Written and Compiled by Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. PhD (in progress)

Reincarnation is the belief that when a person dies, he is reborn again.  Reincarnation is regarded as the mental continuum of an individual. Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon and exists in many cultures.

The Egyptians believed in the soul’s immortality. In India, the concept of reincarnation is first recorded in the Upanishads. Hinduism teaches that the soul goes on repeatedly being born and dying.   The Greek philosopher and the mathematician Pythagoras believed that the soul was immortal and was reincarnated into another living being at death. The belief in reincarnation is central to Plato’s philosophy. Plato’s concept of metempsychosis edifies that the soul is immortal and passes through cycles of incarnation in birth and release from the body at death.

The Christian concept of resurrection is different from reincarnation; resurrection is the coming to life again of the same being with a transformation of the body into an immortal form of being. The early Christian theologians such as Valentinus and Basilides of Alexandria believed in reincarnation. In 553 A.D. during the Second Council of Constantinople the idea of reincarnation was rejected by the theologians.  

The Italian philosopher, and cosmological theorist Giordano Bruno believed in reincarnation, and he was sentenced to be burned at the stake by the Inquisition. French Writer Voltaire (1694-1778) espoused his belief in reincarnation. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) believed that the human soul persisted and returned in a new body after death. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) openly supported the concept of reincarnation.

Reincarnation In the Buddhist Doctrine

Although the concept of Reincarnation is refuted by monotheistic religions, reincarnation (which is an ongoing process) is central to Buddhism. Johannes Bronkhorst who is a Dutch Orientalist and Indologist, specializing in Buddhist studies and early Buddhism highlights that the Buddha did believe in reincarnation. Professor K. N. Jayatilleke indicated that the Buddha’s explanation on rebirth was based on empirical grounds.

According to Buddhist teaching there is no eternal soul,” spirit” or self”. Buddhist doctrine rejects the premise of a permanent, unchanging soul. There is no soul that bridges the gap between life and death. Buddhism denies the transmigration of a soul. Buddhism regards the mind as a transient mental state. The Buddha replaced the soul by the theory of mind-continuum.

In Buddhist psychology there are eight levels of consciousness.  Five of them are sense consciousness like, Visual consciousness, Auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness and tactile consciousness.  Sixth is mental consciousness, seventh is Manas consciousness and eighth consciousness is store consciousness (equivalent to subconscious mind).  Store consciousness is both individual consciousness and collective consciousness (Upadhyaya, 2021). The Buddha taught that consciousness is always continuing, like a stream of water. Buddhist teachings indicate that consciousness arises at the moment of conception with the forming of new life in the mother’s womb. 

Reincarnation is the mental continuum of an individual. It’s a phenomenon of a constantly changing continuity of moments of awareness. Buddhism teaches that stream of consciousness links with life. The stream of consciousness is not a single entity, but a process, and the process continues. The Buddha responded that only karma is passing from one life to another. 

When a person dies there is a causal continuum of consciousness. This consciousness is neither identical to nor entirely different from that in the deceased. Relinking consciousness is not transmigration from the previous existence. It comes into existence by means of conditions included in the previous existences. This process is regulated by the accumulated Karmas. Here the analogy is the flame of a dying candle can serve to light the flame of another.  A flame is transferred from one candle to another. Hence consciousness is a continuous birth and death of mind-states. It is linking an individual to past and future existences. The person who dies here and is reborn elsewhere is neither the same person, nor another.  

This process is known as Puranbhava aka Reincarnation or multiple incarnations. It is the process of cyclic existence or Samsara. Being born and dying continues unbroken but changes every moment. Therefore, the practice of Buddhism aims at ending rebirth.

