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Reincarnation: Fact or Fallacy
An inquiry into the evidence of rebirth.
89 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
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March 23, 2023
AN EXPLANATION/DEFENSE OF REINCARNATION BY A THEOSOPHIST
Theosophist author Geoffrey Hodson wrote in the first chapter of this 1951 book, “This book is written in exposition of the doctrine, accepted as true by countless millions of people from the remotest time, that man evolves spiritually to perfection by means of successive lives on earth. In various forms this belief has proved and is still proving to be a consolation and an inspiration to vast multitudes of people. The doctrine of rebirth is, therefore, well worthy of investigation. Direct spiritual perception apart, what test of verity can be applied? How may the truth or untruth of reincarnation be established? Reason and intuition may be employed, but there is also another test---that of application to certain basic problems of life, and this in endeavor to indicate.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “The first of these problems is that of justice in human affairs, of the combined existence of apparently undeserved human suffering---especially of little children---and of divine justice… Undoubtedly the occurrence and the continuance of human suffering for which no commensurate transgression is known, do appear to deny the existence of a principle of equity… The second question concerns the meaning, the purpose and the ultimate goal of human existence, if goal there be… for a large proportion of the human race, life is lived under the perpetual shadow of fear, resulting from the danger of financial insecurity, disease, depression and war. The so-called pessimist has grounds for the questions: ‘What hope is there in a life which may at any moment either be rendered insupportable or be swept away? What future can there be for a humanity which is continually decimated by war, pestilence, flood, famine and disease?... The third problem is that of the existence of child prodigies… The fourth enigma is presented by the considerable number of people who claim to remember their past lives, their recollections in some cases being supported by their relation of historical facts of which they could not otherwise have become aware… as a means of testing their veracity, I propose to apply the doctrine of reincarnation and compensatory law.” (Pg. 1-4)
He states, “the Ancient Wisdom teaches that divine justice DOES rule the world and that there IS a meaning and a purpose behind human life… perfect justice is, in fact, insured to every human being by the operation of compensatory law, the law of cause and effect known in the East as KARMA… The purpose of life is stated to be the evolution of the human soul, the Spiritual Self, to the stature of the perfect man, a state of compete fulfillment and highest development.” (Pg. 5)
He argues, “no single life… can possibly provide a sufficient number and variety of experiences, challenges, and opportunities necessary for the attainment of the stature of the perfect man. The fulfillment of human life… is indeed impossible in one brief human life alone… If, however, reincarnation be true, if we do return to earth time and time again, growing a little on each occasion, then the possibility exists of full unfoldment… Child prodigies … are reincarnations of people who… have brought over their acquired faculties as so-called natural ‘gifts.’ … The accurate narration of historical events by those claiming to have participated in them, and who could not have become aware of them by any natural means, is explained as being due to the transference from one body to its successor of the memory of those events.” (Pg. 6-7)
He rejects “transmigration of souls from human into animal forms. This is an entirely erroneous view of the doctrine … When once the life in any form has attained to a certain level of unfoldment… there is no real retrogression.” (Pg. 11)
About reincarnation and Christianity, he asserts, “reincarnation has neither been proclaimed nor condemned by any general council of the Church or by any creed accepted by a general council. The Council of Constantinople … which proclaimed heretical Origen’s teaching of the pre-existence of the soul..;. was not a general council, and so not universally authoritative. It was a local and not an ecumenical council… Furthermore, it did not condemn reincarnation but only pre-existence, which has nothing to do with rebirth.” (Pg. 14)
He continues, “The testimony of the Bible itself, although admittedly inconclusive, does suggest a general belief in the doctrine of rebirth at the time of Our Lord.” (Pg. 15) Of Jesus’ statement that John the Baptist is Elijah, he cites Matt 11:7-15 and 16:13-14, and comments, “This reply reveals the popular view founded upon both prophecy and a general belief in the possibility of rebirth. References are to be found in the works of the Jewish historian, Josephus, showing that belief in reincarnation must have been common among Palestinian Jews of that period.” (Pg. 16-17)
Of the man born blind in John 9:1-3, he asserts, “The question as to whether the man himself had sinned and in consequence had been born sightless shows the clear thought that justice demanded that the transgression should have occurred in a physical body.” (Pg. 18)
