Do you believe in Rebirth? - Part 2

Do you believe in Rebirth? - Part 2

MODES OF BIRTH AND DEATH FOUR MODES OF BIRTH

Buddhism explains four modes of birth: egg-born beings, womb-born beings, moisture-born beings and beings having spontaneous births. The beings that have a spontaneous birth are generally invisible to the physical eye. Conditioned by their past Kamma, they appear spontaneously without passing through an embryonic stage. Spirits (Petas), divine beings (Devas) and Brahmas belong to this group.

FOUR MODES OF DEATH

In Buddhism, death is assigned to one of the four causes:

1. Exhaustion of the Reproductive Kammic energy The Buddhist belief is that, as a rule, the thought, volition or desire, which is extremely strong during a life-time becomes predominant at the time of death and conditions the subsequent birth. A special potentiality is present in this last thought moment. When the potential energy of this Reproductive Kamma is exhausted, the organic activities of the material form in which is embodied the life-force, cease even before the end of the lifespan in that particular plane. This often happens in the case of beings who are born in states of misery; but it can happen in other planes also.

2. Exhaustion of the Natural Life-Span The expiration of the life-term varies in different planes. Natural deaths, due to old age, may be classed under this category.

3. Death due to the simultaneous exhaustion of the Reproductive Kammic energy and expiration of the life-term.

4. The opposing action of a stronger Kamma that unexpectedly obstructs the flow of the Reproductive Kamma before the life term expires. Sudden, untimely deaths and deaths of children are due to this cause.

Death, according to Buddhism, is the cessation of the psychophysical life of any one individual existence. It takes place by the passing away of vitality, i.e. psychic and physical life-stream of consciousness. The only difference between the passing of one thought to another in a single life-time and of the dying thought-moment to the rebirth consciousness, is that in the latter case, a marked perceptible physical death is apparent to all.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MAN DIES?

When a man dies, earth returns to earth; water returns to water; air returns to air; fire returns to fire and space returns to space.

But what happens to a man's craving force? Craving is an energy and hence like all other forces, it must follow the fundamental law of physics - the law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from one form into another.

When this physical body is no more capable of functioning, energies do not die with it, but continue to take some other shape or form which we also call life. In a child, all the physical, mental and intellectual faculties are tender and weak, but they have within them the potentiality of producing a full-grown man. Likewise, physical and mental energies which make up the so-called being, have within themselves the power to take a new form and grow gradually and gather force to complete their form. As there is no permanent substance, nothing passes from one moment to the next. It is a series that continues unbroken, but changes every moment. This series is like a flame which burns through the night: it is not the same flame nor is it another. Likewise, a child grows up to be a man of sixty; yet the man of sixty is not the same as the child of sixty years ago, neither is he another person. Similarly, a person who dies here and is reborn elsewhere, is neither the same person, nor another. It is the continuity of the same series. Nevertheless, the individual is responsible for whatever he does - in his life-time. Whether the flux dies here and is reborn elsewhere, or whether it continues to exist in the same life-form, the essential process is continuity.

Just as an electric light is the outward manifestation of invisible electric energy, even so is the outward manifestation of invisible kammic energy. The bulb may break and the light may be extinguished, but the current remains and the light may be reproduced in another bulb. In the same way, kammic force remains undisturbed by the disintegration of the physical body and the passing away of the present consciousness leads to the arising of a fresh one in another birth. Here the bulb can be compared to the parental cell of the body and the electric energy to the kammic energy.

Suppose a person was 'A' in his last birth, and is 'B' in this birth. With the death of 'A' the physical vehicle, the outward manifestation of kammic energy is abandoned. Then, with the birth of 'B', a fresh physical vehicle arises. Despite the apparent material changes, the invisible stream of consciousness continues to flow, uninterrupted by death. This stream of consciousness carries along with it, all the impressions received from the tributary streams of the senses. Conventionally speaking, must not 'B' be responsible for the actions of 'A' who was his predecessor?

