A little band of foolish men have robbed the West of a religious belief

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Jesus And Reincarnation

BY JAGANNATHA TIRTHA

 

EDITORIAL, Aug 15 (VNN) — The Old Testament ends with the directly

spoken words of God: " Behold! I will send you Elijah the Prophet

before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. "

(Malachi 4:5). Here, God Almighty, speaking for Himself, is saying

that the soul of Elijah is coming again to Earth. This directly

implies that Elijah's soul will reincarnate as someone new.

 

Several centuries later, in Luke, an angel appears in front of

Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, and announces: " ...and he

shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, and shall turn

the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to

the wisdom of the just: and make ready a people prepared for the

Lord. " So God Himself, as well as the angel sent of the Lord,

predicted the birth of John, formerly Elijah. This is also confirmed

by much other Scripture, as we shall see. To understand the travels

of the soul, all we have to do is think about it without prejudice.

In John's case scenario, there are two distinct bodies in time and

space, with one and the same individual soul. This directly refers

to the process of transmigration of the soul, that is, reincarnation

of the individual spiritual being.

 

But, God Himself and the angel sent by the Lord were not the only

ones alluding to this spiritual phenomena. With regard to the

specific questions of his disciples concerning John, Jesus was

glorifying the divine qualities of John, ending with: " And if you

will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. " (Matthew

11:14). Then in his own way of saying, " If you have a brain, then

just try to understand it, " Jesus declares, " He who hath an ear, let

him hear, let him hear. " Similarly, the disciples later asked him,

" Then why do the Scribes say that Elijah must first come? " Jesus

replied: " Elijah is to 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 will the Son of

Man suffer at their hands. " Then the disciples understood that he

was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:10-13). This

is the same basic testimony that is found in Mark 9:11-13. A very

similar Scriptural evidence is Luke 1:17, another reference to the

angel of the Lord. Also, Luke 7:26-27 corroborates Jesus' testimony

that John was formerly Elijah, as the words are almost identical to

Malachi 4:5, and the reference cannot possibly be taken any other

way. Conclusively, John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah.

Jesus, by his using these words in this very simple and lucid

manner, could not have meant anything else. He was not speaking in

allegory or parables in these instances. Jesus was speaking directly

concerning reincarnation.

 

In this way we can clearly understand that Jesus Christ taught the

doctrine of reincarnation, also known as transmigration of the

soul. " NO! " My Christian friends protest. But did not Jesus also

cast the demonic spirits called 'Legion' that inhabited the body of

a tormented man into the bodies of swine? And did not this forced

embodiment drive the swine crazy, and then prompt them to jump off

the cliffs into the sea? Does this also not mean that spiritual

beings can and do inhabit all creatures, such as the pigs in

question? Was this not a form of punishment for those miscreant

spirits who had challenged Jesus's authority? Do we also not

understand that there are pigs around us dressed as human beings? We

all know people like this.

 

And, did not Jesus also imply reincarnation when he asked his

disciples: " Who do you say I am? " (Mark 8:27) Some of his disciples

answered " John the Baptist, " others said " Elijah, " and still others

said " perhaps one of the Prophets. " By asking this question, Jesus

was asking his disciples to consider who he had formerly been in

previous lives. Some contemporary authorities speculate that Jesus

may have previously been Ramanujacarya, Lord Brahma, the Prophet

Elisha, Prahlada, Haridas, and/or Melchisedec. Regardless of the

speculations concerning who Jesus may or may not have formerly been,

it is clear that Jesus asked these questions in a non-argumentative,

Socratic fashion in order to stimulate the intellectual acuity of

his disciples to think about the topic of reincarnation. Otherwise,

there is no purpose or logical reason for Jesus asking such a

question, specifically in this particular manner. The teacher wants

the students to think about such concepts and to figure things out,

based upon Scriptural evidence, by mulling things over and arriving

at logical conclusions. " Who by taking thought, can add one cubit to

his stature? " By bringing up these topics once in a while, Jesus

would at least stimulate his intellectually gifted disciples to

think about the body as the shell only, as completely distinct from

the soul, the real, eternal 'self'. Jesus was encouraging us to use

our brains, our God given intelligence.

 

Based upon his words in the Holy Bible, it is a conclusive fact that

Jesus Christ taught reincarnation. Unfortunately, at the Second

Council of Constantinople in about 530 AD., the assembled Priests

forever banned the doctrine of reincarnation as heretical, even

though it was a widely understood aspect of both Judaic and

Christian theology up to that time, implying also that it had

permeated the Catholic Church, and was of such significant,

widespread, and ingrained belief that the Catholic Clergy had to

deal with it by pronouncing it 'heretical'. The fact that the

Catholic priesthood did not understand the doctrine of

transmigration of the soul, how it worked as a part of an All

Merciful God's design to eventually liberate all souls, is a

testament to the level of spiritual awareness of the day. Over the

centuries, many were tortured, mutilated and killed for observing

such different blasphemous ideas, deemed " heretical " by

the 'Church " . Today, the topic of reincarnation cannot even be

brought up at a Sunday service in a Baptist, Catholic or Protestant

church, although Jesus clearly taught the doctrine.

 

Jesus And Reincarnation

www.vnn.org/

 

 

" Although karma is really a scientific law it was appropriated by

the Asiatic religions as well as by the pagan faiths of primitive

Europe. But for an apparent accident of history it might also have

been an item among the tenets of modern Christianity, for it lived

in Christian faith for five hundred years after Jesus. Then a group

of men, the Council of Constantinople, banished it from the

Christian teaching, not because it offended the ethics of Jesus

(what could be nobler than its perfect harmony with the Master's own

statement: Whatsoever ye sow that shall ye also reap?) nor because

it offended the integrity of Christianity (where is there a clearer

advocacy of it than in the writings of the great Christian Patriarch

Origen?) but because it offended their own petty personal

prejudices. Thus a little band of foolish men sitting near the

shores of the Sea of Marmora so late as five hundred and fifty after

the appearance of Jesus, have been permitted to banish a Christian

tenet which did not suit their own cast of temperament. Thus they

have robbed the West of a religious belief which, in the turn of

history's wheel, must now be restored to the modern world for the

scientific truth that it really is.

 

It is the duty of those who rule nations, guide thought, influence

education and lead religion to make this restoration. Truth demands

it in any case but the safety and survival of Western civilization

imperiously demand it still more. When men learn that they cannot

escape the consequences of what they are and what they do they will

be more careful in conduct and more cautious in thinking. When they

comprehend that hatred is a sharp boomerang which not only hurts the

hated but also the hater, they will hesitate twice and thrice before

yielding to this worst of all human sins. When they understand that

their life in this universe is intended to be an evolutionary

process of gradual growth in understanding, they will begin to

assess their physical, moral and mental values aright. A sound

ethical life will follow naturally as a function of such

understanding. The West has great and quick need for the acceptance

of karma and rebirth because they make men and nations ethically

self-responsible as no irrational or incoherent dogma can make them.

Modern scientific knowledge can easily fit these doctrines into its

framework of reference, provided they are properly presented,

because they alone explain neatly how the simple-minded Hottentot

evolves into the subtle-minded Hegel.

 

We live in a shrieking tower of Babel. Nearly everyone has something

to say, says it at the top of his voice, and yet for all this

shouting few succeed in saying anything that is worth while, for few

tell us why we are here on earth at all. "

 

Paul Brunton, Ph.D., The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga,

E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1966, p. 391.