He notes, “A further objection to reincarnation is based upon the apparent absence of all memory of past lives… however…. recollection of the process of education is in no sense essential to possession of the acquired knowledge and faculty. We do not need to remember the processes of learning to walk, talk … in order to be able to do these things. Similarly, the absence of memory incidents and experiences in past lives does not prevent the use of the resultant powers in later incarnations… Furthermore… many proven cases of accurate memory of former lives have been recorded…” (Pg. 29)
He states, “There is not, cannot be, undeserved human suffering. Every experience is the product of preceding action by the individual to whom the experience comes, whether that action was performed in a former, or in the present life. The goal of human existence is the attainment of the stature of the perfect man, and this attainment is assured to the Spiritual Self of every human being. Child prodigies… are demonstrations of the fact that every individual man has lived before…” (Pg. 50)
He summarizes that after death, “The physical body is then laid aside and the process of return begun…” (Pg. 53) He adds, “the necessity for further rebirth is eventually outgrown…” (Pg. 55) He asserts, “Under karmic law every human action, mental, emotional or physical, produces an exactly appropriate reaction. These reactions are, however, not always received in the same life in which the acts were committed. In such cases they remain in abeyance until, in a later incarnation, conditions arise in which they can be justly and appropriately experienced.” (Pg. 56)
He suggests, “every human action… will inevitably bring about an exactly appropriate reaction upon the actor. In this man is indeed powerless, and so predestined. This predestination need not in the least disturb the minds of those who become aware of it… for if man is predestined, then he is self-predestined, which removes all stigma from the fact.” (Pg. 78)
He summarizes, “Theosophy is found to include a complete philosophy of life which … gives meaning and purpose to human existence, shows the causes in human actions for human success and failure… Theosophy teaches… that man is essentially a spiritual being… The meaning and purpose of human life is stated to be the evolution of the Spiritual Self of man to successive ‘perfections’ through successive lives…” (Pg. 82)
This concisely-argued book will be of keen interest for those wanting a Theosophical perspective on reincarnation.
Theosophist author Geoffrey Hodson wrote in the first chapter of this 1951 book, “This book is written in exposition of the doctrine, accepted as true by countless millions of people from the remotest time, that man evolves spiritually to perfection by means of successive lives on earth. In various forms this belief has proved and is still proving to be a consolation and an inspiration to vast multitudes of people. The doctrine of rebirth is, therefore, well worthy of investigation. Direct spiritual perception apart, what test of verity can be applied? How may the truth or untruth of reincarnation be established? Reason and intuition may be employed, but there is also another test---that of application to certain basic problems of life, and this in endeavor to indicate.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “The first of these problems is that of justice in human affairs, of the combined existence of apparently undeserved human suffering---especially of little children---and of divine justice… Undoubtedly the occurrence and the continuance of human suffering for which no commensurate transgression is known, do appear to deny the existence of a principle of equity… The second question concerns the meaning, the purpose and the ultimate goal of human existence, if goal there be… for a large proportion of the human race, life is lived under the perpetual shadow of fear, resulting from the danger of financial insecurity, disease, depression and war. The so-called pessimist has grounds for the questions: ‘What hope is there in a life which may at any moment either be rendered insupportable or be swept away? What future can there be for a humanity which is continually decimated by war, pestilence, flood, famine and disease?... The third problem is that of the existence of child prodigies… The fourth enigma is presented by the considerable number of people who claim to remember their past lives, their recollections in some cases being supported by their relation of historical facts of which they could not otherwise have become aware… as a means of testing their veracity, I propose to apply the doctrine of reincarnation and compensatory law.” (Pg. 1-4)
He states, “the Ancient Wisdom teaches that divine justice DOES rule the world and that there IS a meaning and a purpose behind human life… perfect justice is, in fact, insured to every human being by the operation of compensatory law, the law of cause and effect known in the East as KARMA… The purpose of life is stated to be the evolution of the human soul, the Spiritual Self, to the stature of the perfect man, a state of compete fulfillment and highest development.” (Pg. 5)
