“Reincarnation contains a most comforting explanation of reality by
means of which Indian thought surmounts difficulties which baffle the thinkers
of Europe.”
- Albert Schweitzer
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. PhD
Reincarnation is a popular belief among many people, and it is a
fundamental basis for many religions. The general idea of reincarnation is the
belief that when a person dies he is reborn again. Is there a life after death?
The clinical evidence for reincarnation is subjective and arguable. Belief in
reincarnation has ancient roots.
Pre Historic Concepts on Reincarnation
Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350,000 years ago. The
first signs of religion are found in gravesites of Neanderthals in Eastern
Europe. These gravesites were found to have very clean fossils, with flowers,
dyes, and later, pottery placed around the body of the deceased. The
Neanderthals had unusual funeral rituals, which can be interpreted, as they
believed in some form of existence after life.
The Egyptians and Transmigration of the soul
The Egyptians Pharos believed in transmigration of the soul. This means
their immortal souls travel through the valley of Nile until it meets the next
existence. They thought the soul transmigrate from body to body. The Pharos
built mighty Pyramids to provide provisions and other necessities to their next
extramundane voyage.
The Ancient Greek Philosophers on Reincarnation
The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras taught that the soul
was immortal and the soul goes through a series of rebirths. Plato too shared
similar views as Pythagoras. Greek Platonism asserted the pre-existence of the
soul in a celestial world and its fall into a human body due to sin. In order
to be liberated from its bondage and return to a state of pure being, the soul
needs to be purified through reincarnation. The Greek philosopher, Socrates
declared, “I am confident that there truly is such a thing as living
again, that the living spring from the dead, and that the souls of the dead are
in existence.”
Reincarnation in the Upanishads
In India, the concept of reincarnation is first recorded in the
Upanishads. The Upanishads were the first writings to move the place of one’s
“second death” from the heavenly realm to this earthly world and to consider
its proper solution to be the knowledge of the atman-Brahman identity.
Reincarnation in Hinduism
Hinduism teaches that the soul goes on repeatedly being born and dying.
At the time the Vedic hymns were written, the view on afterlife was that a
human being continues to exist after death as a whole person.
Bhagavad Gita
In the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata, reincarnation
is clearly stated as a natural process of life that has to be followed by any
mortal.
Reincarnation in Buddhism
According to Buddhism, there is no permanent and unchanging soul. The
Buddha taught a concept of rebirth that was distinct from other religions. The
Buddha used the term Punarbhawa to explain reincarnation – an endless process
that is connected with the Sansara Chakra. Buddhism denies the existence of a
permanent soul that reincarnates from one life to the next. The Buddha
responded that only karma is passing from one life to another. To explain this
Buddha used the metaphor of the light of a candle, which is derived from
another candle without having a substance of its own.
Buddhism edifies that what is reborn is not the person but that one
moment gives rise to another and that that momentum continues, even after
death. In the Milindapanho – a dialogue between the king Menandar and the
Buddhist Monk Nagasena deeply analyze the concept of reincarnation.
Modern Research in Reincarnation
In the last decade of the 18th century, many scholars in the Western
World began to speculate on reincarnation. Father Leadbeater and Madam Helena
Blavatsky of the Theosophical society saw reincarnation as a form of evolution
and their writings and speeches made a profound impact on the Western World
about life after death. Numerous universities in the West started gathering
data on this subject. Comprehensive research on reincarnation started mainly
after the World War 2. The Western researchers explained the reincarnation in
terms of para-psychological phenomenon. Among the researchers, Dr Ian Stevenson
was prominent.
Reincarnation and the Western World
Reincarnation has captured the imagination of a significant number of
people in the West. A large number of Westerners are interested in
reincarnation and a number of movies like “The Reincarnation of Peter Proud”
(Directed by J . Lee Thompson, starring Michael Sarrazin and Jenifer O’Neal ) ,
Heaven Can Wait (starring Warren Beatty & Julie Christie) , Birth( Nicole
Kidman) ,Ghost (Patrick Swayze & Demi Moore ) and Darren Aronofsky’s movie
The Fountain captured mass popularity. According to a survey done in the USA
nearly 60% of Americans believe reincarnation is possible.
Case works of Dr. Ian Stevenson
Ian Stevenson was the former head of the Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Virginia who devoted many years to the scientific documentation
of past life memories of children from all over the world (Dr Stevenson
investigated 16 cases from Sri Lanka) and had over 3000 cases. Ian Stevenson
published his research article titled The Explanatory Value of the Idea of
Reincarnation, which made a huge impact on the scientific community. His book
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation that was published in 1974 became a
best seller. Dr. Ian Stevenson’s case works provide rigorous scientific
reasoning to explain reincarnation. His methodology was unique and Stevenson
evaluated the spontaneous narrations of the children who spoke of their
previous lives, then interviews, often repeated, with the subject and with
several or many other informants for both families. However, these methods led
critics to question the credibility of his research technique. Some have
criticized Ian Stevenson for being confirmation bias.
Skills & Past life
Some children show enormous talent in language, memory and skills. These
children could not acquire aptitude within their relatively short life years.
There are many reports of Child prodigies and their cognitive talents. Mozart
played a symphony at the age of seven, Carl Friedrich Gauss made his first
inventive mathematical discoveries while still a teenager, John von Neumann was
able to divide two 8-digit numbers in his head at the age of six, Alexander
Pope was a child prodigy as a poet, the famous Indian mathematician Srinivasa
Ramanujan mastered advanced trigonometry by the age of 12. Have these people
had certain exposure before?
Déjà vu experiences
The term Déjà vu experience was coined by Emile Boirac to explain the
uncanny feeling of having already seen or experienced something that is being
experienced for the first time. One could explain déjà vu experiences by
claiming that they were memories of past lives. Experiential evidence show that
certain people find familiar in unfamiliar places, proverbial in meeting
unknown people for the first time in their lives and so forth. Medical experts
argue Déjà vu experiences are evident in epilepsy.
Neurophysiologists point out that the déjà vu feeling is triggered by a
neurochemical action in the brain that is not connected to any actual
experience in the past.
Theories opposed to reincarnation (Selective thinking and False Memory
Syndrome)
Some disbelievers of reincarnation explain that claims of evidence for
reincarnation originate from selective thinking – a process that one focuses on
favorable evidence in order to justify a belief, ignoring unfavorable evidence
and sometimes following the psychological phenomena of false memories. In false
memory syndrome, person’s identity and relationships are affected by memories,
which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed. False memory syndrome
may account for the memory construction process, which leads people to
“remember living a past life.
