Introduction
Today's topic was pending but here I present it with surprising data. First of all, the popular idea of reincarnation is that people have a soul that can survive and enter another body, thus being the same person who reincarnates. But this presents several problems. In the first place, Nature recycles everything and does not return anything in the same way. What comes back, comes back with modifications, additions or subtractions. You just have to look at the trees and plants. There is not a single type that is the same, although the tree essence remains the same: all pines are different, all roses have differences. And with the human soul it happens more or less the same, and there are different types of soul, return and reincarnation.
So what reincarnates? There is a passage where it is claimed that man only dies once: And just as it is decreed that men die only once, and after this, the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
Likewise in John 9 the disciples ask the Master if a man was born blind because he or his parents sinned and the Master answered that neither of them, but was born that way for the manifestation of the gift (Chen) of Elohim. Obviously, just as a pine tree that dies does not return, a person and his own soul do not return in exactly the same way. One thing is the return of complete souls and another is the return of behavior patterns, physical and psychological traits.
But on what does it depend? From culture, genes, or something else that survives? There are numerous accounts of children who claimed to have lived in a certain country or villages and when investigating the data they provided, these were corroborated.
One of the best known cases is that of Cameron Macaulay, a young boy from Glasgow who remembered living on an island of Scotland and convinced his parents to go, corroborating everything and leaving the family speechless.
Another famous case, of which a film was made, was that of the Irish Mary Sutton, whose personal memories reappeared in the English woman Mary Cockerell, who in turn traveled to Ireland to investigate, finding even the children of Mary Sutton.
How could we explain all this? This is something that can be deciphered with the Wheel of Souls or Gilgul ha Neshamot, explained by Isaac Luria. Now, before moving on to the Hebraic conception of the Wheel of Souls and returns, let's look at different views on reincarnation:
In Ancient Greece there was talk of Metempsychosis or transcendence of psychic elements and Metemsomatosis or transcendence of bodily elements, as in the process of recycling.
Stories are told that Pythagoras was the incarnation or of the solar god Apollo and that he remembered all his existences. He even once heard the barking of a dog and claimed to recognize the voice of a friend of his.
In India there is the ancient notion of the Jivatman, a soul composed of a blissful energetic, emotional, mental, intellectual and causal layer, which contains memories or impressions (samskaras) of other existences. As the Vedanta tradition teaches, the accumulation of karma makes the Jivatman have to put on new bodies to burn it. And once the person is freed from that karmic load, the Jivatman is no longer necessary, so the Soul becomes Jivanmukta, Liberated in Life.
Interestingly, a compatible idea was defended by Church Father Origen:
It seems logical for me to investigate why the human soul is moved by both good and bad. I suppose that the causes are prior to our bodily birth (...). It must be said that there have been certain antecedent causes which, before souls were born in bodies, have made them contract some guilt in their thoughts or in their movements, for which they were judged by divine providence to suffer this in accordance with their merit. The soul, in fact, always possesses its free will, whether in the body or outside of it, and free will is always moved either towards good or evil and never the sense of reason, that is, intelligence and the soul can be without any movement, be it good or bad. It is plausible that these movements are the cause of merit even before they act in this world. Thus, according to these causes or merits, from birth or, rather, from before birth, being affected by good or evil has been regulated by divine providence (...). You have to think that sometimes there are causes prior to bodily birth. (De Principiis III 3.5-6)
Each one who descends to earth is granted, to be born in this world in different places or nations, according to their merit or the place they occupied there, with different kinds of life or diseases, engendered by religious parents or by those who they are less pious, so that sometime an Israelite may fall among the Scythians and an Egyptian may descend into Judea (De Principiis IV 3.10)
However, Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora continued to maintain a tyrannical Catholicism. It is said that she was part of a brothel as a courtesan, but married the tyrant Justinian. Thus both made a dynamic duo to abolish among other things Origen's teaching on the Pre-Existence of the Soul. Justianian wanted Vigilius, Bishop and Pope of Rome, to sign up a decree to condemn the pre-existence of the soul defended by the theologian Origen. Vigilius refused and Justinian put him in jail, although he later took him out and told him to sign the decree during the Fifth Council of the Church. But Vigilius managed to escape. Still, Justinian had bishops and cardinals on his side. They argued that if the soul had come from God, if it had passed through other previous existences and could be purified by paying guilt with reincarnation, as Origen maintained, and that meant that Christ was not the only divine being who had come to life and the Church was not the only way to attract all souls to Christ. Therefore that doctrine had to be denied.
Gilgul ha Neshamot or Wheel of Souls
The most complete and detailed teaching I found on the return of the Souls is undoubtedly the information transmitted by the Aryzal, Rabbi Isaac Luria, whose disciple, Jayim Vital, passed it down in a work called Shaar Ha Gilgulim, or Gate of Reincarnation, Cycles.
