Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: "Reincarnation: An East-West Anthology"

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

"Reincarnation: An East-West Anthology"

Steven H. Propp (amazon.com); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Reincarnation: An East-West Anthology by Joseph Head and S. L. Cranston sheds new light on the age-old question of immortality [rebirth after death] and offers a wealth of inspiration in a treasury of illuminating quotations.

Here in a single authoritative volume are quotations from the world's religions, philosophers, theologians, poets, writers, scientists, and statesmen.

"This is a very, very informative book! [Tootsiebelle gives it five out of five stars.]

"This book is a good starting point for anyone wishing to learn about reincarnation. It has just about everything on the subject in it.

"The first chapters on the lectures at Harvard are a little heavy, but once you get past that (and you don't even have to read that part) there is a wealth of information that I think is unmatched in any other book.

"It is intellectual without being boring, and fascinating and astounding without being too weird or unacceptable. Well done, and I highly recommend it. You'll be amazed!"

REVIEW: Reincarnation: An East-West Anthology including Quotations from the World's Religions and Over 400 Western Thinkers

PROBABLY THE MOST EXTENSIVE ANTHOLOGY OF WRITINGS ON REINCARNATION

Earlier version of the book, 1967 (amazon.com)

The authors write in the preface to this 1961 book (republished in 1999), "We must let the writers in the anthology speak for themselves.

"Dissenting opinions have also been included, and readers inclined to dismiss all theories of immortality [i.e., life after death, life after life] as wishful thinking will find this view considered...

"Some of the authors cited are chiefly concerned with one phase of reincarnation [rebirth], the pre-existence of the soul [self], plainly disregarding the theological notion that each soul is a new creation at [each] birth...

"The present volume is the most extensive collection of reincarnation quotations from modern and ancient literature thus far published..." (pp. viii-ix).

The book is divided into four parts:

Reincarnation in the World's Religions
Western Thinkers on Reincarnation
Scientists and Psychologists on Reincarnation
Scientists and Psychologists on Immortality and "Soul" and Related Concepts.

Buddhist

About Buddhism, they quote Edmund Holmes from The Creed of Buddha, "The question which we have to ask ourselves with regard to the Buddhist conception is a simple one: Is the identity between me and the inheritor of my Karma [deeds]... as real as the identity between the me of today and the me of 20 years hence...? If it is not as real, the doctrine of reincarnation is pure nonsense" (p. 21).

Jewish

The editors note that, "The ancient Jews were continually expecting the reincarnation of their great prophets. Moses was in their opinion Abel, the son of Adam; and their Messiah was to be the reincarnation of Adam himself, who had already come a second time as [King] David" (p. 42).

Christian

For Christian references to reincarnation, they cite the statement in Matthew:

Matthew 16:14, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets";
Matthew 17:12, "Elias is come already";
Matthew 11:14, "this is Elias, which was for to come";
and the disciples' statement in John 9:2, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" (pp. 42-43).

Theosophy

They observe, "The Theosophists... regard reembodiment [again becoming, reappearance, rebirth] as the universal law of evolutionary progress, holding that in an infinite universe there must be infinite possibilities for growth and development. Hence one would never outgrow the need for fresh experience and new cycles of incarnations, although a long period of rest and assimilation may separate one life from another" (p. 80).

They quote American Theosophist Annie Besant in Reincarnation, "The question... which is so often asked: 'Why do I not remember my past lives?' is really based on a misconception of the theory of reincarnation. 'I,' the true 'I,' does remember, but the animal-man, not yet in full responsive union with his true Self, cannot remember a past in which he, personally, had no share" (pp. 87-88).

This is really an excellent, very well-edited collection of writings and should be considered "must reading" for anyone seriously studying reincarnation. More

DETAILS