Misplaced Pages

#820179

123-487: According to Greek mythology, the islands were reserved for those who had chosen to be reincarnated three times, and managed to be judged as especially pure enough to gain entrance to the Elysian Fields all three times. The Theban poet Pindar reduced the number of the islands to one, describing it as having shady parklands with residents indulging in athletic and musical pastimes, activities that were thought to be

246-411: A Latin term that literally means 'entering the flesh again'. Reincarnation refers to the belief that an aspect of every human being (or all living beings in some cultures) continues to exist after death. This aspect may be the soul, mind, consciousness, or something transcendent which is reborn in an interconnected cycle of existence; the transmigration belief varies by culture, and is envisioned to be in

369-510: A futurist and transhumanist , stated in his book The Singularity Is Near that he believes that advanced medical nanorobotics could completely remedy the effects of aging by 2030. According to Richard Feynman , it was his former graduate student and collaborator Albert Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micromachines (see biological machine ). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to

492-476: A "cap" at the end of DNA, are thought to be the cause of cell aging. Every time a cell divides the telomere becomes a bit shorter; when it is finally worn down, the cell is unable to split and dies. Telomerase is an enzyme which rebuilds the telomeres in stem cells and cancer cells, allowing them to replicate an infinite number of times. No definitive work has yet demonstrated that telomerase can be used in human somatic cells to prevent healthy tissues from aging. On

615-538: A Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the Sangam literature is 100 BCE to 250 CE, based on the linguistic, prosodic and quasi-historic allusions within the texts and the colophons . There are several mentions of rebirth and moksha in the Purananuru . The text explains Hindu rituals surrounding death such as making riceballs called pinda and cremation. The text states that good souls get

738-716: A belief in gilgul , transmigration of souls, and hence the belief in reincarnation is universal in Hasidic Judaism , which regards the Kabbalah as sacred and authoritative, and is also sometimes held as an esoteric belief within other strains of Orthodox Judaism . In Judaism , the Zohar , first published in the 13th century, discusses reincarnation at length, especially in the Torah portion "Balak." The most comprehensive kabbalistic work on reincarnation, Shaar HaGilgulim ,

861-436: A computer system, and exist indefinitely in a virtual environment. This could be accomplished via advanced cybernetics, where computer hardware would initially be installed in the brain to help sort memory or accelerate thought processes. Components would be added gradually until the person's entire brain functions were handled by artificial devices, avoiding sharp transitions that would lead to issues of identity , thus running

984-438: A continuous physical life is to be maintained. This aversion to trauma risk to the brain would naturally result in significant behavioral changes that would render physical immortality undesirable for some people. Organisms otherwise unaffected by these causes of death would still face the problem of obtaining sustenance (whether from currently available agricultural processes or from hypothetical future technological processes) in

1107-466: A copy of the original mind, and not the conscious mind of the living entity associated in such a transfer. Without a simultaneous upload of consciousness, the original living entity remains mortal, thus not achieving true immortality. Research on neural correlates of consciousness is yet inconclusive on this issue. Whatever the route to mind upload, persons in this state could then be considered essentially immortal, short of loss or traumatic destruction of

1230-610: A cyborg. Some people believe that such modifications would make one impervious to aging and disease and theoretically immortal unless killed or destroyed. As late as 1952, the editorial staff of the Syntopicon found in their compilation of the Great Books of the Western World , that "The philosophical issue concerning immortality cannot be separated from issues concerning the existence and nature of man's soul." Thus,

1353-703: A few days' sail from Hispania : ...where the air was never extreme, which for rain had a little silver dew, which of itself and without labour, bore all pleasant fruits to their happy dwellers, till it seemed to him that these could be no other than the Fortunate Islands, the Elysian Fields. It was from these men that Sertorius learned facts so beguiling that he considered retiring from Roman political life altogether to these islands, but conflicts to come prevented him from pursuing this rumour further. The islands are said to be two in number separated by

SECTION 10

#1732765693821

1476-479: A fictional cat named Mehitabel who claimed to be a reincarnation of Queen Cleopatra. Théodore Flournoy was among the first to study a claim of past-life recall in the course of his investigation of the medium Hélène Smith , published in 1900, in which he defined the possibility of cryptomnesia in such accounts. Carl Gustav Jung , like Flournoy based in Switzerland, also emulated him in his thesis based on

