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Concerning reincarnation

willy1590

Member
I was wondering if there were any faiths which believe in reincarnation or some kind of rebirth, but then don't teach of a heaven or hell, so they kind of just believe everyone goes round and round?. If not then do any not believe in a hell? Or at least a hell that is not torture or pain
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
I was wondering if there were any faiths which believe in reincarnation or some kind of rebirth, but then don't teach of a heaven or hell, so they kind of just believe everyone goes round and round?. If not then do any not believe in a hell? Or at least a hell that is not torture or pain
By seeing you raise this question, I suspect you are taking the idea of hell far more seriously than it can ever be healthily taken.

For that matter, odds are good that you are taking rebirth and reincarnation too seriously for anyone's good as well.

If I may, you should probably attempt to elaborate a bit on what you want to believe and work from there.
 

willy1590

Member
By seeing you raise this question, I suspect you are taking the idea of hell far more seriously than it can ever be healthily taken.

For that matter, odds are good that you are taking rebirth and reincarnation too seriously for anyone's good as well.

If I may, you should probably attempt to elaborate a bit on what you want to believe and work from there.

It's only that hell has never made sense to me, I was wondering if any faiths believe in reincarnation but without this torment between lives
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
It's only that hell has never made sense to me, I was wondering if any faiths believe in reincarnation but without this torment between lives
But that would break the teaching, wouldn't it?

Are you perhaps thinking people are supposed to believe in a literal hell? I don't think that is true of any religion whatsoever.
 

willy1590

Member
But that would break the teaching, wouldn't it?

Are you perhaps thinking people are supposed to believe in a literal hell? I don't think that is true of any religion whatsoever.

Well I got interested in the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson and his team who researched reincarnation, now of course he never put a faith forward but I thought I'd look around at the ones who believed in it. And well I mean where hell isn't like say pain and torture, if it's anything it's like training or something. Do any faiths never mention this kind of place?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
I feel so weird even attempting to think that way. It is just so upside-down and twisted beyond recognition. Why would anyone specifically value a reincarnationist belief?

In any case, my sincere answer is "all that are at all respectable and use comparable concepts, when correctly taught and understood". The whole spectrum, from Hinduism all the way up to Islam (depending on what exactly you understand as reincarnation).
 

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
I was wondering if there were any faiths which believe in reincarnation or some kind of rebirth, but then don't teach of a heaven or hell, so they kind of just believe everyone goes round and round?. If not then do any not believe in a hell? Or at least a hell that is not torture or pain

Do you mean repeatedly reborn in the human realm?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
The idea of punishment in hell is patently obvious a bad teaching. What else could it possibly be?
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Most religions don't describe a literal hell, actually. It's pretty much only a thing in certain (not all) branches of Christianity and Islam - neither of which accept reincarnation either.

You've asked this question in several different forms several different times. The answer is still the same there, sir.
 

willy1590

Member
Most religions don't describe a literal hell, actually. It's pretty much only a thing in certain (not all) branches of Christianity and Islam - neither of which accept reincarnation either.

You've asked this question in several different forms several different times. The answer is still the same there, sir.
I am very interested in Buddhism you see as well, I feel it is something that interests me so I ask from that perspective as well.
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
I was wondering if there were any faiths which believe in reincarnation or some kind of rebirth, but then don't teach of a heaven or hell, so they kind of just believe everyone goes round and round?. If not then do any not believe in a hell? Or at least a hell that is not torture or pain
I would say Hinduism (in general) believes in reincarnation and no heaven or hell as those two are understood in western religions.
 

willy1590

Member
I would say Hinduism (in general) believes in reincarnation and no heaven or hell as those two are understood in western religions.

I have often also wondered about Hinduism, do you have any links to a basic explanation to Hinduism and why people feel it is right?
 

willy1590

Member
Hinduism Introduction

Enjoy !! I'll answer questions as best I can.

Thanks, that is a really detailed set of articles there :). I was just wondering with Hinduism why has it never spread, I mean to be Hindu must one pray or chant, read even etc only in the languages they are written in?

I also wonder about Buddhism though, it seems every few years I seem to go through a phase of searching...
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Thanks, that is a really detailed set of articles there :). I was just wondering with Hinduism why has it never spread,
Only in recent times has it become more understood in the western world. It's spreading as it has answers that western religions don't in many cases.

I mean to be Hindu must one pray or chant, read even etc only in the languages they are written in?
No, things are translated into English.
 

willy1590

Member
Only in recent times has it become more understood in the western world. It's spreading as it has answers that western religions don't in many cases.


No, things are translated into English.

But I always feel like Hinduism is not very universal, you kind of have to link it with India, I mean is that true or am I way off??
 

GoodbyeDave

Well-Known Member
Nobody teaches hell, except Christians and Muslims.

Reincarnation is taught by Hinduism (except in the Lingayat sect), Buddhism (but not in China and Japan), and the Druze religion.

My problem with reincarnation as a general rule rather than an occasional event is that it ignores the experiences that people have had of their ancestors. I was recently reading of a Voodoo worshiper who encountered ancestors her family knew nothing about but who were later confirmed by searching the public records. Perhaps we get the afterlife we expect: because Hindus expect to be reborn, they are.
 
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