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Reincarnation - The Continuity of Life

The great manifestations of the universe are life and consciousness. The great mysteries of the universe are the continuity of life and our ever-expanding consciousness of God. Beyond the manifestations of life are intimations at every turn of its continuity. A seed falls into the ground, dies, only to return again in a resurrection to a new life.(John 12:24) The seasons return again and again manifesting birth, growth, fruition and death, then birth again in continuity of life. For man, the experience of life is inseparable from the experience of consciousness. But, beyond the immediate personal experience of consciousness, we have a greater sense of awakening, enrichment and expansion. We are continually growing in our awareness of our relationship with others, the universe about us, and the Divine.

Our understanding of the continuity of life of the individual soul and of its growing awareness of its Oneness with God is greatly expanded. and enhanced by the concept of reincarnation. As a concept; reincarnation is very complex, involving many principles. For one who has begun to consider it for the first time, the connotations of the word "reincarnation" may have little relationship to the true meaning of this great insight into the nature of man.

The Pilgrimage of the Soul

The Edgar Cayce readings' approach to reincarnation has beauty, sensitivity, depth, complexity and applicability not exceeded in any other body of information. In order to understand this approach to the continuity of life, we must consider the greater story of the journey of the soul.

We were all created in the beginning as spiritual beings, children of God, born of His desire for companionship, with the potential to become co-creators with Him. As souls, we were given minds with which to build, wills with which to choose, and access to the Spirit, the one great force of the universe. We were perfect from the day of our creation. Then, born of our own pride, a rebellious turn of spirit occurred within us and we went astray. We made a succession of choices which were not in harmony with universal laws; we built limiting thought patterns with our minds; and by these we enveloped and encased ourselves in lower and lower dimensions of consciousness.

In our movement through the universe as wave of souls, we came upon the three-dimensional manifestations of the earth plane. We saw, were attracted to, and projected our consciousness into an ongoing evolutionary development of life. As one manifestation of the spirit of God, the earth was good and beautiful; but we were not intended to invest our consciousness in it to such an extent that we would forfeit our freedom, forget our royal heritage, and lose our ability to move through other dimensions of the universe.

Our entrapment in the earth was not at all due to the evil nature of the flesh but rather to the limiting effect of our own thought forms and desire patterns. Imagine a swimmer who ties a rock around his waist so that he may walk on the ocean floor. He struggles to the surface for a breath but is drawn down again by the weight. There is nothing evil about experiencing the ocean floor but the rock about his waist draws him away from his true source of life. He is no longer free. The rocks about our waists are our own thought forms and desire patterns. Even after death, they may focus our consciousness away from an awareness of our oneness with God and draw us back again into the earth experience. Thus entrapped, it is as though our souls are dead; yet, God calls to us again and again, Choose life!

The Plan for Life

Out of His love for His children, God converted the earth from an evolving garden of paradise into a school (or hospital) for the souls of man. A plan was established to enable us, as souls, to become free from the entrapment which we had built for ourselves. Quickly, even as man measures time, the pattern for the human body was manifested. It was to be a temple in which the soul could come to an awareness of its Oneness with the Father. It was prepared specifically both as an instrument for attunement and as a system for continuing survival and social development in the earth plane. With the coming of man, Adam and Noah, the forces of the universe set limitations so that souls could incarnate only in a human form. We were to be permitted no longer to intervene directly in the on-going evolution of the earth by projecting into thought forms or other life forms. With the development of an appropriate vehicle for growth in attunement and awareness, we, as souls, were given a new and special opportunity to begin the long journey home through successive incarnations.

The pattern portion of this plan for the redemption of souls was completed with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The pattern which was begun with Adam was now fully manifested -- a pattern made in the image of God and lived out in a life of love fully attuned and obedient to the will of God. Through this pattern and by means of His power, there was now a very special way prepared for the souls' return to an awareness of their oneness with God. It was a pattern of obedience to the Spirit, crucifixion of the lower self and loving service.

How Does Reincarnation Work?

The soul entering into the body may be likened to a person entering a car. After driving the car for some time, it becomes irreparable and is discarded. Later, the owner, maintaining the same preference, obtains another similar car. His choices at this point are limited by his own tastes and resources. The analogy is instructive for helping us understand certain processes; however, it is not adequate to convey a full understanding of the incarnation process. We have three bodies; spiritual, mental and physical. When we incarnate, the spiritual body and the mental body are projected into and manifested through the physical body. Thus the physical manifestation is more fully a projection of the fabric of our very being than is implied in the analogy of simply selecting an automobile on the basis of previous preferences.

The Law of Karma

The saying that "like begets like" provides an Integral insight into the laws of the universe. This principle works at the heart of the dynamics of reincarnation. Every manifestation of life reproduces each after its own kind. The same is true with the thoughts, choices and behavior of man. A central teaching of the New Testament still relatively unexamined in its implications is; "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7) Jesus said, "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." (Matthew 26:52)

In the Sanskrit, this principle has been termed Karma, meaning action or the law of continuity of action, "like begetting like."