Confabulation
Confabulation is defined as the spontaneous production of false
memories: either memories for events, which never occurred, or memories of
actual events that are displaced in space or time. These memories may be
elaborate and detailed. Confabulation is a form of memory disorder that may
occur in patients who have sustained damage to both the basal forebrain and the
frontal lobes, as after an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery.
Hysteria reactions misinterpreted as Reincarnation
Children suffering from dissociative disorders (hysteria) sometimes give
vivid descriptions under hypnotic trances and these expressions are
misinterpreted as the evidence of past lives by inexperienced hypnotherapists
who have no clinical background. A typical case was analyzed by Professor Carlo
Fonseka (Rebirth or Hysteria Island news paper 4th of January 2010) of a 14
year old girl with fainting attacks. Many reincarnation stories reported in
countries like Sri Lanka and India have much to do with disassociation. In
addition, some newspapers too fabricate and exaggerate stories in order to
capture the attention of the readers who lack rational thinking. In the past
few decades, some Sri Lankan newspapers reported reincarnations of the popular
artist Rukmani Devi, film actor Vijaya Kumaratunge and President Ranasinghe
Premadasa. These stories were found to be bogus and inflated.
Psychological trauma and a belief in reincarnation
A number of modern researches identified a possible link between
psychological trauma and a belief in reincarnation. Jonathan R. T Davidson from
the Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical
Center, Durham USA has extensively studied the beliefs in karma and
reincarnation among survivors of violent trauma in the general US population.
According to Davidson, personal experience of trauma may be associated with
greater acceptance, as well as certain demographic and health-associated variables.
The importance of holding belief in reincarnation, which may represent an
important way of coping following violent trauma,
Carl Jung & Collective Unconscious
Certain psychologists openly argued that past life memories are merely a
result of collective unconscious. According to them when exceptional numbers of
children recall people and places which is not connected to their present life
people believe these memories are linked to their past lives. These
psychologists disagree with the reincarnation phenomena. To explain this they
introduce Carl Jung’s famous expression “collective unconscious.
Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung who founded analytic
psychology coined the term collective unconscious. The collective unconscious
represents a form of the unconscious common to mankind as a whole and
originating in the inherited structure of the brain. It is distinct from the
personal unconscious (explained by Sigmund Freud) which arises from the
experience of the individual.
Jung saw the collective unconscious as being made up of so-called
“archetypes”. These archetypes being potentialities, or proclivities, that can
find a channel of expression in the finding of a mate, religion, art, myth, and
even in the eventual facing of death. Jung’s collective unconscious has been
described as a “storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from man’s
ancestral past, a past that includes not only the racial history of man as a
separate species but his pre-human or animal ancestry as well.
Following were the words of Carl Jung in which he elucidated his belief
in life after death
“My life often seemed to me like a story that has no beginning and no
end. I had the feeling that I was an historical fragment, an excerpt for which
the preceding and succeeding text was missing. I could well imagine that I
might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not
yet able to answer; that I had been born again because I had not fulfilled the
task given to me.”
Reincarnation and Edgar Cayce
American mystic Edgar Cayce better known as the Sleeping Prophet
promoted the theory of both reincarnation and karma. Cayce was deeply concerned
about reincarnation. Cayce did over 16,000 readings during his lifetime. The
exceptional book Many Mansions written by Gina Cerminara disclosed the patients
who were treated by Edgar Cayce and their past lives. Cayce explained the
symptomatology of these patients in a broad context of Karma. According to
Edgar Cayce, the illnesses that his clients had were due to karmic
repercussions.
Based on modern investigations of Edgar Cayce’s readings medical experts
say that Cayce frequently connected illness to the mental and emotional states
of the patients and he disregard the etiology of certain illnesses. His clients
predominantly had cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, gallstones,
kidney stones, hay fever, mental and psychological problems, digestive
problems, epilepsy, hemorrhoids, ulcers, psoriasis etc and according to Cayce
karmic repercussions had do with the symptoms. Cayce had stated that people
suffer from epilepsy as a result of adultery that they had committed in their
past lives. But modern neurophysiology explains the genesis of epilepsy that
has organic courses in the brain.
The famous Sri Lankan case study of Gnanathilaka
Well-known Sri Lankan reincarnation case study “The reincarnation of
Gnanathilaka” ( Navatha Upan Dariya) done by Dr H.S.S Nissanka along with Rev
Piyadassi in early seventies became world famous. Gnanathilaka a young child
articulated strange facts about a person named Thilakaratne believed to have
lived in Aranayaka in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. She claimed that in
her previous life she lived in Aranayaka and forced her parents to take her
there. The local research team took the child to Aranayaka and she recognized
her mother, sisters, brother, and teachers in the previous life.
Thilakaratne had seen the Queen Elizabeth when she first visited Sri
Lanka in 1954. Gnanathilaka could vividly recall this incident. In her present
life, she had never seen the ocean. When queried she could give specific
details of the ocean and seashore.
Thilakaratne died as a teenager at the Arnayaka Government Hospital
under strange circumstances. Dr. Abraham Kovoor of Minnesota Institute of
Philosophy USA and the leader of the rationalist movement who openly denounced
the supernatural and life after death claimed that the death certificate of
Thilakaratne produced by the research team was not a genuine and the
investigation was biased and non scientific. Although Dr. Abraham T Kovoor
challenged the credibility of this local reincarnation research Dr Ian Stevenson
accredited the reincarnation case of Gnanathilaka. (According to the
information provided by Dr Darmasiri Herath , Gnanathilaka now a grown woman
and working as an Aurvedic practitioner.)
The Search for Bridey Murphy
The story of Bridey Murphy created a mass speculation in the West. Morey
Bernstein’s bestselling book The Search for Bridey Murphy tells about hypnotic
regression. Morey Bernstein a skillful hypnotist in Colorado, once hypnotized a
housewife named Virginia Tighe. In the hypnotic session Bernstein probed
Tighe’s memories back to childhood and then, as it seemed, to an earlier life.
During the hypnotic regression Virginia Tighe stated that in her previous life
she lived in Ireland and her name was Bridey Murphy. She mentioned the street
in Ireland where Bridey Murphy believed to have lived, a name of a laundry near
her previous residence, several names and other information.
