct realization of it so I can not claim the
extent of its correctness. But it seems to be correct. During my
previous birth I wanted to sing the song of ‘Infinite’ (Agam Geet yeh
gawan chahoon tumhri mauj nihara, mauj hoi to satguru soami karoon
supanth vichara) but I could not do so then since I had to leave the
mortal frame at a very early age. But through the unbounded Grace and
Mercy of my most Revered Guru that desire of my past birth is being
fulfilled now.”
I am one the chief expounder and supporter of Gravitation Force Theory
of God. This is most scientific and secular theory of God. This is the
Theory of Universal Religion. I have given Higher Theory of
Everything. Sometimes back I posted this as comments to a blog on:
‘Fighting of the Cause of Allah by Governing a Smart Mathematics Based
on Islamic Teology’
By Rohedi of Rohedi Laboratories, Indonesia. Rohedi termed my higher
theory of everything more wonderful than which has been developed by
Stephen Hawking. Some details are quoted below:
rohedi
@anirudh kumar satsangi
Congratulation you have develop the higher theory of everything more
wonderful than which has been developed by Stephen Hawking. Hopefully
your some views for being considered for Unified Field Theory are
recognized by International Science Community, hence I soon read the
fundamental aspect proposed by you.
I have posted my comments to the Blog of Syed K. Mirza on Evolutionary
Science vs. Creation Theory, and Intellectual Hypocrisy. Syed Mirza
seems to be a very liberal muslim. He responded to my comments as
mentioned below.
“Many thanks for your very high thought explanations of God.
You said:
“Hence it can be assumed that the Current of Chaitanya (Consciousness)
and Gravitational Wave are the two names of the same Supreme Essence
(Seed) which has brought forth the entire creation. Hence it can be
assumed that the source of current of consciousness and gravitational
wave is the same i.e. God or ultimate creator.
(i) Gravitation Force is the Ultimate Creator, Source of Gravitational
Wave is God”
Whatever you call it, God is no living God of any religion. Yes, when
I call it “Mother Nature” is the God generated from all Natural forces
and Gravitational force is the nucleus of all forces or we can presume
that Gravitation is the ultimate guiding principle of this Mother
Nature we call it non-living God unlike living personal God of
religions. I can not believe any personal God would do so much misery
created for its creation. Hence, only non-living natural God can
explain everything in the Universe. When we think of any living
personal God, things do not ad up!”
I have also discovered the mathematical expression for emotional
quotient (E.Q.) and for spiritual quotient (S.Q.).
Austrian Scientist Rudolf Steiner says,
“Just as an age was once ready to receive the Copernican theory of the
universe, so is our age ready for the idea of reincarnation to be
brought into the general consciousness of humanity”.