Facts About the SOUL and REINCARNATION
1. There is no positive proof for the existence of souls, immortal karma, reincarnation, or any spiritual after-life. It is interesting to note that in their last years Hindu philosophers like Osho Rajnish and J. Krishnamurti reversed themselves and stated that there was no reincarnation.
2. There are obvious profit and political power motives for those who promote belief in the supernatural. How many gurus have made fortunes off the idea of soul and reincarnation? The idea of soul has historically been as much a matter of politics as it has been an issue of personal religious belief. It is a fact that Hindu Brahmins justified cast system on the basis of bad karma of past life to be born in the lowest untouchable class; and good actions to serve the higher casts is necessary to be born, in the next carnation, in a family of the higher cast. China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission in 2007. The real motive is to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual and political leader.
3. It is highly probable that humans have a built-in genetic predisposition to avoid the inevitable fact of our future death in order to reduce fear and stress. It is possible that our brains create myths of God, soul, immortal karma, reincarnation, and afterlife as a buffer against the hurtful knowledge of the inevitable demise of ourselves and everyone we know and love. By inventing myths of afterlife and/or reincarnation the brain can exist comfortably without the highly charged survival instinct electrically connecting to the newfound knowledge of the inevitability of our future death.
4. Life on earth was created through the nonhuman laws of nature. Strands of chemicals (DNA) were created in the process of origin of life, and further in the process some DNA strands became encased in protective shells which increased their survivability dramatically, creating the first unicellular organisms such as first bacteria. From simple unicellular organisms more complexity was added until a myriad of multi-cell creatures were produced. Through this slow process of evolution over billions of years there was never any need for soul, except perhaps help humans deal with their growing consciousness of the inevitable time-death equation. We know that humans evolved from unicellular organisms. Where did soul come into the picture and why?
No one can honestly say that it is impossible that human beings have souls or immortal karma or reincarnation. You cannot prove an absolute negative against such a big and complex issue. One can only say that given the evidence the possibility is unlikely. The burden of proof is on those who believe in the supernatural and there are currently no facts to back up their case.
Courtesy: “Soul and Reincarnation“