Philosophical Implications
Though this concept of pre-existence is generally considered to be an exclusively Eastern concept which had no place in Western thought, it keeps frequently arising in the minds of Westerners. It is a frequent theme in plays and novels. Psychologists write theses on this subject and clergymen author books on it. Currently, a team of psychiatrists are investigating cases of supposed recollection of former lives. Western thinkers are beginning to consider this concept to be of momentous importance in giving meaning to their lives.
The well-known psychoanalyst, and past life recall therapist, Brian L. Weiss, MD says in his Book, Through Time into Healing (pages 40-41):
“I later discovered that in both Judaism and Christianity the roots of belief in reincarnation go very deep.
In Judaism, a fundamental belief in reincarnation, or gilgul, has existed for thousands of years. This belief had been a basic cornerstone of the Jewish faith until approximately 1800-1850, when the urge to modernize and to be accepted by the more scientific Western establishment transformed the Eastern European Jewish communities. …
When I researched the History of Christianity, I discovered that early references to reincarnation in the New Testament had been deleted in the fourth century by Emperor Constantine when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Apparently, the emperor had felt that the concept of reincarnation was threatening to the stability of the empire. Citizens who believed that they would have another chance to live might be less obedient and law abiding than those who believed in a single Judgment Day for all.”
Westerners, however, seem to think that underlying this concept is the concept of immortality, which they feel, is urgently needed in order to make their lives worthwhile in the face of the certainty of death. W. McNeil Dixon, the British philosopher and educator said in his Gifford Lectures (l935-1937):
“The story of humanity becomes the story of a long procession of sufferers, for whose suffering no justification is offered….To live is, by universal consent, to travel a rough road. And how can a rough road which leads nowhere be worth the travelling.. Beyond all peradventure, it is the thought that death appears to proclaim, the thought of frustration….
Give assurance that it is not so, and the scene is changed. The sky brightens, the door is left open for unimagined possibilities, and things begin to fall into an intelligible pattern….
Immortality is a word which stands for the stability or pursuance of that unique and precious quality we discuss in the soul….Of all doctrines of a future life, palingenesis or rebirth, which carries with it the idea of the pre-existence, is by far the most ancient and most widely held, ‘the only system to which,’ as said Hume, ‘philosophy can hearten.’”
Edward Arnold comments on Dixon, in his The Human Situation – (London: Edward Arnold, 1937 and 1957):
These words of Dixon clearly describe the typical attitude of the modern Westerner, interested in re-incarnation as a belief. The cause of this attitude seems to be the disturbance of the religious complacency of the Westerner owing to the challenge of modern science, in the denial of the soul. For, Dixon says:
“You have heard of this curious doctrine, of this psychology which rejects the psyche and retains only the ‘ology’. Where we imagined the – ‘I’ or ‘self ’ to be, there is only, they tell us, a series of fleeting impressions, sensations, fancies, pains, and pleasures,’... no entity over and above them that, as centre or subject, thinks, feels or desires. It is then a mirage or hallucination, this notion of ‘self.’... On every side today you meet with an exaltation of the ‘intellect’ at the expense of the ‘spirit.’ You may trust, it is said, you’re ‘thoughts,’ but not your ‘aspirations.’... ”
(Dixon - Human Situation)
The challenge of modern science, of the notion of the eternal soul, of Western religion and culture, is obviously the reason for turning East to re-incarnation, in search of a defence of the soul. J. Paul Williams, Chairman of the Department of Religion at Mt. Holyoke College is even more explicit, in an article in the Yale Review:
“The idea that human beings are just bodies is one phase of the notion that nothing exists but ‘matter,’ that ‘spirit’ is non- existent, that ‘mind’ is but ‘matter’ in motion. This position is one that scientists have expounded dogmatically. Because of the prestige of these men, many people have jumped to the conclusion that anyone who is thoroughly abreast of modern thought will discard faith in a ‘soul.’ ...”
(Yale Review - Spring 1945)
Why the belief in a soul is so important for the belief in an after life, is explained by Paul Williams in the same article:
“The argument for the future life which logically precedes all others is the simple one that if man is a soul, it is not unreasonable to suppose that he survives death. If man is simply a body, a physio-chemical reaction, and nothing more, it is obvious that he does not live again as such a body ”
(Yale Review - Spring 1945)
Paul Williams even presents the common argument in favour of the soul theory:
There are two ways to prove a thing. One is to show how it follows logically from other things that (are true). The other is just to point and say, "There it is "
I am among those who feel that they must believe in souls simply because they experience them. ”
In turning to re-incarnation for emotional support, in face of the challenge of science, they seek strength in Eastern religion.
Paul Williams says again:
"One's emotional orientation to the problem of the future life is materially advanced when one realizes that the two great religions of the East - Hinduism and Buddhism - assume that the future life is a fact. It is not "wishful thinking" from the Hindu or Buddhist point of view to expect to live again; rather it is stark realism. But it would be “wishful thinking" from their point of view really to believe that religion has found a way to get off the "wheel of life”....