This article appeared in Al-Osboo’ Al-Arabi Magazine (Arabic week magazine), issue 279, December 12, 1964.

Our discussion about Daheshist philosophy and its views on reincarnation will also show that early Christianity does believe in reincarnation.

Reincarnation in Hinduism

Indians are known for their interest in spiritual studies, where the belief in reincarnation being one of the most notable spiritual or religious component. The Hindu version of reincarnation does not vary significantly from the general theory that Pythagoras and Plato talked about, where it is possible to reincarnate in a human or animal body and that the soul is a prisoner of the body and looks for an escape.

A clear phrase is written about this subject in the Gita, the Hindu Sacred Text: “Krishna urges Arjuna not to be saddened by the dead and says that death is not the end. The individual changes, however, the essence is immortal–even if it reaches perfection. The identity remains regardless of the continued destruction of the human body. The essence of the identity maintains its existence and takes on different forms. Death is nothing but a change in the external physical form. If the body dies, another new body takes its place and the new life is dependent upon whatever the individual has earned in his past life and past experiences. We can be born in lofty worlds, as human beings on Earth, or in the animal world, in accordance to the moral constitution that we have built. Values are maintained and reincarnation continues generation after another until we reach our target.” Buddhism shares with Hinduism, to a certain extent, its belief in reincarnation.

Reincarnation in Daheshism

Dr. Dahesh says: It has become a reality that the world is not just the globe that we live on. Our world is made out of millions, if not billions of planets, where some are many times larger than the earth that we live on its surface. It is reasonable, if not certain that there are intelligent living entities on worlds other than Earth. It is also probable that some of these living entities are more intelligent than human beings. If we are to consider the notion that human beings will end up going after death to either Heaven or Hell, depending on their deeds, then in essence we have denied the existence of Divine Mercy. The proof to what I am saying requires a simple arithmetic operation: If the average life of an individual is 70 years, then half of this life is used up in sleeping and another significant portion is used up in childhood, sickness, and eating. If you subtract from that the amount used up in working, it leaves about 10 years that can be dedicated to the individual himself. If this individual is a control freak, dissolute, dipsomaniac—as many individuals are, then he will not be able to get rid of these improprieties and sins and as a result, his fate is hell. In this fashion, Divine Mercy is nonexistent. This is where reincarnation comes in as an act of Divine Mercy. If the soul is unable to rid itself from all of its improprieties in the first cycle, it will be given a chance to do it in the next cycles and up to 6000 cycles.

During these life cycles, the soul is capable of ridding itself from its imperfections and to ascend to loftier-than-earth worlds, where the Universal Soul, which is the source of all souls, awaits. As to the souls remaining on earth, they are nothing but shadows to the Universal Soul. In other words, the real Soul is beyond the body and exists in loftier worlds. As long as the individual continues to lie and commit evil, it is an indicator that the Spirit (or Universal Soul) is beyond the body, because the Spirit is pure and does not accept such improprieties. In the loftier worlds there are other temptations to the soul and could be different from sexual temptation, alcohol, and drugs. Reincarnation then is a fact and a reality. It is an act of Divine Mercy.

Dr. Dahesh says that Christianity calls for reincarnation and refers to what is mentioned in the Bible as a proof: when the Disciples asked Christ about the prophecy calling for the return of Elijah before his coming, he answered them by saying: “…Elijah is indeed coming first,” answers Jesus, “and he will get everything ready. But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11-13).

Dr. Dahesh continued with his Biblical reference: “According to the custom followed by the priests, Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense on the alter. So he went into the Temple of the Lord while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zachariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! He will be a great man in the Lord’s sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord’s people ready for him.” (Luke 1:9-17). Dr. Dahesh said: If we reference Matthew 17:13, “Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.” Dr. Dahesh concludes that all of this is an indicator that Christianity calls for reincarnation. Dr. Dahesh acknowledges reincarnation between human beings and animals just like all the other religions that calls for reincarnation, except the Druze.