How does reincarnation work? What is the cycle of reincarnation?
You keep reincarnating back here on Earth until you have learned all of the lessons you wanted to learn from human life. When you feel this level of comfort, you won’t find a need to reincarnate back here any longer. Life on Earth is a fast track for our spiritual evolution. When we reach the point where we can treat other people with love, respect, and dignity, we won’t feel a need to come back here anymore. It’s just that simple.
Have you ever felt that you have been reincarnated?
Only when my son told me I was.
He was two years old & bundled up in his car seat on a long car ride late at night when suddenly his head popped up.
“Mom, you’re afraid of bridges, aren’t you?”.
I’m terrified of them. I hate driving them, especially late at night. I don’t tell him that. Instead, I say, “A little bit, honey.”
“Do you know why?” He asks. My hair is starting to stand on end because sometimes the child says weird things.
“Not really, no”, I respond. He sighed.
“When I was big, and you were little, a car crashed on the bridge, everything was turned upside down, glass got broken, and you were ‘blooding.’ Then his voice got very, very quiet. “I couldn’t save you. I was so sad.”
My heart stopped. His father and I looked at each other, then back at our son, only to find him leaning back in his car seat, sleeping peacefully once again.
I had to pull over and stop for a bit. To this day, there are some situations where his mere presence “saves” me, and I can’t help but believe what he said that night was true.
What determines our reincarnation?
Every breath we take on any planet connects us to that planet…the food we eat the resources we use from that planet, makes us indebted to that planet…This also includes the actions that we do…So, if we abuse someone, we have to even that out …if we hurt someone, even mentally, that has to be evened out!!. (That’s why forgiveness is so so important)…Compassion and service make us give back…
Just like repaying a loan…only here the loan is in kind and invisible vibrations too…
We have to serve and give back as much as we take. Till then, we will keep coming back. This is called Karma. And till Karma is paid off and loans closed, we must keep coming back.
Paramahansa Yogananda says, “For every free breath you take on Earth, you have to give back by service or sadhana.”…
This is the cycle of Karma mentioned in Gita:
एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह य: |
अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति || 16||
The man who does not follow the cycle ( of returning his debts taken from Prakriti) thus set revolving is a sinner rejoicing in sense-pleasures and lives in vain.
evaṁ pravartitaṁ chakraṁ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ
aghāyur indriyārāmo moghaṁ pārtha sa jīvati…( Ref. Sw. Mukundanandas Gita)
God bless.
How does reincarnation affect people?
It does not highly affect most people, as we get a ‘clean slate” whenever we are born; a veil of amnesia blocks our past life memories” and we only get very subtle reminders of our past lives – innate talents and abilities, tastes and preferences and aversions which can’t be explained by upbringing, strange fears, feelings of deja vu while traveling or researching foreign cultures or past centuries, feelings of instant familiarity when we meet people whom we knew in past lives…Very rarely people fully remember their recent past life – these are usually children who claim to belong to another family and remember traumatic death in a past life. These cases are described in Ian Stevenson’s book ‘Children who remember past lives” and Carol Bowman’s book ‘Children’s past lives.” For a grown-up to remember past lives – they have to have a past life regression with a hypnotist, and occasionally, past lives can surface in meditation or dreams.
The issue of “karma” seems highly overrated; it is more of a learning tool than punishment, and karmic debts can be paid positively – charity work or community service – instead of suffering. In any case, a soul decides what karmic debts it wants to pay in the next life, and it is a part of a pre-birth plan. Pre-birth plans affect us more than past lives, though pre-birth planning is a stage in reincarnation. A soul can change its lessons, talents, and affiliations in the next life compared to the previous one; souls have quite a lot of freedom in choosing their lives. It is not pre-determined.
What proves reincarnation?
Stories of children who remember their past lives, which get verified, are the most serious proof. When people remember traumatic past life events and get healed from illnesses or emotional problems, past life regression might be explained by using hypnosis as a therapy method. Still, kids’ stories are not gained with hypnosis, and they remember all kinds of details they can’t possibly learn in their current life…Plus, the tradition of choosing a new Dalai Lama by testing a child who appears to be a Tibetan lama in meditation is proof of reincarnation by itself – as the child can choose objects that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama and knows all kinds of details of their life…
If you have Netflix – watch the ‘Surviving Death” documentary series – they have a segment on reincarnation. The whole show is fantastic!
