Deja vu?
A really interesting doco on Discovery this morning presented the following cases…
- a child who claims to be the reincarnation of his grandfather (who died a year before the child was born). The child knew details about the grandfather that the father didn’t even know (like the grandfather’s sister was murdered)
- a young Sri Lankan woman who felt that she was a girl who drowned at age 5. They found a family whose daughter drowned at age 5. The woman had described the drowning scene vividly and felt ‘at home’ with the family of the girl.
- a boy born with a heart defect who was born just after his New York policeman grandfather was shot in the heart.
Throughout the programme there were obvious cases of the researcher leading the child’s ‘recollections’ (with questions like “And the girl’s hair was red?”). But the show was interesting and it made the viewer think about the possibility of reincarnation.
Book-mark this post
Book-mark this post in Del.icio.us, Furl, Digg, Stumble Upon, whatever...
Mouse-over the image and choose your bookmark:
Related articles
- No related posts
Tang Kim Seng said,
February 10, 2005 at 12:33 am
A fascinating topic which I’ve read articles that documented this ‘deja-vu’ phenomena. One article gave a possible explanation using the scientific analogy of electromagnetic (EM) waves. Upon receipt by the antenna, the EM energy gets converted ultimately to pictures on TV or sounds on radio, provided both TV and radio are conditioned (e.g. serviceable, tuned correctly, etc.) to receive it. Similarly, electric current which is another form of energy may transform into light from a light bulb or heat from a heater. By the same token, upon the death of an individual, the seed of consciousness may transmigrate to another matter form when the conditions are right (i.e. when the female egg is fertilised by the male sperms). This explanation leads to the possibility that a human being upon death may take the form of another human form or possibly, animals during rebirth.
According to some Buddhist texts I read, there is a difference between reincarnation and rebirth. Whereas reincarnation is deemed having a soul which is permanent and independent by itself without external influence, rebirth is suggesting that the so-called ’soul’ is not a permanent entity and that it is a conditioned phenomena. The Buddhists subscribe to the latter suggesting that our consciousness arises due to our ignorance of truth (to see things in their true sense) and as a result, we are bounded by craving and desire to want to be reborn again and again. When the conditions cease to support it, the consciousness ceases and there will no rebirth or Nirvana.
Perhaps there is some truth is all of these. From the scientific veiwpoint, questions like ‘where were we before we were born?’ or ‘where will we be after we leave this world ?’ are difficult to prove. Maybe that’s why people turn to religions for answers.
Concerning the case of the boy with the heart defect, if indeed the boy and grandfather are related, then there’ll be serious issues for our Health Ministry trying to persuade people to donate their kidneys, eyes, hearts and livers upon death by accident.
Card0 said,
April 6, 2007 at 8:45 am
In fact, I have also seen a documentary of a little boy who was believed to be the incarnation of a long dead pilot.