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 blog spot.
(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 skeptic 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.