What are your reincarnation stories?
I didn’t ever consider sharing my story because most people don’t believe in it. I do have an ‘experience,’ but I don’t even know if I fully believe in it.
It is, without a doubt, unnerving.
Since I was little, I’ve had multiple recurring fears that have impacted my life tremendously. I have an intense fear of drowning, but not water. I have loved water ever since I was a baby. While all of my siblings hated it, I would cry when taken out of the pool or bathtub. For a VERY long time, I remember dreaming that I had a hole in my chest (I have a birthmark in that area) t that was bleeding as I slowly sank into the deep ocean. Sometimes, I could hear screaming, but other times not. Sometimes, I could see fire above the water. Whenever I have a fever, my mom says I cry out, “It’s my fault that they’re dead. I killed them.”
A couple of years ago, I met my current best friend. He was a loner who had never connected with anybody before until now. His mother is very picky with friends but immediately liked me. Our families became so close that I even consider them extended family.
Last year, I dreamt that I was on a sinking ship that was partly on fire. The water was swallowing it fast. I had destroyed the lifeboats, and I knew everything was my fault, but for some reason, I was smiling. I felt glad and angry. I felt frustrated at them. I was the only woman on board. One of the men detaining me pushed me to my knees roughly, and a man in front of me slapped me so hard that I could feel my cheek throb. I looked up and met my best friend’s eyes full of anger and confusion. He pulled me up, took out a pistol, and pointed it at me. I broke free and tried to run away, but the sailors surrounded me. I was cornered and holding onto the ship’s rail in tears but laughing.
Hesitantly, he raised his gun again and fired, sending a piercing pain into my chest. I fell backward and into the icy water— I woke up.
I asked my friend if he was afraid of water or drowning. Strangely, he gave me an eerily similar telling of his dream. He says the woman looked like me.
So… I guess that’s one life.
I’ve also always had a fear of bombing sirens. I’ve dreamed of running with a man through a city I originally thought was a town in Mexico. The ground felt like it was shaking now and then, and everything would shake. Children were running through the dark streets laughing. I ran into a large, two-story house. He waited downstairs while I rummaged upstairs. I was panicked, but I was looking for something.
Then, I felt nothing, and I woke up.
So, as you know, I’ve always been fascinated with items from the early 1900s. I’ve collected old opera and movie posters, watched many silent films, listened to many old operas, etc. My favorite one of the posters is “La Boheme” with Lillian Gish.
As I looked at pictures of old opera singers, I saw a photo of a young woman who looked uncannily similar.
Her name was Lina Cavalieri. I think I believe I was her. I researched her life and found out that she was an Italian opera singer named “the most beautiful woman in the world.” She died in Italy during a bombing raid in WW2. She died because she ran back into her house with her husband to grab her jewelry instead of getting to safety.
I don’t know what to think, but I might have found one of my past lives.
Will atheists be reincarnated?
No, and neither will theists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, or Buddhists.
Reincarnation is a wishful death-denying fantasy with no basis in reality.
Can people come back to life after death?
I’ve never mentioned this on Quora before. I considered going anon… but fuck it. I barely have any followers, and practically nobody sees my answers.
When I was 19 years old, I was in a really bad place. I had been working in the library at my University and suffered a bad fall- I injured my back pretty severely. Now, I ended up only requiring the aid of a cane, but I was lucky- I was told that I’d likely need to use crutches for the rest of my life or possibly even a wheelchair. I was not okay with this.
I was already a drug user; I had been for years. So I went home, popped a handful of Xanax and Vicodin, and washed it with a fifth of Vodka. I put on some cartoons and waited to die.
I woke up in the hospital. I have no idea how, and I have no memory of doing this, but at some point, I had wandered onto my front lawn before passing out; somebody had found me and called an ambulance. When I was in that ambulance, my heart stopped. I was clinically dead for almost four minutes.
But here I am, writing this answer now. So, yes, people can come back to life after death.
