Reincarnation: True or false?
Dear students and friends,
I would like the share with everyone a great video that I found on reincarnation. In Buddhism, Buddha Shakyamuni taught on the existence of karma and what happens to us after we die in this lifetime… We know that after death, we will be reborn again – into a different state, body and even plane of existence.
There are many people who do not believe in the existence of reincarnation… simply because they cannot remember their past lives and that it hasn’t been proven scientifically yet. But science is limited and cannot prove everything. Reincarnation cannot be disproved also. Also Western culture had a strong predominant belief in reincarnation centuries ago as attested by Pythagoras and Socrates.
What happens if someone tells you that they can remember their past life? That they know of names and places they have never come across before in this lifetime – yet their memories of it are so vivid, so real… and can all be matched up by real events…
Watch these videos about how a few children can remember themselves in their past life… and even lives…PLEASE LISTEN TO MP3 file on Dr. Brian Weiss who is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale. He was very skeptical on reincarnation, but after 25 years of research, he cannot deny reincarnation. I HIGHLY recommend you listen to Dr. Weiss.
Tsem Rinpoche
Reincarnation videos:
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/extraordinary-people-the-boy-who-lived-before.mp4
Dr Brian Weiss: Same Soul, Many Bodies
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As a new student of the Buddha, I have a question about reincarnation & rebirth.
It seems that 99.9999% of all Buddhist teachers say that we do not reincarnate, that we do not have an eternal soul and that we are broken down into 5 aggregates after we de, like an old candle’s flame lighting a new candle.
I have a major problem with that as I am also a student of comparative religions and the afterlife. As per your web page, you also believe in the validity of Dr Brian Weiss and others, regarding reincarnation.
But rebirth according to the Dharma, and reincarnation/transmigration of the soul as Dr Weiss and others prove totally contradict one another.
It’s either one or the other. I love the Dharma except for the rejection of transmigration of souls.
Your thoughts, please?
I was attracted to Tibetan Buddhism because it can tell us the dying process, karma and the end of life is not the end but another beginning. Reincarnation take place after we died. But where we reincarnate is an issue.
I do believe in reincarnation and law of karma. Sometimes I do wish dying is the end and our suffering can be ceased.Too bad there is no way but life after life going to be long long process. That also means no ending of sufferings unless we gain enlightenment. I do wish more people aware of this.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing. I have always been a fan of 2 topics – reincarnation and UFOs. After knowing dharma and the law of cause and effect (karma), it is totally different as what I perceived before. Before knowing dharma, my Parents always tell me to beco me “you do good, u will have good in return.” Knowledge in depth of karma was not at the top of my mind. I was not aware that our current life karma was or could be a result our many previous life karma but Now, I know I can make a difference in my future or next lifetime. Yes, I believe reincarnation is True.
The subject and stories of reincarnation always attracted me and love reading it from my school days. I always have the interest in it as I do believe that there is reincarnation after death. For thousands of years , the idea that old souls are reborn into new bodies into a different state, body and at a different place . Scientific studies have shown cases worldwide and have proven it with stories of reincarnation and logical explanation as well which we cannot denied. Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing with interesting videos for us.
I believe in reincarnation. That’s what Buddha taught 2500 years ago and His teachings have brought His practioners to enlightenment. That’s what all Buddhists believing and practicing everyday.
We can not deny of previous life because we brought along our karma and imprint from the pass with us into this life such as some very talented child as young as 3 to 5 years old who are capable of playing piano perfectly, reciting sutra perfectly or remembering what happened in his previous life perfectly.
If previous life exist, then future life must be exist. Hence what we did in the pass effected us in this life that also means what we do or committed in this life will surely effect who we are in our future life. If we believe in what Buddha said and has proven right, we should invest in things that we can bring to our future life instead of those we can’t. We should start prepare by NOW.
When I look around, everyone of us are different. In terms of, character, status, living environment, sex, behaviour & other qualities. I always ask my why are we have so much different and the perfect answer for this is Karma & reincarnation are for real & no one is excepted.