In the old paradigm each person works to rectify their part, be it nefesh, ruaj or neshemah. As long as the own soul does not correct the nefesh to a certain extent, he/she cannot work on the emotional ruach, and until one reaches a certain emotional awareness (ruach) that allows one to distinguish between good and bad, one cannot begin to receive the Neshemah.
During the first seven years of life humans develop mostly the nefesh, personality tight to the physical body. At seven years of age the ruaj begins to enter because the ethical personality begins to form. Intellectual development begins between 12 -13 years, so the Neshemah starts to be received at 14 and at 21 the root of the Neshemah should enter.
But very few people are developed enough to work on those levels. Adults are often children or adolescents in bodies that are too mature for them. That is why the complete rectification takes several lives, where what returns are not people but fragments of the soul that must be purified to receive greater portions of the Nefesh Elokit, which fights against the Nefesh Behemit, as described in the book of Tanya.
Yet in this Gilgul, something is still missing, since the Soul of Adam cannot rectify itself and needs the additional Spirit of Messiah.
Gilgul vs Ibur
The return of a soul portion can be in two ways, by Gilgul or Ibur. In the first, the soul is born within the person, while the Ibur is the arrival of a soul that attaches to a person's soul which has already lived certain experiences. All to correct itself or help its host as a guide.
As for the number of times a soul can return in gilgul, there is a limitation when souls do not rectify:
You will not worship or serve them; because I, Yhwh Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, who punish the iniquity of the parents on the children until the third and fourth generation of those who hate me (Exodus 20: 5)
Hebrew Kabalists interpret this on several levels. The phrase cannot be taken literally, since in Ezekiel 18:20 it says:
The nefesh that sins will die; the son will not bear the sin of the father, nor will the father bear the sin of the son; the justice of the righteous will be upon him,
How then is it possible for Nature to pursue the sins of the parents on the children until the third and fourth generation? The explanation is that a soul that transgresses cannot return in the son but in a grandson (third generation) or great-grandson (fourth generation). The soul is the same but fragmented.
The soul to be rectified can even return in the son of the brother, as in the Levirate Law or Ybum, explained in Deuteronomy 25. If a married man dies without leaving offspring, the brother is allowed to marry the widow and give her descendants so the soul of the deceased husband has the possibility of reincarnating in the same family line. Although the widow can always reject it if the brother is an indecent man. In that case she had to perform a ritual of humiliation called halitza, removing the sandal from the brother, then spitting on the ground. This was allowed except if the man was a Koen or priest, a supposedly righteous man.
However, if a soul does not rectify after returning in the fourth generation, it is literally cut off and fully recycled or even imprisoned in the Underworld, as suggested in this passage:
If there were with him an eloquent messenger, one in a thousand, who would announce to Adam his duty; Let him tell him that God had mercy on him, that he freed him from descending into the pit (Shajat), that he found redemption: his flesh will be more tender than that of the child, he will return to the days of his youth. He will pray to the Natural God (Eloah), and he will be pleased with him, and he will see his face with joy. Because He will restore to man (Enosh) his Justice. He looks upon men (enoshim); and to him who says: I have sinned, and have perverted what is right, and he has not profited me; [the Natural God, Eloah] will redeem his soul (nefesh), let him not pass into the pit (shajat), and his life will look to the light. Behold, all these things God (El) does, two and three times with the human (gaber) (Job 33: 23-29).
Now, if the soul rectifies, even if it is only a small part of its portion, Nature allows it to keep coming back. Scripture assures that there would be a thousand returns:
Recognize, then, that Yhwh is Elohim, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and his mercy up to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments (Deuteronomy 7: 9)
The mystery of the Ibur
As I already explained, an Ibur is a soul that binds itself to another soul in order to rectify itself or help the host soul.
And here comes a deep question: can an Ibur´s memories mix up with the host´s mind, giving the impression of a previous Life?
In my view the answer is yes, after all they are part of the same root Soul. So in a sense, people are just the perspectives lived an Oversoul (to use Emerson´s concept).
Besides, there is also a limitation of souls that can be incorporated in the form of Ibur. A person can carry up to three souls (nefesh, ruaj or neshemah) incorporated into their own nefesh, ruaj or neshemah. But all of them belong to the same root, that is, they come from the same common Soul, which has already been subdivided in previous incarnations. And I am not referring to Adam, the Collective Soul, from which they all come, but to other sub-souls that act as oversouls.