I don’t think they can. My husband died at the age of 32 from a tragic 4-wheeler accident, and I have never experienced anything like that, even after pleading and begging God for anything to let me know he was looking out for us. He left behind a five-year-old son and two stepdaughters who worshiped the ground he walked on. He was my soul mate, and after 12 years, I still miss him and cry over him being gone. Although I have gotten unexplained things that weren’t coincidentally, that is all. I would love to see his sweet face and his contagious smile. I miss him so much. My life has been a mess since his death, and it took me six years before I was somewhat back to myself. I will never be the same. I have never remarried, I guess, because I look for him in everyone.
Is there life after death?
Yes. There is life after death.
I was surprised to find the world continuing after my husband died. The world didn’t seem even to notice he was gone.
And yet here I am. Seven years later, we’ve all lived like we might not die tomorrow.
What do you think will happen when you die?
You stop existing.
Your body decomposes.
The people who loved you remember you for a while.
Then, they, too, die, and people mostly forget about you.
Your grandfather had two grandfathers. If you’re like most people, you will know very little, if anything at all, about those men. They are dead. The people who knew them are dead. That’s what will happen to you. That’s what will happen to me.
Is it sad? Maybe. But I’ll be too dead to notice.
Can someone die and then come back to life?
Meet Nikki Sixx…
…the outspoken, hedonistic bassist of American metal band Motley Crue.
On December 23, 1987, following a night of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, Sixx injected one last syringe of heroin before calling it a night – promptly passing out cold and turning blue.
By the time the emergency team arrived, Sixx was declared dead. After two long minutes, the paramedics gave him adrenaline – two shots straight to the heart as a last-ditch effort. Following the second injection, he instantly came to, and the rest is history.
Moral of the story: Don’t. Do. Drugs.
Fun Fact: The tune “Kickstart My Heart” – one of Motley Crue’s most recognizable and popular hits – was written by Sixx about the above incident. He wrote the song shortly after attaining sobriety.
Did anyone come back to life after death?
Doctors have told me that, medically, I should not be alive now. I technically ‘died’ twice in July 2016. My heart stopped beating on July 13, 2016. Medics were able to bring me back. The doctors wanted me to gain strength before they operated on my heart, so they kept me in an Acute Care Unit, put me into a drug-induced coma, and hooked me up to heart and lung bypass machines to keep me alive. I was not gaining strength, and my kidneys were starting to fail. On July 20, 2106 (while still attached to the bypass machines), my heart stopped again. Medics were able to bring me back once again, and they took me to surgery. After surgery, my kidneys shut down… I was now on heart and lung bypass machines as my heart was too weak to pump blood, my chest muscles were too weak to breathe, and I was on 24-hour dialysis to bypass the kidneys.
After I came out of the coma on August 20, 2016, I asked the doctor how long I was without oxygen, and all he said was that they were monitoring me for brain damage. I know I was without a pulse for a few minutes each time my heart stopped, and the closest durations I can determine are July 13, less than 10 minutes, and July 20, less than 5 minutes.
Technically, I died twice – no pulse, no breathing, and my kidneys shut down on the second occurrence. It was hard to accept that I died because I could see and hear the doctors, my wife, and others. So, how could I have died and yet see and hear when death is permanent?
I do not think I reached the point of being brain dead, but the doctors had told my wife that they would be unable to tell if I had suffered brain damage until after I regained conciseness. At first, they were concerned as I could not remember anything since 2014. But, over a couple of weeks, I did recover most of my memory, but I still cannot remember anything between July 4, 2016, and August 20, 2016.
A physical indicator that showed I died was that my fingernails had stopped growing each time my heart stopped. I noticed the anomalies in December 2016 and had a doctor look at my fingers. He verified that the thinning of my fingernails was due to new cells not being produced while I was ‘dead’ and that the growth rate of my fingernails was correct for a five-month period to have elapsed.
How can we prove life after death?
We can’t prove it, but I can tell you some stories about what happened to me. If I want to believe in these stories or not, it is my choice, but I chose to believe them because they were powerful and full of messages.
