Why do you think people believe in reincarnation?

Answer 1

A:The problem is one of reward and punishment for deeds in this life. A wide range of religions can agree that the good should go to paradise, but the issue remains as to what we do about those who were demonstrably evil, as well as those who committed minor wrongs. The solution for Zoroastrians, Christians and Muslims is that they go to hell, a place of eternal torment, with the Catholic faith providing a partial hell, purgatory, for those not evil enough to deserve permanent damnation. The solution for some modern Jews is that their souls are simply destroyed. But some Jews, some early Christians, as well as members of eastern religions saw the real solution as reincarnation. People would be reborn over and over, until they achieved perfect goodness, after which they could enter heaven.

The early Church Father, Origen wrote: "So long as a soul continues to abide in the good it has no experience of union with a body ... But by some inclination toward evil these souls lose their wings and come into bodies, first of men; then through their association with the irrational passions, after the allotted span of human life they are changed into beasts." Eventually "even the gracious gift of sensation is withdrawn" and the soul comes to inhabit a plant. From this point it begins its ascent again. Even today, the Church has not explicitly repudiated the doctrine of reincarnation, although many Christian theologians have dismissed or derided it.

Answer 2

From a neutral perspective it's because we need some hope or something to look forward. It's the same with heaven and hell.

Me speaking as a Buddhist, because it makes sense.

The necessity of belief in reincarnation:To understand reincarnation we must understand the mechanism called Competitive blockade.

Competitive blockade:

If two thoughts try to enter the conscious mind at precisely the same time neither of them nor any other thought succeeds in entering it. This blanks the conscious mind, giving us false peace and false self-control.

Normally this is an accidental and the dominant thought enters the conscious mind.

However, we can prolong the blockade if we have Voluntary (manual) force. We also prolong it if we select the right kind of thoughts for blockade.

Prolonged blockade:

For the blockade to hold on for long periods,

1. The thought to be blocked and the blocking thought should be separated by a very long duration.

2. The blocking thought should be irrational

3. It should be purely imaginary.

Thus, the ideal thoughts for prolonged blockade would be thoughts from our past life. If such blockade fails it can be passed on to our next life, thus leaving our present life untouched.

Therefore, we believe in reincarnation because it enables us to have (false) peace of mind and (false) self-control for prolonged periods, without distorting our present life."

Answer 3

'Reincarnation of life' is symbolic of 'transformation of an activity', every time it is repeated. Actually, to attain Moksha, we are supposed to prevent this transformation of an activity, every time it is repeated. Thus, Reincarnation is a strong belief among followers of Hinduism, as it makes their life and the Hindu society very stable.

Answer 4

With all due respect to those who do believe in a state of reincarnation, we only have one life to prove ourselves worthy to return to our Father in heaven. Let me ask the question, "What happens at the time of the resurrection when all mankind will be judged, can reincarnation still take place?" There must be an end to all things pertaining to this earth life.

Answer 5

THE FACT AND BELIEF ABOUT REBIRTH The fact is that we are not reborn.

The Hindu belief is that, at death the body perishes and the soul enters another new born body and this cycle continues till our Karma is depleted. Then our soul is liberated from this unending cycles of reincarnation and we attain Moksha.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BELIEF AND THE FACT ABOUT REBIRTH

If we take the literal meaning of Hindu scriptures about death, we would come to the conclusion that after death we would be reborn into a higher or lower Varna family, depending on our Karma.

However, if we take the symbolism involved, we would realize that 'death' symbolizes abolition of an activity.

THE SYMBOLISM INVOLVED IN HINDU SCRIPTURES ABOUT DEATH

1. Life - activity

2. Death - abolition of an activity

3. Karma - fluctuations in tone of our muscular system

4. Reincarnation - transformation of the activity every time it is repeated

5. Moksha - Abolition of fluctuations in tone of the muscular system, making repetition of activities automatic and repeated activities exact replicas.

This also merges all the activities into a single giant activity called life.

If we use the above dictionary of Hindu symbols, we would realize that even according to Hinduism we are not reborn.

What all it means is that

1. If an activity is not compatible with other activities of our life, we can't repeat that activity without modifying it manually. (Reincarnation).

2. The need to modify the activity manually is what we call Karma.

3. The power of an abolished activity is diverted into a new activity. (Entry of soul into a new body)

Thus, the fact is that we are not reborn.

Answer 6

I tell my students that life is sort of like school used to be in the old days. We are here to learn, and in each life we encounter a number of situations and circumstances that allow us the chance to learn and grow.

Unlike school these days, souls aren't "advanced to the next level" without having "passed" the lesson, instead they are "held back" until such time as they do learn.

Some souls move forward at an advanced pace, others are destined to repeat the same lessons again and again until they finally learn.

Eventually we reach the point where we are "enlightened" and can "graduate" to our ultimate reward.

Answer 7

Reincarnation is the route we take to perpetual Life.