REINCARNATION versus RESURRECTION

[El_Criollo]

REINCARNATION

Webster's Definition:

Main Entry: re·in·car·na·tion
Pronunciation: "rE-(")in-(")kär-'nA-sh&n
Function: noun
Date: 1858
1 a : the action of reincarnating : the state of being reincarnated b : rebirth in new bodies or forms of life; especially : a rebirth of a soul in a new human body
2 : a fresh embodiment


Encyclopedia Brittanica:

also called TRANSMIGRATION, OR METEMPSYCHOSIS, in religion and philosophy, rebirth of the soul in one or more successive existences, which may be human, animal, or, in some instances, vegetable. While belief in reincarnation is most characteristic of Asian religions and philosophies, it also appears in the religious and philosophical thought of primitive religions, in some ancient Middle Eastern religions (e.g., the Greek Orphic mystery, or salvation, religion), Manichaeism, and Gnosticism, as well as in such modern religious movements as theosophy.

In primitive religions, belief in multiple souls is common. The soul is frequently viewed as capable of leaving the body through the mouth or nostrils and of being reborn, for example, as a bird, butterfly, or insect. The Venda of southern Africa believe that, when a person dies, the soul stays near the grave for a short time and then seeks a new resting place or another body--human, mammalian, or reptilian.

Among the ancient Greeks, Orphism held that a preexistent soul survives bodily death and is later reincarnated in a human or other mammalian body, eventually receiving release from the cycle of birth and death and regaining its former pure state. Plato, in the 5th-4th century BC, believed in an immortal soul that participates in frequent incarnations.

The major religions that hold a belief in reincarnation, however, are the Asian religions, especially Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, all of which arose in India. They all hold in common a doctrine of karma ("act"), the law of cause and effect, which states that what one does in this present life will have its effect in the next life. In Hinduism the process of birth and rebirth--i.e., transmigration of souls--is endless until one achieves moksha, or salvation, by realizing the truth that liberates--i.e., that the individual soul (atman) and the absolute soul (Brahman) are one. Thus, one can escape from the wheel of birth and rebirth (samsara).

Jainism, reflecting a belief in an absolute soul, holds that karma is affected in its density by the deeds that a person does. Thus, the burden of the old karma is added to the new karma that is acquired during the next existence until the soul frees itself by religious disciplines, especially by ahimsa ("nonviolence"), and rises to the place of liberated souls at the top of the universe.

Although Buddhism denies the existence of an unchanging, substantial soul, it holds to a belief in the transmigration of the karma of souls. A complex of psycho-physical elements and states changing from moment to moment, the soul, with its five skandhas ("groups of elements")--i.e., body, sensations, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness--ceases to exist; but the karma of the deceased survives and becomes a vijñana ("germ of consciousness") in the womb of a mother. This vijñana is that aspect of the soul reincarnated in a new individual. By gaining a state of complete passiveness through discipline and meditation, one can leave the wheel of birth and rebirth and achieve nirvana, the state of the extinction of desires.

Sikhism teaches a doctrine of reincarnation based on the Hindu view but in addition holds that, after the Last Judgment, souls--which have been reincarnated in several existences--will be absorbed in God.

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desde_el_Jurutungo_de_Bairoa

[El_Criollo]

RESURRECTION

Webster's Definition:

Main Entry: res·ur·rec·tion
Pronunciation: "re-z&-'rek-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin resurrection-, resurrectio act of rising from the dead, from resurgere to rise from the dead, from Latin, to rise again, from re- + surgere to rise -- more at SURGE
Date: 14th century
1 a capitalized : the rising of Christ from the dead b often capitalized : the rising again to life of all the human dead before the final judgment c : the state of one risen from the dead

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA

the rising from the dead of a divine or human being who still retains his own personhood, or individuality, though the body may or may not be changed. The belief in the resurrection of the body is usually associated with Christianity, because of the doctrine of the Resurrection of Christ, but it also is associated with later Judaism, which provided basic ideas that were expanded in Christianity and Islam.

Ancient Middle Eastern religious thought provided a background for belief in the resurrection of a divine being (e.g., the Babylonian vegetation god Tammuz), but belief in personal resurrection of humans was unknown. In Greco-Roman religious thought there was a belief in the immortality of the soul, but not in the resurrection of the body. Symbolic resurrection, or rebirth of the spirit, occurred in the Hellenistic mystery religions, such as the religion of the goddess Isis, but postmortem corporeal resurrection was not recognized.

