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The articles in this volume, all by leading scholars, examine the topic of rebirth, or reincarnation, from a wide range of perspectives. The main focus of most of the articles is the idea of rebirth as found in Hindu texts and traditions. There are also articles exploring Christian responses to the idea of rebirth as well as expressions of the idea of rebirth in the Western world (such as in the thought of poet William Butler Yeats and in an American context). There are also philosophical and theological articles arguing both for and against the idea of rebirth, as well as articles which take a more historical or literary approach to this topic. The shared thread unifying all of these articles is the idea that rebirth is an important idea that holds great fascination for many. While the primary focus is on Hindu and Christian expressions of or responses to this idea, there are also articles that engage with scientific thinking on this topic, and one which engages with Buddhism as well. In short, this volume is an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural, and cross-traditional exploration of the topic of reincarnation that should appeal to a wide array of readers.

afterlife --- death --- Roman Catholicism --- eschatology --- Hinduism --- Christianity --- Bhagavad Gita --- reincarnation --- Vedanta --- Reincarnation. --- Reincarnation --- Christianity. --- Hinduism. --- Christianity and reincarnation --- Past-lives regression --- Rebirth --- Regression, Past-lives --- Pre-existence --- Soul --- Theosophy --- Transmigration

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Karma, the law of cause and effect, of nature's retribution for lost harmony, and Rebirth, from which it is inseperable, have been described as the oldest doctrine in the world. In today's turmoil, an understanding of Karma is one of the foundations on which we can build a more reasonable world.

Karma. --- Reincarnation. --- Past-lives regression --- Rebirth --- Regression, Past-lives --- Pre-existence --- Soul --- Theosophy --- Transmigration --- Parapsychology --- Religion

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With Imagining Karma, Gananath Obeyesekere embarks on the very first comparison of rebirth concepts across a wide range of cultures. Exploring in rich detail the beliefs of small-scale societies of West Africa, Melanesia, traditional Siberia, Canada, and the northwest coast of North America, Obeyesekere compares their ideas with those of the ancient and modern Indic civilizations and with the Greek rebirth theories of Pythagoras, Empedocles, Pindar, and Plato. His groundbreaking and authoritative discussion decenters the popular notion that India was the origin and locus of ideas of rebirth. As Obeyesekere compares responses to the most fundamental questions of human existence, he challenges readers to reexamine accepted ideas about death, cosmology, morality, and eschatology. Obeyesekere's comprehensive inquiry shows that diverse societies have come through independent invention or borrowing to believe in reincarnation as an integral part of their larger cosmological systems. The author brings together into a coherent methodological framework the thought of such diverse thinkers as Weber, Wittgenstein, and Nietzsche. In a contemporary intellectual context that celebrates difference and cultural relativism, this book makes a case for disciplined comparison, a humane view of human nature, and a theoretical understanding of "family resemblances" and differences across great cultural divides.

Religious ethics --- Reincarnation --- Past-lives regression --- Rebirth --- Regression, Past-lives --- Pre-existence --- Soul --- Theosophy --- Transmigration --- Reincarnation (Buddhism) --- Comparative studies. --- Buddhism. --- Reincarnation-Buddhism.. --- Reincarnation-Comparative studies.. --- Religious ethics-Comparative studies. --- Reincarnation - Buddhism. --- Reincarnation - Comparative studies. --- Religious ethics - Comparative studies. --- amerindian tradition. --- buddhism. --- buddhist tradition. --- canada. --- classicists. --- cosmology. --- cross cultural scholarship. --- cultural relativism. --- cultural stories. --- death. --- empedocles. --- ethics. --- greek tradition. --- human condition. --- indic civilizations. --- indologists. --- intellectual context. --- karma. --- melanesia. --- methodological framework. --- nietzsche. --- personal transformation. --- philosophy. --- pindar. --- plato. --- pythagoras. --- rebirth. --- reincarnation. --- siberia. --- textbooks. --- weber. --- west africa. --- wittgenstein.

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"Rebirth and the Stream of Life explores the diversity as well as the ethical and religious significance of rebirth beliefs, focusing especially on Hindu and Buddhist traditions but also discussing indigenous religions and ancient Greek thought. Utilizing resources from religious studies, anthropology and theology, an expanded conception of philosophy of religion is exemplified, which takes seriously lived experience rather than treating religious beliefs in isolation from their place in believers' lives. Drawing upon his expertise in interdisciplinary working and Wittgenstein-influenced approaches, Mikel Burley examines several interrelated phenomena, including purported past-life memories, the relationship between metaphysics and ethics, efforts to 'demythologize' rebirth, and moral critiques of the doctrine of karma. This range of topics, with rebirth as a unifying theme, makes the book of value to anyone interested in philosophy, the study of religions, and what it means to believe that we undergo multiple lives."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Reincarnation --- Karma. --- Ethics, Comparative. --- Philosophy, Indic. --- Indic philosophy --- Philosophy, East Indian --- Hindu philosophy --- Comparative ethics --- Philosophy, Comparative --- Parapsychology --- Religion --- Past-lives regression --- Rebirth --- Regression, Past-lives --- Pre-existence --- Soul --- Theosophy --- Transmigration --- Reincarnation - Comparative studies.

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This innovative work on Chinese concepts of the afterlife is the result of Stephen Bokenkamp's groundbreaking study of Chinese scripture and the incorporation of Indic concepts into the Chinese worldview. Here, he explores how Chinese authors, including Daoists and non-Buddhists, received and deployed ideas about rebirth from the third to the sixth centuries C.E. In tracing the antecedents of these scriptures, Bokenkamp uncovers a stunning array of non-Buddhist accounts that provide detail on the realms of the dead, their denizens, and human interactions with them. Bokenkamp demonstrates that the motive for the Daoist acceptance of Buddhist notions of rebirth lay not so much in the power of these ideas as in the work they could be made to do.

Reincarnation --- Taoism. --- Reincarnation (Buddhism) --- Daoism --- Taouism --- Religions --- Tao --- Buddhism. --- Taoism --- S13A/0401 --- S13A/0410 --- Buddhism --- China: Religion--Popular religion: Taoism --- China: Religion--Death, funeral, ancestral worship --- 6th century. --- afterlife. --- belief. --- buddhist. --- chinese culture. --- chinese history. --- chinese myth. --- chinese scripture. --- chinese worldview. --- cultural history. --- cultural studies. --- daoist. --- daoists. --- faith. --- global. --- holy book. --- indic. --- international. --- non buddhist. --- rebirth. --- reincarnation. --- religion. --- religious studies. --- scripture. --- social history. --- social studies.