Reincarnation is the doctrine that after death the Soul, Spirit, or Consciousness takes on a new physical body. The word literally means "to become flesh again". There are many different variations, only a few of which are briefly considered here.

Belief in reincarnation is found in all the religiouns of the Indian subcontinent - "Hinduism" (actually a cluster of religions and philosophies such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Vedanta etc which share a belief in the Vedas as a source of authority), Jainism, Buddhism (where it is technically known as Rebirth", because Buddhist rejects the idea of a permanent self or soul that incarnates), Sikhism, and Radhasoami (Sant mat). It is also found among classical Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras, Plato, and Plotinus and can be considered part of the Platonic tradition (including Neoplatonism). Reincarnation is also taught in Lurianic and Hqassidic Kabbalah, and some forms of Gnosticism and Esoteric Christianity, and in Alan Kardec's Spiritism (but not in Anglo-American Spiritualism). Blavatsky's later Theosophy (The Secret Doctr9ine) and all subsequent Theosophy taught and teaches reincarantion, it is also found in Hermetic Occultism, Neo-Paganism, the New Age movement, In parapsychology studies, Professor Ian Stevenson has gathered and published cases suggestive of reincarnation. (as a scientist, Stevenson couldn't say this "proves" rencarnation)

The following are some different interpretations

• There is a self that reincarnates (most teachings)
• There is no self that reincarnates, only a karmic momentum or continuum of consciousness (Buddhism)

• Reincarnation is a universal process (most teachings)
• Reincarnation is an exception, or the unnatural taking over of a body (some occult theories - e.g. the early Theon and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor )

• Reincarnation is evolutionary and progressive, repressenting the growth and development of the soul or consciousness - i.e. Spiritual Evolution (Rumi, Theosophy, Rudolf Steiner, Sri Aurobindo, Meher Baba, Ken Wilber)
• Reincarnation/Rebirth is non-evolutionary (traditional Hinduism, Buddhism, Krishna Consciousness)

• There is a single self or continuum that reincarnates (most teachings)
• There are multiple streams of consciousness that reinacrnate (The Mother, in a talk in the Agenda)

• Reincarnation is sequential (most teachings)
• Reincarantion is simultaneous (all lives are simultaneous) - Seth/Jane Roberts

In keeping with the universal or "integarl" perspective, I consider all these interpretations to be correct, but also partial, in that each pertains to a different understanding or interpretation

So the central thesis might be stated as

• There is a self that reincarnates
• Reincarnation is a universal process
• Reincarnation is evolutionary and progressive, repressenting the growth and development of the soul or consciousness
• There is a single self or continuum that reincarnates
• Reincarnation is sequential

But it is also the case that

• There is no self that reincarnates, only a karmic momentum or continuum of consciousness - this applies at the level of the surface consciousness, the personality and adhar, as Buddhist meditation reveals that there is no persisting "self". Theosophy etc refers to a much more profound level of Self
• Reincarnation can be the unnatural taking over of a body - again, this does not involve the true being, but an unnatural astral development of the surface being or ego, which becomes an instrument of adverse forces)
• Reincarnation/Rebirth is non-evolutionary - this may refer to karmic impulses of the surface being, not the Higher Self
• There are multiple streams of consciousness that reinacarnate - perhaps the organising principles behind teh surface consciousness, but not the Divine Center
• Reincarntion is simultaneous (all lives are simultaneous) - this is from teh perspective of teh transcendent eternal Higher Self; see for example Sri Aurobindo's distinction between Jivatman and Soul

The following layers of the being can be supposed

• The surface consciousness (there is karmic reaction and rebirth, but not reincarnation)
• The inner consciousness, consisting of a number of streams or continuums
• The Divine Center, which reincarnates and evolves through successive lives
• The transcendent eternal Higher Self (beyond Reincarnation)