Our Immortal Soul, Part 1 of 2

What is the essence of our soul, and how did it come to inhabit our physical body here on planet Earth? Where did our soul come from, and do we, as this soul, live on beyond this life?

The famous Greek Philosopher, Socrates, believed that human beings were made of both body and soul, and that soul was immortal, surviving the body’s death. He was also convinced that our soul’s mission on Earth was to achieve wisdom and perfection, but this quest was inhibited by the imperfections of the physical realm that our bodies dwell in.

A fundamental teaching of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, amongst other religions, is the cycle of samsara, in which all life goes through birth, life, death, and rebirth until finally, after the good karma of many lifetimes, reaching Moksha, or liberation, from the cycle.

Even though not widely accepted in modern-day Christianity, Jesus Christ spoke about reincarnation to His disciples. In Matthew Chapter 17, Jesus’ disciples asked when Elijah would return. He responded to them by saying: “But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He was talking to them about John the Baptist. Also, as many Christians await the second coming of Christ, would this not be considered the reincarnation of the Savior Jesus Christ?

In modern times, science is beginning to validate the teachings spiritual leaders have shared with us across centuries; that there is life beyond death. The term, ‘Near-Death Experience’ was created in 1975 by American Psychiatrist and Physician Dr. Raymond Moody in his revolutionary book, “Life After Life.” His latest research is around the topic of “Shared-Death Experiences,” where people surrounding a dying individual are having the death experience with them, such as a final judgment, seeing dead relatives coming to gather the individual, or going out of their body and up a tunnel.

Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) confirms that the phenomenon of past lives and reincarnation is indeed true and that even though our soul takes on this physical body, we are always connected to God. “We are always with God. We are never away from God. It's just sometimes we are too distracted by physical survival. We lost contact. That's all. So whenever we say we reincarnate, that doesn't mean really reincarnation. It's just a different jump in a long, long eternal life process to have different experiences in different departments of God's creation.”