My grandfather was on his deathbed, and he considered himself an atheist all his life. I wasn’t convinced of that because I heard him often talking about religion, and I knew that he believed in God somewhere in a corner of his heart. A week before dying, he started hearing beautiful music, a chorus that sounded divine. He asked me a couple of times if I could hear it myself, and because I didn’t want him to think he was crazy, I confirmed. He also started seeing a person who he said was sitting by his bed and waiting for him without saying a word. He asked me several times if I saw the person and to remove it from the room because it scared him. I figured he was hallucinating, and I agreed with everything he said. Two days before he died, my grandfather had a moment of clarity. He was very intelligent, and we usually had deep conversations that never bored me. We talked about the soul, God, death, and the afterlife that day. He asked me questions and wanted my opinion on those topics, especially the afterlife. As my opinions were subjective, he proposed making a pact based on what I had read or my own experience. Who dies first amongst us two comes to the other in a dream, showing them if there is life after death. I shook his hand, and he fell asleep with a smile of relief. Two days later, he was gone, and a couple of weeks after that, I had a dream. I dreamt that I was walking on a country road, and I could see flowers everywhere. The bright light didn’t bother my eyes; it was warm but without making me hot. I felt that the light was wrapped around me and very comforting. I continued walking until I saw a small white house surrounded by beautiful flowers. I knocked on the door, and my grandfather opened it. He seemed to be very happy to see me and invited me in. Before I woke up from my dream, I heard his voice asking me to make a coffee.
I told my grandmother about the dream because I couldn’t understand it. She started crying softly and told me my grandfather always dreamed of buying a small white house in the country and planting many flowers. She also reminded me that my grandfather loved coffee, but for the last 30 years, he wasn’t allowed to drink caffeine because of his high blood pressure. I understood then that he kept his promise and came to show me that life after death exists.
The next experience made the first one even more credible. My grandmother died a year after my grandfather, and a while after her death, I had the same dream, with the same small white house surrounded by beautiful flowers, and once again, I knocked on the door. My grandmother opened the door this time, and I could see my grandfather sitting on a chair and reading a book in the background. He raised his eyes, looked at me serenely, and said, “Your grandmother is good now that she is with me in our new house.”
I will narrate my third experience, but this one is the first. I’ve had a couple more, but I will stop here because I don’t want to bore anybody.
I had a friend who was 25 years old and died of stage IV kidney failure. Before she died, she spent a month in the hospital, and she seemed to be scared of dying the whole time. I tried to encourage her that she would be fine and soon she would come home, and we could have fun and dance in a club. I made her promise me that we would dance together after Christmas. She promised! It was a Saturday night she died; I dreamt of going to a house in a town I’d never seen. I knocked at the door, and guess who answered? My grandfather! I checked the house, and there were no walls, but instead were white sheets floating everywhere and replacing the walls. I met my friend there; she was dressed in a gown like the ones they wear in the hospital. She grabbed me in a hug and started dancing with me and crying. I wanted to ask her why she was crying, but she did not answer and continued to dance with me. I woke up the next morning knowing that she was dead.
I am unsure if my experiences can prove that there is life after death, but I believe in it. I hope you find whatever answer you were looking for from me or our fellow Quoranians. Good luck!
Is it true that Reincarnation is possible?
Ian Stevenson proved beyond reasonable doubt that Reincarnation exists. He investigated thousands of cases of very young children who remembered previous lives. In hundreds of these, he found that the life they remembered was real, and the details the children remembered were accurate. There was no way for the children to have known about these people. Also important is the work of Michael Newton, a psychotherapist, who used hypnotic regression in his therapeutic work. After hearing thousands of patients who recalled life between lives, he wrote a book, “Journey of Souls,” describing the common elements related by his patients. They all said that our home is the spirit world, and we are here to learn. How many lives we have on average was not specified. It depends on how slowly or quickly we learn.
Louise Doswald-Beck
Author of “You are More than You Realise,” a book based on evaluating serious evidence that we are not just our bodies.
Is there any scientifically approved solid evidence for Reincarnation?
I would look at the peer-reviewed “solid evidence of reincarnation” as written by Ian Stevenson during his 30-year exploration of cases worldwide, or Carol Bowman’s work (author of “Children’s Past Lives”) or Dr. Jim Tucker’s books that show verified cases of Reincarnation.
I’ve seen all sorts of claims that these cases are not scientifically valid – but those claims appear to be from people who just aren’t looking at the evidence. Science asks us to “put on the table” what the evidence is. It should be consistent and reproducible. And these three authors (off the top of my head) have verifiable cases.