One of the clearest cases is when Elisha (Elisha) asks Eliyahu for a double portion of his spirit:
And when they had passed [the river], Elijah said to Elisha: Ask what you want me to do for you before I am separated from you. And Elisha said: I beg you please (na) that a double portion of your spirit (ruach) be upon me (2 Kings 2: 9)
And why double portion? The Kabbalistic interpretation is that in addition to the Ruach of Eliyahu, Elisha received the nefesh from Nadab and Abihua, which would be indicated by the expression na (please), which are the initials of both characters. Nadab and Abihua were the two sons of Ahron (Moshe's brother), who had reincarnated in Gigul, after having offered "strange fire", dying consumed in Divine fire. Both refer to aspects of the soul that had to be rectified and Eliyahu had inherited them from Gilgul, passing them on to Elisha after his departure.
Now, sometimes the Ibur does not come from people who have already passed away, but from some righteous (tzadik) who is still alive, as in the famous case of Yonathan, son of King Saul, David's enemy:
And it came to pass that when he had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan's soul became linked to David's soul, and Jonathan loved him as himself (1 Samuel 18).
Ignoring the phenomenon of the Ibur, Christian authors interpreted this as a platonic love between Jonathan and David. But keep in mind that the stories of the Bible are allegories of the parts of the soul, so Saul, David and Solomon represent the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshemah being rectified. Hence none is perfect, but subject to death and suicide, like Saul. When David is declared king, instead of cutting off the line of his persecutor Saul, he sits his son Yonathan at the King´s table. So David (Ruach) and Saul (Nefesh) are reconciled. But Yonathan ias killed along with his brothers and Saul commits suicide. This is the tragedy of the soul that does not have the Head of the Messiah. Everything is subject to contingencies.
This is why in Messianic Kabbalah they speak now of the need of receiving the Neshemah yeterah of Messiah or additional soul of Messiah. However, the problem in Judaism still persists: which Messiah, if in most Judaic circles the Messiah has not arrived yet.
Reincarnation in the New Testament
Again, due to a lack of knowledge, many claim that the idea of reincarnation is not present in the New Testament. Well here is a memory pill:
"Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They said, “Some say that he is John the Baptist; others, that he is Elijah; and others, that it is Jeremiah or one of the prophets. " (Matthias 16:13)
The Son of Man is a clear reference to the Ben Adam of Daniel 7. But why some considered that Yeshua could be the return of some of the prophets who had already passed away? Isn't that the Gilgul?
Moreover, there was a prophecy by which the ruaj or emotional part of Eliyahu's soul, was going to return by Gilgul or even Ibur:
Behold, I send you the prophet Elijah before he comes on the day of Yhwh, a great and terrible day. He will turn the heart of the parents toward the children, and the heart of the children toward the parents, (Malachi 4: 5-6).
That is why the Messiah confirms to the apostles who the return of Eliyahu was:
Truly I tell you that among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has risen; however, the smallest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent conquer it by force, because all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you want to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear (Matthew 11)
The fact that the apostles knew the Gilgul to rectify is again evident in John 9, but they did not know how to specify it, since the people do not return, but the portions of the soul, according to the rectification works of Elohim:
His disciples asked him: "Master, why was this man born blind?" Because of the sin of his parents, or because of his own sin? Neither this man sinned nor did his parents sin, Yeshua declared, but it is so that the works of God may be manifested (John 9: 2-3)
Obviously, if a man is born blind it is because some aspect of the soul inherited from him has manifested that defect at the genetic level, due to some type of transgression, not his, but of someone whose fragmented soul passed through Gilgul. But that can be healed by the Divine Gift (Chen).
And what are those works of divine restoration that the Master refers to? We have already seen it:
[the Natural God, Eloah] will redeem his soul (nefesh), let him not pass into the pit (shajat), and his life will see the Light. Behold, all these things God (El) does, two and three times with humans (Job 33: 23-29)
According to my research, Eloah refers to the divine Spirit of Malkut de Atzilut, and he is the one who restores completeness, eliminating any disease.
'Because I will restore you to health, and I will heal you from your wounds,' declares the Word (Yhwh) - 'because they have called you rejected, saying:' This is Zion, no one cares about her. ' (Jeremiah 30: 7)
However, the main mission of the Messiah is to end the Gigul, not deny it, as do all those who fear or hate the Truth, defending their own false doctrines about a heaven or hell, or some super-dimension where the soul is purified after having lived only one life. It is enough to observe Nature to see that nothing works that easy, and whoever does it pays for it. This is what the Messiah taught:
Put away your sword, Yeshua told him, because those who kill by iron die by iron (Matthew 26:52)
If not in this life, in the next. Clear enaugh.
This is why we must live as members of the Last Adam:
For just as in [the first] Adam all perish, so also in the Messiah [Last Adam] all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).
To the victor I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave there again (Revelation 3:12)
That is to say, he will never again have to return in Gilgul to a desolate land.
Thanks for listening.
Soon we will see in depth the subject of twin soul.
