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What is Reincarnation? Ask
the Intuitive will be a regular feature of the magazine. We encourage
readers to send in their questions related to Spirit or different
traditions. We will ensure that the question is send to the appropriate
expert for an answer. Dear Intuitive Times I
have heard a lot about reincarnation. Just what is it and how
does it work? Reincarnation is a belief held in a number of traditions. It is more widely accepted by the Eastern religions than the West and is as old as religion itself. The belief is especially central to Hinduism. The Hindu Scriptures, such as the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, refer pointedly to reincarnation. The Gita notes: "As
leaving aside worn-out garments Reincarnation affirms that the soul must experience a succession of rebirths - a cycle of birth-death-rebirth - until it achieves a state of divine perfection. The principal purpose of reincarnation is said to be the perfectibility of man. Rebirth provides the opportunity to learn certain lessons that are necessary for our development and progress. It is estimated that two-thirds of the world's population believes in reincarnation. It is important to distinguish between Reincarnation and Transmigration. Reincarnation is the soul's rebirth- incarnation into the form of a human, while Transmigration is the soul's rebirth - incarnation, into any form. This means the individual could return as an insect, a donkey or even an elephant depending on the quality of his or her previous life. Both schools of thought teach rebirth, a succession of lifetimes on earth granted to us to attempt to attain spiritual perfection. Transmigration is the earlier and is considered by many to be the more primitive, since it is the version which allows the soul to be embodied in any form of life, including insects and the lower animals. Plato wrote, "Every soul is immortal - for whatever is in perpetual motion is immortal ... All that is soul presides over all that is without soul and patrols all heaven, now appearing in one form and now in another ... Every man's soul has by the law of his birth been a spectator of eternal truth, or it would never have passed into this our mortal frame, yet still it is no easy matter for all to be reminded of their past by their present existence." Carl G. Jung, the famous psycho-analysist said, "I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had to be born again because I had not fulfilled the task that was given to me...A creative determinant must decide what souls will plunge again into birth ... It is possible that any further spell of three-dimensional life would have no more meaning once the soul had reached a certain stage of understanding; it would then no longer have to return, fuller understanding having put to rout the desire for re-embodiment. " Benjamin Franklin had the following inscribed on his tombstone: "The body of B. Franklin, Printer, Like the cover of an old book, Its contents torn out and Stripped of its lettering & Gilding Lies here But the book shall not be lost, For it will as he believed appear once more In a new and more elegant edition Revised and corrected By the author" Advocates of reincarnation indicate that the Bible supports this belief. In John 9: 1-3, we read, "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him..." In Matthew 17: 11-13 we find , "He replied, 'Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands.' Then the disciples understood that he as speaking of John the Baptist." In a coming issue of the Intuitive Times, we will future explore this subject. We will also explore some of the exciting research which is being done on the subject.
Dear Intuitive Times I
have read about a silver cord which connects the physical and
non-physical body. Does such a thing exists and can it be seen? Many psychics have reported seeing a silver cord associated with out-body experiences. The physical body and the etheric body are believed to be attached by a cord or cable through which life-currents or cosmic energy pass. It can be likened to a telephone cable and is a whitish grey colour in appearance. The silver cord is elastic or can be indefinitely extended, but when it is severed death follows. When greatly extended, it is not unlike a single strand of a spider's web in appearance. The silver cord is believed by some to be attached to the base of the skull and by others to the solar plexus. It holds a striking similarity to the new-born physical body and the umbilical cord. As long as any trace of this cord remains, death does not take place, and it is possible for the spiritual body to return to the mortal and for the person to again be restored to normal health. Andrew Jackson Davis described long ago, in his Great Harmonia, the phenomena which he witnessed at the death of a person known to him. He tells how he saw the spiritual body withdraw itself from the mortal and issue from the head of the dying person first as a cloud of luminosity which hovered above the bed and was attached by a fine luminous cord - a sort of psychical umbilicus - to the dying person's head. This cloud then slowly took the form of the person, and this form continued to hover over the recumbent mortal body, attached to it by the cord of light just as a captive balloon might be moored to the ground. Scripture speaks of the "silver cord" and reference to it is found in Ecclesiastes 12:6: "...Remember him before the silver cord is snapped ... before the dust returns to the earth as it began and the spirit returns to God who gave it...". The late Arthur Ford, in speaking of the silver cord, remarked: "...When, in earth life, the beta separates from the physical body, the two bodies remain attached by the silver cord, which is so elastic that the beta may range the entire universe without being severed. On the death of the physical body, the silver cord is released, and the beta body continues, as vehicle of the soul...".
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