According to the Buddhist doctrine – Chuthi Patisandhi- a thought moment occurs when a person dies. It is the mind set during death in the current existence and then grasping the next life. A dying person has a Cuti Citta which is known as exit consciousness. This consciousness is a form of transitory energy. The being to be reborn is known as Gandhabba – which is a non-biological life form or life-stream and inter being. Gandhabba is a form of consciousness. Cuti Citta or exit consciousness transforms into Gandhabba conscious form. Between Cuti Citta and Gandhabba form is called Antarābhava (Inter-becoming) or intermediate existence. These are three different stages. (some Buddhist schools believe that there is no interval -antarābhava or intermediate existence). A Gandhabba has a Manomaya kaya – nonphysical mental body. The Gandhabba can enter another womb when a matching one becomes available. Hence rebirth occurs. Three conditions are essential for conception: the union of mother and father, the mother in season, and the presence of Gandhabba. It’s important to know that the Gandhabba concept is different from the idea of a soul. Gandhabba is present at the point of conception as a form of consciousness. These processes are governed by the Karmic force or karmic retribution.

Freudian and Jungian   Perspectives on Reincarnation

Freud thought that the belief in reincarnation relates to the denial of death. For Freud rebirth fantasy seems to be a universal fantasy in the human mind, connected with the experience of both destruction and creation. According to the psychoanalytic notion the belief relates to initial hopes for a better life and the fantasy of life after death is universal.  Following the death drive man has a desire to return to inanimate matter in a form of rebirth. For Freud the concept of rebirth is an attempt to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. Freud saw belief in reincarnation is a way for individuals to come to terms with their own mortality. Human has a compulsion to repeat his life over and over again and this unconscious wish is expressed as a belief in life after death.

Carl Jung believed in reincarnation and collective unconscious. For Jung Collective Unconscious,” is supposedly the universal consciousness of mankind that lies at a subconscious level. It apparently consists of inherited memories shared by all human beings that go back countless generations into prehistory. (In Mahayana Buddhism the store-house consciousness is known as ālāyavijñāna) Some psychologists openly argue that past life memories are merely a result of collective unconscious. Jung saw psychoanalysis as a path of redemption, of revitalization, of rebirth.

Does Consciousness Continue after Death?

For William James consciousness was our own personal experience of perceiving, thinking, emoting, and acting. He used the phrase stream of consciousness”- consciousness flows linearly with time. Consciousness is directed toward an object, and it has intentionality and transience. Neuroscientists believe that the brain creates consciousness.  Neural information becomes conscious when it gains access to Global neuronal workspace. Consciousness does not disappear during general anesthesia. Consciousness requires a functioning brain. Neural activity translating into conscious experiences and after biological death this neural activity cease to exist.

Consciousness after death is not universally agreed upon. However, some experts say that we cannot find the actual conscious experience while measuring brain activity because we’re measuring from the wrong cognitive frame of reference. Moreover, they tend to say that the brain doesn’t create our conscious experience and consciousness is a fundamental property of all physical systems (panpsychism).

Disruptions of human consciousness occur due to pharmacological, neuropathological, or psychiatric causes.  The brain is structurally, and functionally connected and neurochemical processes produce subjective experiences. Is NDE (Near-death Experiences) a conscious experience after death? Near-death experiences (NDEs) are caused by reduced blood flow, coupled with abnormal electrical behavior inside the brain. Prof Carlo Fonseka – A Sri Lankan academic elucidated that there is no consciousness after biological death (Personal Communication, 2009). With biological death essential neural activity disappears.

Is Ian Stevenson’s Work Suitable Evidence for Reincarnation?

Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, from the University of Virginia tried to offer some evidence to support the reincarnation hypothesis. His 1966 book, Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation” emphasizes spontaneous recall of information about previous lives by young children.  Some investigators have tried to debunk the work of Ian Stevenson by questioning his methodology. They point out methodological flaws in Stevenson’s research methods. They state that he was confirmation biased in these studies. Moreover, his hypotheses were not falsifiable, and his data was not definitive to suggest reincarnation. When investigating reincarnation cases in other counties Stevenson had no cultural competence and sometimes his translators consciously and instinctively offered data confirming reincarnation. Stevenson disregarded the role of cultural conditioning. Most of his cases were based on anecdotal evidence.

