Rebirth in Buddhism

There seems to be a sinister campaign to discredit Buddhist values including belief in Rebirth.
Unfortunately, all the writers are well above the age of 80 years and when they are gone for good, there is nobody left to take the Baton of Wisdom forwards.
Most of their writing left in the computer may be erased for good.
In that sense, putting these ideas in the Internet may serve a purpose.
Putting in a paper format, especially in the local media, I find is a waste of time.
So I have reproduced a paper article for the purpose of posterity.
I have of course made my contribution in print and digital form for the sake of the Western Audience.
I have given an Abhidhamma description of mind and rebirth, especially regarding Patisandhi elsewhere in the same blogspot.
 (Buddism Made Simple from Asokaplus at www.wordpress.com)
One should read this in conjunction with that article. 
However, they are only my views and one should not believe them on face value.

I do not like to take any side or dare say I believe all what is written, related to hypnosis.

Reproduction
By Dr. V.J.M. de Silva
It is with interest that I read the article by Dr. Prasanna Cooray in The Island SatMag of 10.09.17. There have been two responses to Dr. Cooray (PC)’s article by persons, erudite no doubt, who appear to be materialists, expressing doubts about rebirth. They are of course entitled to their opinion. A majority of scientists are also materialists. They believe that matter is all there is. As philosopher, Bertrand Russell (1870 -1972), who was a well-known atheist and materialist, once said, "When I die, my body will rot, and nothing of my ego will remain". Buddhists, though atheists, are I believe, not materialists.
Let me start by saying that this article is not meant to debunk any religion or to promote my own religious views. I am neither a theologian nor am I well-versed in Buddhism as PC appears to be. However, I have to confess to having an "itch to write"! In 2010, there was an article in The Island on "Belief in Rebirth in the West", where the writer mentioned the case of Bridey Murphy. At that time I wrote an article titled "The Bridey Murphy Case and Reincarnation" – (The Island Saturday Magazine, 29.05.10).I had then done some research on this subject, and the notes I made are still in my computer. Being an "advanced" octogenarian,to whom writing is now a bit of a hassle, I have made use of the notes I made in 2010 in writing this article.
Some writers on this subject may not place much value on ethical and metaphorical arguments, or appeals to authority and the universality of the belief, in support of the theory of rebirth. They are of course of value to the believer, not the sceptic or unbiased inquirer. The stress is on empirical evidence based on scientific investigations. 
This is classified as:(1) experimental, in the form of hypnosis and (2) spontaneous.
Empirical Evidence – Many people who accept reincarnation today, claim that it can be scientifically proven. They usually base their belief on actual instances of such recall. There are two distinct ways of eliciting this:

