The

Rosicrucian

Digest

January

1979

were concomitant with illuminated mys-

tical and philosophical beliefs.

Theoretically, Buddhism teaches neither

the existence of reincarnation nor, in fact,

the soul of man. However, it does refer

to a “stream of existence.” There can be

in Buddhistic doctrine a continual re-

newal of births. This “turning of the

wheel,” or rebirth, is dependent upon

man’s deeds on Earth. Rebirth, in the

strict sense of the Buddhist interpretation

of this word, is actually an act of retribu-

tion, a punishment for not having attained

a certain state of consciousness and moral

values.

Rebirth is a retributive act of karma,

the consequence of certain human deeds.

Therefore, in effect, Buddhism conforms

to the doctrine of reincarnation. In fact,

Buddhism in some of its literature relates

how certain persons remember their for-

mer lives. Buddha, it is related, said that

this recalling was one of the supernormal

attainments of Buddhistic sainthood.

The ancient Celts had a definite belief

in reincarnation, but not transmigration

in that word’s true meaning. The soul

after death was thought to await its re-

incarnation. It continued to live during

this interval, but in a manner quite unlike

that on earth. After such a period of

waiting and purgation, the soul passed

into another human body. The Druids so

firmly believed that man reincarnated into

human form that their burial rites re-

quired that they burn and bury with the

dead the things that could be used again

in this new life.

There is a Jewish type of esoteric mys-

ticism that includes references that can

definitely be construed as pertaining to

reincarnation. It is believed that the ideas

are syncretic, that is, borrowed from

early Egyptian and Indian teachings. This

mysticism seems to be based on the fol-

lowing abstractions: “God is the creator

of everything; therefore, souls are his

creation. But does God continue an act

of creation? Does he create souls as soon

as men are born?”

This system of thought contends that

God does not create new souls. He

ceased creation at the end of the sixth

day. Souls of the dead, it is implied,

after a certain peregrination in paradise,

return again to the lower world. How-

ever, from this system of thought there

would appear to be, in addition, a

reservoir of unborn souls. More souls

were created by God than there were

human forms at first. This paradise to

which the souls go after death is a kind

of world in which there is a realization

of the glory of the Divine. There they

remain with those souls who are created

but have not yet been born. It is also

said that “Moses in ascent to heaven sees

the souls of the great and pious and those

who lived on earth. . . and those who are

to come to life hereafter.”

Greek Ideas

Herodotus, the celebrated Greek his-

torian, says that the Greeks (Pythagoras,

for example) gained their ideas of re-

incarnation and transmigration from the

Egyptians. The Orphic school of Greece

taught that the soul is imprisoned in the

body as in a dungeon. It continues to

return to earthly imprisonment until it

finally attains the virtue of perfection.

Plato, in his Dialogues, makes reference

to this notion.

The myth of Persephone, the daughter

of Demeter, related that she sent souls

back to earth from the underworld in the

ninth year when they were purified. After

three such incarnations on Earth, they

continued an immortal existence “in the

island of the blest.” A purified soul is

said to have remarked, “I have flown

out of the sorrowful weary wheel; I have

passed with eager feet to the circle

desired.” The wheel refers to the mystical

wheel of fortune. Its revolution symbolizes

the cycle of successive lives, the termina-

tion being the end of incarnations.

Heraclides Ponticus says that Pythag-

oras was permitted to retain the memory

of his previous incarnations. It is related

that he proved this on the occasion of a

visit to the Heraeum at Argolis. There

Pythagoras identified as his own the

shield of Euphorbus before seeing the

inscription upon it. Pythagoras implied

that he had been Euphorbus, who had

been killed before the walls of Troy.

It is also indicated from ancient

writings that Pythagoras apparently be-

lieved in transmigration. Once he took

pity on a dog being beaten, exclaiming,

“Beat him no more; for his soul is my

friend’s, as I recognized when I heard

his voice.” Pythagoras also declared that

the essence of soul is in animals, but

[24]