A group of lawyers conducted an independent investigation on Bridey
Murphy case. They found more than century old facts about a woman named Bridey
Murphy in Ireland. It was revealed that Bridey Murphy was not a fictitious
character. She truly lived in Ireland in the 19 th Century. Those who opposed
Bridey Murphy case argued that Virginia Tighe came out with childhood memories
during the hypnotic session. Also they pointed out that Virginia Tighe had an
Irish nanny when she was small. Also they highlighted on the facts that the
19th century Irish poems which Virginia Tighe uttered during hypnosis could
have learnt from her Irish nanny.
Past Life Therapy
Past life therapy is based on the argument that some people carry in
their subconscious mind memories of unpleasant events of their past lives and
these subconscious memories adversely affect them in their present lives. By
hypnosis they can be regressed beyond their birth to their previous lives. Past
life therapists assure many ailments, all types’ phobias and even certain
physical ailments can be cured by such hypnotic regression. Past life therapy
has now become a standard western medical treatment for such ailments.
Dr. Brian Weiss and Past Life Therapy
Dr. Brian Weiss was one of the first doctors to explore the past lives
of his patients as a means of therapy. A graduate of Columbia University and
Yale Medical School, Brian L. Weiss is the Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at
the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. His revolutionary book “Many Lives
Many Masters” opened an unexpected door into the astonishing realm of past-life
regression. Dr. Brian Weiss gives an astonishing case study of Katharine who
had past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares
and anxiety attacks.
Hypnotic regression and Reincarnation
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness and heightened
responsiveness to suggestions. It is a trance state characterized by extreme
suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination. During regressive
hypnotherapy, a person is guided into a deep state of relaxation and/or trance
by way of hypnosis. In theory by entering this state, the conscious mind, which
is responsible for processing information, can be by-passed. Thus, the
sub-conscious mind can be accessed. Some hold the belief that the hypnotic
regression as a proof for reincarnation. Those who oppose hypnotic regression
declare that in a Hypnotic regression, repressed childhood memories come in to
action it if wrongly interpreted as evidence of past life.
Dr. Raymond Moody & Near- Death Experience
Dr. Raymond Moody is recognized as the father of NDE research. He has
chronicled and studied many of these experiences in several books. Dr. Raymond
Moody, in his innovative book “Life After Life,” coined the term “near- death
experience.” Dr. Moody was the first person to document the core experience of
an NDE.
A near-death experience (NDE) is the perception reported by a person who
nearly died or who was clinically dead and revived. The experience often
includes an out-of-body experience. The phenomenology of an NDE usually
includes physiological, psychological and transcendental factors. Typically the
experience follows a distinct progression, starting with the sensation of
floating above one’s body and seeing the surrounding area, followed by the
sensation of passing through a tunnel, meeting deceased relatives, and
concluding with encountering a being of light (Morse, Conner & Tyler,
1985).
Dr. Raymond Moody‘s book Life After Life appeared in 1975. Dr. Ray Moody
described an elderly woman’s account of her near-death experience so accurate
that she even correctly reported the colors of the instruments used on her.
What is especially impressive about this example is that she had been blind for
over fifty years. In another account, from a proactive Dutch NDE study, a nurse
removed the dentures of an unconscious heart attack victim, and was asked by
him after his recovery to return them (van Lommel et.al, 2001).
On Death and Dying – Dr.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss-born psychiatrist who became a
pioneer in the field of thanatology (the study of death and dying). Her first
book On Death and Dying in 1969 made Kübler-Ross an internationally renowned
author. On Death and Dying examines the attitudes of the dying and the factors
that contribute to society’s anxiety over death. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once
stated that “Death is simply a shedding of the physical body like the butterfly
shedding its cocoon. It is a transition to a higher state of consciousness
where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, and to be able to
grow”.
Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross believed that death is a highly creative
force. The highest spiritual values of life can originate from the thought and
study of death. In the later part of her career she believed that death is not
an end. Dr. Kubler-Ross implied there may be another dimension after death.
Conclusion
Reincarnation is an unknown phenomenon that needs more research and
investigation. The tools and technology that we use today may not be advanced
enough to discover a natural phenomenon like reincarnation. For instance, 500
years ago people had no means to prove the existence of radioactivity in the
environment. Time and human progression had solved many natural mysteries in
the past. Perhaps the mystery of reincarnation will be resolved within another
few decades with the advancement of science and technology. Until such time it
remains an enigma and a debatable subject.
These were the words of Professor Carl Sagan of Cornell University about
reincarnation and paranormal activities.
At the time of writing there are three claims in the ESP field which, in
my opinion, deserve serious study: (1) that by thought alone humans can
(barely) affect random number generators in computers; (2) that people under
mild sensory deprivation can receive thoughts or images “projected” at them;
and (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life,
which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known
about in any way other than reincarnation.
Is there any Scientific Evidence Favorable to
Reincarnation?
Reincarnation is the belief that when a person
dies, he is reborn again. Reincarnation is regarded as the mental
continuum of an individual. Belief in reincarnation is an ancient
phenomenon and exists in many cultures.
The Egyptians believed in the soul's
immortality. In India, the concept of reincarnation is first recorded in
the Upanishads. Hinduism teaches that the soul goes on repeatedly being
born and dying. The Greek philosopher and the mathematician
Pythagoras believed that the soul was immortal and was reincarnated into
another living being at death. The belief in reincarnation is central to
Plato's philosophy. Plato's concept of metempsychosis edifies
that the soul is immortal and passes through cycles of incarnation in
birth and release from the body at death.
The Christian concept of resurrection is different
from reincarnation; resurrection is the coming to life again of the same being
with a transformation of the body into an immortal form of being. The early
Christian theologians such as Valentinus and Basilides of Alexandria believed
in reincarnation. In 553 A.D. during the Second Council of Constantinople the
idea of reincarnation was rejected by the theologians.
The Italian philosopher, and cosmological theorist
Giordano Bruno believed in reincarnation, and he was
sentenced to be burned at the stake by the Inquisition. French Writer Voltaire
(1694-1778) espoused his belief in reincarnation. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
believed that the human soul persisted and returned in a new body after death.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) openly supported the concept of reincarnation.
Reincarnation In the Buddhist Doctrine
Although the concept of Reincarnation is refuted by
monotheistic religions, reincarnation (which is an ongoing process) is central
to Buddhism. Johannes Bronkhorst who is a Dutch Orientalist and Indologist,
specializing in Buddhist studies and early Buddhism highlights that the Buddha
did believe in reincarnation. Professor K. N. Jayatilleke indicated that the
Buddha’s explanation on rebirth was based on empirical grounds.
