PureInsight | May 28, 2007
[PureInsight.org] Reincarnation
and retribution based on cause and effect are rooted in traditional
Chinese culture. When I was little, I often heard that old people
talked about these. If there was a disaster taking place, old people
would say that the disaster was caused by the wrongdoing of the older
generation. Instead, if there was a good thing happening, they would
think it was because of the virtues accumulated from ancestors. There
are also many descriptions about this aspect in Chinese literature,
from Dream of the Red Chamber to Three Words and Two Beats
and so on. However, atheism permeated everywhere in my textbooks so I
did not take reincarnation and retribution seriously. After becoming an
adult, with my mind more and more open, I find that many of my notions
and knowledge are actually wrong. I am starting to re-consider the
issue of reincarnation. Here are some examples.
I. A Boy's Experience of Living Two Lives in Hainan Province
An article on the seventh issue of the magazine Oriental Women in 2002
reported a story of a boy who remembered his previous life. The boy was
called Tang Jiangshan. He lived in Gancheng Town of Dongfang City,
Hainan Province. According to Tang Jiangshan's parents and old
villagers, when Tang Jiangshan was only three years old (in the year
of1979), one day he suddenly told his parents, "I am not your child. I
was called Chen Mingdao in my previous life and my dad in that life was
called Sandie. My home was in Danzhou, where it was close to the sea."
The place he mentioned was more than 160 kilometers away from Dongfang
City. The boy also mentioned that he was killed by sword and gun during
the Cultural Revolution. What was stranger was that he could speak the
Danzhou dialect very fluently. The Danzhou dialect was completely
different from the dialect in his hometown in this life of his. There
were also some scars made by swords on his waist left from his previous
life.
At 6, Tang Jiangshan kept urging his parents to take him to where he
lived in his previous life: Huangyu Village, Xinying Town of Danzhou
City. Tang Jiangshan walked straight towards the house of an old man
called Chen Zanying. Tang Jiangshan called Chen Zanying "Sandie" in
Danzhou dialect. He told Chen that he was Chen's son called Chen
Mingdao. After he died, he was reincarnated in Gancheng Town of
Dongfang City. He came back for his parents from his previous life.
Then he recognized his two older sisters, two younger sisters and other
relatives in that village. What was especially interesting is that he
could also recognize his girlfriend in his previous life. Even though
Tang Jiangshan was only 6 years old, what he talked about from his
experiences in the previous life convinced Chen Mingdao's families and
relatives that Tang Jiangshan was Chen Mingdao in his previous life.
Chen Zanying was so moved on the spot and cried with Tang Jiangshan.
Chan believed that Tang Jiangshan was reincarnation of his own son Chen
Mingdao.
Since then, Tang Jiangshan has had two families, parents from two
families. Every year, he traveled between Dongfang city and Danzhou.
Chen Zanying, his relatives and villagers all regarded Tang Jiangshan
as Chen Mingdao. Since Chen Zanying didn't have a son, Tang Jiangshan
took care of him as his son until Chen Zhanying died in 1998.
Editors working for the magazine didn't believe Tang Jiangshan's story
in the beginning. But after careful investigation, they eventually
verified the reliability of Tang's experience.
II. A British Boy Who Remembers His Previous Life
Not only are there recordings about reincarnation in traditional
Chinese culture, but many western scholars have been studying phenomena
of reincarnation. For example, Ian Stevenson wrote a book entitled Children Who Remember Previous Lives and Brian Weiss wrote Many Lives Many Masters. In their books, they collected lots of real cases of reincarnation.
The Sun Online of the U.K. reported a story of a boy who remembers his
pre-existence in the world on Sep. 8, 2006. This six-year-old boy is
called Cameron Macaulay. He is not much different from other boys of
his age. What differentiates him from others is that he likes to talk
about his "old mum," his former family and a white house standing on
the bay. But none of them is related to his current life. The place he
talked about is a place where he had not been to before and is on the
Isle of Barra, which is 160 miles away from where he is living now.
Cameron's mother, Norma, 42, said that Cameron liked to talk about the
tales of a childhood of his on Barra. Cameron spoke about his
former parents, how his dad died, and his brothers and sisters. He also
said that the mother he mentioned here was the one in his previous
life. Cameron believes that he has a previous life and he worries that
the family in his previous life would miss him.
