Ask the clergy: Views of reincarnation
Karma, the belief that what we sow in one life we reap in the next, is useful to fling at someone who has done us a disservice. But other than as divine retribution, reincarnation is often a puzzling idea for nonbelievers. Our clergy explain why reincarnation doesn't jibe with so many people's sensibilities. We asked, "Why is the concept of reincarnation so difficult to grasp?"
Joseph Bonomo, swami, ISKCON New York at Long Island Temple, a Hare Krishna temple, Freeport:
Reincarnation is part of the afterlife, not contrary to it. Hare Krishnas believe that everyone will get back into heaven. But we have to purify our souls to return to heaven.
Bhagavad Gita explained in Chapter 8: Attaining the Supreme that "Whatever the mind is fixed upon at the time of death, to that state one will attain without fail in the next life."
The goal is not to reincarnate on Earth. Getting another flesh body is considered failure. Success is to get a spiritual body and to live eternally with God.
I think people get stuck on the concept of reincarnation because they haven't had it explained very well. One must understand the spiritual nature to get out of this world and back to God. Reincarnation is gradual elevation to that purified state.
People are more interested in salvation, where they look to someone -- Jesus Christ -- to pluck them out of the things they've done. Hare Krishnas 100 percent reject the concept of salvationism. We believe we have free will over our actions, and that what we reap in the next life is what we've sown in this life. I think that is the reason that reincarnation is difficult, because some of us want to skirt the responsibility of our actions.
Father Dimitrios Moraitis, St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church, Greenlawn:
Our Father made a promise to us -- fulfilled through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that we would live with him eternally. We were forced into this world of pain, suffering, illness and death through the original sin of Adam and Eve.
Those who died went to Hades, a place of death and nothingness. Through Christ's death and resurrection, he opened the way for all of us to pass from this life to that life in paradise.
Reincarnation is contrary to that promise. Here on Earth, we prepare ourselves for that next life in paradise (Romans 12:2, John 14:1-3), not to have to go through the pain of this life on Earth again. Reincarnation would be a disappointing reality for those who are Christians. It is in conflict with our core beliefs.Father Tom Goodhue, Long Island Council of Churches, Riverhead and Hempstead:
I don't think reincarnation is a particularly difficult concept to grasp. I just don't believe in it. As a Christian, reincarnation is not part of my tradition, and I do not see any real evidence to support it. I know plenty of people who devoutly believe in it and find much meaning in this concept. I respect their belief in reincarnation but do not share it.
Belief in reincarnation involves a different sense of time. Not all cultures or religions have the same sense of time. For Jews, Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Baha'is and others, time is seen as linear. Seasons may repeat, but there is an arc of time. It is a traditional Christian concept that time is going somewhere. In other cultures, particularly Eastern cultures, time is The Great Mandala, or The Wheel of Life. Time is constantly spinning, and we get on and off.
It is important that I convey that respect for one another, and interfaith harmony is not based on pretending we all believe the same thing. It is, paradoxically, that we have respect for beliefs that are foreign to us.
Calvin Dame, religious director, The Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, Garden City:
In the Humanist tradition, contrary to what some believe, folks are not necessarily atheist. What is important to understand is that humanists believe our most valuable relationships are with other people. You don't have to look to a higher power to find the goodness of people. Goodness, which resides in each of us, is our natural state.
Humanists, by and large, are not so concerned with eternity or rewards in an afterlife. We concentrate on not leaving a lot of karma lying around. The one we're in now is the only lifetime we know and are concerned about. Reincarnation really sits in the same category for us as eternity.
Personally, I'm not so excited about the concept of death, and, if my eyes were to blink open into another life, another chance, I would be delighted.
I would assume that the values you had in this life would be the values you'd greet the next life with. Of course, there's nothing in my experience that indicates to me any sense of a past life. I respect those who say they do have that sense. I'm just not one of them.