According to Buddhist teaching there is no eternal
“soul,” “spirit” or “self”. Buddhist doctrine rejects the premise of a
permanent, unchanging soul. There is no soul that bridges the gap between life
and death. Buddhism denies the transmigration of a soul. Buddhism regards the
mind as a transient mental state. The Buddha replaced the soul by the theory of
mind-continuum.
In Buddhist psychology there are eight levels of
consciousness. Five of them are sense consciousness like, Visual
consciousness, Auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory
consciousness and tactile consciousness. Sixth is mental consciousness,
seventh is Manas consciousness and eighth consciousness is store consciousness
(equivalent to subconscious mind). Store consciousness is both individual
consciousness and collective consciousness (Upadhyaya, 2021). The Buddha taught
that consciousness is always continuing, like a stream of water. Buddhist
teachings indicate that consciousness arises at the moment of conception with
the forming of new life in the mother’s womb.
Reincarnation is the mental continuum of an
individual. It’s a phenomenon of a constantly changing continuity of moments of
awareness. Buddhism teaches that stream of consciousness links with
life. The stream of consciousness is not a single entity, but a process,
and the process continues. The Buddha responded that only karma is passing
from one life to another.
When a person dies there is a causal continuum of
consciousness. This consciousness is neither identical to nor entirely
different from that in the deceased. Relinking
consciousness is not transmigration from the previous existence.
It comes into existence by means of conditions included in the previous
existences. This process is regulated by the accumulated Karmas. Here
the analogy is the flame of a dying candle can serve to light the flame of
another. A flame is transferred from one candle to another. Hence
consciousness is a continuous birth and death of mind-states. It is linking an
individual to past and future existences. The person who dies here and is
reborn elsewhere is neither the same person, nor another.
This process is known as Puranbhava aka
Reincarnation or multiple incarnations. It is the process of cyclic
existence or Samsara. Being born and dying continues unbroken but changes
every moment. Therefore, the practice of Buddhism aims at ending rebirth.
According to the Buddhist doctrine - Chuthi
Patisandhi- a thought moment occurs when a person dies. It is the mind set
during death in the current existence and then grasping the next life. A dying
person has a Cuti Citta which is known as exit consciousness. This
consciousness is a form of transitory energy. The being to be reborn is known
as Gandhabba – which is a non-biological life form or life-stream and
inter being. Gandhabba is a form of consciousness. Cuti Citta or exit
consciousness transforms into Gandhabba conscious form. Between Cuti Citta and
Gandhabba form is called Antarābhava (Inter-becoming) or intermediate
existence. These are three different stages. (some Buddhist schools
believe that there is no interval -antarābhava or intermediate existence). A
Gandhabba has a Manomaya kaya – nonphysical mental body. The Gandhabba can
enter another womb when a matching one becomes available. Hence rebirth
occurs. Three conditions are essential for conception: “the union of
mother and father, the mother in season, and the presence of
Gandhabba. It’s important to know that the Gandhabba concept is different
from the idea of a “soul. Gandhabba is present at the point of conception
as a form of consciousness. These processes are governed by the Karmic force or
karmic retribution.
Freudian
and Jungian Perspectives on Reincarnation
Freud thought that the belief in reincarnation
relates to the denial of death. For Freud rebirth fantasy seems to be a
universal fantasy in the human mind, connected with the experience of both
destruction and creation. According to the psychoanalytic notion the belief
relates to initial hopes for a better life and the fantasy of life after death
is universal. Following the death drive man has a desire to return to
inanimate matter in a form of rebirth. For Freud the concept of rebirth is an attempt
to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. Freud saw belief in
reincarnation is a way for individuals to come to terms with their own
mortality. Human has a compulsion to repeat his life over and over again
and this unconscious wish is expressed as a belief in life after death.
Carl Jung believed in reincarnation
and collective unconscious. For Jung “Collective Unconscious,” is
supposedly the universal consciousness of mankind that lies at a subconscious
level. It apparently consists of inherited memories shared by all human beings
that go back countless generations into prehistory. (In Mahayana Buddhism the
store-house consciousness is known as ālāyavijñāna) Some psychologists openly
argue that past life memories are merely a result of collective unconscious.
Jung saw psychoanalysis as a path of redemption, of revitalization, of rebirth.
Does Consciousness Continue after Death?
For William James consciousness was our own
personal experience of perceiving, thinking, emoting, and acting. He used the
phrase “stream of consciousness”- consciousness flows linearly with time.
Consciousness is directed toward an object, and it has intentionality and
transience. Neuroscientists believe that the brain creates
consciousness. Neural information becomes conscious when it gains access
to Global neuronal workspace. Consciousness does not disappear during
general anesthesia. Consciousness requires a functioning brain. Neural
activity translating into conscious experiences and after biological death
this neural activity cease to exist.
Consciousness after death is not universally agreed
upon. However, some experts say that we cannot find the actual conscious
experience while measuring brain activity because we’re measuring from the
wrong cognitive frame of reference. Moreover, they tend to say that the brain
doesn’t create our conscious experience and consciousness is a fundamental
property of all physical systems (panpsychism).
Disruptions of human consciousness occur due to
pharmacological, neuropathological, or psychiatric causes. The brain
is structurally, and functionally connected and neurochemical processes
produce subjective experiences. Is NDE (Near-death Experiences) a conscious
experience after death? Near-death experiences (NDEs) are caused by reduced
blood flow, coupled with abnormal electrical behavior inside the
brain. Prof Carlo Fonseka - A Sri Lankan academic elucidated that there is
no consciousness after biological death (Personal Communication, 2009). With
biological death essential neural activity disappears.
Is Ian Stevenson's Work Suitable Evidence for
Reincarnation?
Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, from the University of
Virginia tried to offer some evidence to support the reincarnation hypothesis.
His 1966 book, “Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation” emphasizes
spontaneous recall of information about previous lives by young children.
Some investigators have tried to debunk the work of Ian Stevenson by
questioning his methodology. They point out methodological flaws in Stevenson’s
research methods. They state that he was confirmation biased in these studies.
Moreover, his hypotheses were not falsifiable, and his data was not definitive
to suggest reincarnation. When investigating reincarnation cases in other
counties Stevenson had no cultural competence and sometimes his translators
consciously and instinctively offered data confirming reincarnation. Stevenson
disregarded the role of cultural conditioning. Most of his cases were based on
anecdotal evidence.
Does deja vú Explain Reincarnation?