Live is a cycle, a trap that always go round & round until we make a change with effort. For instance, if an individual is always angry about something small & could not change before one pass away. He or she will definetely come back into life & has the same quality again & again. The only way to escape from this cycle is to realize it, understand & change.
Reincarnation is always an interesting topic to discuss about. Be it in religions or in science. Until now, nobody can really explain how a person reincarnate. But it seems more and more western people started to accept reincarnation. I was told as a Buddhist, we must believe in reincarnation, and another one is karma. Both are indeed important that will affect our practice as a Buddhist. I believe in reincarnation even before I join Kechara. After joining Kechara, I have better understanding about reincarnation. I haven’t met someone that can remember their previous life. Of course, not even myself. But sometimes we tend to have dreams and see a person and a particular person whom we have never met before, but always appear in our dreams, it’s just like it happened in our daily life before. Which, most of the time we can’t really explain our dreams. In Buddhism, what we do this life, will affect our next reincarnation. That’s why dharma is always teaching people to do good. Which is actually good for people if everybody in this world believe in reincarnation.
许多人仍然不相信轮回因为看不到，把自己不能见到的事，断定为无有，那是一种缺乏理智的行为, 比如若无显微镜，就看不到环境中的细菌，看不到细菌不代表细菌是不存在， 其实今天一旦你相信了轮回，为了让下一世更好，你今世会确保你成为一个更好的人，当你死时发现真的有轮回，那你赚到了，因你已准备好了。
Is interesting saw this documentery video to find prove of incarnation existance. Many cases of people around the world remembering w their previous life. The truth is, incarnation does existance whether you believe or not. Death is not the end of the life, our mind and soul will take rebirth again to another body whether you can remember your past life or not.
In buddhism talk about incarnation existance, when we engage in spiritual practice, we focus on our future life. Not this life temporary happiness and attackment. Which will bring us suffering and unhappy.
This is interesting article of explanation of reincarnation. To me, reincarnation is like an event of a life after death and being reborn again. What I found exciting was the consciousness or memories that been imprint into the person’s mind could clearly recall back to them though they are only a toddler. This is really amazing that power memory of a human mind is so strong and tireless. Therefore, I understand why religion is an important role in our life. Religion is to teach us to be more conscious, mindful, mind transformation and eventually to enlightenment.
‘Many Lives, Many Masters’ – the first book written by Dr. Brian Weiss is a recommended read for those who are fascinated with past lives and reincarnation. I read it about 15 years ago.
It is very interesting that in this audio, Dr. Weiss spoke of the existence of highly evolved and intelligent life forms from other planets and universes. And that reincarnation is probable on these other planets, realms and dimensions, and not confined to just earth. In the interview, he mentioned many things and he used several terms related to Buddhism.
One day in the not so distant future, for those scientists working on pseudoscience, proof may be presented to the world on the subject discussed here.
It’s always interesting to watch such videos on how people in this case the children able to remember their past life and especially happen to non-Buddhist. In this videos we see that the children have great memory of their past life and my guess could be the memory is still fresh when they were still young and it could fade as they grow older and how they able to remember is also due to the imprint of the incident was so strong. Some may remember their past life which not the immediate life before the current but past few lives which may due to that particular life time that person may gone through a serious dramatic experience.
What I learn from such documentary is that reincarnation exist and it’s govern by our action which resulted as karma that determine where will we take our next rebirth. This video is one of the strong evident to tell the existence of reincarnation. Reincarnation doesn’t not need us to prove it existence but it’s for us to realise we never die but instead we continue to live but just in different form which determine by our own action.
As a Buddhist I believe in past, present and future life and being able to be take rebirth as human is a great condition within the 6 realms to continue to learn and and practice to change our mind for good and continue to take rebirth as human until we attain the liberation from the suffering in samsara. By saying so there is no need for us to blame what happened to us now but what important is to make a change for a better future.
Before I join Kechara I was not so exposed to what reincarnation is about. After I joined Kechara, Rinpoche did explain it in a manner that we are able to understand and relate to real life scenarios. Our next rebirth will be determine by our karma. What we have or experiencing now in this current has been brought forward from our previous lives and its karma. We will continue experience this cycle until we liberated from samsara and gain enlightenment.