1599-557: A further distance which no one can compute, because when you have passed this river Libya is a desert which no longer supports a population." Plutarch , who refers to the "fortunate isles" several times in his writings, locates them firmly in the Atlantic in his vita of Sertorius . Sertorius, when struggling against a chaotic civil war in the closing years of the Roman Republic , had tidings from mariners of certain islands

1722-416: A future physical resurrection ), proclaims an amalgamated view of resurrected believers where both the physical and the spiritual are rebuilt in the likeness of post-resurrection Christ, who "will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (ESV). This thought mirrors Paul's depiction of believers having been "buried therefore with him [that is, Christ] by baptism into death" (ESV). N.T. Wright ,

1845-480: A general way. Detailed descriptions first appear around the mid-1st millennium BCE in diverse traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism and various schools of Hindu philosophy , each of which gave unique expression to the general principle. Sangam literature connotes the ancient Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India . The Tamil tradition and legends link it to three literary gatherings around Madurai . According to Kamil Zvelebil ,

1968-470: A list of six realms of rebirth, adding demigods ( asuras ). The earliest layers of Vedic text incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit). However, the ancient Vedic rishis challenged this idea of afterlife as simplistic, because people do not live equally moral or immoral lives. Between generally virtuous lives, some are more virtuous; while evil too has degrees, and

2091-656: A living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul. In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated "soul" ( ψυχή ) has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to an immortal soul. "Soul" may refer either to the whole person, the self, as in "three thousand souls " were converted in Acts 2:41 (see Acts 3:23 ). The Hebrew Bible speaks about Sheol (שאול), originally

2214-402: A nanorobotics theorist, suggests tiny medical nanorobots could be created to go through human bloodstreams, find dangerous things like cancer cells and bacteria, and destroy them. Freitas anticipates that gene-therapies and nanotechnology will eventually make the human body effectively self-sustainable and capable of living indefinitely in empty space, short of severe brain trauma. This supports

2337-402: A new body is asserted to be instantaneous in early Jaina texts. Depending upon the accumulated karma, rebirth occurs into a higher or lower bodily form, either in heaven or hell or earthly realm. No bodily form is permanent: everyone dies and reincarnates further. Liberation ( kevalya ) from reincarnation is possible, however, through removing and ending karmic accumulations to one's soul. From

2460-484: A new creation" , he said. Christian apocrypha include immortal human figures such as Cartaphilus who were cursed with physical immortality for various transgressions against Christ during the Passion. The medieval Waldensians believed in the immortality of the soul. Leaders of sects such as John Asgill and John Wroe taught followers that physical immortality was possible. Many Patristic writers have connected

2583-626: A place in Indraloka where Indra welcomes them. The texts of ancient Jainism that have survived into the modern era are post-Mahavira, likely from the last centuries of the first millennium BCE, and extensively discuss the doctrines of rebirth and karma. Jaina philosophy assumes that the soul ( jiva in Jainism; atman in Hinduism) exists and is eternal, passing through cycles of transmigration and rebirth. After death, reincarnation into

SECTION 20

#1732765693821

2706-549: A sect of the second century deemed heretical by the Catholic Church, drew upon Chaldean astrology , to which Bardaisan's son Harmonius, educated in Athens, added Greek ideas including a sort of metempsychosis. Another such teacher was Basilides (132–? CE/AD), known to us through the criticisms of Irenaeus and the work of Clement of Alexandria (see also Neoplatonism and Gnosticism and Buddhism and Gnosticism ). In

2829-675: A similar view. Sometimes such convictions, as in Socrates' case, arise from a more general personal faith, at other times from anecdotal evidence such as Plato makes Socrates offer in the Myth of Er . During the Renaissance translations of Plato, the Hermetica and other works fostered new European interest in reincarnation. Marsilio Ficino argued that Plato's references to reincarnation were intended allegorically, Shakespeare alluded to

2952-451: A solution to each of these causes, a program de Grey calls engineered negligible senescence . There is also a huge body of knowledge indicating that change is characterized by the loss of molecular fidelity. Disease is theoretically surmountable by technology. In short, it is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism, something the body should not typically have to deal with its natural make up. Human understanding of genetics

3075-813: A soul into'), a term attributed to Pythagoras . Another Greek term sometimes used synonymously is palingenesis , 'being born again'. Rebirth is a key concept found in major Indian religions, and discussed using various terms. Reincarnation, or Punarjanman ( Sanskrit : पुनर्जन्मन् , 'rebirth, transmigration'), is discussed in the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, with many alternate terms such as punarāvṛtti ( पुनरावृत्ति ), punarājāti ( पुनराजाति ), punarjīvātu ( पुनर्जीवातु ), punarbhava ( पुनर्भव ), āgati-gati ( आगति-गति , common in Buddhist Pali text), nibbattin ( निब्बत्तिन् ), upapatti ( उपपत्ति ), and uppajjana ( उप्पज्जन ). These religions believe that reincarnation

3198-455: A study of cryptomnesia in psychism. Later Jung would emphasise the importance of the persistence of memory and ego in psychological study of reincarnation: "This concept of rebirth necessarily implies the continuity of personality... (that) one is able, at least potentially, to remember that one has lived through previous existences, and that these existences were one's own...." Hypnosis , used in psychoanalysis for retrieving forgotten memories,

3321-462: A subject of research and debate. Programmed cell death and the telomere "end replication problem" are found even in the earliest and simplest of organisms. This may be a tradeoff between selecting for cancer and selecting for aging. Modern theories on the evolution of aging include the following: Individual organisms ordinarily age and die, while the germlines which connect successive generations are potentially immortal. The basis for this difference

3444-653: A synonym of the grave – the repository of the dead or the cessation of existence, until the resurrection of the dead . This doctrine of resurrection is mentioned explicitly only in Daniel 12:1–4 although it may be implied in several other texts. New theories arose concerning Sheol during the intertestamental period . The views about immortality in Judaism is perhaps best exemplified by the various references to this in Second Temple period . The concept of resurrection of

3567-485: A theologian and former Bishop of Durham , has said many people forget the physical aspect of what Jesus promised. He told Time : "Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return . Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead , who will 'awake', be embodied and participate in the renewal. Wright says John Polkinghorne , a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until

3690-556: A very narrow strait and lie 10,000 furlongs ( 2,000 kilometers / 1,250 miles ) from Africa. They are called the Isles of the Blessed. [...] Moreover an air that is salubrious, owing to the climate and the moderate changes in the seasons, prevails on the islands. The North and East winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space and, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach

3813-474: Is Pherecydes of Syros (fl. 540 BCE). His younger contemporary Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BCE ), its first famous exponent, instituted societies for its diffusion. Some authorities believe that Pythagoras was Pherecydes' pupil, others that Pythagoras took up the idea of reincarnation from the doctrine of Orphism , a Thracian religion, or brought the teaching from India. Plato (428/427–348/347 BCE) presented accounts of reincarnation in his works, particularly

Fortunate Isles - Misplaced Pages Continue

3936-523: Is 'souls'. Kabbalistic reincarnation says that humans reincarnate only to humans unless YHWH / Ein Sof / God chooses. The origins of the notion of reincarnation are obscure. Discussion of the subject appears in the philosophical traditions of Ancient India . The Greek Pre-Socratics discussed reincarnation, and the Celtic druids are also reported to have taught a doctrine of reincarnation. The concepts of

4059-415: Is a fundamental problem in biology. The Russian biologist and historian Zhores A. Medvedev considered that the accuracy of genome replicative and other synthetic systems alone cannot explain the immortality of germlines . Rather Medvedev thought that known features of the biochemistry and genetics of sexual reproduction indicate the presence of unique information maintenance and restoration processes at

4182-522: Is a state of life that allows a person to avoid death and maintain conscious thought. It can mean the unending existence of a person from a physical source other than organic life, such as a computer. Pursuit of physical immortality before the advent of modern science included alchemists , who sought to create the Philosopher's Stone , and various cultures' legends such as the Fountain of Youth or

4305-406: Is also a state that the gods at times offer humans. In Christianity , the conviction that God may offer physical immortality with the resurrection of the flesh at the end of time has traditionally been at the center of its beliefs. What form an unending human life would take, or whether an immaterial soul exists and possesses immortality, has been a major point of focus of religion, as well as

4428-461: Is an extensive literature of Jewish folk and traditional stories that refer to reincarnation. Reincarnationism or biblical reincarnation is the belief that certain people are or can be reincarnations of biblical figures , such as Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary . Some Christians believe that certain New Testament figures are reincarnations of Old Testament figures. For example, John

