In the last posting, we took a closer look at the popular Eastern concept of Reincarnation, where a soul may be born again and again, in various sentient forms, trying to earn enough good Karma points and the wisdom to achieve MOKSHA, or liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Reincarnation would offer an explanation for the numerous discrepancies we see in this world, like a cosmic checkbook being balanced. (And as a nerdy financial planner by day, the idea of a balanced checkbook disproportionately excites me.)
However like any spiritual topic, the existence of Reincarnation is yet unproven and always very debatable. In part 1 of this article, I pointed out four contradictions that could be cited to form a case against it – 1) an increasing human population, 2) the ongoing extinction of various species, 3) babies and children dying young, and 4) a potential endless cycle of Karma with repeated mistakes over many lifetimes.
As an annoyingly indecisive and single agnostic who can’t commit to a man, much less an existential belief, it’s no surprise that I have four COUNTER arguments that could be made in FAVOR of the plausibility of rebirth, such as:
1) Child prodigies – We all know that child prodigies are these pre-pubescent geniuses who exhibit an absurd amount of talent which normally would be attributed to a lifetime of learning, practice, and experience. Instead, these half-pints gallivant around the world with their adorable cherubic faces and freak the bejesus out of us with their unexplainable skills in composition, painting, math, memory, dance, chess, or overall learning.
True, Mozart was born into a musical family and could have been nurtured by his environment to develop his abilities at an early age. And yes, sometimes prodigies have exhibited irregular neurological configurations that could account for their brilliance as well. But not all cases can be explained by upbringing or biology or other such logic. Is it possible that these are old souls carrying with them the knowledge of a past life into a new one?
2) Past life memories and regression – There are enough detailed anecdotes of past life regression and memories that – at least in my mind – cannot be fully disregarded. There are many thundering Atheists I know and fear who will angrily swat away these “anecdotes or examples” because they have not been proven under laboratory conditions, with James Randi, blah blah blah million dollars, and all that jazz.
But on my end, I am open-minded to reading about the studies of a prominent psychiatrist like Dr. Ian Stevenson who spent a huge part of his career researching and documenting past life memories, especially in children. In his interviews, children who were born with certain physical or mental issues were able to explain how they incurred those injuries in a past life, and their stories and details were astonishingly confirmed by the family of the deceased person in question, sometimes from another part of the world entirely.
I also read with skeptic but respectful fascination the descriptions of past-life regression Dr. Brian Weiss had noted with his patients during sessions of hypnosis. His book was riveting, although I’m not even sure I believe in hypnosis, much less going back to a past life while under its spell. Hypnosis stage shows I’ve seen on YouTube have me partially convinced – watching germophobe Howie Mandel shake hands on AGT was quite persuasive – but I’m not fully there yet.
Could Dr. Ian and Dr. Weiss be quacks looking to fool all of us with their “woo-woo” theories? (insert magic finger gesture here) Sure … no doubt … entirely possible … I give it 50-50 odds. But I can’t snobbishly and utterly dismiss such meticulously documented cases outright.
3) Energy cannot be destroyed – If there is indeed a consciousness or soul energy that we possess (see Is Free Will the Property of Soul Energy?) that has the same traditional properties as other energies, then it would continue to exist once the human form disintegrates. Because energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So if we do have something akin to soul energy, it cannot dissolve or disappear once we die.
Another property of energy is that it is the ability to transform from one type to another. In fact, this transformation is constantly happening, electric energy powering a microwave generates heat energy to warm a cup of tea. Laser light or solar energy can also generate heat. Kinetic wind energy can propel a windmill and circle back to producing electricity. (My caloric food energy could transform to kinetic if I would move instead of flopping on the couch after brunch. Instead I store up alot of potential energy. 
)
Couch potato potential aside, energy is hardly ever static. So it seems logical that soul energy – if it exists – would transform from one sentient type to another, whether human soul energy, animal soul energy, ghostly soul energy, or other, thus involving a constant cycle of rebirth.
4) The eternity of time – Even if the Angry Atheists are right and it turns out there is no intelligence or plan behind the design of the universe and we are simply random products of the Big Bang, it stands to reason that whatever caused us to be born here in the first place would cause us to eventually be born again. It might take a billion or many-illion years for the same random chemical reactions to reoccur, but if time is infinite and there is no end to the universe, then the odds are that we will one day spontaneously reignite or regenerate again. So we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t – i.e. we’re probably going to be reborn whether there is a higher power or whether there isn’t one. In one situation, we may be able to determine our next avatar through our own free will and karmic earnings, in the other, we’re flotsam periodically being reborn into jetsam.
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This is why I am perpetually confused – there are too many arguments to be made for and against the idea of Reincarnation. I know that one can dismiss these theories as far-fetched and involving hypothesis upon hypothesis – or a tower of turtles. We can also attempt to offer scientific explanations for certain phenomenon that don’t involve the supernatural.
But if it exists, Reincarnation would help make sense of the discrepancies we see in the world. It might give more meaning or at least longevity value to the struggles we face if they teach us wisdom that can be carried with us to other lifetimes. It might give those who are attached to this world and their human avatar hope that the party will go on in some shape or manner.
But to be honest, despite my inability to dismiss it completely, I would be perfectly okay with Reincarnation not existing. In fact I would prefer it. I don’t like parties – an eternal dreamless nap in its place doesn’t sound too bad to me. I don’t want to come back. And I am especially not keen on being reborn as the chickens I consume for lunch for my own selfish pleasure. I would probably have alot of bad karma to burn off and need to start all the way at the bottom of the totem pole as a type of mold. I don’t want to be a fungus. I don’t want to live my best fungus life.
Uninspiring and depressing I know – its soooooo not OpraChopra – but to each their own. On my end, I’m perfectly okay with this life being my first, last, or only. I don’t need a do over. Unless I could come back as George Clooney. Or at least Bo Obama. Then maybe I’d think about it.
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