A well-known professor in an
Indian university who is conducting research on rebirth came to meet me. At the
very start of his conversation, he asserted that he was going to prove the
theory of rebirth scientifically. It was apparent that his mind was already
made up in favour of rebirth and he was looking for scientific evidence to
support it. But it was utterly unscientific to accept something before fully
investigating it from all sides. If someone wants to be scientific, he should
say that he wants to enquire whether the theory of reincarnation is true or
not.
Impotence of Logic
If you want to prove the theory
of rebirth, you can find any number of arguments in its favour. Philosophy has
been debating this question for 5,000 years and nothing has been solved yet.
There are people who believe in rebirth and there are equal numbers who don’t
believe in it. And no side has been able to convince the other side of the
validity of its standpoint.
It is ironical that you can
convince only one who is already convinced; you cannot convince the
unconvinced. This is impotence of logic, which it fails to see. You can easily
convince a Hindu of the truth of rebirth, because it is part of his belief
system. But you will know how impotent logic is when you try to convince a
Muslim of the truth of this theory.
Logic is a skill which works well
for those who use it to prove something which they believe to be true.
Therefore, it is not a right question to ask if rebirth can be proved
philosophically.
The right question is, “Is there
a way to approach the question of rebirth scientifically?” Science is pure
enquiry; it is objective and impartial. While philosophy and logic have their
standpoints for or against a belief, a proposition, science has none. A
scientific mind means that it is open and impartial; it wants to find the
truth, it is open to both the alternatives, both sides of a thing; it is not
closed. Science does not depend on belief. It wants to investigate into the
truth or otherwise of a hypothesis.
Objective Enquiry
Science is the only discipline
prepared to re-examine its own findings and conclusions. Science is prepared
for any possibility that an objective enquiry and investigation can lead to.
Science has only recently begun to take interest in matters like reincarnation.
It is only 50 years since psychic
societies came into being in America and Europe, and they have done some good
work in this direction. A handful of intelligent people with a scientific bent,
like Oliver Lodge, Broad, and Rhine have explored new frontiers of the human
mind. They are all men of scientific persuasion; they don’t have any beliefs
and prejudices of their own. They have done some real work on life-after-death
and incarnation. Their findings are authentic and they go a long way in support
of reincarnation. Now there are scientific techniques to contact bodiless
souls, and they have been contacted, and every care has been taken to eliminate
the chances of deception and fraud in the use of these techniques.
In the past, there have been many
cases of fraudulent séances to communicate with the dead. But if even a single
case of authentic necromancy succeeds, it is enough. And many such experiments
to contact bodiless spirits have been successful in establishing that souls
change their bodies; that they are born again and again.
Contacting Spirits
A number of people, who had
devoted their lives to necromancy before leaving their bodies, had promised to
their psychic societies that they would communicate with them after death, in a
specific manner. And some of them did succeed in their efforts. They
communicated some very valuable information regarding the life-after-death
phenomenon to their societies, and this information goes a long way in the
support of rebirth.
