GOOD QUESTION GOOD ANSWER

GOOD QUESTION GOOD ANSWER

Rebirth  ...............  continued  ..........

QUESTION: Some people might say that the supposed ability to remember former lives is the work of devils.

ANSWER: 

You simply cannot dismiss everything that doesn't fit into your belief as being the work of devils. When cold hard facts are produced to support an idea, you must use rational and logical arguments if you wish to counter them - not irrational and superstitious talk about devils.

 

QUESTION: You could say that talk about rebirth is a bit superstitious also?

ANSWER: 

The dictionary defines superstition as 'a belief which is not based on reason or fact but on an association of ideas, as in magic.' If you can show me a careful study of the existence of devils written by a scientist I will concede that belief in devils is not superstition. But I have never heard of any research into devils. Scientists simply wouldn't bother to study such things, so I say there is no evidence for the existence of devils. But as we have just seen, there is evidence which seems to suggest that rebirth does take place. If belief in rebirth is based on at least some facts, it cannot be a superstition. 

QUESTION: Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?

ANSWER: 

Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the British school system in the 19th century and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book, Evolution and Ethics and other Essays, he says:

 ‘In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man ... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.’ 

Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. 

‘Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth". 

She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. 

The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. 

Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as common place; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. 

This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory.’ 

Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO, believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. 

‘There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. It ... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our personalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts ... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until ... they ... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind.’ 

Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. 

Ford was attracted to the idea because it gives one a second chance to develop oneself. Henry Ford said: 

‘I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six...Religion offered nothing to the point...Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is futile if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock... Genius is experience. 

Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.’ 

So the Buddhist teaching of rebirth does have some scientific basis, it is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering some important questions about human destiny. 

But it is also very comforting. According to Buddha, if you failed to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. 

What a wonderful teaching!

QUESTION: Much of what you have said so far is very intellectually satisfying but I must admit that I am still a bit skeptical about rebirth.

ANSWER: 

That’s okay. Buddhism is not the type of religion you have to sign up to and commit yourself to believing everything it teaches. 

What is the point of forcing yourself to believe things you just can’t believe? You can still practice those things that you find helpful, accept those ideas that you understand and benefit from them, without believing in rebirth. Who knows! In time you may come to see the truth of rebirth.

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25 September 2023