 
1. Under hypnosis – during regression beyond the date of birth



2. Children who spontaneously remember a previous life.



1. Under hypnosis – Hypnotic regression started to be used as a "past lives recall" method



in 1952, when Ruth Simmons from Colorado, USA, was regressed "back in time" beyond the date of her birth by Morey Bernstein. It became one of the most celebrated cases and brought the attention of the Western world to the notions of past lives and reincarnation. I can remember reading an article on it in the Readers Digest, when I was a medical student over sixty years ago. It caused quite a stir world-wide. The book "The Search for Bridey Murphy" written on it by Morey Bernstein was an immediate best-seller.
In 1952, in Pueblo, Colorado, US, Morey Bernstein hypnotized Virginia Tighe (VT)(1923-1995), then aged 29, a young house-wife – referred to as "Ruth Simmons" in his book. Under hypnosis VT claimed to be a 19th century Irish woman from Cork in Ireland. She said her name was Bridey Murphy (BM). In subsequent sessions she claimed to have been born in 1798, the daughter of Kathleen and Duncan Murphy. The family had lived outside of Cork, in Ireland; her father was a barrister. She had patronized Belfast grocers, Farr and John Carrigan. They moved to Belfast, where they remained until Bridey’s death at 66 following a fall downstairs.While under hypnosis, she spoke in an Irish brogue, sang Irish songs and told Irish stories, always as BM. There were six sessions conducted by Bernstein over a period of eleven months. Several of the details were correct as verified by journalists who visited Ireland.
It was subsequently shown that VT had Irish connections. Her parents with whom she had lived till age three, her uncle who had brought her up for some time, and finally another aunt Mrs. Marie Burns, who was born and bred in Ireland and well informed about the "Old Country".VT’s early childhood was in Chicago, Illinois, and the newspaper Chicago American reported that across the place where VT had lived as a child, there had been, at that time, an Irish woman named Bridey Murphy Corkell - (the first two names are significant).Bridey Corkell, (maiden name Murphy), immigrated to the US in 1908. Virginia (VT), as a little girl had associated closely with the Corkell family. All this information was in the Chicago American newspaper. The June 25, 1956 issue of Life magazine published a short article "Bridie Search Ends at Last" and a photograph of Mrs. Corkell with her grandchildren.The obituary of Bridey Corkell appeared in the Chicago Tribune, August 10, 1957. – [those interested could see the details in my article in The Island(www.island.lk archives – 29.05.10) mentioned above].
There are several other hypno-therapists who have recorded hundreds of cases of past-life recall and published books. Thus Dr. Arnall Bloxham, some years ago, recounted the interesting story of an English teacher who under hypnosis recalled ten of her past lives, the earliest going back to days of cavemen. She was a furnisher in the reign of George II, a peasant boy in Scandinavia, and the wife of a cobbler and a pickpocket in 1700 – (Who was Ann Ockendon?, 1958). It is claimed that such cases demand paranormal explanations and the most plausible is the theory of reincarnation.
Hypnotism - Hypnosis is a method of inducing an altered state of consciousness, where the subject can mix fantasy with real memories. Individuals in a hypnotized state also show an extraordinary ability to create very convincing stories out of a storehouse of memories. Almost any hypnotic subject capable of going into a deep trance will babble about a previous existence if the hypnotist asks him/her to. Under hypnosis, the subject is ready to accept all kinds of distortions, having his reality shaped according to what the hypnotist dictates as he is very receptive to the hypnotist’s suggestions.
Another compromising factor in getting true "past life stories" is the preparation the subject undergoes before hypnosis. They are informed about its purpose, which induces in them a high expectancy state. All the information they produce is the result of a dialogue between the hypnotist and his patient, in which the questions have to be easy and clear in order to get a proper answer. The conscious desire to know their "previous lives" undoubtedly influences their response under hypnosis.As in most cases the hypnotist (who is often a believer in rebirth), expects a confirmation of the reincarnation theory, or at least expects it subconsciously.
Whether hypnotism can be relied on to create significant proof of reincarnation is itself a controversial contention. There are however other possibilities of explanation.
An Explanation - All things considered, these "past life recalls" provide a classic case of cryptoamnesia – a phenomenon first described by 19th century Swiss psychologist-philosopher-physician, Theodore Flournoy. According to this theory, the human mind is like a library filled with years and years of overheard conversations, pictures, newspaper stories, TV shows, books and songs. Nothing is ever lost; everything seen or heard remains ‘on file’. Though consciously forgotten, these bits and pieces of information and experience can later form the basis of fully blown fantasies that emerge under hypnosis, as personal "memories."
Although there are some encouraging results in using it as a psychiatric healing therapy, it is a fact that hypnosis when used for past life regression can mix fantasy with real memories or even create entirely fictitious episodes. In deep states of hypnosis, some subjects have had out-of-body experiences and claimed to have traveled in mysterious spiritual realms. Others have had a mystical experience of oneness with the universe.In fact Dr. Ian Stevenson himself (author of Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation), has said: "In my experience, nearly all so-called previous personalities evoked through hypnosis are entirely imaginary and a result of the patient’s eagerness to obey the hypnotist’s suggestions. It is no secret that we are all highly suggestible under hypnosis." [(Omni Magazine 10(4):76 – 1988). This was available on the Internet in 2010]
2. Spontaneous Past-life recall by Children- these cases are almost all under ten years. Several have been mentioned by Dr. Ian Stevenson. Here again, these stories can be explained in an alternate way, not necessarily as proof for reincarnation. There is the possibility that these children are contacting ‘external spirits’ through channeling.In this case the medium would be the child, which is not convincing.A better explanation would be the possession of children by external ‘spiritual entities’. This phenomenon is related to channeling, but this time the human person is forced to transmit the messages of a spirit without having any conscious contribution to the whole process. In other words, possession implies that the invading spirit enters the body and takes over the entire control of human consciousness, acting as if a past life personality were manifesting itself.
This explanation is more likely to be valid for the following reason: Almost all cases of spontaneous past life recall experiences are produced by children who manifest them between the age of two and five, when their spiritual discernment is almost nonexistent, especially concerning spirits. This situation makes them easier to be manipulated by external spirits. As the child grows up, the entities lose their power of influence upon him/her, which could explain why the past life memories are lost after the age of 10. All past life memories are generally lost after the age of ten. (Ernest Valea, Reincarnation - Past-life Recall as Modern Proof for Reincarnation)


There have been cases where the possessing spirit enters the child’s body long after he/she was born. In one case, Lurancy Vennum, a one year old girl began to display the personality of Mary Roff when she (Mary Roff) died. This lasted several months, while Mary Roff claimed to have occupied the body of the girl. After this period ‘Mary Roff’ departed, and Lurancy Vennum resumed control – (Evidence for Survival from Claimed Memories of Former Incarnations p 32)
These cases of children are culturally dependent. Most cases are in India and South Asia where reincarnation is fully accepted. The Asian cases are always richer in details than the Western ones – (this is noteworthy). Western children who have such experiences give only poor details that could permit verification.Stevenson admits: "All the cases I’ve investigated so far have shortcomings. Even taken together, they do not offer anything like proof." (Omni Magazine).
Dr. Ian Stevenson(1918 – 2007)– PC has given an account of Dr. Stevenson in some detail in his article. Stevenson published his book ‘Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation’ in 1974. He never suggested that his research was proof. In a lecture given in 1989, for the Flora Levy Lecture in the Humanities, he said: "Journalists have sometimes incorrectly (and unjustly) described me as trying to prove to prove that reincarnation occurs. This allegation is wrong as a descriptive of both my motives and of science. Outside of mathematics, there is no proof in science; scientists make judgements about probabilities, and they rarely express themselves in statements of certainty". Stevenson real aim was to obtain proof of our continued existence after death, rather than prove reincarnation true. He believed that the most promising evidence for life after death "has been that provided by children who claim to remember previous lives". To this end he studied in detail over 2,500 cases across the world, frequently in languages he could not understand and had to use translators. There can be interviewer bias in people in people not trained to avoid just that. He could not test the skills of translators and has therefore, perhaps justly, been criticized on this account.
In opposition to Materialism, it could be said that Buddhism, Christianity (along with other religions) and Psychical Research agree in affirming survival after death. There are areas where these three agree, while there are also areas of disagreement.
Death is not the end of life; life continues after dissolution of the body. Most people would say that there is no proof of the theory of reincarnation. Conclusions about it are at best bound to be speculative. However,the cumulative effect of the evidence is certainly impressive.