I’ve filmed 45 people talking about their previous lifetimes (and a life between lives), and in each case, I do my best to find forensic evidence that corroborates what they’re saying. I’m not a scientist; I’m a filmmaker, so I’m under no obligation to prove what they’re saying is precise – but I have an obligation as a journalist to report what I’m hearing verbatim. In all the cases I’ve filmed or examined, people describe the same things about the journey, regardless of their religious background, gender, or belief system.
In the thousands of cases (45 I’ve filmed), I’ve found forensic evidence proving that what these people said could not be cryptomnesia, hypoxia, or synesthesia. But again, if it’s not something a person wants to hear or understand, there’s no amount of evidence, scientific or otherwise, that will convince them that it’s the case. Walking in that circle continuously becomes a fruitless effort, so all I can offer is to do the research.
If someone offers that “it doesn’t make sense,” or that the data does not “support the theory,” or even that hypnosis “is not a valid tool of science,” then they aren’t taking the time to examine the cases.
If 10,000 people say the same thing about the process of the journey of souls – and these reports are gathered across the globe from different therapists, with variations on a theme, we can conclude that there is something to these cases. We may argue about how the questions were asked or how the results were gathered – but if thousands are saying relatively the same things about the journey (contrary to the most respected research out there), then science has to explain how so many without access to this research may be saying the same things about the journey.
Does Rebirth happen?
I am going to share a real-life story with you guys. I won’t force you to believe this or this very concept, which has been highly debatable since humanity took shape. Many religions, including Hinduism, believe in Rebirth and Reincarnation, but many others discard this theory.
Let’s check the story now :
Mr Anil Sinha and his wife, Mrs Prabha, were living as a renter in our house. An elder son and a daughter completed their family.” Lovely children,” my father recalls. It was here when Mrs Prabha expected a third child. Later, she gave birth to a baby girl. They named her “Tanu”.
Tanu was two and a half years old and had started trying to walk and blabber a few words as other Children of her age do. Everything was normal. It was not to continue as normal, though. One day, she murmured, “Papa ne maar diya(Papa Killed me).” That day, she also started taking names of people she had never met or heard of. Her parents were shocked, but they didn’t mind it much. But it happened the next day, the day after that, and then again……..it continued. Parents were left thinking because their three-year-old child was repeating the same 3–4 names repeatedly without forgetting when she barely even learned to speak papa or ma-ma.
Time passed, and her frequency of telling the names increased now….. more into a form of asking rather than simply speaking the names. She had also started taking the names of the places and stories of her previous life. She was growing more and more restless day by day. Mr and Mrs Sinha consulted a doctor who couldn’t do much to this extraordinary situation. Finally, one day, on the advice of friends and relatives, they decided to take her to the place she was repetitively talking about.
They reached that place, a small town. She used to take the name of a photo – studio, which she claimed belonged to her previous life family. They reached that place quite easily as it was a famous photo studio. The owner was not present there, but the employee who was there took them to the house of his master, and there happened this……………..
Mr. and Mrs. Anil met them and started narrating the story about all those names they had been listening to from their daughter’s mouth for several months. The owner, Mr Gopal Shankar Singh, and his wife looked awestruck; slowly, tears started coming down their cheeks. Yeah, it was all correct. The three names were Mr. Gopal, his wife, and his elder daughter. Mr Gopal burst into tears as Mr Anil completed the story. He narrated what had happened that day………….
Mr Gopal used to drink a lot then and beat her wife regularly. His wife, of course, didn’t like it, but then she could not do much about this. It had become an inseparable part of her life now, and she had believed it her destiny and misfortunes. The children growing up couldn’t see their mother beaten up daily, and they resisted their father. One day, he got angry with his wife while drunk and ran towards her with a pistol. It was loaded. Upon seeing this, the son ran to stop his father from doing something really bad and started struggling with his father when the trigger got pulled, and it hit the son just below the right ear and pierced his head. He was dead that very moment.