Does deja vú Explain Reincarnation?

Deja vu is the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. Deja vu is a psychological experience. Those who support the concept of reincarnation explain that déjà vu experiences are memories of past lives. However, the researchers point out that déjà vu experiences do not confirm the reincarnation hypothesis. déjà vu experiences can occur as a result of certain brain dysfunction, assimilation of information by brain’s hemispheres in two different times or in cryptomnesia. Furthermore, Déjà vu is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Is Xenoglossy Evidence for Reincarnation?

Xenoglossy is a phenomenon in which a person is allegedly able to speak, write or understand a foreign language that they could not have acquired by natural means. Those who believe in reincarnation state that cases of xenoglossy provide evidence for reincarnation. Some researchers think that xenoglossy is not definitive evidence for reincarnation.  They claim that xenoglossy is likely to occur when the ability to properly monitor sources is impaired. They suggest fraud, fantasy, and knowledge acquired through normal means. The critics of reincarnation suggest that xenoglossy is merely an expression of subconscious language learning. Those who are naturally gifted in learning new languages may pick up on words and phrases without noticing. According to the researchers, foreign language syndrome and foreign accent syndrome are signs of disruption in brain function especially from small focal lesions resulting from left hemisphere strokes and tumors, traumatic brain injury (TBI), migraine, multiple sclerosis, primary progressive aphasia. 

Selective Thinking and False Memory Syndrome 

Some disbelievers of reincarnation explain that claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking – a process that one focuses on favorable evidence to justify a belief, ignoring unfavorable evidence and sometimes following the psychological phenomena of false memories. In false memory syndrome, a person’s identity and relationships are affected by memories, which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed. False memory syndrome may account for the memory construction process, which leads people to remember living a past life.

 Are child Prodigies an Example of Reincarnation?

Those who support the concept of reincarnation point out the phenomenon of child prodigies who exhibit intelligence or talents that could not be explained by either heredity or environment. The skeptics attribute these skills to high functional autism, abnormal brain mapping due to genetic predisposition and hyper brain with enhanced brain plasticity. They point out that some children who were subject to maladaptive alterations by purely deleterious mutations, maladapted genotypes end up with high intelligence and extraordinary skills. Several researchers have indicated specific genes that contribute to high ability. Twin studies have shown that both musical ability and mathematical achievement have a substantial genetic component.

False Memory Syndrome and Confabulation

Some disbelievers of reincarnation explain that claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking – a process that one focuses on favorable evidence in order to justify a belief, ignoring unfavorable evidence and sometimes following the psychological phenomena of false memories. In false memory syndrome, a person’s identity and relationships are affected by memories, which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed. False memory syndrome may account for the memory construction process, which leads people to remember living a past life. 

Belief in reincarnation could be linked to an error in processing of memories or due to confabulation.  Confabulation is defined as the spontaneous production of false memories: either memories of events which never occurred, or memories of actual events that are displaced in space or time. These memories may be elaborate and detailed. Confabulation is a form of memory disorder that may occur in patients who have sustained damage to both the basal forebrain and the frontal lobes, as after an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery.  

Another possible explanation is cryptomnesia, where a person may have experienced something similar in their current life and mistakenly attribute it to a past life.   Children suffering from dissociative disorders (hysteria) sometimes give vivid descriptions under hypnotic trances and these expressions are misinterpreted as the evidence of past lives by inexperienced hypnotherapists who have no clinical background.

Paramnesia: Memory Distortions 

 People with medial temporal or prefrontal lesions are more prone to Paramnesias, or misidentifications syndrome. In reduplicate paramnesia, a patient is convinced that a person, a place, or an object exists in duplicate.  A disturbed sense of familiarity may produce this phenomenon. In the reduplication of time, a patient believes that he or she exists in two different, parallel time points.

Can Edgar Cayce’s Readings Prove Reincarnation? 