He argues, “no single life… can possibly provide a sufficient number and variety of experiences, challenges, and opportunities necessary for the attainment of the stature of the perfect man. The fulfillment of human life… is indeed impossible in one brief human life alone… If, however, reincarnation be true, if we do return to earth time and time again, growing a little on each occasion, then the possibility exists of full unfoldment… Child prodigies … are reincarnations of people who… have brought over their acquired faculties as so-called natural ‘gifts.’ … The accurate narration of historical events by those claiming to have participated in them, and who could not have become aware of them by any natural means, is explained as being due to the transference from one body to its successor of the memory of those events.” (Pg. 6-7)
He rejects “transmigration of souls from human into animal forms. This is an entirely erroneous view of the doctrine … When once the life in any form has attained to a certain level of unfoldment… there is no real retrogression.” (Pg. 11)
About reincarnation and Christianity, he asserts, “reincarnation has neither been proclaimed nor condemned by any general council of the Church or by any creed accepted by a general council. The Council of Constantinople … which proclaimed heretical Origen’s teaching of the pre-existence of the soul..;. was not a general council, and so not universally authoritative. It was a local and not an ecumenical council… Furthermore, it did not condemn reincarnation but only pre-existence, which has nothing to do with rebirth.” (Pg. 14)
He continues, “The testimony of the Bible itself, although admittedly inconclusive, does suggest a general belief in the doctrine of rebirth at the time of Our Lord.” (Pg. 15) Of Jesus’ statement that John the Baptist is Elijah, he cites Matt 11:7-15 and 16:13-14, and comments, “This reply reveals the popular view founded upon both prophecy and a general belief in the possibility of rebirth. References are to be found in the works of the Jewish historian, Josephus, showing that belief in reincarnation must have been common among Palestinian Jews of that period.” (Pg. 16-17)
Of the man born blind in John 9:1-3, he asserts, “The question as to whether the man himself had sinned and in consequence had been born sightless shows the clear thought that justice demanded that the transgression should have occurred in a physical body.” (Pg. 18)
He notes, “A further objection to reincarnation is based upon the apparent absence of all memory of past lives… however…. recollection of the process of education is in no sense essential to possession of the acquired knowledge and faculty. We do not need to remember the processes of learning to walk, talk … in order to be able to do these things. Similarly, the absence of memory incidents and experiences in past lives does not prevent the use of the resultant powers in later incarnations… Furthermore… many proven cases of accurate memory of former lives have been recorded…” (Pg. 29)
He states, “There is not, cannot be, undeserved human suffering. Every experience is the product of preceding action by the individual to whom the experience comes, whether that action was performed in a former, or in the present life. The goal of human existence is the attainment of the stature of the perfect man, and this attainment is assured to the Spiritual Self of every human being. Child prodigies… are demonstrations of the fact that every individual man has lived before…” (Pg. 50)
He summarizes that after death, “The physical body is then laid aside and the process of return begun…” (Pg. 53) He adds, “the necessity for further rebirth is eventually outgrown…” (Pg. 55) He asserts, “Under karmic law every human action, mental, emotional or physical, produces an exactly appropriate reaction. These reactions are, however, not always received in the same life in which the acts were committed. In such cases they remain in abeyance until, in a later incarnation, conditions arise in which they can be justly and appropriately experienced.” (Pg. 56)
He suggests, “every human action… will inevitably bring about an exactly appropriate reaction upon the actor. In this man is indeed powerless, and so predestined. This predestination need not in the least disturb the minds of those who become aware of it… for if man is predestined, then he is self-predestined, which removes all stigma from the fact.” (Pg. 78)
He summarizes, “Theosophy is found to include a complete philosophy of life which … gives meaning and purpose to human existence, shows the causes in human actions for human success and failure… Theosophy teaches… that man is essentially a spiritual being… The meaning and purpose of human life is stated to be the evolution of the Spiritual Self of man to successive ‘perfections’ through successive lives…” (Pg. 82)
This concisely-argued book will be of keen interest for those wanting a Theosophical perspective on reincarnation.
July 15, 2023
This was not easy to read like obviously haha but anyway word //- update my car got broken into n they stole this book and my Louis Vuittons
December 13, 2012
Weak, weak, weak. Unsupported logic with amazing leaps of the fanciful. It seeks to provide an answer to why things are as they are - injustice, suffering, inequity - by claiming it's due to reincarnation, cause and effect, karma and the lack of harmonization. We each must strive to perfect ourselves through successive lives, and thus perfect the one human Spirit. It can't explain human evil, however.
August 14, 2008
It brings up some very interesting ideas and questions, but the arguments are quite lacking at times. Overall, a good introductory book--I appreciate its brevity.
May 23, 2013
It was a great explanation to all spiritual views of past, present, future lives.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews