THE LIFE AFTER DEATH
(COMING BACK)
THE MODERN AGE
AS WE ENTER THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WE FIND THE IDEA OF REINCARNATION ATTRACTING THE MIND OF ONE OF THE WEST'S MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS, PAUL GAUGUIN, WHO DURING HIS FINAL YEARS IN TAHITI WROTE THAT WHEN THE PHYSICAL ORGANISM BREAKS UP, "THE SOUL SURVIVES ". IT THEN TAKES ON ANOTHER BODY, GAUGUIN WROTE, "DEGRADING OR ELEVATING ACCORDING TO MERIT OR DEMERIT". THE ARTIST BELIEVED THAT THE IDEA OF CONTINUED REBIRTH HAD FIRST BEEN TAUGHT IN THE WEST BY PYTHAGORAS, WHO LEARNED IT FROM THE SAGES OF ANCIENT INDIA.
U.S. AUTO MAGNATE HENRY FORD ONCE TOLD A NEWSPAPER INTERVIEW. "I ADOPTED THE THEORY OF REINCARNATION WHEN I WAS TWENTY-SIX".FOR SAID, "GENIUS, IS EXPERIENCE. SOME SEEM TO THINK THAT IT IS A GIFT OR TALENT, BUT IT IS THE FRUIT OF LONG EXPERIENCE IN MANY LIVES". IN A SIMILAR FASHION, U.S.GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON BELIEVED THAT HE HAD ACQUIRED HIS MILITARY SKILLS ON ANCIENT BATTLEFIELDS.
REINCARNATION IS A RECURRING THEME IN ULYSSES, BY IRISH NOVELIST AND POET JAMES JOYCE. IN ONE FAMOUS PASSAGE IN THIS NOVEL, JOYCE'S HERO, MR.BLOOM, TELLS HIS WIFE, "SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT WE GO ON LIVING IN ANOTHER BODY AFTER DEATH, THAT WE LIVED BEFORE. THEY CALL IT REINCARNATION. THAT WE ALL LIVED BEFORE. THEY CALL IT REINCARNATION. THAT WE ALL LIVED BEFORE ON THE EARTH THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO OR ON SOME OTHER PLANET. THEY SAY WE HAVE FORGOTTEN IT. SOME SAY THEY REMEMBER THEIR PAST LIVES.
MAHATMA GANDHI
MAHATMA GANDHI, ONE OF THE GREATEST POLITICAL FIGURES OF MODERN TIMES AND APOSTLE OF NONVIOLENCE, ONCE EXPLAINED HOW A PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING OF REINCARNATION GAVE HIM HOPE FOR HIS DREAM OF WORLD PEACE. GANDHI SAID, " I CANNOT THINK OF PERMANENT ENMITY BETWEEN MAN AND MAN, AND BELIEVING AS I DO IN THE THEORY OF REBIRTH, I LIVE IN THE HOPE THAT IF NOT IN THIS BIRTH, IN SOME OTHER BIRTH I SHALL BE ABLE TO HUG ALL OF HUMANITY IN FRIENDLY EMBRACE.
BRITISH POET LAUREATE JOHN MASEFIEL, IN HIS WELLKNOWN POEM ABOUT PAST AND FUTURE LIVES, WRITES:
👉
I HOLD THAT WHEN A PERSON DIES
HIS SOUL RETURNS AGAIN TO EARTH,
ARRAYED IN SOME NEW FLESH DISGUISE
ANOTHER MOTHER GIVES HIM BIRTH.
WITH STURDIER LIMBS AND BRIGHTER BRAIN
THE OLD SOUL TAKES THE ROAD AGAIN.
❤❤❤
MUSICIAN, SONGWRITER, AND CELEBRATED, EX-BEATLE GEORGE HARRISON'S SERIOUS THINKING ABOUT REINCARNATION IS REVEALED IN HIS PRIVATE THOUGHTS ON INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS. FRIENDS ARE ALL SOUL THAT WE'VE KNOWN IN OTHER LIVES.WE'RE DRAWN TO EACH OTHER. THAT'S HOW I FEEL ABOUT FRIENDS. EVEN IF I HAVE ONLY KNOWN THEM A DAY, IT DOESN'T MATTER. I'M NOT GOING TO WAIT TILL I HAVE KNOWN THEM FOR TWO YEARS, BECAUSE ANYWAY, WE MUST HAVE MET SOMEWHERE BEFORE, YOU KNOW.
REINCARNATION IS ONCE AGAIN ATTRACTING THE MINDS OF INTELLECTUALS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE WEST. FILMS, NOVELS, POPULAT SONGS, AND PERIODICALS NOW TREAT REINCARNATION WITH EVER-INCREASING FREQUENCY , AND MILLIONS OF WESTERNERS ARE RAPIDLY JOINING RANKS WITH THE MORE THAN 1.5 BILLION PEOPLE INCLUDING HINDUS, BUDDHISTS, TAOISTS, AND MEMBERS OF OTHER FAITHS, WHO HAVE TRADITIONALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT LIFE DOES NOT BEGIN AT BIRTH NOR END WITH DEATH. BUT SIMPLE CURIOSITY OR BELIEF IS NOT SUFFICIENT. IT IS MERELY THE FIRST STEP IN UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLETE SCIENCE OF REINCARNATION, WHICH INCLUDES KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO FREE ONESELF FROM THE MISERABLE CYCLE OF BIRTH AND DEATH.
