Meditation Categories Death

The Existence of Future Lives

Plato once noted that it was logical that future lives should exist and that humans would take rebirth either in the forms of animals, humans or other kinds of sentient beings. Buddhism has long held the same conclusion, proving that it is true that great minds really do thinks alike.

The Existence of Future Lives

In Buddhism, there are detailed descriptions about how human beings take rebirth in the next life. Plato also stated that humans would take rebirth, either in the forms of animals, humans or other sentient beings. He believed that future lives did exist. However, most Western schools of philosophy and religion fail to explain this issue clearly. It so happens that it is explicitly described in Buddhism.

Therefore, I think present-day scholars and scientists should investigate the issue of future lives; to me this is quite an essential area to research into. In most fields of scientific research, after only a few decades of research in a particular field, even if the research has borne fruit, yet, I personally think that such findings have only a transitory value.

Regarding the existence of future lives or the existence of life beyond that of our human bodies, I have read many books written by scientists, but was particularly fascinated by the Swiss scientist and psychiatrist, Carl Jung. In his book, he recounts a great deal of his personal biography. In his memoir, he recalls a near-death experience (NDE) that took place in 1944. In Near-death, the mind separates from the body but does not depart from it entirely. Jung said that once, while he was having a heart attack, his mind left his body, flew across the ocean and visited such faraway places as Sri Lanka and India. Finally, his mind returned to his bedroom. From then on, he was a complete believer in the idea that the mind exists separately from the body.