THE MIND OF A DYING MAN

Suppose a person is about to die. This critical stage may be compared to the flickering of a lamp just before it is extinguished. To this dying man is present a kamma of some good or bad action committed either during his life-time or immediately before his dying moment. A kamma nimitta or gati nimitta may appear in the mind of the dying man.

Kamma nimitta is a symbol or a mental reproduction of any sight, sound, smell, taste, touch or idea which dominated his activity during his lifetime. Thus a butcher may see a vision of knives or dying animals. A kind physician may see his patients coming to him. A devotee may see an object of worship, etc.

A gati nimitta is a 'symbol of destiny' or a sign or the place where the rebirth is to occur. Such a symbol frequently presents itself to the dying person. Such premonitory visions of destiny may take various forms such as a fire, forests, mountainous regions, a mother's womb, celestial mansions, etc. Then these indications of the future birth occur, and if they are bad, they might at times be remedied.

In Buddhist countries, it is the custom to recall to the dying man's memory his good actions performed by him, in order to help him to have a happy and pure kammical state of mind, as a preparation for a favourable rebirth. Thus his relatives arrange to show him some religious objects for his good benefit. Or perhaps they let him hear a religious sermon or chanting of suttras.

The process of consciousness in a dying person proceeds feebly. Just before the moment of death, one of his previous actions connected with one of the five senses, actually presents itself in the avenue of consciousness. Then the dying man grasps that object with craving; his dying mind runs on grasping. At the end of his mental process or cessation of his life continuum, the death-thought, the last phase of his present being, arises and with his passing away, that thought grasps the object of kamma and then passes away. This is called death.

The direction of the new grasping or the place for the new birth is determined by the dying consciousness. Thus a wicked man can be reborn in a fortunate sphere if only his dying thoughts are noble. Likewise, however noble and moral a man may have been, his virtue serves no immediate purpose if his dying thoughts happen to be ignoble or immoral. Certainly the immediate consequence of a good action is good. But such an action when placed against the background of a whole lifetime of bad action has very little good effect, and so the resultant good effect is at the most very short-lived. The overwhelming bad takes its overwhelming toil. One of the reasons for embryonic or infantile diseases can be attributed to such weak last thought moments. On the other hand, a man who has led an evil life may be reborn in a good sphere due to the fact that in some previous life, he had done much good which took effect before the death. Such last hours are very strong and decisive in determining a man's destiny in his next birth.

REBIRTH IS IMMEDIATE

The difference between death and birth is only a thought moment: the last thought-moment in this life conditions the first thought-moment in the so-called next life which in fact is the continuity of the same series. During this life itself too, one thought moment conditions the next. The question of life after death is not a great mystery. Rebirth takes place immediately irrespective of the place of birth, just as an electro-magnetic wave that is projected into space is immediately reproduced in a receiving radio set. Rebirth of the mental flux is also instantaneous and leaves no room whatever for any intermediate state (antarabhava). The Buddha-word does not support the belief that a spirit of the deceased person takes lodgement in some temporary state until it finds a suitable place for its birth. According to certain beliefs there is an intermediate state where beings remain for one to seven weeks until the forty-ninth day. This view is contrary to the teachings of Buddhism.

The following dialogue between King Milinda and Ven. Nagasena illustrates the immediacy of the rebirth process: "Venerable Nagasena," said King Milinda, "If somebody dies here and is reborn in the Brahma-Loka, and if somebody dies here and is born in Kashmir, which of them would arrive first?" "They would arrive at the same time, oh, King!" "That is strange; please explain." "In which town were you born, oh King?" "In a village called Kalasi, master." "How far is Kalasi from here, oh King?" "About two hundred miles, master." "And how far is Kashmir from here ?" "About twelve miles, master." "Now think of the village of Kalasi, Oh King! " "I have done so, master” "And now think of Kashmir, oh King!" "It is done, master."

