Have you ever felt like you were a different person?
Not really a different person - but another person, from a previous life.
Have you ever been out walking in a park or a wood, and suddenly felt like you’d somehow
been there before?
Or been out browsing in an antique store - touched an object and suddenly had a flashback to
your former life as a Venetian merchant during the height of the Republic of Venice?
Alright, perhaps not to the same degree as that - but the concept of Reincarnation has
proliferated itself through both ancient and contemporary religious faiths and practices
- and the idea of a recycled soul has often laid the foundation for the philosophies that
have shaped our civilization.
But what if they were actually on to something?
What if they were bang on the money - and Reincarnation was proven to be real?
Well - let’s find out.
Hello internet - what’s going on, and once again welcome back to the most inquisitive
channel on YouTube - Life’s Biggest Questions.
As per usual, I’ll be your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - as today, we curiously
ask the question, What If Reincarnation Was Real?
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from the fantastic 2012 film Cloud Atlas - based
on the resounding 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell - and it’s deliberately
placed there, because it neatly peruses us into this particular question - as Cloud Atlas
is perhaps one of the most vivid fictional interpretations of a lifetime of reincarnation.
And by lifetime I mean - well, quite a few of them.
Throughout the Cloud Atlas novel, it’s string of characters are cosmically bound together
through time and space - remembering small fragments of their former lives, that gradually
shape the outcome of their shared future.
The one thing that physically binds them, is a small, moon shaped birthmark that carries
on from soul to soul - which is quite nice, isn’t it?
But the fact of the matter is - if reincarnation *was* real - we’d be a very lucky bunch
if it played out the same way as it does in Cloud Atlas - meandering from human to human,
leaving behind enough tiny fragments to influence their present lives.
Because, well - if Cloud Atlas stuck hard to the more popular mechanic's of reincarnation
- there’s a good chance that one of them would have been trapped in a turtle's body
for a hundred or so years.
And that makes things quite difficult, to say the least.
Let me explain.
In Latin, the term Reincarnation literally means “to enter the flesh again” - which
also falls in line with the ancient Sanskrit word - Samsara - which means “wandering”
or in an even looser sense - “worldly”.
The origins of reincarnation are obscure, to say the least - but seem to have independently
appeared in the philosophical traditions of the Indian Subcontinent, Ancient Greece - and
the Celtic Druids of Iron Age Britain.
Although links between these three distinct cultural beliefs have been searched for - no
concrete correlation has ever been found - with some even suggesting that the belief of Reincarnation
was the key proponent in the belief system of an ancient, long lost civilization.
Spooky, right?
And that leads us to an incredibly curious thought.
If Reincarnation *was* real - then there’s already a very good chance that the same,
intrinsic sense of cosmic deja vu would have perhaps laid the foundation for these proto-religions.
Conceptually though, whilst also sharing the same foundational mechanics - reincarnation
varies widely from culture to culture - echoing out into different forms through Jainism,
Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Greek Philosophy, Orthodox Judaism, Kabbalism - as well as ancient
Orphism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism.
The list goes on and on - and you obviously get the point.
But for the vast majority of these beliefs - reincarnation is already a very real facet
of their religion.
And if we take a look at Tibetan Buddhism, there is one very important figure that exemplifies
the meaning of a recycled soul - His Holiness the Dalai Lama - who believe it or not, has
been around for quite a while.
Although the current Dalai Lama, also known as Tenzin Gyatso - is commonly referred to
as the 14th Dalai Lama - according to his teachings, he is in fact the seventy-fourth
in a lineage that can be traced back all the way to a young Brahmin boy who lived in the
time of Buddha Shakyamuni.
In that respect - through the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism - reincarnation is already
a very real thing, and an accepted part of everyday life.
But are there any other people that widely claim to be from an ancient lineage of reincarnation?
Well, yes - in fact thousands throughout history, albeit not as consistent as the Dalai Lama’s.
In 1926, Mahatma Gandhi himself investigated the claim of a four year old girl that remembered
the name of her former husband - who she later met, and recounted vivid memories from her
former life.
In 2014, a 3 year old boy fervently claimed that his middle name was Coe and that he’d
died at the age of 48 in his previous life - and that he was in fact Sidney Coe Howard,
the man that had written the screenplay for Gone With The Wind.
Terrifyingly, he was pretty much bang on the money.
The fact is, researchers such as Dr. Ian Stevenson, have dedicated their lives to studying thousands
of cases of children reporting memories of their past lives - the vast majority of which
are continuously verified, despite efforts to find other explanations.
For the most part, the credibility of these cases are at least addressed by the scientific
community - albeit scrutinised by sceptics, leaving pretty much everybody holding their
hands up and saying - yeah, I don’t know what’s going on - looks like reincarnation
to me.
Across the planet, children in particular - but also many adults, report some form of
spiritual mechanic that - seemingly - suggests that reincarnation is very much a transient
reality.
But here’s the rub, and here’s where perspective is the only way to truly answer this question
- because for many people, Reincarnation is already a very real, and very important facet
of their mortal lives.
In the Samsara belief of Jainism - it is believed that there are four movements of existence
that souls are continuously reborn into.
The lowest, the Infernal Kingdom - where things are pretty miserable.
Then the Animal and Plant Kingdom, then the Human Kingdom, which is us - and finally - the
Celestial Kingdom, where things are pretty great.
The thing is, it is also a commonly held belief in Jainism that each soul passes through 8.4
million birth-situations as they cycle through Samsara - which is, well, that’s quite a
lot really, isn’t it.
During that time, you could imagine that you’d pretty much be every living thing that there
possibly could ever be.
Cacti included.
You could be a blue whale for a while - that would be pretty awesome - or a cat.
You’d have hit the jackpot with a cat really.
Although, you could also be a chicken - and not the free range kind either - and that
wouldn’t be so great.
Or a mosquito.
Or a rat.
Yeah.
If you take the widely held belief of reincarnation as a metaphysical concept, the fact that you’re
even watching and listening to this video as a human, means that you’ve already hopefully
done a few good things in your several million past lives.
And there’s the answer really, whether you believe in Reincarnation or not - isn’t
it reminder enough to try and live your best life, to treat people kindly and with respect?
- to avoid potentially shifting your cosmic karma down another rung on the wheel of time
- and run the risk at the chance of being reincarnated as a slug.
Because no one wants that, right?
Yeah, better safe than sorry.
Well - there we have it guys, that’s the way that we see it - but why don’t you let
us know your thoughts as well as any other fleeting questions down in the comment section
below.
Before we depart, let’s take a quick look at some of your more creative comments from
over the past few days.
-- Asaph Franks says -- Do you ever hear other disembodied floating voices?
-- Great question buddy, but sadly, no.
It’s quite lonely out here, actually, floating through the cosmic void of questions … … help.
Ahh -- that’s got me all sad now.
Well, unfortunately folks - on that note that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video
- cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell, and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - you’ve been
watching Life’s Biggest Questions - and until next time, you take it easy.