Edgar Cayce -self-proclaimed faith healer did over 16,000 readings during his lifetime. The exceptional book Many Mansions written by Gina Cerminara disclosed the patients who were treated by Edgar Cayce and their past lives. Based on modern investigations of Edgar Cayce’s readings, medical experts say that Cayce frequently connected illness to the mental and emotional states of the patients and he disregarded the etiology of certain illnesses. His clients predominantly had cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, gallstones, kidney stones, hay fever, mental and psychological problems, digestive problems, epilepsy, hemorrhoids, ulcers, psoriasis etc. and according to Cayce karmic repercussions had do with the symptoms. Cayce had stated that people suffer from epilepsy as a result of adultery that they had committed in their past lives. But modern neurophysiology explains the genesis of epilepsy that has organic courses in the brain.

Some of his readings were inaccurate and he mostly gave folk remedies. His case studies were not based on empirical evidence, and it cannot be independently evaluated. Moreover, Cayce was never subjected to proper testing. The experts often question the validity of his abilities.

Can Past Life Regressions Provide Evidence of Reincarnation?

Past life regressions or past life therapy is based on the argument that some people carry in their subconscious mind memories of unpleasant events of their past lives and these subconscious memories adversely affect them in their present lives. By hypnosis they can be regressed beyond their birth to their previous lives. However, medical experts indicate that past life regressions increase one’s susceptibility to false memories. Also, there is a risk of implanting false memories in patients. Some hold the belief that hypnotic regression is not proof for reincarnation. Those who oppose hypnotic regression declare that in a hypnotic regression, repressed childhood memories come into action if wrongly interpreted as evidence of past life.

 The Theories Opposed to Reincarnation.

The English Philosopher Antony Flew highlights that reincarnation is a non-repeatable counter instance that is not amenable to scientifically controlled conditions. As claims of reincarnation cannot be validated via a laboratory experiment, the best we could do is to jettison reincarnation as untenable. 

He further argues that the basic problem associated with reincarnation as a theory of mind is not that it lacks evidence in support of its claims, but that even in the face of its claims, it runs short of a well-developed and systematic theory.

Steven D. Hales Professor of Philosophy at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania argues that the basic problem associated with reincarnation as a theory of mind is not that it lacks evidence in support of its claims, but that even in the face of its claims, it runs short of a well-developed and systematic theory. For Hales, there would have been not much difficulty in accepting the reincarnation hypothesis if it is empirically testable, falsifiable and subject to confirming evidence. 

Concluding Thoughts

Reincarnation is a highly contradictory and controversial philosophical-religious and cultural concept. Belief in reincarnation has some epistemological implications. It is a belief in the absence of valid empirical data.  There is no scientific evidence to prove reincarnation. The suggestive cases of reincarnation (past-lives” testimonies) cannot be independently verified, and there are psychological and cultural factors that can influence such claims. These testimonies are the products of social conditioning rather than actual memories of past lives. From a scientific and empirical standpoint, the concept of reincarnation remains unproven and subject to skepticism.

Biologically, reincarnation is explained in terms of the expression of dominant genes that come from the ancestors.  People acquire the genetic information of their past relatives.  Those who oppose the concept argue that reincarnation originates from selective thinking and from false memories. Reincarnation is a hypothesis and up to date it’s not an evidence-based reality. There is no definitive data supporting the reincarnation hypothesis. So far no one has done controlled experiments in reincarnation.

Can we prove that reincarnation is a fact? Ian Stevenson used to say the word proof should only be used in mathematics. In science it’s all about evidence, not proof. Science can only lay hands-on things in the physical universe. Although the existence of reincarnation is not yet a scientific truth, scientifically we don’t have the instruments to measure the process of rebirth directly. Maybe reincarnation can’t be proven within the scope of generally acceptable scientific thinking. Reincarnation is basically just an untestable claim. Some argue that reincarnation is a paranormal phenomenon transcending the boundaries of time, space and force. Reincarnation may be outside the scope of our measurements and can’t be falsified. Reincarnation may be the Great Beyond” and further research is essential to come to a valid conclusion.