We are meditating on what Reincarnation and Resurrection share in common.
Psychiatrist Stanislav Groff comments on death and dying this way. Modern consciousness research has validated many of the claims of the great mystical traditions. It has shown that the spiritual scriptures, rather than being products of primitive minds dominated by willful and magical thinking, describe with great accuracy experiences in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Such near-death experiences include condensed life review, traveling through a dark tunnel, meeting with dead relatives or ancestors, encountering brilliant light and beauty, scenes of divine judgment.
These experiences represent the most convincing proof that what happens in near-death experiences is more than the hallucinatory phantasmagoria of physiological impaired brains. The similarity between these observations and the descriptions of the bardo body in the Tibetan Book of the Dead is truly astonishing.
Does this apply to Paul’s naming of the risen Christ? Christ is risen from the dead, and the first fruits of them that sleep; for by a human came death, and by a human came the resurrection of the dead.
To Paul, Christ’s resurrection wakes us up in this lifetime to a “newness of life.” Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also must walk in the newness of life…. We are dead to sin, that we may live together with him.
Ephesians says, “Rise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead; and Christ shall enlighten you.”
For Paul, death is an initiation rite. We enter into the tomb with Jesus at Baptism. This means we die before we die—a common theme among the mystics of many traditions.
Rabbi David Zaslow offers a commentary on Resurrection in the Jewish and Christian consciousness when he says, As surprising at it may sound to Jews today, the idea that Jesus may have been resurrected, and that his martyrdom has atoning power, is not a departure from Jewish theology. Jesus is not the only biblical person who was resurrected and not the only martyr whose death has atoning powers.
In the first century, Rabbi Ishmael prayed before dying at the hands of the Romans: “May I be an atonement for the children of Israel.” The Talmud teaches: Where there are righteous people in a generation the righteous are seized by death for the sins of that generation. Adds Zaslow: “the disciples of Jesus likely knew this teaching.”*
*Rabbi David Zaslow with Joseph A. Lieberman, Jesus: First-Century Rabbi, p. 88.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 335, 368.
Banner Image: Resurrection of the Flesh (c. 1500) by Luca Signorelli – based on 1 Corinthians 15: 52: “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
What do you recognize that Groff, Zaslow and Paul share in common on the topic of death and resurrection and reincarnation?
Recommended Reading
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