Deja vu is the phenomenon of feeling as though one
has lived through the present situation before. Deja vu is a psychological
experience. Those who support the concept of reincarnation explain that déjà vu
experiences are memories of past lives. However, the researchers point out that
déjà vu experiences do not confirm the reincarnation hypothesis. déjà vu
experiences can occur as a result of certain brain dysfunction, assimilation of
information by brain’s hemispheres in two different times or in cryptomnesia.
Furthermore, Déjà vu is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Is Xenoglossy Evidence for Reincarnation?
Xenoglossy is a phenomenon in which a person is
allegedly able to speak, write or understand a foreign language that they could
not have acquired by natural means. Those who believe in reincarnation state
that cases of xenoglossy provide evidence for reincarnation. Some researchers
think that xenoglossy is not definitive evidence for
reincarnation. They claim that xenoglossy is likely to
occur when the ability to properly monitor sources is impaired. They
suggest fraud, fantasy, and knowledge acquired through normal means.
The critics of reincarnation suggest that xenoglossy is merely an
expression of subconscious language learning. Those who are naturally gifted in
learning new languages may pick up on words and phrases without noticing.
According to the researchers, foreign language syndrome and foreign
accent syndrome are signs of disruption in brain function especially from
small focal lesions resulting from left hemisphere strokes and tumors,
traumatic brain injury (TBI), migraine, multiple sclerosis, primary progressive
aphasia.
Selective Thinking and False Memory Syndrome
Some disbelievers of reincarnation explain that
claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking – a
process that one focuses on favorable evidence to justify a belief, ignoring
unfavorable evidence and sometimes following the psychological phenomena of
false memories. In false memory syndrome, a person’s identity and relationships
are affected by memories, which are factually incorrect but are strongly
believed. False memory syndrome may account for the memory construction process,
which leads people to remember living a past life.
Are child Prodigies an Example of
Reincarnation?
Those who support the concept of reincarnation
point out the phenomenon of child prodigies who exhibit intelligence or talents
that could not be explained by either heredity or environment. The skeptics
attribute these skills to high functional autism, abnormal brain mapping due to
genetic predisposition and hyper brain with enhanced brain plasticity. They
point out that some children who were subject to maladaptive alterations by
purely deleterious mutations, maladapted genotypes end up with high intelligence
and extraordinary skills. Several researchers have indicated specific genes
that contribute to high ability. Twin studies have shown that both musical
ability and mathematical achievement have a substantial genetic component.
False Memory Syndrome and Confabulation
Some disbelievers of reincarnation explain that
claims of evidence for reincarnation originate from selective thinking – a
process that one focuses on favorable evidence in order to justify a belief,
ignoring unfavorable evidence and sometimes following the psychological
phenomena of false memories. In false memory syndrome, a person's identity and
relationships are affected by memories, which are factually incorrect but are
strongly believed. False memory syndrome may account for the memory construction
process, which leads people to remember living a past life.
Belief in reincarnation could be linked to an error
in processing of memories or due to confabulation. Confabulation is
defined as the spontaneous production of false memories: either memories of
events which never occurred, or memories of actual events that are displaced in
space or time. These memories may be elaborate and detailed. Confabulation is a
form of memory disorder that may occur in patients who have sustained damage to
both the basal forebrain and the frontal lobes, as after an aneurysm of the
anterior communicating artery.
Another possible explanation is cryptomnesia, where
a person may have experienced something similar in their current life and
mistakenly attribute it to a past life. Children suffering from
dissociative disorders (hysteria) sometimes give vivid descriptions under
hypnotic trances and these expressions are misinterpreted as the evidence of
past lives by inexperienced hypnotherapists who have no clinical background.
Paramnesia: Memory Distortions
People with medial temporal or
prefrontal lesions are more prone to Paramnesias, or misidentifications
syndrome. In reduplicate paramnesia, a patient is convinced that
a person, a place, or an object exists in duplicate. A disturbed sense of
familiarity may produce this phenomenon. In the reduplication of time, a
patient believes that he or she exists in two different, parallel time points.
Can Edgar Cayce's Readings
Prove Reincarnation?
Edgar Cayce -self-proclaimed faith healer did
over 16,000 readings during his lifetime. The exceptional book Many Mansions
written by Gina Cerminara disclosed the patients who were treated by Edgar
Cayce and their past lives. Based on modern investigations of Edgar
Cayce’s readings, medical experts say that Cayce frequently connected illness
to the mental and emotional states of the patients and he disregarded the
etiology of certain illnesses. His clients predominantly had cancer, multiple
sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, gallstones, kidney stones, hay fever, mental
and psychological problems, digestive problems, epilepsy, hemorrhoids, ulcers,
psoriasis etc. and according to Cayce karmic repercussions had do with the
symptoms. Cayce had stated that people suffer from epilepsy as a result of
adultery that they had committed in their past lives. But modern
neurophysiology explains the genesis of epilepsy that has organic courses in
the brain.
Some of his readings were inaccurate and he mostly
gave folk remedies. His case studies were not based on empirical
evidence, and it cannot be independently evaluated. Moreover, Cayce was
never subjected to proper testing. The experts often question the validity of
his abilities.
Can Past Life Regressions Provide Evidence of
Reincarnation?
Past life regressions or past life therapy is based
on the argument that some people carry in their subconscious mind memories of
unpleasant events of their past lives and these subconscious memories adversely
affect them in their present lives. By hypnosis they can be regressed beyond
their birth to their previous lives. However, medical experts indicate that
past life regressions increase one's susceptibility to false
memories. Also, there is a risk of implanting false memories in patients. Some
hold the belief that hypnotic regression is not proof for reincarnation. Those
who oppose hypnotic regression declare that in a hypnotic regression, repressed
childhood memories come into action if wrongly interpreted as evidence of past
life.
The Theories Opposed to Reincarnation.
The English Philosopher Antony Flew highlights
that reincarnation is a non-repeatable counter instance that is not
amenable to scientifically controlled conditions. As claims of reincarnation
cannot be validated via a laboratory experiment, the best we could do is to
jettison reincarnation as untenable.
He further argues that the basic problem associated
with reincarnation as a theory of mind is not that it lacks evidence in support
of its claims, but that even in the face of its claims, it runs short of a
well-developed and systematic theory.
Steven D. Hales Professor of Philosophy at
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania argues that the basic problem
associated with reincarnation as a theory of mind is not that it lacks evidence
in support of its claims, but that even in the face of its claims, it runs
short of a well-developed and systematic theory. For Hales, there would have
been not much difficulty in accepting the reincarnation hypothesis if it is
empirically testable, falsifiable and subject to confirming evidence.