It must be very confusing for some of those kids because they keep believing that they belong to their previous family. No sense of belonging to the current one. I can only imagine how hurtful and confusing it is as well, for the parents.
It’s really interesting to see how these kids can remember so many details of their previous life. Although only about a couple of thousand cases, I am sure there are a lot more of there which was not recorded.
Reincarnation is nothing new for Buddhists as this was taught by Buddha Shakyamuni. Where and who we reincarnate as, also depends on the karma and merits of the person.
You can find out more from this video https://youtu.be/5-u-PMEvbeA as explained by H.E the 25th Tsem Rinpoche
I believe a life has to come from somewhere and likewise after death it will go to another place (realm). And therefore, I believe in reincarnation. Furthermore in Buddhism it clearly states the law of the universe that is karma. While our physical body may not last long but our mind will. And this mind will travel from past lives to current and then next life.
Many of the examples about also proven that reincarnation exist.
This are good videos to watch about reincarnation. What are your thoughts?
For me, it was always as it would make no sense to live only once without any past or future, just disappear forever after you pass away.
I mean you can do anything, enjoy life and so on but there are no repercussions for bad things? Somehow, I always thought that we take rebirth and that life does not end with death.
It is good to watch these videos again and remember that even though our time now is limited, it is in fact unlimited and we will come back again and again. And the best is that we create our own future through our actions today. The law of karma is well-known and we should remember it and make sure our future rebirth will be in the human realm.
Buddhism is fascinating and there are practices where you can control your death! Wanna learn more? See here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/vajra-yogini
Reincarnation is the continuation of one’s existence of the mind lifetime after lifetime. The deeper meaning of reincarnation ties to the law of Karma and knowing that we are the designer to our own destiny. By knowing that our so-called “destined” shortcoming in this life is actually a result of our wrongdoing in our previous life, we should be motivated and inspired to do the right things now in order for our future to be better. It is very liberating because we are not forever bind to the situation we are in; we can always improve our situation.
I am one of the people who doesn’t believe in rebirths or reincarnation before I came across Buddhism. After seeing so much evidence such as documentary videos where people recall their previous life, witnessing how miracles of some High Lamas coming back resembling their previous reincarnations plus many more, my opinion in reincarnation changed. Believing in reincarnation has actually made me becoming a better person, doing good for fearing where i will be reborn in my future lives.
I have taken for granted reincarnation exist as is taught in Buddhism and have seen and read many high Lamas reincarnated back to this world to turn the wheel of Dharma and benefit people. For me it is nothing strange and have accepted it as the norm and part of parcel of life cycle in the universe. However, after watching these videos it further seal my belief that there is life after death and we drift meaninglessly from life to life without any control unlike the high Lamas who have mastered the art of reincarnation to return to benefit the world.
Several years ago, I thought of reincarnation as a debatable subject. I believe in it, but I have never thought about it seriously. However, now I believe that the understanding of reincarnation and the fact that future lives exist is key for us to motivate us to behave with morality, care and kindness toward others because we all want to avoid suffering and to be born in a good situation in the future.
Ultimately, the study of reincarnation would motivate us to develop a distaste toward the unending cycle of births and deaths in samsara and developed a wish for us and others to end this vicious cycle. Buddha’s teachings teaches us to end this cycle by encouraging us to renounce our mundane lives and to work towards enlightenment.
From a mundane point of view, there are compelling evidences as documented in these short documentaries about previous lives. Though all the things that were mentioned by the little boy, Cameron about his previous life in Barra within the Robertson family did not tie up, it was hypothesized that there might have been memories overlapping in this particular case. This again suggest that the mind may go on indefinitely.
As Buddhists, we believe that the mind goes on and on, from beginningless time. That the little boy can have memories linked to his previous life hint that there may be other memories that we carry with us, that were imprinted in us, whether good or bad. There, we should work towards changing our habits that we do not repeat them out of habit or sub-conscious memories, like the little boy feeling extremely happy upon landing on the island of Barra. But, later when he was at the cottage that was as described while with his present family, he turned morose, remembering unhappy times, perhaps?