4551-468: Is central. In the first century BCE Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor wrote: The Pythagorean doctrine prevails among the Gauls ' teaching that the souls of men are immortal, and that after a fixed number of years they will enter into another body. Julius Caesar recorded that the druids of Gaul, Britain and Ireland had metempsychosis as one of their core doctrines: The principal point of their doctrine

4674-493: Is cyclic and an endless Saṃsāra , unless one gains spiritual insights that ends this cycle leading to liberation. The reincarnation concept is considered in Indian religions as a step that starts each "cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence", but one that is an opportunity to seek spiritual liberation through ethical living and a variety of meditative, yogic ( marga ), or other spiritual practices. They consider

4797-592: Is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting-point. Existence without limitation is Space. Continuity without a starting point is Time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in." Around the 11–12th century in Europe, several reincarnationist movements were persecuted as heresies, through the establishment of the Inquisition in the Latin west. These included

4920-528: Is gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say, 'Why, this is what we were fed with before,' for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein forever." In contrast, the kafir hold the contradictory notion that they abide in Jahannam perpetually. Angels in Islam are reckoned as immortals from

5043-459: Is given a long life but not immortality or there is more than a little argument stated about the demise of khidr ; however, it is the matter of debate, and there is a fabrication point that goes around the Khidr drank from the fountain of Life , which is thoroughly invalid. Jesus in Islam was summoned to the sky by Allah's sanction to preserve him from the cross and endow him with long life until

Fortunate Isles - Misplaced Pages Continue

5166-433: Is indeed possible for a creature to be biologically immortal , these are animals which are physiologically very different from humans, and it is not known if something comparable will ever be possible for humans. Immortality in religion refers usually to either the belief in physical immortality or a more spiritual afterlife . In traditions such as ancient Egyptian beliefs, Mesopotamian beliefs and ancient Greek beliefs,

5289-731: Is leading to cures and treatments for a myriad of previously incurable diseases. The mechanisms by which other diseases do damage are becoming better understood. Sophisticated methods of detecting diseases early are being developed. Preventative medicine is becoming better understood. Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's may soon be curable with the use of stem cells . Breakthroughs in cell biology and telomere research are leading to treatments for cancer. Vaccines are being researched for AIDS and tuberculosis . Genes associated with type 1 diabetes and certain types of cancer have been discovered, allowing for new therapies to be developed. Artificial devices attached directly to

5412-510: Is referred to also by Lucretius and Horace . Virgil works the idea into his account of the Underworld in the sixth book of the Aeneid . It persists down to the late classic thinkers, Plotinus and the other Neoplatonists . In the Hermetica , a Graeco-Egyptian series of writings on cosmology and spirituality attributed to Hermes Trismegistus / Thoth , the doctrine of reincarnation

5535-483: Is sometimes understood within Orthodox Judaism in terms of reincarnation. According to this school of thought in Judaism, when non-Jews are drawn to Judaism, it is because they had been Jews in a former life. Such souls may "wander among nations" through multiple lives, until they find their way back to Judaism, including through finding themselves born in a gentile family with a "lost" Jewish ancestor. There

5658-556: Is such a thing as living again, and that the living spring from the dead." However, Xenophon does not mention Socrates as believing in reincarnation, and Plato may have systematized Socrates' thought with concepts he took directly from Pythagoreanism or Orphism. Recent scholars have come to see that Plato has multiple reasons for the belief in reincarnation. One argument concerns the theory of reincarnation's usefulness for explaining why non-human animals exist: they are former humans, being punished for their vices; Plato gives this argument at

5781-472: Is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another... the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Diodorus also recorded

5904-465: Is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death . In most beliefs involving reincarnation, the soul of a human being is immortal and does not disperse after the physical body has perished. Upon death, the soul merely becomes transmigrated into a newborn baby or an animal to continue its immortality . The term transmigration means

6027-419: Is warranted in exploiting this property, as exactly this same unbounded growth is a crucial step in enabling cancerous growth. If an organism can replicate its body cells faster, then it would theoretically stop aging. Embryonic stem cells express telomerase, which allows them to divide repeatedly and form the individual. In adults, telomerase is highly expressed in cells that need to divide regularly (e.g., in

6150-588: The Myth of Er , where Plato makes Socrates tell how Er, the son of Armenius , miraculously returned to life on the twelfth day after death and recounted the secrets of the other world. There are myths and theories to the same effect in other dialogues, in the Chariot allegory of the Phaedrus , in the Meno , Timaeus and Laws . The soul, once separated from the body, spends an indeterminate amount of time in