Of which of these two, oh King, did you think the more slowly and of which the more quickly?" "Equally quick to think of both, master." "Just so, oh King, he who dies here is reborn in the world of Brahma." "He is not reborn later than he who dies and is reborn in Kashmir." "Give me one more example, master." "Suppose two birds were flying in the air and they settle both at the same time; one upon a high tree and the other upon a low tree. Now what do you think - which bird's shade would first fall upon the earth ?" "Both shadows would appear at the same time, master." "Just so, oh King, both men are reborn at the same time, and not one of them earlier and other later."

REBIRTH IN OTHER PLANES OF EXISTENCE

Buddhism does not teach rebirth only on the human plane or level. Buddhism teaches that rebirth is possible in any of the thirty-one planes of existence. The human plane is only one of these planes.

According to Buddhism, living beings are infinite in number and so are world systems. Nor is the impregnated ovum the only route to rebirth. Earth, an almost insignificant space in the universe, is not the only habitable plane and humans are not the only living creatures. As such, it is not impossible to believe that there will always be an appropriate place to receive the last thought vibrations. A point is always ready to receive the falling stone.

Even the modern scientific outlook does not completely eliminate the possibility of other modes of life existing on other planets. Science recognizes that invisible, intangible forces shape the visible world.

According to Buddhism, mental energy flows out to operate in the conditions of the physical world and the result is rebirth in the human world - or rebirth as an animal is possible. The same mental energy may flow out to operate in other realms - then other forms take shape and the result is rebirth as spirits, etc.

The Buddha says that beings can be broadly classed into thirty-one distinguishable groups. Beings subject to unfortunate sense-experience are of four kinds: those in states of torment, animal, ghost and lesser earth-bound spirits. Human beings form another class which is subject to both fortunate and unfortunate sense-experiences. There are six classes of celestial beings or gods. More fortunate than these celestial beings are sixteen classes of Brahmas also of godly nature. Four further classes of Brahmas are taught to exist; rebirth into these spheres being achieved by developing the state of high mental concentration (Jhana) known as the conception of nothingness, and conception of neither perception nor nonperception. Ordinary man's experience is, of course, limited to only few varieties of these beings, and the existence of the other varieties remains mere knowledge.

REBIRTH IN SUB-HUMAN REALMS

According to Buddhism, it is possible for a human being after death to take rebirth on a lower biological level or in a subhuman realm. Buddhism recognizes that man can be reborn as an animal; this teaching is not acceptable to all people.

The life-continuum expresses itself through material forms. These material forms are merely temporary visible manifestations of kammic energy. The present physical body is not directly evolved from the past physical form, but is the successor of the past form-being and is linked with it through the same streams of kammic energy. Just as an electric current can be manifested in the forms of light, heat and motion successively - one necessarily being evolved from the other – so the kammic energy may manifest itself in the form of deva, man, animal, or other being - one form having no physical connection with the other. It is one's material form which varies according to the skill or unskilfulness of one's past actions. And this again depends entirely on the evolution of one's understanding of reality.

Instead of saying that man becomes an animal, or an animal becomes man, it would be more correct to say that the kammic force which manifested in the form of man may manifest itself in the form of an animal.

On one occasion two ascetics, Punna and Seniya, who were practising ox-asceticism and dog-asceticism respectively, approached the Buddha and questioned him as to their future destiny. The Buddha replied, "In this world, a certain person cultivates thoroughly and constantly the practices, habits, mentality and manners of a dog. He, having cultivated canine practices , upon the dissolution of the body after death, is reborn amongst dogs," In the same way, the Buddha declared that he who observes ox-asceticism will after death, be born amongst oxen.

This story illustrates how man can be born as an animal, in accordance with the law of affinity.

Some people believe that rebirth can take place only in a physical and human body. To deny the possibility of rebirth in the animal world, is a negation of the universal applicability of the moral law of cause and effect which the Buddha consistently proclaimed. Buddha says that if the kamma of the last thought moment before death is on a low moral level and so governed by any of the unwholesome factors associated with lust, hatred and delusion, the next manifestation of the causal continuum will be on precisely that level. In other words, rebirth as an animal or in a lower state will result.