So, whether we believe in karma is another matter but if we want to be happy, we better learn to change our habits to create more happy and kinder memories now.
Thank you, Rinpoche for the very interesting and compelling videos.
Before this, I really doubt on reincarnation but after I watched the video above, it make me believe on reincarnation stuff which is happen to many high Lama. Reincarnation can’t totally explain by scientists but it reallly exists in this world.
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing this and it open up my view on reincarnation topic.
Jason
Reincarnation, which is widely believed in many traditions, seems to explain the differences that exist among people. These differences occur as a result of previous lives, good or bad, which bear their fruits in the present one through the action of karma.
Dr. Weiss was censured by the medical establishment in 1988 after he published “Many Lives, Many Masters.” in which he details his work with a patient he calls Catherine, who under hypnosis, remembered multiple past lives, relieving her of paralyzing phobias. It has sold more than a million copies.
Dr. Weiss now claims that, “Doctors are e-mailing me. They’re not so concerned with their reputations and careers. We can talk about this openly. And it’s not just psychiatrists, but surgeons and architects.”
The popular purveyors of reincarnation belief these days are not monks or theologians, but therapists — intermediaries between science and religion who authenticate irrational belief.
It is great that more and more proponents of reincarnation continue their research into this subject matter, such as Dr. Jim Tucker, who directs the Child and Family Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Virginia, and Ms. Janet Cunningham, President of the International Board for Regression Therapy.
谢谢仁波切的分享。我们大家能皈依仁波切门下绝对不是偶然的事，这也是我们前几世的印记和因缘才能转世在今世跟仁波切再续结缘。随喜！随喜！所以我们今生再继续的跟随仁波切修习佛法和听取仁波切的教诲和开示，让我们一起跟随仁波切弘扬佛法，利益众生。
Reincarnation is one of the most fundamental laws of spiritual existence. The East has mostly accepted this theory as it has been running within our culture for decades through Buddhism and for some, Hinduism.
I find it quite hilarious how the West thinking it is a huge mystery. As Dr. Brian Weiss has shown, there is proof of reincarnation, hard evidence.
It is interesting to see how the skeptics slowly change their views of reincarnation upon finding out more and seeing the evidence.
For me, the thing about reincarnation is such… I do not disbelief its existence… on the contrary I believe very strongly it exist, even from a young age. There were things that were beyond explanation that only a past life could shed some light on.
Hence for me, the fact of the matter is not whether reincarnation exists… it DOES! It is whether we choose to believe in it wholeheartedly with “karmic repercussions” and all or we choose to ignore it and hence seemingly not accountable to the karmic repercussions. The latter of course is to justify what we know in our hearts is incorrect or not serving us in the long run. Very simple really, for me at least!
Reincarnation is just so remarkable. Many people have heard about this not so few of us do know what is going on due to the lack on knowledge on this issue. Also adding on to the fact that there is lack of scientific verification, hence not having many that believes in reincarnation. Hopefully more scientists would believe this and do a detail research to educate all in the world.
I do believe in reincarnation because of the overwhelming evidence. Perhaps there is not enough scientific evidence but with documentaries like this as well as documented stories of reincarnated masters in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, i am convinced.
Even the great Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (c. 570-495 BC) believed in reincarnation… and he wasn’t a Buddhist. He said, “All things change, nothing perishes. As a wax is stamped with certain figures, then melted, then stamped anew with others, yet it is always the same wax. So, the soul being always the same yet wears at different times different forms.” (http://www.bartleby.com/181/341.html)
Perhaps if people stop associating reincarnation with Buddhism and dismissing it because of that association but instead, look at reincarnation on its own merits, they would be more open to the concept. Buddha did not invent reincarnation, he merely explained his observation of it. Reincarnation is not a Buddhist concept but a universal one.
Personally, I was ambivalent about reincarnation from the beginning. I have always thought that it is like what the Christian say about God. It must exist but there’s no hardcore proof of it, This is until I met Rinpoche and what he told me of the High Lamas in the monastery. There are many spiritually attained masters that could recall people from their previous lives. Some have even self-recognized their own previous lives. Is this amazing or what?!