Cameron's nursery teacher told Norma all the things Cameron was saying
about Barra. He missed his mummy and his brothers and sisters there.
Cameron complained that in his current house there was only one toilet,
whereas in Barra, they had three. He used to cry for his mummy. He said
she'd be missing him and he wanted to let his family in Barra know he
was all right. Cameron felt very sad. He wouldn't stop talking about
Barra, where they went, what they did and how he watched the planes
landing on the beach from his bedroom window.
Cameron constantly begged Norma to take him to Barra. Eventually Norma
decided to make the trip. Meanwhile psychologist Dr. Jim Tucker from
Virginia University in the U.S. also went with them. Dr. Tucker
specializes in reincarnation, especially in children's cases.
When Cameron was told about the trip to Barra, he was very happy and
jumped all over the place. They went to Barra in February last year.
When they arrived at Barra and the plane landed on the beach,
everything was just as Cameron described. The hotel people told
them that there was a Robertson family, to which Cameron believed he
belonged, living in the white house on the bay. But Norma didn't tell
Cameron about this since they wanted to see what would happen after
arriving there. When they got there,
Cameron recognized the white house immediately and he was extremely
happy. When they walked to the door, Cameron became very quiet. Norma
guessed that he must think that his Barra mother was waiting for him in
the house as he remembered. But it turned out that there was no one in
the house, he looked sad. The former owner of the house already died.
The person who kept the key let them in. Cameron was familiar with the
house and he knew every bit of the house. As he said, there were three
bathrooms and the sea could be seen from his bedroom window.
Since they came back home to Glasgow, Cameron became much quieter.
Norma said that it was the best thing to go to Barra. This trip made
Cameron much happier and he doesn't talk about going to Barra any
more. Cameron now knows that his mother and brother don't think
he is making up stories. Instead, they found the answers that they were
looking for. Apparently, memories about previous life will fade away
gradually along with the increase in the person's age.
Cameron's story has been filmed into a documentary by TV Channel Five in the U.K. and it is called "The Boy Who Lived Before."
III. Reincarnation of President Lincoln
Some researchers found something about the reincarnation of Lincoln, one of the most famous presidents in the U.S. history.
According to the report on PRWeb on Feb. 1, 2006, about 50 years ago, a
yogi named Paramhansa Yogananda pointed out that President Lincoln
(1809-1865) was reincarnated as the famous American pilot and writer
Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974). A while ago, a priestess and writer
Richard Salva published the book, Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh,
in which he verifies the reincarnation of President Lincoln. In the
book, the author describes the commonalities between Lincoln and
Lindbergh from their characters, personalities and even hundreds of
their living environments, and also compares them physically and
spiritually. In addition, the author also explains how his previous
life as Lincoln affected Lindbergh's life based on Lincoln's life and
language habits. All these help explain puzzles of historians,
for example, why Lindberg as a pilot was so strongly against the U.S.
getting involved in the Second World War.
This report also says that 1/5 of American people believe in the
existence of reincarnation, but few noticed that how one's previous
life could influence him or her. But this book compares Lincoln and
Lindberg and explains how one's karma accumulated from one's previous
lives influence his/her current life. For example, both Paramhansa
Yogananda and Richard Salva think that Lincoln was a yogi in one of his
previous lives. Salva analyzes how his experience of being a yogi
influenced Lincoln and how Lincoln's experience affected Lindberg.
IV. Epilogue
Apparently, phenomena of reincarnation have existed in the East and
West from the ancient times up to now. Another example is about Emperor
Wu, named Xiao Yan, of China's Nanbeichao period. He held power for 48
years and died at the age of 86. He was the second longest-lived
emperor in Chinese history since the first emperor, Qin Shihuang. The
longest lived emperor was Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty.
According to historical records, Emperor Wu of Liang was a monk in one
of his previous lives.
The true existence of reincarnation embodies the fairness of Heavenly
principles. It is true that good deeds will receive blessings and
wrongdoers will suffer from wrongdoings. Therefore, people should be
careful about their words and deeds.
References
http://epochtimes.com/gb/6/9/25/n1465551.htm
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/4/3/36284.html
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/10/4/40298.html