There are times when man's mind operates at the animal level; in his mind he is an animal. If his thoughts are again and again on that low level, and if his last thought-moment at death is of the same kind, why should not its product in the new arising be an animal? In other words, if the dying person cherishes a base desire or idea or experiences a thought, or does an act which benefits only an animal, his evil kamma will condition him for birth in animal form. The kammic force will then manifest itself in animal form. This does not mean that his past good kamma tendencies are lost. They also lie in a dormant state seeking an opportunity to rise to the surface. It is such a good kamma that will later effect a birth as a human being.

When, for instance, an animal is about to die, it can experience a moral consciousness that can ripen into a human birth. This last thoughtmoment does not wholly depend an any action or thought of the animal for generally it is dull and is incapable of doing any moral action. It depends on some past deed which it has done during its round of existence and which, for a long time, has been prevented from producing its results. In its last moment, the animal therefore might cherish ideas, desires, or images which will cause a human birth.

Poussin, a French writer illustrates this fact by the law of heredity: "A man may be like his grandfather but not like his father. The germs of a disease have been introduced into the organism of an ancestor, for some generations they remain dormant, but suddenly they manifest themselves in actual diseases."

THE TRUTH OF REBIRTH

The truth of rebirth is of great consequence to all. There is hardly a man who has not yearned from where he came or where he is going. A natural prompting of the heart is to understand the mystery of life and death. To understand and to accept rebirth as a fact is to give a serious meaning and purpose of life. Life no longer appears as a dreary round of events and circumstances. New hopes are felt and new visions are opened up. To understand and to accept rebirth is to receive a sense of moral responsibility in an ordered universe. To understand rebirth is to realize that all are fellow passengers in the great journey of life; all are subject to the same universal laws and fundamental principles. All are brothers and sisters in the ocean of life and death.

REBIRTH CASE HISTORIES

The Case of Michael Croston Michael Croston was born in Liverpool, England. When he was 11 years old, he travelled for the first time to visit his mother's original home on the Yorkshire moors. He had never been to that part of the country before. Yet when he and his parents drove along the narrow roads, he seemed to know every turn. Suddenly a heavy mist came; the parents admitted they were lost. To their astonishment, the boy gave them directions for reaching their destination, a lonely farmhouse that could be approached only by back-lanes and many confusing turn-offs. Young Croston could not give any explanation as to how he knew the way. That night at the farmhouse, his parents and uncles talked about Michael's grandfather. Michael listened carefully for he could recognise many of the events that they discussed. During that evening, the eerie knowledge came to Michael that he was his grandfather. The next morning, Michael took out one of the farm horses and rode it without any effort, although he had never been on horseback before. He seemed to know every detail of the country landscape about him. On the second night, young Michael could not sleep. Something was wrong about the chimes of the big grandfather clock downstairs in the farmhouse. The chimes of that clock were tormenting him. “I felt as if I were trying to remember something,” Michael later wrote in his diary. “Then as the clock struck two, I suddenly remembered. I raced downstairs and ran my hand over the back of the old clock. My fingers touched a secret spring and a small panel fell open. There was a large tin box. It opened easily. Inside were bundles of notes."
Michael discovered the grandfather's life savings. His grandfather had died at two o’clock in the morning. He was stricken with a sudden stroke and so was unable to tell where he had hidden his life's savings. Today, members of the Croston family still verify the extraordinary details of Michael's discovery.

The Case of Dorothy Jordon Dorothy

Jordon was a typist in Liverpool, England. One day Dorothy went to a Liverpool cinema to see the historical picture of the death of Lady Jane Grey. In the midst of the picture, Dorothy suddenly shouted, "It's all wrong; I know I was there; I was there!" Later Dorothy revealed that she had felt that she was actually living the scenes in the film. Memories of events portrayed in the film came to Dorothy. Some of these memories were not the same as certain events portrayed in the film: in the film, Lady Jane Grey leaned out of her window in the Tower of London. Dorothy insisted that the window had been too high for the lady to have looked through. In the film, the crowds were silent as the lady went to her execution. Dorothy remembered that the real crowds screamed and shouted. Again the film did not show a boy kneeling in prayer by the scaffold, or the black wrist band the executioner had worn. Dorothy pointed out these details. Historical investigation after Dorothy’s outburst showed that she was right about the details: the window was too high; the crowds did shout; the boy was kneeling in prayer; and the executioner did wear the black wrist band. Although she had no experience of this kind, Dorothy is now convinced that she had lived before as Lady Jane Grey's lady-inwaiting.