Mr Gopal was in sobs, and all others were deeply shocked. This was beyond the understanding of the human senses and brain what was this case all about. Mr. and Mrs. Gopal had their dead child present in a human form again, alive and with all the memories intact, but they couldn’t own her now. This was an extraordinary drama played by the almighty against which all the human intelligence and senses felt too dwarf to handle. But then, not a lot could be done to this situation. They had to accept it. The sooner, the better.
They requested Mr. Anil and his wife to stay at their place that day, and they obliged. The next day, Mr. Gopal and his wife bought new clothes for Tanu. She prepared the favorite food of her son Tanu and helped her eat, too. She also packed some of it to send with them. With tears in their eyes, they bid goodbye to them.
Surprisingly, Tanu had turned into a normal child after this meeting and stopped speaking the names or anything related.
She had almost forgotten her previous life stories 3–4 years down the line. She and her family members started living a very normal life. Still, they left this non-understandable, paranormal example for everyone, including me, who doesn’t believe in rebirths but can’t explain this just as a matter of extremely rare coincidence.
How would you prove that you were reincarnated from a previous life?
The proof is in the mirror. Everyone on this planet has been incarnated before. And only sometimes here. Over 35% of the reports from the Newton Institute include memories from previous lifetimes of the planet. We only get to come here to this campground if we’ve done it before. In the thousands of clinical case studies, they all recall previous lifetimes. In the 100 cases I’ve filmed, all recall previous lifetimes. As a dataset, the norm is that everyone recalls previous lifetimes. What would be abnormal or paranormal would be those who claim they cannot.
But if one wants details about the specificity of “who they once were,” – allow that not everyone is supposed to know, as it may upset their current journey. If one dismisses that entirely, that may be why. In the 100 cases I’ve filmed (half without hypnosis), people don’t recall “awful” lifetimes because their guides and teachers appear to prevent that awareness. Because it would disrupt their current role onstage.
However, people can access memories of previous lifetimes – hypnotherapy can be an avenue (see Dr. Wambach’s research), meditation can be effective (guided meditation, and then follow up with historical research), or mediumship can be helpful – I work with mediums who work with law enforcement agencies nationwide, so I know how effective they can be. But hearing from someone else secondhand what they’re interpreting isn’t the same as experiencing it for oneself.
I’ve done six sessions and filmed many more. Results are in the films FLIPSIDE and HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on Amazon Prime via Gaia. If one wants to “check it out” – that’s one way.
How many religions support the concept of Rebirth or Reincarnation?
Many.
Sanatan Dharma–
Loud Yes. Practically all scriptures of Sanatan Dharma propagate this understanding.
Christianity:
What I am going to write is challenging. Nevertheless, I am mentioning these.
Reincarnation and the Bible. Biblical texts that seem to imply belief in Reincarnation
The most “convincing” texts of this kind are the following:
1) Matthew 11,14 and 17,12-13, concerning the identity of John the Baptist;
2) John 9,2, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”;
3) Galatians 6,7, “A man reaps what he sows”
The first text concerns the identity of John the Baptist, supposed to be the Reincarnation of the prophet Elijah. In Matthew 11,14, Jesus says: “And if you are willing to accept it, he (John the Baptist) is the Elijah who was to come.” In the same Gospel, while answering the apostles about the coming of Elijah, Jesus told them: “But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” The commentary adds: “Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.”
Major Medieval Alterations- In the early medieval period, the doctrines of pre-existence and Reincarnation only existed as Jesus’ secret teachings. In 553 AD, this information was declared heresy at the Second Council of Constantinople. The Roman Church decided to destroy all the teachings which talked about it. The Catholic doctrine and the priests’ source of wealth could have been in danger if people believed that they would come back to life many times. The old knowledge faced the same fate as many ancient books by pre-Christian writers. The bishops were afraid of the knowledge that could prove that the institution of the Church wasn’t the only option to bring “eternal life” to people.
Islam-
Islamic historian E. G. Browne outlines three forms of transmigration accepted by classical Muslim thinkers:
- Huhul is the periodical incarnation of a saint or prophet
- Rijat, the immediate return of an Imam or any other important spiritual leader after death
- Tanasukh, the ordinary Reincarnation of all souls
Ma’ad or Returning has always been the hottest debate amongst Muslim theologians and philosophers in Islamic history.
From the early years of the Islamic civilization, there were two main yet different understandings of the Qur’an regarding the Ma’ad ( Returning) amongst Muslim thinkers.
