There are four other soul components and different nations of the world possess different forms of souls with different purposes. Historically, South Asian Isma'ilis performed chantas yearly, one of which is for seeking forgiveness of sins committed in past lives. 35, No. [228][232], Spiritism, a Christian philosophy codified in the 19th century by the French educator Allan Kardec, teaches reincarnation or rebirth into human life after death.

Later Jung would emphasise the importance of the persistence of memory and ego in psychological study of reincarnation: "This concept of rebirth necessarily implies the continuity of personality... (that) one is able, at least potentially, to remember that one has lived through previous existences, and that these existences were one's own...."[121] Hypnosis, used in psychoanalysis for retrieving forgotten memories, was eventually tried as a means of studying the phenomenon of past life recall. [268][272], Past life regression has been critiqued for being unethical on the grounds that it lacks any evidence to support its claims and that it increases one's susceptibility to false memories. However it may attract old mental, emotional, and energetic karma patterns to form the new personality. [72][73], Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism disagree in their assumptions and theories about rebirth. In recent decades, many Europeans and North Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation,[11] and many contemporary works mention it. In ancient Greece, the Orphic Mysteries and Pythagoreans[242] believed in various forms of reincarnation.

Tibetan Buddhism stresses the state of mind at the time of death. According to Jain texts, this infinity of nigodas can also be found in plant tissues, root vegetables and animal bodies. CE/AD), known to us through the criticisms of Irenaeus and the work of Clement of Alexandria (see also Neoplatonism and Gnosticism and Buddhism and Gnosticism).

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The ego is believed to transmute transient soul experiences into universals that form the basis for an individuality that can endure after death. Weiss did not believe in reincarnation at the time but, after confirming elements of Catherine's stories through public records, came to be convinced of the survival of an element of the human personality after death. When people die, nature sometimes reacts. Famous World War II American General George Patton was a strong believer in reincarnation, believing, among other things, he was a reincarnation of the Carthaginian General Hannibal. Is The Buddhist ‘No-Self’ Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana? [248] The belief in reincarnation is particularly high in the Baltic countries, with Lithuania having the highest figure for the whole of Europe, 44%. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. [114] Sometimes such convictions, as in Socrates' case, arise from a more general personal faith, at other times from anecdotal evidence such as Plato makes Socrates offer in the Myth of Er. There I lived until I died of old age. Released from birth, death, old age and pain, he attains immortality. Sometimes it acquires the body of a demon; all this happens on account of its karma. "Remembrances of Lives Past.". Even a stone or leaf possesses such a soul that "came into this world to receive a rectification".

Each Jewish soul is reincarnated in order to fulfill each of the 613 Mosaic commandments that elevate a particular spark of holiness associated with each commandment. [24][25] They consider the release from the cycle of reincarnations as the ultimate spiritual goal, and call the liberation by terms such as moksha, nirvana, mukti and kaivalya. [260] Edwards says such stories are attributable to selective thinking, suggestion, and false memories that can result from the family's or researcher's belief systems and thus cannot be counted as empirical evidence.

[110] As there is no known Manichaean mythology or terminology in the writings of these groups there has been some dispute among historians as to whether these groups truly were descendants of Manichaeism.[111]. Transmigration is influenced by a being's past karma (kamma).

The four main destinies are further divided into sub-categories and still smaller sub-sub-categories. But according to Jainism, such places, including the earth are simply the places which allow the soul to experience its unfulfilled karma.[218].