Concluding Thoughts
Reincarnation is a highly contradictory and
controversial philosophical-religious and cultural concept. Belief in
reincarnation has some epistemological implications. It is a belief in the
absence of valid empirical data. There is no scientific evidence to prove
reincarnation. The suggestive cases of reincarnation (past-lives” testimonies)
cannot be independently verified, and there are psychological and cultural
factors that can influence such claims. These testimonies are the products of
social conditioning rather than actual memories of past lives. From a
scientific and empirical standpoint, the concept of reincarnation remains
unproven and subject to skepticism.
Biologically, reincarnation is explained in terms
of the expression of dominant genes that come from the ancestors. People
acquire the genetic information of their past relatives. Those
who oppose the concept argue that reincarnation originates from selective
thinking and from false memories. Reincarnation is a hypothesis and up to
date it’s not an evidence-based reality. There is no definitive data supporting
the reincarnation hypothesis. So far no one has done controlled experiments in
reincarnation.
Can we prove that reincarnation is a fact? Ian
Stevenson used to say the word proof should only be used in mathematics. In
science it’s all about evidence, not proof. Science can only lay hands-on
things in the physical universe. Although the existence of reincarnation
is not yet a scientific truth, scientifically we don’t have the
instruments to measure the process of rebirth directly.
Maybe reincarnation can’t be proven within the scope of generally
acceptable scientific thinking. Reincarnation is basically just an untestable
claim. Some argue that reincarnation is a paranormal phenomenon
transcending the boundaries of time, space and force. Reincarnation may be
outside the scope of our measurements and can't be
falsified. Reincarnation may be the “Great Beyond” and further research is
essential to come to a valid conclusion.
Can Reincarnation be Explained with Quantum Theory?
Recently Dr Mahinda Pathirana of the Sabaragamuwa
University of Sri Lanka, made an attempt to explain reincarnation via quantum
mechanics. He uses the Buddhist teachings, Milinda / Nagasena debate and some
of the ideas of the 2nd Century Buddhist Philosopher Nagarjuna. He is
bringing Quantum entanglement to explain the method of transferring
consciousness and how the birth of a consciousness in another body.
A complex and philosophical question is why we are
born into a particular body and life. Is it something random? or
predetermined? According to the current understanding of quantum mechanics
things happening in the universe are probabilistic rather than
deterministic. We know that Brownian motion is a random motion. Is it
possible for the universe to be deterministic at certain
levels? Remember Albert Einstein stated, “God does not play
dice”. Therefore, some people say nothing is "random" in the
real world.
Those who agree with reincarnation try to highlight
the connections between reincarnation and quantum mechanics and quantum
entanglement. Quantum entanglement explains how two subatomic particles can be
intimately linked to each other even if separated by billions of light-years of
space. These particles communicate faster than the speed of light.
Neuro-experts point out quantum effects in neural processes. Quantum entanglement links everything in the
Universe. Deepak Chopra says that quantum entanglement links everything in
the Universe, and therefore it must create consciousness. But I must say that
the scientific community does not regard Deepak Chopra to be a credible
scientist and his theories lack empirical evidence and they are not supported
by mainstream scientific research. Moreover, Art Hobson Prof of Physics,
University of Arkansas specifies that quantum entanglement has nothing directly
to do with consciousness.
Despite these skeptical ideas can we say
consciousness operates on a quantum level? Some claim that consciousness is a
manifestation of quantum processes in the brain. The British molecular
biologist Francis Crick and neurophysiologist Christof Koch proposed that
consciousness is generated by networks of neurons oscillating in synchrony.
Crick and Koch (2005) indicated that the “claustrum” which is a thin,
irregular, sheet-like neuronal grey matter structure that lies beside the
insular cortex, may be involved in the processing of consciousness.
Consciousness is a complex and multifaceted
phenomenon. However, so far, physicists have explained that quantum
entanglement is a physical reality.
Quantum Theory and Consciousness
Consciousness implies awareness: subjective,
phenomenal experience of the internal and external worlds. Consciousness
creates the physical world moment by moment. Consciousness emerged as a
property of complex biological computation during the course of
evolution. Some suggest that consciousness is a quantum phenomenon.
Connections between neurons alone cannot explain consciousness. Therefore, as
an alternative theory some propose the quantum mind or quantum consciousness.
Does the human brain use quantum computation? Can quantum theory help us to
understand consciousness?
Quantum theory is characterized by the
acknowledgment of a fundamental limitation in the classical physical ideas when
applied to atomic phenomena. Niels Bohr's philosophy of quantum
mechanics helps us to understand physical realities. We know that Bohr
was inspired by Immanuel Kant. Kant stated that without any consciousness we
would make no distinction. For Kant, consciousness results from
differentiation.
Bohr believed that the discovery of quantum
mechanics could and should inform philosophy about new ways of understanding
human knowledge. It would replace causal-space-time description of classical
physics in order to preserve objectivity. Einstein's theory is also central to
quantum mechanics.
Scientists use string theory to describe the
fundamental forces and particles in the universe. Can string theory
explain consciousness? String theory highlights that reality is made up of
infinitesimal vibrating strings. As string theory describes everything consists
of quantum strings. Some experts postulate that the idea of consciousness being
directly related to the position and configuration of strings. They think that
string theory and consciousness are two sides of the same coin.
Some Neurologists speculate that the functioning of
the brain is quantum. Quantum fields have holographic nature (every component
already contains all the information of the whole) This indicates the multidimensional
nature of reality.
Consciousness is the sensory awareness of the body,
the self, and the world. Human consciousness arises from quantum
fields. Still, we don’t have an accurate picture of quantum dimensions of
reality. We cannot focus on consciousness from the perception of the physical
senses. Consciousness goes far beyond the limitations of mechanistic
materialism.
Having said that, we know that neurons alone
cannot explain consciousness. Can we use quantum mechanics to explain the
function of consciousness? Quantum mechanics allows the calculation of
properties and behavior of physical systems. Quantum physics suggests that two
particles will respond simultaneously to an active agent, regardless of
distance. There is a deeper connection between consciousness and quantum
mechanics. The mathematics of quantum mechanics might show us how
consciousness works. We as humans live in a fundamental nondeterministic world.
Quantum interaction remains indeterministic. The universe operates
according to deterministic laws of physics such as consciousness. Consciousness
belongs to the subatomic world which is fundamentally inscrutable.
Can we conclude that consciousness is based in the
brain? Neuropsychologists believe that consciousness may arise from the complex
interactions of neural networks in the brain. Conceivably Brain is a quantum
processor. Kodukula (2009) theorized that the conscious brain works like
a projector.
Here I want to bring an illustration. Most likely
you may have seen how Jimi Hendrix played his guitar. Where does that
electronic melody come from? Did it come from his Fender Stratocaster guitar
itself or from Jimi Hendrix’s fingers? That innovative, powerful, and
expressive sound came from the combination of his fingers and Fender
Stratocaster guitar. Consciousness too comes as a series of
combinations.
Hiroomi Umezawa - Physicist and Distinguished
Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin
interpreted memory and other conscious phenomena as the result of the energy
exchange of energy particles in the cerebral cortical field. Is there a
quantum-level substance that can be transmitted between neurons, such as a
neurotransmitter, which conveys consciousness-related information? Hameroff and
team (2014) proposed that consciousness depends on biologically
‘orchestrated’ coherent quantum processes in collections of microtubules within
brain neurons.
Javier García-Castro and Prasad Kodukula Siva state
that a fundamental property of the entire universe and that conscious
experience emerges by transformation from mind (‘‘jeeton’’) to matter
(‘graviton’). Graviton is a postulated quantum that is thought to be the
carrier of the gravitational field and jeeton is a quantum
particle. Kodukula (2019) hypothesized that the interaction between
‘jeeton’ and ‘graviton’ gives rise to consciousness. This model emphasizes that
‘mind’ is a consequence of ‘jeeton’ and the ‘matter’ is a consequence of
‘graviton’. Their entanglement gives rise to consciousness. However, it’s
important to mention that jeeton / graviton theory is a hypothesis and still
there is no empirical evidence to prove this fact.
The Concept of Reincarnation and Quantum Physics
The concept of reincarnation cannot be explained
through classical Newtonian physics. There is no empirical evidence to prove
reincarnation using mathematics or cell biology. However, some experts
use Quantum physics to explain the reincarnation process.
Can we use quantum physics to explain metaphysical
theories of reincarnation? Quantum physics, as a branch of science,
primarily deals with the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest
scales. We all agree that Quantum physics opens a totally new world view
and provides a new understanding of spiritual philosophy. Quantum physics gives
a new cosmovision. Newtonian physics was deterministic and Quantum science is
probabilistic. Quantum science is holistic, acknowledging a multi-dimensional
universe. Through Newtonian physics we can understand the objective world
scientifically through the senses. But Quantum physics can explain things
beyond our sensors.
According to quantum theory energy is not
continuous but comes in discrete units and the elementary particles behave both
like particles and like waves. Quantum physics has evidenced that one particle
can be in more than one place at the same time. Subatomic particles communicate
instantaneously and travel faster than the speed of light. At the subatomic
level, matter does not exist with certainty in definite places. Sometimes a
particle acts like a particle, sometimes like a wave. Therefore, the quantum world
evolves beyond the common parameters of the space-time characteristic of the
macroscopic realm.
Can consciousness exist without or beyond the human
brain? Can consciousness open to other dimensions? Human consciousness has
multidimensional, holistic and holographic properties. Some physicists conclude
that consciousness is primary and the creative basis for the material world.
The entire humankind may be living in a universe of
consciousness. Consciousness is a great part of the cosmic ocean.
consciousness cannot be reduced to matter. Can we detect
transmigration of consciousness using quantum physics? Perhaps reincarnation
resides quantum definition of physical reality? Those who agree with
reincarnation suggest that quantum memory remains after biological death and it
transmigrate to another plains as a special type of consciousness and continues,
through to another incarnation. This is universal interconnectedness. May be
reincarnation is a quantum reality.
Can consciousness move to another reality after
death? Jerzy Zbigniew Achimowicz of the Warsaw Medical Academy state that
when a human being dies, the seat of mind, generates a quantum solitary
electromagnetic wave packet and then reincarnation may happen if given
seat of mind (consciousness) finds a brain of a newborn with similar
genotype. (consciousness attaches to a new brain?)
Reincarnation Explained in the Buddhist Doctrine
As described by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu who is an
American Buddhist monk and author, rebirth has always been a central teaching
in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha did not believe in a transmigration
of soul and replaced the soul by the theory of mind-continuum (Thupten Tenzlng
- Karma and Rebirth in Buddhism). There is a causal link between a subtle form
of consciousness present at the time of death and the first moment of
consciousness in the next life (Finnigan, 2023).
According to Buddhist doctrine a thought moment
occurs when a person dies. It is the mind set during death in the current
existence and then grasping the next life. A dying person has exit
consciousness. This consciousness is a form of transitory energy. Exit
consciousness transforms into another level of consciousness and it can enter
another womb when a matching one becomes available. Hence rebirth occurs. Three
conditions are essential for conception: “the union of mother and father, the
mother in season, and the presence of a transformed level of exit consciousness.
The Buddhist concept denies the existence of an
eternal soul. Instead of an eternal soul, they believe in transforming
consciousness which is not static. These processes are governed by the Karmic
force or karmic retribution. Here the analogy is the flame of a dying candle
can serve to light the flame of another. A flame is transferred from one candle
to another. Hence consciousness is a continuous birth and death of mind-states.
It is linking an individual to past and future existences. The person who dies
here and is reborn elsewhere is neither the same person, nor another.
Milinda was the King of the Indo-Greek Kingdom who
probably reigned from about 155 to 130 BCE. King Milinda had a debate with
Bhikkhu Nagasena about rebirth.
In the Milinda / Nagasena debate the king
asked:
"When someone is reborn, Venerable Nagasena,
is he the same as the one who just died or is he another?"
Ven Nagasena replied: "He is neither the same
nor another."
"Give me an illustration!"
"Milk, once the milking is done, turns after
sometimes into curds; from curds it turns into fresh butter; and from fresh
butter into ghee. Would it now be correct to say that the milk is the same
thing as the curds, or the fresh butter, or the ghee?
"No, it would not. But they have been produced
because of it."
All Buddhist schools agree that there is no
enduring, substantial, or independently existing entity that continues from
life to life. Instead, there is simply an apparent continuity of momentary
consciousness from one lifetime to the next that is imbued with the impressions
or traces of the actions one has done in the past. One moment gives rise to the
next, in a continuity of causally connected conscious events, but nothing solid
or substantial continues from one existence to the next. (Lekshe Tsomo - University
of San Diego).
Ven Buddhaghosa - a 5th-century Indian Theravada
Buddhist monk states that conception occurs immediately after death, that is,
the continuity of consciousness enters a new state of existence without any
interval in-between.
If we think consciousness is simply energy and it
cannot be destroyed and it transforms. Can we say in Buddhist teaching rebirth
occurs due to the transmigration of consciousness? A living being starts
a new life in a different physical body form after each biological
death.
The Buddhist notion of the mental continuum of an
individual is difficult to explain via neuropsychology. I communicated with
several world-renowned Psychologists and Psychiatrists. I spoke with
Professor Judith Herman of Harvard University, Professor Mary Seeman of
University of Toronto, and Professor Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University.
Many of these intellectuals expressed their doubt about the said process.
Professor Zimbardo was explicit and stated, “This process is Not possible in reality
It can only be a religious belief with no scientific evidence”. However,
Professor Daya Somasundaram- a senior professor of psychiatry at
the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna expressed his thoughts
thus.
“I feel that these beliefs and descriptions are
metaphysical or subtle phenomena which are beyond current neuropsychological
knowledge or theories. Most scientific and neuropsychological knowledge or
speculations tend to confine themselves to very basic and objective,
materialistic phenomena as the hard facts of life. They even have problems with
admitting subjective phenomena such as consciousness. They would consider the
Buddhist descriptions as mere speculations with no objective evidence. But some
psychologists and others do go beyond the hard or materialistic views and
frontiers to entertain such beliefs and descriptions”.
How Did Consciousness Evolve?
According to Salama, (2008) life began as lipid
molecules originating in deep space and fell into the surface of the primordial
ocean and then went into numerous changes and transformed into a cell then
through the evaluation multicellular beings emerged. Cells have memory and it’s
called cellular “memory. Based on Darwinian evolution, the scientists
surmise that consciousness would have occurred initially some 200 million years
ago. They think that consciousness was built upon the mammalian neocortex. The core
of human consciousness appears to be associated primarily with phylogenetically
ancient structures mediating arousal and activated by primitive emotions
(Denton et al., 2009).
Living cells constitute a new class of matter.
Cells literally construct themselves. Through consciousness we create the
physical world. We cannot explain consciousness through mainstream science.
Living things are Kantian wholes where the parts exist for and by means
of the whole. The link between the lifeworld and the quantum world should
already be broadly evident. Quantum mechanics points to the end result of
what consciousness does. Is there a quantum mind, resides in the space between
quantum events?
Can Consciousness Continue After Death?
Consciousness is the most important function of the
organism. According to William James, consciousness is not a static thing
but a process. Neuroscientists believe that consciousness is
generated by the brain. They highlight that consciousness must be the product
of neural activity. Substantial interconnections among the brainstem,
subcortical structures, and the neocortex are essential integrating components
of human consciousness.
Different levels of consciousness are
distinguished: 1. hyperalertness, 2. alertness (normal state of wakefulness),
3. somnolence or lethargy, 4. obtundation with tendency to fall asleep, 5.
stupor, 6. coma and its subtypes, like akinetic mutism, apallic syndrome or
persistent vegative state, locked-in syndrome, delirium, and catatonia.
Following a coma, some patients may
"awaken" without voluntary interaction or communication with the
environment. The patients who are in "persistent vegetative state” show
some degree of consciousness--a condition called "minimally conscious
state". Using neuroimaging techniques Neurologists are able to
measure the fading consciousness in the human brain.
Is there an irreversible loss of consciousness?
There may be consciousness in the dying brain. The brain is assumed to be
hypoactive during cardiac arrest. Gang Xu and team analyzed electroencephalogram
and electrocardiogram signals in four comatose dying patients before and after
the withdrawal of ventilatory support. Two of the four patients exhibited a
rapid and marked surge of gamma power, surge of cross-frequency coupling of
gamma waves with slower oscillations and increased interhemispheric functional
and directed connectivity in gamma bands.
These data demonstrate that the dying brain can
still be active. Some researchers have found a surge in brain activity at the
time of death. The question remains; is there a survival of consciousness after
death? Dr. Sam Parnia a British associate Professor of Medicine at the NYU
Langone Medical Center is of the view that human consciousness does not become
annihilated after death. What happens to this consciousness? Does it enter a
living fetus?
Dr. Robert Lanza is a scientist and author, and a
professor at Wake Forest University coined the phrase ‘biocentrism’ which is a
theory that the consciousness is released into the universe through sub-atomic
particles According to this notion consciousness would not
necessarily be dependent on a physical brain in order to survive. Therefore,
consciousness is more than an abstract concept.
Consciousness in a Human Fetus
The emergence of consciousness or the mind can be
regarded as defining human viability. Development of the embryo begins at
Stage one when sperm fertilizes an oocyte and together, they form a zygote. The
zygote is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human
being. The fetus may be having a consciousness, and it reacts to pain and
other stimulations.
The fetus reacts to nociceptive stimulations
through different motor, autonomic, vegetative, hormonal, and metabolic changes
relatively early in the gestation period. The fetus may be aware of
the body. But the fetus is almost continuously asleep and unconscious partially
due to endogenous sedation.
The newborn infant can be awake, exhibit sensory
awareness, and process memorized mental representations. However, Falsaperla
and team (2022) state that neuroanatomical point of view, it is rather
unlikely that the infant can be seen as a conscious human before 24 weeks
of gestational age. (This hypothesis assumes that consciousness is mainly
localized in the cortex, consciousness cannot emerge before 24 gestational
weeks when the thalamocortical connections from the sense organs are established).
Concluding Thoughts
Is there a mechanism within quantum physics that
can be used to validate or explain the notion of
reincarnation? Quantum physics indicates the possibility of
higher-dimensional spacetimes. The quantum effects are evident in
photosynthesis and during the process remarkable efficiency of energy is
transferred.
Dr. Maher Abdelsamie proposed 5 dimension aka
Meta-Dimension which is believed to mediate the entanglement between quantum
particles regardless of their physical separation in the conventional
three-dimensional space. Using Meta-Dimension, we can explain the nature of
consciousness. The mind set during death or in other words exit consciousness
can be redefined as a complex network of entangled quantum states. Can the exit
consciousness remain after death and go to another realm?
However, reincarnation is a metaphysical
concept. It falls outside the scope of quantum physics and mainstream
science. There is currently no scientific evidence to support the idea
that quantum mechanics can explain reincarnation.