It is said that most of them believed in the Resurrection, which means the return of human beings after death by bringing life to the dead body.
A small minority supported Reincarnation, which means the Rebirth of human beings after death. Those to be mentioned are Ikwan al-Safa or Ismailism, Hemarih, Tarih, the followers of Ahmad ibn Khabet, and Shia Ghulat. Even in our time, communities like Druze, Alawi, Ahl– e -Hagh, and some Sufi orders still believe in Reincarnation.
The relatively widespread discussions about Reincarnation show that this subject has been a hot topic within the Islamic world for centuries. However, neither side of the Muslim theologians and thinkers could convince the other and put an end to this for more than a thousand years of debate. Although the belief in Reincarnation has always existed among some scholars throughout the history of the Islamic civilization, during recent decades, many ordinary people in the Muslim world have developed an interest in Reincarnation. This means the belief in Reincarnation not only survived among a small minority of Muslim nations (Ummah) but also, in our time, it is increasing among ordinary Muslims who don’t belong to any certain community or sect. Both sides consider their belief according to Islam and base it on the holy Qur’an. In other words, each part accuses the other of ignoring the true understanding of the Qur’an regarding the belief in Reincarnation.
Sikhism:
Yes, they do believe in Reincarnation.
The Sikhs believe that the Soul has to transmigrate from one body to another as part of an evolution process of the Soul. This evolution of the Soul will eventually result in a union with God upon the proper purification of the spirit. If one does not perform righteous deeds, one’s Soul will continue to cycle in Reincarnation forever. A being who has performed good deeds and actions in their lives is transmigrated to a better and higher life form in the next life until the Soul of the being becomes Godlike. From a human life form, if one performs the proper functions of a Gurmukh, the person can achieve salvation with God. One must cleanse the Soul by reciting Naam, remembrance of Waheguru, and following the path of Gurmat.
Buddhism
Rebirth in Buddhism refers to its teaching that a person’s actions lead to a new existence after death in endless cycles called saṃsāra.
This cycle is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful. The cycle stops only if liberation is achieved by insight and the extinguishing of desire. Rebirth is one of the foundational doctrines of Buddhism, along with Karma, Nirvana, and moksha.
The rebirth doctrine in Buddhism, sometimes referred to as Reincarnation or metempsychosis, asserts that Rebirth does not necessarily occur as another human being but as an existence in one of the six Gati (realms), Bhavachakra. The six realms of Rebirth include Deva (heavenly), Asura (demigod), Manusya (human), Tiryak (animals), Preta (ghosts), and Naraka (resident of hell). According to state Buddhist traditions, this rebirth is determined by Karma, with good realms favored by Kushala(good Karma). In contrast, a rebirth in evil realms is a consequence of Akushala (bad Karma). While Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching, much of traditional Buddhist practice has been centered on gaining merit and merit transfer, whereby one gains rebirth in the good realms and avoids Rebirth in the evil realms.
Jainism:
Like all Indian religions, Jainism upholds the universal law of Karma. According to this law, every action – thought, word, or deed – produces an effect, which in turn serves as the cause of another action, and so on. This chain of cause and effect is known as `Karmic Bondage� or simply Karma. And because Jainism, as we have seen, also subscribes to the doctrine of transmigration and Rebirth, it follows that the state of the Soul at any given time is due to the Karma accumulated over countless ages.
Judaism:
Many Jews are surprised to learn, or may even wish to deny, that Reincarnation – the “revolving” of souls through a succession of lives, or “gilgulim” – is an integral part of Jewish belief. But this teaching has always been around. And it is firmly rooted in source-verses.
Examples abound. Ramban, one of the greatest commentators on the Torah (and on the Talmud) and a seminal figure in Jewish history, hints several times that Reincarnation is the key to penetrating the deep mysteries involved in the mitzvah of yibum (the obligation of the brother of a childless, deceased man to marry the widow). In his explanation of Gen 38:8, he insists that Yehudah and his sons were aware of the secret of Reincarnation and that this was a major factor in their attitudes towards Tamar.
How does reincarnation work? What is the cycle of reincarnation?
What is the origin and meaning of the phrase “your turn in the barrel,” ?