Rebirth - Something to share.....

[Guest guest]

Home |

About "Sai Light and Love" | About the Author | Articles | Questions and Answers

|

Contact Info

REBIRTH

IS THERE REBIRTH? OR, IS RE-INCARNATION ONLY A THEORY?

Please allow me to bring to your kind attention to the following:-

In 1935, Swami Satprakashananda (author of the Booklet `How is a Man Reborn?')

was in New Delhi as the head of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram. At that time,

newspapers were full of the news about a girl by name Shanti Devi: She was born

on 12th October 1926. When she was old enough to speak legibly enough, she

began to talk about her past birth and (in 1935), the parents found that the

information provided by her, regarding her husband, pundit Kedarnath chaubey,

her house in Mathura where she lived in the past birth, about the money she had

kept buried (to be later donated to the famous temple of the town) etc.etc. were

perfectly correct in all their details! The parents were accompanied, in their

investigation, by the Municipal Commissioner of Delhi, editor of a newspaper

and a college professor! This case is also quoted by Sri Swami Sivananda in

his book on "what becomes of the soul after death?".

In 1938 May 1 edition of the news paper `Amrita Bazar Patrika'(well known in

North Eastern India) reported about the 5year old son of Devi Prasad Bhatnagar

of Kanpur claiming that he was Sivdayal, murderd in Kanpur riots of 1931. This

boy went to his old house and recognised his former wife, children etc.

In 1949, the same newspaper

published in its August 23 edition, the following news (given here in bare

outline only): A boy Parmod by name who was born as the son of a professor on

15th March 1944, claimed in 1949 that he was the brother of the proprietor of a

famous catering firm and that he had sons, a daughter and a wife! News of such

strange claims reached the catering firm in the adjacent town; and they

requested the father to bring the son to their place on 15th August 1949. The

professor took the son by train to Moradabad and once they alighted, the boy

was able to guide them to the place by himself!

A number of tests were devised by a large group of citizens of Moradabad to

check the validity of the boy's claim and he came in flying colours. (for

details, kindly refer to Swami Sivananda's book).

In a Tamil Magazine "Thai" dated 30th May, 1982 the following news is found

(and the outline of the same is given here based on the clipping I have

filed):- A girl was born on 3rd April 1974, and named Padmavati. In her

eighth year, she started telling others that she had a husband by name

Ramamurthy employed at the famous Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in the state of Andhra

Pradesh. She also used to say that she had 3 sons and two daughters!

The relatives who heard it, enquired about the where­abouts of Ramamurthy. It

transpired that he was, in 1982, employed at Sri Sailam as a manager of the

state construction corporation, after his transfer from Nagarjuna Sagar! He

came to see the girl and confirmed the girl's claims after crosschecking etc!

She was able to tell the address where they lived in Nagarjuna Sagar and

identified her exchildren!

This article was accompanied by two photographs: One shows Seshamma (i.e., name

of Padmavati in last birth) holding her daughter Lalitha; the other shows,

Lalitha (now grown up) holding her ex-mother (now a little girl)!

In the well known Tamil Newspaper "Daily Thanthi" dated 17th Jan.1999, there

was an article on Rebirth. In which the following case was reported with photos

attached: In Turkish village near the Syrian Border two young sisters were raped

by some rowdies. The brother of the women, Semil Haig avenged for it by shooting

two of the rowdies. So, he was imprisoned. But he escaped from the prison and

when the police surrounded him he committed suicide in 1935. After a few months

a male child was born in a neighbouring village. This child was named Dahham

Bahricci. But he talked about Semil and prefered that name. When he was 6 years

old he recalled the main details about his last birth as Semil Haig. The

interesting thing about this case is that this child had marks indicating a

bullet wound from the bottom of the chin to the opposite corner of the head.

That is exactly how Semil had shot himself to death in 1935.

Hundreds of similar cases have been reported in the 2 vol.book (Published in

1987) "Children who remember previous lives",by Dr.Ian Stevenson, Director of

Parapsychology div.of University of Virginia,Charlotteville,US.

(Some more, why many more, such incidents are quoted in articles and books on

this topic but unfortunately, the authors do not give details of their sources

and accordingly I am not including them. I had some more clippings too, but

at the moment of writing this, I am not able to trace them).

I believe that such well-documented incidents as given above, as samples,

furnish enough proof that the Theory of Rebirth is valid, though not complete

enough to answer all the questions that arise in association with the

phenomenon.

This Theory of Rebirth or Re-incarnation is accepted by Hindus, Jains and

Buddhists. Long ago, between 1965 and 1970, I remember to have read in a look

on Christian Theology, about a (Bishops) conference (in constantinople) (around

1100 AD?) where it was decided to omit all passages in the Bible which can be

interpreted in terms of the theory of Reincarnation. In this connection the

following references from the Bible can be refered: John 9:1-3, John 1:19-28,

Mathew 16:13,14, Mark 8:27,28.

Dr. Ali Hussain, working with the World Health Organisation in Geneva,

Switzerland in 1990 (when he wrote an article in "Sai Vandana (1990)") has

said that many verses in "Holy Qur-on" support the theory of Karma and Rebirth.