The Case of Gnanatillaka

Gnanatillaka is her name, she was born on 14th February 1956 in Kotamale in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). The case started in 1960 when she was only four and a half years old. Then she told her parents, "I want to see my father and mother." "We are your parents," the mother explained. "No," insisted Gnanatillaka, "I want to see my real mother and father. I will tell you where they are living. Please take me there." Gnanatillaka explained to her parents how to reach the house where her real parents were living. It was situated near a tea estate in Talawakele, about thirty miles from where they were living. The parents ignored their little daughter's strange story. As the days passed by, Gnanatillaka would constantly ask to be taken to see her real mother and father. Soon the story began to spread. A few professors from the University of Ceylon and Venerable Piyadassi Maha Thera came to know of the story. They decided to investigate. They listened to Gnanatillaka tell her story about the time when she was a boy whose name was Tilakaratna. They recorded all the details. According to the information she gave, they went with Gnanatillaka to visit the house that she had described. Gnanatillaka had never visited that house in her present life; nor had she ever been to the particular area where the house was located. Also the two families had no connection with each other and so did not know of each other's existence.
When they entered the house, Gnanatillaka introduced the professors to the parents of the house. "This is my real father and this is my mother." Then she introduced her younger and older brother and sisters. She gave the correct nick name for each brother and sister. The former-life parents were interviewed. They described the character and habits of their son who had passed away on 9th November, 1954. Turin Tilakaratna Died: 9.11.1954 Gnanatillaka Reborn: 14.2.1956 When Gnanatillaka saw her former younger brother, she refused to look at him or to talk with him. Later the former parents explained that the two brothers were always fighting and quarrelling with each other. Perhaps Gnanatillaka was still holding a grudge from her previous life when she was a boy. When the local school master heard the story, he went to the house to see for himself. As he entered the house, Gnanatillaka introduced him as her teacher. She was also able to remember the lessons and homework that the teacher had given her as a boy in the previous life. Gnanatillaka was also able to point out the graveyard where he was buried in his previous life as a boy. Gnanatillaka's story soon spread far and wide. A researcher who
specialised in rebirth cases, Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia, flew from America to Ceylon to investigate the case. After his investigation, he said that this case was one of the very best on rebirth, both in evidential detail and in psychological aspects. An interesting book on Gnanatillaka's case has been published in the Sinhala language in Ceylon. This book presents photographs along with the documentary evidence collected.

The Case of the Castle Door

An English psychical researcher, Dr. H. Carrington, tells of a case of historical ‘pre-knowledge’ which he investigated: a man visited an old castle which he had never seen before. Suddenly he stopped in front of an old brick wall. "There used to be a door just here," he said as he pointed to the wall. Nobody in the castle remembered such a door. Inquiries brought to light the fact there had, indeed, been such a door, but it had been bricked up many years before and no trace was left. The man could give only one explanation for this strange knowledge: he had been in the castle at some previous time. He was sure that he was not in the castle in this life. But he knew that he was in the castle before.

The Case of the Fair in Avenbury Village

The English authoress, Edith Oliver, once visited the village of Avenbury for the first time. During the visit, she had a memory of an avenue of huge grey stones leading out from the village. Near the stones she recollected a village fair being held. But nobody in the village had heard of either the avenue or the fair. Edith Oliver followed up her recollection with a local historian. He took the trouble to make a search among the village records and turned up the facts that both the avenue and the fair existed. The stones had been taken away before the year 1800, and the last village fair had been held in 1850.