And these days, Rinpoche had been particularly active in blogging all manner of information for our knowledge and contemplation. Some of my most favourite are these kinda posts that makes us think and reflect on the evidence presented. I think such blog post show that reincarnation do exist because there are just too many evidences around the world and from cultures and people who didn’t believe in reincarnation. On top of that, their details can sometimes be verified. There’s also a growing interest in past life regression therapy and study. All this must co-relate to the fact that reincarnation does happen. I do think that it is a natural progression for all of us and it wasn’t invited in India by the Hindus or even by the Buddha. It was merely observed by them and it became part of their mainstream thought.
Tsemtulku, I also hold vivid memories of my previous life. I was a female child living in western Pennsylvania and die around the age of eight years old. I am now 55 years of age and the first dream like visions started at age 7 and repeated the dream from the beginning and continue further into the memory at 12, 19 and 24. at 24 years of age the memories never surfaced again. these memories had such an impression upon my heart that I always knew this was more than a dream. Around 1987 my wife and I took a trip to western Pennsylvania for a nation Rainbow gathering and took a detour from the normal route due to the day being extremely hot and the air-cooled engine in my Vw van couldn’t handle the heat of the day so we took a valley route. along this valley drive we came upon a small town. I immediately recognize the place and looked up onto a high hill. there was my home exactly as in the memories of this previous life. I wanted to stop at the house to see if my relatives still lived there and describe the thing in the up stairs attic to give more strength to my story. I never did stop in ,because I know this was not part of realizing the truth and didn’t want to upset anyone with a stranger coming into the house claiming to be a previous occupant. I talk to another Buddhist teacher that I meet once a year and he say’s the masters call this memory just and echo of the past. know I feel that this explains the memory since I couldn’t make sense of how this memory can with the present mind that I have now. Any more ideals on this my friend?
I am a believer of reincarnation, reading and watching documentary videos of doctors and scientists investigating and interviewing people who claim they have recollections of their past lives further cement my belief. So many proofs of remembering past life events, names, faces only these people knew that happened in their previous lives; and of birthmarks, scars and inflicted wounds caused in their previous lives and appearing in their present, are hard not to believe that reincarnation exists.
Thank you for these videos on reincarnation. I especially like the Dr Weiss talk, and what he had found through his regressions of patients, like the idea that we are here to learn lessons on how to be more compassionate and less violent. It was also interesting that he found people tended to meet the same people throughout their different lives. I also found it amazing that he had progressed people into the future and one man talked of coming from another planet to earth in a previous life!
Hi Natalie,
Yes, I like Dr Brian’s talk too. I was brought up with a background that believes in reincarnation and karma, but Dr Brian’s books were the first one that showed me solid prove that reincarnation exists and is actually recognized in modern science. Amazing isn’t it? I wonder if there are any other things within the Buddhist context which can be proven true with increasing advancements in science and the understanding of the human mind.
This video and story was so nice, that we can knows more about reincarnation 🙂 It is definitely true and I believed it, that all is depends on our Karma to reborn be human again in different body. If we don’t have this good Karma, I’m sure we won’t reborn be human again 🙂
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this meaningful post to us.
Thank you Rinpoche for the video on young people who remembered their past lives. Together with the affirmation by Dr Weiss,via regression therapy on his patients (and their recounting of their past lives), these stories of the two boys, especially Cameron,do bring home the point that there is no doubt that reincarnation exists.
Though some of Cameron’s recollections do not tally with what was unearthed through study of past records, yet we can see clearly how deeply moved he was when he visited his past life’s home. Such emotions as he displayed, especially coming from a young child, speak volumes for the authenticity of his remembering his past life.
2000 cases of children who could recall their past lives have been investigated; and there is a ‘consistency’ about their manner of recounting what they recollected about their past lives that strongly supports the fact that re-incarnation does exist.