In particular he has quoted Chapter 39, verses 5 to 9, of "Al Qur-on" in his

above-cited article. Also 10:44 says man suffers because of his actions and not

because of God. And 2:134,139,141, 3:182,8:51,22:10,109:6 etc speak of the same.

 

It must be remembered that the Soul's discarding of the coarse sheath known as

the physical body and its assumption of another body etc are very subtle

subjects. The best authorities can not be therefore Material Scientists, whose

jurisdiction stops with the phenomena observed by the senses and their

extensions(i.e., instruments like microscope, stethascope etc.etc.) and

inferred by the reasoning mind. Only saintly persons with highly developed

Intuition or insight can perceive the subteleties of phenomena associated

rebirth, death etc.

And many are the Saints who accept (the theory of) Reincarnation or Rebirth.

Supposing I stick to Newtonian Laws of Mechanics, I can not understand the

behaviour of electrons in atoms; only by Quantum mechanics, I can understand

them. Similarly, only by Intuition some phenomena can be understood. And so,

only saints are qualified to pronounce opinions on this subject. And since

many saints have frequently mentioned reincarnation, one is wiser if one

accepts their conclusions, Is it not?

And the saints back up their ideas by one important proof viz., their

predictions about the future and the past lives of people. For example, the

astrologers & Palmists, depend upon the "sutras" or maxims perceived by Saints

through their Intuition, for their predictions.

It is a fact that astrologers are not always or fully right; but the fact that

good astrologers are able to predict many events is irrefutable. Indeed Nadis

or Palmleaf writ­ings based on intuition have predicted names of people with

their parents' names, the number of brothers and sisters, the place and time,

birth etc etc hundreds of years ago and the Nadi readers identify the customers

by thumbimpressions!

Another proof of the values and validity of Intuitive perception by saints is

available in the field of medicine. The Siddha, the Ayur Vedic, the Yunani

medical systems etc., do not seem to have been developed as a result of

systematic experiments as is done in the case of Allopathy. The Curative

properties of herbs etc seem to have been perceived more in intuitive flashes

than through experiments.

So, Intuition and Insight are not mere abracadabra but they are faculties that

can be developed. Without doing that, there is no point in simply refuting the

theory or facts reincarnation, merely on the basis of their incomprehensibility

by reasoning minds. (For the Saints, Reincarnation is a fact of Life; for the

reasoning minds, it is at best, a theory)

The acceptance of Rebirth or Reincarnation as a fact of Life implies that Death

is not the End of Life but merely the end of life in the present body. This is

amply proved by the following:-

(i) Dr. Raymond Moody Jr.studied more than 100 cases of people who were

"dead" and revived later and found that their accounts of what happened in the

interval between their temporary death and revival were remarkably similar.

(ii) Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross confirmed his findings. Their books "Life

after Life" and "On Death and Dying" were condensed and published in the

Readers' Digest issues of August 1977 and February 1982 respectively.

(iii) A number of cases are also reported by Norman Vincent Peale in his

"Power of Positive Thinking'.

(iv) Reference can be also made to Dr.Helen Wamback's "Life After Life" in

thousand cases which prove the fact of rebirth.

(v) Phyllis Crystal, Erica Simon, Dr.Edith Fiore , and others have also

corroborated the above findings.

The Reincarnation Theory also implies that we have not one body but more

than one bodies : Death is merely the shedding of the physical body.

Rebirth seems to be caused by

(i) the need to fulfill worldly desires

(ii)the need to realise the wrong in sinning (or harming others) or to

reap the rewards of righteousness

(iii)the need to learn lessons or to progress spiritually

(iv) the need to perform a mission.

The Theory of Reincarnation together with the theory of Karma explains

(among other things)

(i) the existence of child prodigies by the postulate that the mind of a

living being is not empty (or Tabula Rosa) but pregnant with tendencies, urges

and potentials and experiences even during birth.

(ii) the difference in the talents, tendencies and achievements of

different people in the same environment or family or with same opportunities

etc

(iii) good luck and bad luck

Some advantages of accepting Re-Incarnation and the theory of

Karma:

i) It avoids frustration in life. e.g: When I work hard and yet do not

get as much as the other one who may be even working much less, I am not

frustrated but ascribe the results to my past sins and his past good deeds etc.

So, jealousy is also out of place.

ii) It gives hope and promotes positive attitudes, making sustained good

and hard work possible.

iii) It makes one more considerate and helpful towards others.

iv) It prevents one from packing too many expectations and ambitions in

"One Life-time" thereby reducing unnecessary tensions, frustrations etc.

The Disadvantages of wrong Interpretation of (the Theory of)

Reincarnation:

(i) It curbs initiative and effort ("Oh, I can not succeed because fate

is too strong"): This is a good scapegoat for lazy people and ignorant people.

(ii) It blunts the sharpness for social action against social evils like

corruption, exploitation etc, even to an extent which may be quite practical.

(iii) It may even prevent people from helping others! ("Well, he is

suffering because of his misdeeds! Let him! Why should I try to help him?")

It is obvious that as in the case of anything in the world, there are

always good uses and bad uses, for (the theories of) Reincarnation and Karma,

too. We must choose the proper interpretation and prosper. May our Guru guide

us.

http://www.sailightandlove.org/arteng_rebirth.htm

 

Perform selfless service to the poor, the sick, and the needy without thought of

reward or fame. Love all Serve

all