6273-798: The Tibetan Book of the Dead . While Nirvana is taught as the ultimate goal in the Theravadin Buddhism, and is essential to Mahayana Buddhism, the vast majority of contemporary lay Buddhists focus on accumulating good karma and acquiring merit to achieve a better reincarnation in the next life. In early Buddhist traditions, saṃsāra cosmology consisted of five realms through which the wheel of existence cycled. This included hells ( niraya ), hungry ghosts ( pretas ), animals ( tiryaka ), humans ( manushya ), and gods ( devas , heavenly). In latter Buddhist traditions, this list grew to

SECTION 50

#1732765693821

6396-806: The Cathar , Paterene or Albigensian church of western Europe, the Paulician movement, which arose in Armenia, and the Bogomils in Bulgaria . Christian sects such as the Bogomils and the Cathars, who professed reincarnation and other gnostic beliefs, were referred to as "Manichaean", and are today sometimes described by scholars as "Neo-Manichaean". As there is no known Manichaean mythology or terminology in

6519-694: The Dead Sea scrolls texts. Both Josephus and the New Testament record that the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife , but the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees . The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not. According to Josephus , who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only

6642-707: The Druze , Kabbalistics , Rastafarians , and the Rosicrucians . Recent scholarly research has explored the historical relations between different sects and their beliefs about reincarnation. This includes the views of Neoplatonism , Orphism , Hermeticism , Manichaenism , and Gnosticism of the Roman era , as well as those in Indian religions. In recent decades, many Europeans and North Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation, and many contemporary works mention it. The word reincarnation derives from

6765-517: The Germanic peoples prior to Christianization and potentially to some extent in folk belief thereafter. The belief in reincarnation developed among Jewish mystics in the medieval world, among whom differing explanations were given of the afterlife, although with a universal belief in an immortal soul. It was explicitly rejected by Saadiah Gaon . Today, reincarnation is an esoteric belief within many streams of modern Judaism. Kabbalah teaches

6888-507: The Orphic religion and Thracian systems of belief. Surviving texts indicate that there was a belief in rebirth in Germanic paganism . Examples include figures from eddic poetry and sagas , potentially by way of a process of naming and/or through the family line. Scholars have discussed the implications of these attestations and proposed theories regarding belief in reincarnation among

7011-520: The Peaches of Immortality inspiring attempts at discovering an elixir of life . Modern scientific trends, such as cryonics , digital immortality , breakthroughs in rejuvenation , or predictions of an impending technological singularity , to achieve genuine human physical immortality, must still overcome all causes of death to succeed. There are three main causes of death: natural aging , disease , and injury . Such issues can be resolved with

7134-510: The Theosophical Society 's dissemination of systematised and universalised Indian concepts and also by the influence of magical societies like The Golden Dawn . Notable personalities like Annie Besant , W. B. Yeats and Dion Fortune made the subject almost as familiar an element of the popular culture of the west as of the east. By 1924 the subject could be satirised in popular children's books. Humorist Don Marquis created

7257-583: The nervous system may restore sight to the blind. Drugs are being developed to treat a myriad of other diseases and ailments. Physical trauma would remain as a threat to perpetual physical life, as an otherwise immortal person would still be subject to unforeseen accidents or catastrophes. The speed and quality of paramedic response remains a determining factor in surviving severe trauma. A body that could automatically repair itself from severe trauma, such as speculated uses for nanotechnology , would mitigate this factor. The brain cannot be risked to trauma if

7380-668: The 'soul, Self exists' ( atman or attā ), while Buddhism aserts that there is 'no soul, no Self' ( anatta or anatman ). Hindu traditions consider soul to be the unchanging eternal essence of a living being, which journeys through reincarnations until it attains self-knowledge. Buddhism, in contrast, asserts a rebirth theory without a Self, and considers realization of non-Self or Emptiness as Nirvana ( nibbana ). The reincarnation doctrine in Jainism differs from those in Buddhism, even though both are non-theistic Sramana traditions. Jainism, in contrast to Buddhism, accepts

7503-700: The Baptist is believed by some to be a reincarnation of the prophet Elijah , and a few take this further by suggesting Jesus was the reincarnation of Elijah's disciple Elisha . Other Christians believe the Second Coming of Jesus would be fulfilled by reincarnation. Sun Myung Moon , the founder of the Unification Church , considered himself to be the fulfillment of Jesus' return. The Catholic Church does not believe in reincarnation, which it regards as being incompatible with death . Nonetheless,

