What is Reincarnation?
In its basic sense, reincarnation means to be born once more in the flesh (Latin re=again, +in + caro=flesh). It is the view that human beings are physically born not just once, but many times. This is the general understanding of all those who use this word.
Reincarnation may mean:
- being born as human beings only (e.g., views of theosophists)
- being born also as non-humans, especially animals, or even plants (e.g., Buddhists and Hindus)
There are three more terms that are used interchangeably with the word reincarnation:
Metempsychosis. This word comes from Greek writings (meta=beyond, after + en=in + psyche=soul) that refers to the transfer of souls to another body, either human or animal. It was the term used in the writings of Plato and other Greek writers.
Transmigration. A term similar to reincarnation and usually includes being born into animal bodies.
Rebirth. This term has a particular meaning in Buddhism that differs somewhat from the common understanding of reincarnation. While Buddhism believes in reincarnation, they think that there is no substantive transfer of any soul from one life to another. This is on account of the doctrine of anatma or anatta, which denies the existence of any enduring self-identity or soul. The analogy used is a candle that lights another candle. There is no real transfer of anything, but the other candle is lit up. Not all Buddhist sects however agree about the meaning of rebirth. Thus the Yogacara school of Buddhism teaches the existence of a storehouse of consciousness called alaya vijnana that explanation of continuity of memory and consciousness. The Pudgalavada sect posited a personality or pudgala that transfers from one life to another.
![Shanti Devi was born in Delhi, India.[1] As a little girl in the 1930s, she began to claim to remember details of a past life. According to these accounts, when she was about four years old, she told her parents that her real home was in Mathura where her husband lived, about 145 km from her home in Delhi. She also shared three unique features about her husband – he was fair, wore glasses, and had a big wart on his left cheek. She also stated her husband's shop was located right in front of the Dwarkadhish temple in Mathura.[2] Discouraged by her parents, she ran away from home at age six, trying to reach Mathura. Back home, she stated in school that she was married and had died ten days after having given birth to a child. Interviewed by her teacher and headmaster, she used words from the Mathura dialect and divulged the name of her merchant husband, "Kedar Nath". The headmaster located a merchant by that name in Mathura who had lost his wife, Lugdi Devi, nine years earlier, ten days after having given birth to a son. Kedar Nath traveled to Delhi, pretending to be his own brother, but Shanti Devi immediately recognized him and Lugdi Devi's son. As she knew several details of Kedar Nath's life with his wife, he was soon convinced that Shanti Devi was indeed the reincarnation of Lugdi Devi.[3] The case was brought to the attention of Mahatma Gandhi who set up a commission to investigate. The commission traveled with Shanti Devi to Mathura, arriving on 15 November 1935. There she recognized several family members, including the grandfather of Lugdi Devi. She found out that Kedar Nath had neglected to keep a number of promises he had made to Lugdi Devi on her deathbed. She then traveled home with her parents. The commission's report, published in 1936, concluded that Shanti Devi was indeed the reincarnation of Lugdi Devi.[3] Two further reports were written at the time. The report by Bal Chand Nahata was published as a Hindi booklet by the name Punarjanma Ki Paryalochana. In this, he stated that "Whatever material that has come before us, does not warrant us to conclude that Shanti Devi has former life recollections or that this case proves reincarnation".[4] This argument was disputed by Indra Sen, a devotee of Sri Aurobindo, in an article later.[5] A further report, based on interviews conducted in 1936, was published in 1952.[6] Shanti Devi did not marry. She told her story again at the end of the 1950s, and once more in 1986 when she was interviewed by Ian Stevenson and K.S. Rawat. In this interview she also related her near death experiences when Lugdi Devi died.[1] K.S. Rawat continued his investigations in 1987, and the last interview took place only four days before her death on 27 December 1987.[7] A Swedish author who had visited her twice published a book about the case in 1994; the English translation appeared in 1998.[8]](http://reincarnation.theosophical.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/shantidevi3.jpg "Shanti Devi")