This beautiful law establishes order and cosmos instead of disorder and chaos in the universe. This lawfulness issues from the very nature and love of God. Mankind depends upon it in every manifestation of the universe about him. But we are dismayed by this lawfulness when we experience it in meeting the consequences of our own self-oriented thoughts, choices and actions. Although we may experience it in pain, this law reveals an aspect of the nature of God as a manifestation of the consistency and persistency of His love. In its working, it has the effect; of awakening, turning, quickening and reminding us that we cannot be gods apart from God, that we are part of the whole, that we must align ourselves with universal law, and that we are responsible for our relationships with other souls. The soul's return in successive incarnations is not God's requirement for payment or punishment. It is rather out of His love that we are permitted again and again to choose the way of life, light and love.

An analogy used by the readings in discussing how the law of Karma works is the comparison of the effects of choices and actions on our being with the effects of foods being assimilated in the body. The previous life experiences are not: just: archival records of the distant past. They imbue the very substance of our present lives. They manifest in the cell structure of our bodies, our facial features, our predispositions toward certain diseases such as alcoholism or allergies, our emotions, talents, appetites, and in our reactions toward others and the universe about us.

With the death of the physical body, the mental and spiritual bodies remain much the same with respect to patterns and purposes. We move to the experiences and planes of consciousness that we have prepared for ourselves. We process our earth experiences at the mental level, review the lessons learned, and begin to prepare for a proper time and occasion to return in which we resume our lessons and our pilgrimage toward oneness with God, with the universe, and with our fellow man. By the law "like attracts like," we are drawn to parents, bodies, circumstances and relationships with others, all of which are specifically appropriate for each soul.

How Does Reincarnation Relate to Our Religion?

Sometimes we have an expectation. that if anything is true or important, it would necessarily have been presented to us earlier in our learning experiences or religious traditions. However, let us consider what we presently know about electricity and compare that with what was known only 300 years ago -- which was almost nothing. Electricity, the building block of the universe, a secret of the ages until only very recently, has appeared in the consciousness of man today in such a way that there is hardly any experience in our lives that is not affected by man's utilization of it.

Just as we may not find the word "electricity" in the Bible, we may not find the word "reincarnation." What we do find, however, are some principles and laws whose richness and beauty can be fully appreciated only with an understanding of the continuity of life and the cycle of return.

When asked, "What part of the New Testament definitely teaches reincarnation?" Edgar Cayce replied: "John, six to eight, third to fifth. Then the rest as a whole." (452-6) As we study the gospel of John, with the concept of reincarnation in mind, we begin to see how necessary it is to a deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus. Some who think of Jesus as the greatest teacher the world has ever known consider His manner of teaching direct, simple and easy to understand. Jesus did not speak of Himself in these terms. For example, in Matthew 13:13, He says,

"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand." Clearly He invited us to look for a deeper wisdom in His teachings.

Even so, it is straightforward that Jesus spoke directly of the continuity of life. Let us consider, for example, the parable of the prodigal son. The concept of reincarnation enables us to see the deeper wisdom of this story as the ultimate epitome of the pilgrimage of the souls of man. We are the prodigals. We went astray of our own choices and it is we who must come to ourselves and say, "I will arise." Then as we follow the path to our true home and oneness with the Father, He rushes out to meet us even while we are yet a great distance away, eager to restore to us our full heritage as children of God. The knowledge of the preexistence of our souls enables us to understand this parable as it applies to us individually. It also enables us to understand that we must assume individual responsibility both for going astray and for choosing to return.

One of the very direct references to reincarnation in the teachings of Jesus is His affirmation of the identity of John the Baptist as the prophet Elijah, who was to return. (Malachi 4:5) Is this a statement which only weakly supports reincarnation? Or do we find it unconvincing because we lack the spiritual discernment to understand? Even here He warned us saying, "If you will receive it, this is Elijah which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:14-15) This identity is confirmed again in Matthew 17:12-13.

The resistance of some religious teachers to the concept of reincarnation is related more to problems of emotion and motivation than to problems of reason and scripture. The readings indicate that the reason reincarnation has not been retained in Christianity is our desire to take shortcuts. Many hope that by belonging to a certain organization, sect or belief system, or by claiming a certain affirmation of faith that we will in some special way find favor with God and thus be ushered directly into His presence upon our deaths.

The teaching that there is only one life and after that eternal judgment, is based in part on the motive of elitism. Each individual, group, denomination or country that believes that it has discovered the true way, feels superior to others who do not hold to their own insights.

In turn, the teaching that there is only one life lends itself to exploitation. If one person, group or church by whatever name, has access to the way and others do not, then extraordinary control may be wielded over individuals, groups, and nations. The threat of excommunication is an extreme example. Social pressure is subtler but very powerful. Many souls have been diverted from a search for truth by implications from their peers that their interests were not quite respectable. The accusation that something is the work of the devil was directed even toward Jesus himself! Do we so accuse others when they venture to differ from our own ideas? The concept of reincarnation may be resisted because it nullifies all sense of individual superiority which one may hold simply by virtue of belonging to a certain group, race, sex, belief system or nation. We are taught in the Bible that God is the Father of all and He is no respecter of persons. Reincarnation is the great leveler of all mankind.

There are many misunderstandings of the religious implications of reincarnation. The central problem revolves around the meaning of this concept in relationship to the work and mission of Jesus and to the plan of salvation. Whatever may be our understanding of the plan of redemption, it should be enriched by the concept of reincarnation. It is only in terms of reincarnation that we can think of God as being truly fair, patient, loving, forgiving, and all-merciful. His commitment as a Good Shepherd is to bring all His lost sheep into the fold. He is the Father of all souls; it is not His will that any soul should perish; and if God be for us, who can be against us?

How Does Reincarnation Affect Our Daily Lives?

The relevance of reincarnation to our daily lives is not so much in understanding who we were in terms of name, date and place but rather what we were, that we may understand why things are the way they are at this very moment in our lives. All of us have wondered about the uniqueness of the individual experience-why we were born into the circumstances that we were; why we encountered specific individuals and situations in our childhood; why we seem to have certain talents and abilities in some areas and are lacking those in other areas; why we are drawn so strongly to some people and repelled by others. As we come to understand that things are the way they are for a reason, we can begin to see the lawfulness behind every one of these circumstances.

The concept of reincarnation enables us to understand how, in meeting these, we are meeting ourselves. As we assume responsibility for placing ourselves in the circumstance in which we find ourselves, we may avoid the otherwise almost inevitable paranoid quality of thinking which continually blames others for our problems. As we grow in understanding that each is meeting self, we may also grow in a willingness to assume responsibility for our choices, as well as their consequences.

Most importantly, we must learn that in our present state of consciousness, we cannot save ourselves. Although there is a law that we reap what we sow, it also means that if we sow forgiveness, we reap forgiveness a hundredfold. As we forgive ourselves and others, we are forgiven. There is no life or growth in attunement except by the love and grace of God.

Through the lawfulness of the universe, we may say; "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7) But we must also understand that "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) The true and willing recipient of God's forgiveness and grace is not he who only cries, "Lord, Lord," but he who is also obedient to God's commands. (Luke 6:46) Although the law of karma helps us to understand why we are the way we are and to accept responsibility for ourselves, we must not live our lives by attitudes based on this law. Rather, as we attune within, we should live in an awareness of the living spirit of God, Who in His love is eager to heal and transform us and to change our stumbling blocks into stepping-stones. We may be confident "that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it . . ." (Philippians 1:6)

How To Know What You Were

The readings affirm that it is as important to know from whence we came as it is to know whither we are going. Yet many ask: "If reincarnation is so important, why do I have no memory of these previous experiences?"

Our bodies, as the present vehicles of the soul, contain within them all of the records of the soul from the beginning. We are, however, like the book spoken of in the Revelation of John (Chapter 5) which was sealed with seven seals and which no man in heaven or earth was worthy to open. In John's vision, there came the Chris tin the figure of the Lamb symbolizing the obedient and sacrificial spirit. Only He could open the seals. When this Spirit comes into our lives, the books of our soul records are opened; then all things are brought; to our remembrance. By the grace of God and in the dimension of time, we meet ourselves step-by-step. Our problems, our lessons to be learned, and our great talents are unfolded in dosages that we can manage and assimilate. These heritages of the soul lie dormant within us, awaiting the necessary progress on the path and the proper quickening by the Spirit. In due season, we may begin to remember who we are and the nature of our royal heritage.

As we seek a deeper personal knowledge of the details of previous lives, we should seek in terms of what really matters in our present lives. It is not: so much the precise names, places and times as it is the quality of the life. What is the quality of our relationships with others? What is the nature of present responsibilities? What strengths and weaknesses of character are we presently manifesting? What are our hopes and fears? Then we may find in the concept of reincarnation a basis for understanding such questions.

The regular recording of dreams has been a source of deep detailed previous life information for many who have pursued this approach. Some who received life readings from Edgar Cayce subsequently had dreams which provided insights related to previous lives which were as convincing and applicable as the readings themselves.

To get some ideas about previous life circumstances, begin an inventory of what: you know about yourself. What were some of your childhood longings? What historical periods interest you? What foreign countries have you visited or would you most like to visit? What are your attitudes toward various nationalities? What are the interests and talents which are natural to you? What are your present religious interests and biases? What music and paintings intrigue you? What are your favorite foods? As you answer these questions, you will discover that you know more about your previous lives than you imagined.

As we set ourselves on the path and begin to establish our ideals, purposes, and motives in things spiritual; as we begin to do what we know to do and to apply the practice of meditation, attuning the body and mind to the Spirit within, then we may begin to rediscover our true selves and to remember who we are and where we are going.

If you have questions about this lesson, please contact me.

Yours in peace and fellowship,

Herbert Bruce Puryear, Ph. D.