The Case of a Child Prodigy

Ma Hla Gyl was a six year old Burmese girl. She showed an unusual intelligence combined with a most amazing memory: she could read the most difficult Pali verses a few times, memorize and recite them promptly and correctly. In a test given to her, she was able to recite without error, a page from the Pali Patthana after looking at it for one minute. The child could also understand what she read, and was able to give the meaning in Burmese.

David's Strange Memories

This case was described by an English woman to Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, who had done research on "Reincarnation". The English woman holds a university degree in science. The story is about her son, David, who died in childhood. On three different occasions, David showed remarkable, strange memories: When he was seven, his mother took David to Rome. An archaeologist friend accompanied them to a recently excavated village near Naples. Suddenly, David started running about, very excited and happy. He climbed up a Roman bath and knelt down to look at the symbols on its mosaic tiles. "Here's our bath," David shouted to his mother. "And here's my favourite tile; the one with the bull on it, Marcus liked the one with the fish - "Then David burst into tears; he begged his mother to take him away. David kept repeating something which his mother could not understand. She only knew that it "had been terrible." On another occasion, David and his mother visited some caves on the Channel Island of Guernsey. These caves had once been used as a prison for French soldiers. Suddenly, David began tapping on a cave wall. He insisted that there was another cave behind and that a man had been walled in this cave. His mother was horrified at her son's idea. "But I watched them do it," David insisted. David was so upset about this incident that his mother decided to make a few inquiries. David then offered the name of the prisoner who had been walled in. Eventually, the Guernsey authorities agreed to tap the cave. They found a door that had been bricked up. Behind that door they found the skeleton of a man. A close search of the local records showed that a prisoner of the name given by David, had served a sentence on the island and he "had died in captivity". On yet another occasion, David was taken to the British museum. In the Egyptian section he stepped up to one of the many cases and remarked casually that there should be some initials on it. He said that the initials were in a kind of white paint on the underside of the case. To humour him, his mother asked him to draw the initials. David scribbled three Egyptial hieroglyphics. "That was my name," he said. "But you weren't here then," replied his mother. "I was a kind of Inspector," said David, "I had to mark the coffins to be sure they were satisfactory." David's mother now believes that only the theory of rebirth could explain her son’s extraordinary behaviour on each of the three occasions.

The Case of the girl from Sri Lanka

A seven-year old girl student of Sri Lanka won all the prizes for Indian dancing. She displayed the skill of an expert dancer although no one taught her the art in this life. When questioned as to how she acquired her skill, she explained how she learned it in India from her elder sister. She gave vivid details about her home in India. She gave an account of her brothers and sisters. She described the location of their house situated near a river where steamers came up, etc.

The Case of the Mexican Child Healer

In 1880, at Ver Cruz, Mexico, a seven-year old child possessed the power to heal. Several people were healed by vegetable remedies prescribed by the child. When asked how he knew these things, he said that he was formerly a great doctor. At that time, his name was Jules Alpherese. This surprising faculty developed in him at the age of four.

The Case of Bridey Murphy

A hypnotist Morey Berenstein, put Mrs. Ruth Simmons into a deep hypnotic trance. In the trance, Mrs. Simmons remembered a previous life in Ireland 160 years ago when her name was Bridey Murphy. Mrs. Simmons had never been out of America, nor did she have any knowledge of Ireland beyond that of an average American housewife. During a series of hypnotic sessions, Mrs. Simmons gave many details of Bridey's life. She told of her childhood, her marriage to a lawyer named Brian McCarthy, her home near St. Theresa’s church, the sound of the church bells, etc. After obtaining as much information as he could about Bridey's life, Berenstein gave the job of research to a firm of Irish lawyers. The firm investigated and gave their report which verified many of the facts which Mrs. Simmons had given in her trance. When the report was published, the Bridey Murphy Case became a great controversy in America. Many westerners who had previously believed that rebirth was a false belief, revised their opinions after reading "The Search for Bridey Murphy." Practically all newspapers and magazines carried views for and against the doctrine of rebirth. Opinions were divided. Two groups openly opposed the case: (i) those who wanted to discredit and debunk the case which they interpreted as an attempt of the Devil to deceive man (ii) The materialists who wanted to preserve their theory that there can be no survival after death. Yet Mrs. Simmons was accurate enough to arouse the interest of the open-minded people who were prepared to weigh the evidence dispassionately and to arrive at a reasonable conclusion without any preconceived theory. Many came to accept that this was a genuine case of rebirth.