The expectation of the resurrection of the dead is found in several Old Testament works. In the Book of Ezekiel, there is an anticipation that the righteous Israelites will rise from the dead. The Book of Daniel further developed the hope of resurrection with both the righteous and unrighteous Israelites being raised from the dead, after which will occur a judgment, with the righteous participating in an eternal messianic kingdom and the unrighteous being excluded. In some intertestamental literature, such as The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, there is an expectation of a universal resurrection at the advent of the Messiah.

The Resurrection of Christ, a central doctrine of Christianity, is based on the belief that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day after his Crucifixion and that through his conquering of death all believers will subsequently share in his victory over "sin, death, and the devil." The celebration of this event, called Easter, or the Festival of the Resurrection, is the major feast day of the church. The accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus are found in the four Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--and various theological expressions of the early church's universal conviction and consensus that Christ rose from the dead are found throughout the rest of the New Testament, especially in the letters of the Apostle Paul (e.g., 1 Cor. 15).

According to the Gospel accounts, certain woman disciples went to the tomb of Jesus, which was located in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish religious court) and a secret disciple of Jesus. They found the stone sealing the tomb moved and the tomb empty, and they informed Peter and other disciples that the body of Jesus was not there. Later, various disciples saw Jesus in Jerusalem, even entering a room that was locked; he was also seen in Galilee. (Accounts of the locations and occasions of the appearances differ in various Gospels.) Other than such appearances noted in the Gospels, the account of the resurrected Lord's walking the Earth for 40 days and subsequently ascending into heaven is found only in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Islam also teaches a doctrine of the resurrection. First, at Doomsday, all men will die and then be raised from the dead. Second, each person will be judged according to the record of his life that is kept in two books, one listing the good deeds, the other the evil deeds. After the Judgment the unbelievers will be placed in hell and the faithful Muslims will go to paradise, a place of happiness and bliss.

Zoroastrianism holds a belief in a final overthrow of Evil, a general resurrection, a Last Judgment, and the restoration of a cleansed world to the righteous.

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desde_el_Jurutungo_de_Bairoa

[El_Criollo]

********** Item 1:

If reincarnation is a spiritual evolution, where there advanced souls and there are primitive souls, then there should be less souls in the more advanced stages and much more souls in the primitive stages.

The situation should be like in the University, or College. The Freshman Class (los Prepas) is a much bigger group than the Senior Class (Clase Graduanda).

However, we see that on our Planet Earth, there are more people alive now than there were in the beginning.

According to the University Paradigm it should be the other way around.

********** Item 2:

I don't know about any of you, but I lost my Mom to kidney failure when I was 16 years old. Boy, it was painful! When I was 22 years old my first ever girlfriend left me after 3 years of dating for a much older man (13 years older) and without a warning. And, oh boy, this was really painful!!! If Reincarnation were to be true, assuming that one would reincarnate a couple of hundred of times, imagine having to experience these heart-breaks hundreds of times. To me this would be worse than Hell! If I were to Reincarnate any more times I want to get off this train right now!!!

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desde_el_Jurutungo_de_Bairoa

[inca]

Reincarnation is thought to be a blessing or "second chance" by millions of Western Christians who don't have the slightest idea in India was a cursed Buda tried to stop!
One of the things they say is the AMNESY regarding our previous past would turn us crazy people. But we don't forget everything about the past in our own life. Even if you remember by means of -hypnotic danger procedures of hipnotizer or even the mind fantasies themselves-, the memories wouldn't mean you're gonna transform yourself and be better like a big shot mafia guy wouldn't necessarily change his behaviour and crime life just because he remembers his evil deeds.
There are not enough bodies buried in the ground to suspect such amount of people re-incarnated thousands of lives before they get back to Brahma source! Western civilization forget the notion about the transformation into animals too. There are a couple of questions deserving a study, serious ones. First, the animals are dissapearing fastly nowadays. They are not increasing the number. And if the purpose of the incarnation is the evolution of mankind, neither in India nor in any part of the world the system seems to succeed because the world is getting more problems every day in every single aspect of life you can think about!
Also, the believers think incarnation is something individual but I don't see many answers regarding whole countries or continents like Africa that after thousands of years seem to be in awful condition. What is that? Colective karma?
Why does the soul need the "learning procedure" coming from the past? Wouldn't it be better if soul comes from the future to the past with the things already learned to dodge the endless monothonous cursed circle? That "school" when you learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget, learn and forget...(boring even reading or writing it, isn't it? Imagine living that crap!)and always stuck up in the middle of Brahma's traffic jam! No way, man!