Skeptics may scoff at the idea of reincarnation and say things like people wanting to believe in reincarnation because they seek comfort in the thought that they are coming back here again after they die.Yet the fact is that, for a Buddhist, reincarnation and karma go hand in hand, to keep us on a path of abandonment of non-virtuous actions for fear of being reborn in the lower realms after death.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these videos with us.
I truly believe in Reincarnation! I read many books on this subject and i know that even in Christianity , there are many references to reincarnation in the Old Testaments and in the New Testaments (in all the 4 Gospels). However in the present day, the average Christian church do not permit the teaching nor acceptance of this doctrine. In the Jewish sacred books like the Zohar, the Manasseh ben Israel , the doctrine of reincarnation is also mentioned by the term ‘migration of the soul’.
I remembered an elderly relative telling me this wonderful story of her grand nephew, who at the age of 3 years old, looked at the old family photos on the wall and named everyone in the photos by their names (all these people in the photos have long been deceased ), then pointing at the photo of the patriarch in the photo , declared that is him ! (The patriarch would be this little boy’s great grandfather). This little fellow had all the time refused to address his grandfather by the traditional term ‘Ah Kong’ (the chinese term for grandfather) but would insist on calling him by his nickname ,a name that was only used by the patriarch for his son since birth. No one had told the little boy this very special nickname nor had anyone shown him any photos of any of the ancestors. This is a true story and is still being told whenever the family meets up. The little boy is now in his late thirties and he only has a vague memory of that particular period of this childhood.
Reincarnation is an essential part of the whole life and death cycle. It cannot be taken out of the equation !
身为一名佛教徒，我坚决的相信轮回转世，因为这是唯一可以解释许多发生在人的事情上。为什么有事时我们会觉得和某些人似曾相识，对某些没有去过的地方感到熟悉，和初相识的人相处的特别融洽，等等。现在，更有这么多的视频可以证明轮回的真实性，不管在在科学或宗教的角度都一再的说明了轮回的存在，所以也因为有轮回，我们在能有机会成为更好的人，所以大家一起来努力修习佛法，让自己的来世可以变得更好。
Thank you Rinpoche, for sharing this reincarnation video. This and other stories like this one proves that there is reincarnation. The boy Cameron who remembers his previous life’s family and missing his mother reminds me of the Tibetan lamas who when young can also remember their previous life. They long for the monastery and they can recognise people like their former attendants and so on. The majority of people forget their past lives because of karmic obscurations. In order to recall past existences, one has to meditate like the Buddha. But one can also resort to hypnotism which may or may not work.
Reincarnation do exists, regardless of what religion we are in, all religions talks about reincarnation… it is whether a person want’s to misinterpret it to something else or not.
To some people, knowing about reincarnation infact probably will make them think “Oh well, if I don’t make it in this life, I always have another life to make up for it”… I think that thinking to a certain level is so wrong…
As a person that studies little Dharma such as myself, I feel after knowing about reincarnation and the 6 realms of samsara… I truly feel everything is urgent and I want to get out of samsara! After all, reincarnation does not say that you’d be guaranteed a life in the human realm… what happens if you miss your chance in this lifetime to do Dharma and reborn as a dog in the next life? Such a waste…
I hope with everyone realizing that reincarnation is real, they will see that this life is as insignificant as a speck of sand in the desert… So pointless to accumulate when we will leave it eventually at the time of death and take on a new rebirth only to crave more because that is all we have been doing in the last life. The only way to make our lives meaningful is to focus out… live for others. It is only in others can we then truly find happiness and is the way out of reincarnating within samsara.
Reincarnation and ancient belief of the Buddhist and Hindus or just basically one of the laws of existence which Buddha taught thousands of years ago. It’s funny how the West always makes it such a huge mystical mystery of some other force at work… there is no other force folks… it’s basically just you yourself isn’t it? It’s hilarious because we know Dharma but for those who shun this thought or is discouraged from thinking so, it is a huge phenomena. It is interesting to see how even the most conservative and narrow minded are force to open up and look in to the possibilities of an after life when they face to face with evidences that are too compelling too genuine to be ignored. Hence if there is reincarnation it means there is also karma which determines our future life 😉