Two Previous Lives of Glenn Ford

Glenn Ford, a popular American film star, under hypnosis was able to reveal and evoke memories of two previous lives, one as a Scotsman and one as a Frenchman. The lives dated all the way back to 1650. In one former life, Glenn revealed himself as a roguish cavalry officer who was killed in a duel after making amorous advances to a nobleman's lady. In another he was a music teacher who preferred the corral to the conservatory. In both of them, he had one thing in common with his present life, a deep seated love of horses.

The first previous life Ford recalled was that as a music teacher named Charles Stewart who was born in 1774, at Egin, Scotland and died there of consumption in 1812. Talking in a thick Scottish dialect, Charles Stewart spoke of teaching girls how to play the piano when he would have preferred to have been in the stable with his beloved horses. When Glenn listened to a tape of the session, he was not surprised by his Scottish accent, but he was amazed at his ability to play the piano. Under hypnosis when reliving the life as the music teacher he could play the difficult works of Beethoven and Mozart like an expert. The second previous life Ford recalled was as a man called 'Launvaux' who was an officer of the elite Versailles horse cavalry at the time of Louis XIV of France (1643 -1715). Launvaux described himself as something of a dashing rake, and that he met a violent and early death, an event which he relived under hypnosis writhing in agony. Launvaux did not like the aristocracy of the times but fell in love with a woman who was a member of it. When her husband learned of the relationship, he arranged for an expert to insult Launvaux and provoke a duel which would end in the death of Launvaux. "Where I was pierced by the sword strangely enough, I have a birth-mark that hurts me still at times. This is unexplainable," remarked Glenn. Glenn Ford is convinced that he has lived other lives and will live still others in the future. There is for instance, the blank space in his subconscious mind between the death of Launvaux in 1684 and the birth of Charles Stewart in 1774; plenty of time for another life or two.

REBIRTH IDEAS IN ENGLISH POETRY

"Hellos" by Shelly Worlds on worlds are rolling ever, From creation to decay, Like the bubbles in a river, Sparkling, bursting, borne away, But they are still immortal Who through birth's oriental portal And death's dark chasm hurry to and fro.

Visions of the Daughters of Albion by William Blake Tell me where dwell the thoughts forgotten till thou call them forth ? Tell me where dwell the joys of old? and where the ancient loves, And when they will renew again, and the night of oblivion past, That I might traverse times and spaces far remote, and bring Comforts into a present sorrow and a night 'of pain?

Poem by Dante Gabriel Rosseti I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell, I know the grass beyond the door, The sighing sound, the lights beyond the shore, You have been mine before, How long ago I may not know.

Poem by John Masefield I hold that when a person dies, His soul returns again to earth, Arrayed in some new flesh disguise, Another mother gives him birth, With sturdier limbs and brighter brain, The old soul takes the roads again.

Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold Who toiled a slave may come anew a prince, For gentleness and merit won, Who ruled a prince may wander earth in rags For things done and undone.

Addressed to an Infant by Dorothy Wordsworth Oh, sweet new-comer to the changeful earth, If, as some darkling seers have boldly guessed, Thou hadst a being and a human birth And wert erewhile by human parents blessed, Long, long before thy present mother pressed Thee, helpless stranger, to her fostering breast.

The Duchess of Malfi by Webster I know death hath ten thousand several doors For men to take their Exits; and 'tis found They go on such strange geometrical things, You may operate them both ways.

CONCLUSION

Buddhists regard the doctrine of rebirth not as a mere theory but as a verifiable fact. The belief in rebirth forms a fundamental tenet of Buddhism.

