Do You Believe In Reincarnation?

by William McKay

The dictionary meaning of the word 'reincarnation' means rebirth. Thus, it refers to one's soul 'being born again' or 'being flesh again.' Soul, the central seat of all power, energy and emotions of an individual is immortal in nature and it is trapped in the physical body. After the body dies, the soul leaves it and reincarnates in another new one.


Many a times the term reincarnation is used synonymously with that of metamorphosis and resurrection. It must be clarified at the very start that all these three terms differ in their meanings and implications to a considerable extent. While metamorphosis means changing one form of life to another, the Christian term resurrection refers to rise of the body from the dead.

Reincarnation is also known as soul transmigration and has been a concept which has been believed in since the ancient times. Prevalent in both the eastern and western hemispheres of the word during those days, it was part of almost all doctrines that studied the infinite potential of the human soul.

Starting from the ancient eastern beliefs, mention may be made of Hinduism, the age old religion that is known to be one of the oldest and richest in terms of its spiritual content. Ancient Hindu scripts known as Upanishads contain this core belief in reincarnation where the soul is stated to be immortal trapped in the body which is subjected to life and death in the world which is an illusion.

Another core concept of Hinduism is that of the 'Karma' or quality of your deeds in your past lives. Thus past karma defines the quality of life and experiences you undergo in your current life. Till the time you attain complete spiritual understanding of the ultimate truth, your soul goes on being reincarnated into this illusionary world.

When after numerous reincarnations you understand that real lasting happiness rests in something else than earthly desires, you start spiritual practice known as 'Sadhana' and ultimately realize the ultimate truth that soul is the central seat of all emotions, power and energy and all other things are illusions. It is then that your reincarnation stops and your soul attains the final liberation or 'Moksha'.

Ancient Egyptians and Greek philosophies during that time are not much different with both believing in reincarnation. Egyptians believed in 'ka' as the source of supreme power and energy which can be compared to our concept of the soul. Proof of their belief lies in their act of preserving bodies of the dead so that it can accompany the 'ka' into the next world. The Greeks on the other hand believed that the soul leaves one body and rests in a place called the underworld for purification thereafter reincarnating itself in another new born body. Till the time this purification takes place, the soul goes through reincarnations. Once ultimate purification is attained, the cycle of reincarnation stops.

Theosophical belief on the other hand refers to spirit or souls as an immortal, omnipotent, ageless, timeless and formless source of energy which comes to and goes back from the earth through a rhythmic process. It manifests itself on earth in life form only to gain more experience and after that is over, it departs to the high sublime layers to complete the rhythmic process.

If you are interested to know more about your reincarnations, in other words, information about your past life, PLRT or Past Life Regression Technique is the best method. Using hypnotism in helps the mind to focus and thereby attain a higher spiritual awakening so as to recollect memories of his/her past lives. Moreover, meditation also leads the way towards heightened awareness about yourself, controlling the subconscious and getting in sync with your soul.