Reincarnation in popular western culture

There is little detailed information on the prevalence of reincarnation beliefs in the contemporary western world. Nevertheless, the idea of reincarnation receives regular mention in feature films, popular books, and popular music. And there have been some surveys done in Europe and the USA which suggest that a significant minority of people there believe in reincarnation.

European surveys

According to survey data from 1999-2002, a significant minority of people from Nordic countries believe that we had a life before we were born, and not only will we survive death but will be born again into flesh and bones. In short, they believe in reincarnation. Here the mean for the Nordic countries is 22%, so every fifth person holds this view. [http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/Nordic_Psychology_erlhar06.pdf Popular psychology, belief in life after death and reincarnation in the Nordic countries, Western and Eastern Europe] ]

In terms of Eastern Europe, survey data show that the belief in reincarnation is particularly high in the Baltic countries, with Lithuania having the highest figure for the whole of Europe, 44%. The lowest figure is in East Germany, 12%. In Russia about one-third believes in reincarnation. The effect of communist anti-religious ideas on the beliefs of the populations of Eastern Europe seems to have been rather slight, if any, except apparently in East Germany.

According to survey data from 1999-2002, 22% of respondents in Western Europe believe in reincarnation, which is not in line with the dominant doctrine of the Christian Churches, Catholic or Protestant. These facts open up several questions: is this high “voting” for reincarnation due to cultural-religious influences from Asia (various cults and movements of the 19th and 20th century), is it due to remnants of pre-Christian beliefs, or simply the result of personal thinking and brooding on the question of our essential nature and destiny?

U.S. surveys

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 20 percent of U.S. adults believe in reincarnation. Recent surveys by the Barna Group, a Christian research nonprofit organization, have found that a quarter of U.S. Christians, including 10 percent of all born-again Christians, embrace reincarnation as their favored end-of-life view. [ [http://worldmonitor.wordpress.com/2007/08/25/buddhism-china/ China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation] ]

Feature films

A great many feature films have made reference to reincarnation, including:

*"Audrey Rose" (1977)
*"Birth" (2004)
*"Dead Again" (1991)
*"Defending Your Life" (1991)
*"Fluke" (1995)
*"Groundhog Day (film)" (1993)
*"Karz" (1980)
*"Kundun" (1997)
*"Little Buddha" (1993)
*"Mahal" (1949)
*"Om Shanti Om" (2007)
*"Reincarnation" (2005)
*"" (1984)
*"The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" (1975)
*"The Three Lives of Thomasina" (1964)
*"" (2006)
*"What Dreams May Come" (1998)
*"Yesterday's Children" (2000)
*"Suryavanshi" (1992)
*" Switch" (1991)
*" Mr Ya Miss" (2005)
*" Karz Remake (2008)
*" Love Story 2050 (2008)
* Most films about Jesus

Popular music

Popular songs or albums which refer to reincarnation include:

*"The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" by Iron Maiden
*"The Reincarnation Song" by Roy Zimmerman
*"Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation" by Santana
*"The Reincarnation of Luna" by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
*"Reincarnation" by Broken Poets
*"Reincarnation of a Love Bird" by Paul Motian
*"" by Dream Theater

Popular books

Many popular books have made reference to reincarnation. These include several books by Vicki Mackenzie and Carol Bowman.

Vicki Mackenzie's primary interest is to make Buddhist philosophy accessible to the general public. [ [http://www.terrapinn.com/2005/mandp/SpeakerList.stm Mind and it's potential speakers] ] Her books on Buddhism and Reincarnation include: "Reincarnation: The Boy Lama", "Reborn in the West", "Cave in the Snow", and "Why Buddhism?" [ [http://www.wisdom-books.com/Author.asp?AUTH=Mackenzie%2C+Vicki Wisdom Books] ]

Carol Bowman is an author, and the maintainer of a web site dealing with Children's Past Lives, which is also the title of one of her books. In her books and on her web site, she writes about cases of children who seem to recall past lives (spontaneously, that is, without the need for hypnosis). These cases seem to offer some evidence of reincarnation. To some degree, Carol Bowman builds upon the work of Professor Ian Stevenson, but her books are slanted more toward the casual reader.

In fiction, Chuck Palahniuk's book, Diary, centers around an artist whose reincarnated soul is repeatedly used in order to keep the residents of an island rich.

American author Suzanne Weyn's 2008 romance novel, Reincarnation, follows two lovers who keep searching for one another as they progress through the centuries.

New media platforms

Reincarnation is also the theme of "Thursday's Fictions in Second Life", a 3D online immersive world which places the user in the position of a dead soul with the opportunity to examine their past life and contemplate options for the next one. "Thursday's Fictions in Second Life" draws on texts from Richard James Allen's books, including "Thursday's fictions" and "The Kamikaze Mind", which itself depicts the bardo state of a soul in transmigration from one reincarnation to another.

In T.V.Series

In TV Hindi serial named Kaajjal is the Reincarnation of Dev and Kajal. At another serialnamed Banoo Main Teri Dulhann is similar to 2007's Om Shanti Om. Then the TV Serial from Star Plus named Kumkum (TV series) is about a story of Kumkum and Sumit's Reincarnation.

ee also

*Reincarnation
*Reincarnation research

References

External links

* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/messagesfrommichael/ Messages from Michael: Discussions hosted by a core group member]
* [http://www.childpastlives.org/ Children's Past Lives Research Center]
* [http://www.childpastlives.org/vBulletin/ The Reincarnation Forum]
* [http://www.childpastlives.org/childrenspastlives.htm Children's Past Lives]