However, the belief in rebirth is not confined to Buddhists; it is also found in other countries, in other religions, and even among free thinkers. Pythagoras could remember his previous birth. Plato could remember a number of his previous lives. According to Plato, man can be reborn up to 10 times. Plato also believed in the possibility of rebirth in the animal kingdom. Among the ancient people in Egypt and China, a common belief was that only well-known personalities like emperors and kings have rebirth. A well-known Christian authority named Origen, who lived 185-254 A.D., believed in rebirth. According to him, there is no eternal suffering in a hell. Gorana Bruno, who lived in the sixteenth century, believed that the soul of every man and animal transmigrates from one being to another. In 1788, a well-known philosopher, Kant, criticized eternal punishment. Kant also believed in the possibility of rebirth in other celestial bodies. Schopenhauer (1788-1860), another great philosopher, said that where the will to live existed, there must be of necessity life. The will to live manifests itself successively in ever new forms. The Buddha explained this ‘will to exist’ as the craving for existence.

It is possible but not very easy for us to actually verify our past lives. The nature of the mind is such that it does not allow most people the recollection of their previous lives. Our minds are overpowered by many mental hindrances. Because of these hindrances, our vision is earthbound and hence we cannot visualise previous births, just as a mirror does not reflect an image when it is covered with dirt. We cannot see the stars during day time, not because they are not there in the sky, but because they are outshone by the sunlight. Similarly, we cannot remember our past lives because our mind at present is always over-burdened with present, day-to-day events and mundane circumstances.

The Buddhists do not believe that the present life is the only life between two eternities of misery and happiness, nor do they believe that angels will carry them to heaven and leave them there for all eternity. They believe that this present life is only one of the indefinite numbers of states of being and that this earthly life is but one episode among many others. They believe that all beings will be reborn somewhere for a limited period of time as long as their good and bad kamma remains.

What is the cause of rebirth? The Buddha taught that ignorance produces desire. Unsatisfied desire is the cause of rebirth. When all unsatisfied desire is extinguished, then rebirth ceases. To stop rebirth is to extinguish all desire. To extinguish desire, it is necessary to destroy ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed, the worthlessness of every such rebirth, considered as an end in itself, is perceived, as well as the paramount need of adopting a course of life by which the need for such repeated births can be abolished.

How does rebirth take place? When this physical body is no more capable of functioning, energies do not die with it, but continue to take some other shape or form, which we call another life. The kammic force manifesting itself in the form of a human being can also manifest itself in the form of an animal. This force, called craving, desire, volition, thirst to live, does not end with the non-functioning of the body but continues to manifest itself on another form, with the co-operation of existing cosmic energies, producing re-existence which is called rebirth.

Yet today there are people in various countries of the world who have spontaneously developed memory of their past births. The experiences of these people have been well-documented in newspapers. Some of these people never accepted that there was such a thing as rebirth until memory fragments of their previous lives came to them. Much of the information they received about their past lives have been investigated and found to be valid.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The research on past lives and rebirth continues till this day. Once limited to Asia only, it is now researched worldwide as more evidences and cases of past recall lives appear in North America and Europe. Hypnotic regression into past lives are also possible today. You could go to many websites on this subject that is truly shaking the one life theory held by some religions which forms their core belief. Read, research and explore these findings with an open mind in the spirit of the Kalama Sutta, the Buddhist Charter of Free Enquiry and Thought. The Buddha advocates us to be open minded, critical, inquisitive and test even his teachings. Homage to the Buddha, our Teacher for encouraging us not to be blinded by delusion and myth but to be open to the Truth. Homage to His Dhamma which becomes clearer by the day and stands the test of time and science to remain unrivalled and unchallenged.

Many new books have since appeared too on the subject of past lives. Among them are:
1. Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives by Dr Jim B. Tucker 2. Old Souls: Compelling Evidence from Children Who Remember Past Lives by Thomas Shroder
3. European Cases of the Reincarnation Type by Dr Ian Stevenson
4. Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect by Dr Ian Stevenson
5. Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss
6. Mirrors of Time: Using Regression for Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Healing by Brian L. Weiss December 2007