SECTION 60

#1732765693821

7626-611: The British Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was inaugurated in London, leading to systematic, critical investigation of paranormal phenomena. Famous World War II American General George Patton was a strong believer in reincarnation, believing, among other things, he was a reincarnation of the Carthaginian General Hannibal. At this time popular awareness of the idea of reincarnation was boosted by

7749-470: The Celts and not the opposite, claiming he had been taught by Galatian Gauls, Hindu priests and Zoroastrians . However, author T. D. Kendrick rejected a real connection between Pythagoras and the Celtic idea reincarnation, noting their beliefs to have substantial differences, and any contact to be historically unlikely. Nonetheless, he proposed the possibility of an ancient common source, also related to

7872-657: The Fall , although this initial "imperishability of the bodily frame of man" was "a preternatural condition". Christians who profess the Nicene Creed believe that every dead person (whether they believed in Christ or not) will be resurrected from the dead at the Second Coming ; this belief is known as universal resurrection . Paul the Apostle , in following his past life as a Pharisee (a Jewish social movement that held to

7995-464: The Gaul belief that human souls were immortal, and that after a prescribed number of years they would commence upon a new life in another body. He added that Gauls had the custom of casting letters to their deceased upon the funeral pyres, through which the dead would be able to read them. Valerius Maximus also recounted they had the custom of lending sums of money to each other which would be repayable in

8118-506: The advanced industrial societies are already markedly longer than those of the past because of better nutrition, availability of health care, standard of living and bio-medical scientific advances. Technological immortality predicts further progress for the same reasons over the near term. An important aspect of current scientific thinking about immortality is that some combination of human cloning , cryonics or nanotechnology will play an essential role in extreme life extension. Robert Freitas ,

8241-580: The advent of the Dajjal . Dajjal is, additionally, given a long life. Jesus Christ dispatches the Dajjal as he stays after 40 days, one like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and the rest of his days like normal days. The Qur'an states that it is the ultimate fate of all life, including humans , to die eventually. كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ (Every soul will taste death) The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from

8364-515: The amount or proportion of telomerase in the body, a naturally forming enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes , could prevent cells from dying and so may ultimately lead to extended, healthier lifespans. A team of researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Centre ( Madrid ) tested the hypothesis on mice. It was found that those mice which were " genetically engineered to produce 10 times

8487-687: The body was not found in Judaism before the Babylonian exile , but developed as a result of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies . Accordingly, the Hebrew word nephesh , although translated as "soul" in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being". Nephesh was rendered in the Septuagint as ψυχή ( psūchê ), the Greek word for 'soul'. The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" ( nephesh ) in English language Bibles refers to

8610-552: The court of the magistrate, Rhadamanthus . He goes on to describe other observations of how the residents occupy their time, using every opportunity to satirise both contemporary life and Greek mythology. Ptolemy used these islands as the reference for the measurement of geographical longitude and they continued to play the role of defining the prime meridian through the Middle Ages. Reincarnation Reincarnation , also known as rebirth or transmigration ,

8733-579: The cycle of birth and death, saṁsāra , and liberation partly derive from ascetic traditions that arose in India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. The first textual references to the idea of reincarnation appear in the Rigveda , Yajurveda and Upanishads of the late Vedic period (c. 1100 – c. 500 BCE), predating the Buddha and Mahavira . Though no direct evidence of this has been found,

8856-459: The death of a certain individual, it will be arbitrated consistent with its beliefs as well as actions and will embark on the ever-lasting place where they will abate. The Muslim who holds the five pillars of Islam will make an entrance into the Jannah , where they will inhabit eternally. Al-Baqarah (2:25): "But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion

8979-491: The different stages of gametogenesis . In particular, Medvedev considered that the most important opportunities for information maintenance of germ cells are created by recombination during meiosis and DNA repair ; he saw these as processes within the germ cells that were capable of restoring the integrity of DNA and chromosomes from the types of damage that cause irreversible aging in somatic cells . Chemical Neurological Some scientists believe that boosting

9102-565: The doctrine of reincarnation but Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by authorities after being found guilty of heresy by the Roman Inquisition for his teachings. But the Greek philosophical works remained available and, particularly in north Europe, were discussed by groups such as the Cambridge Platonists . Emanuel Swedenborg believed that we leave the physical world once, but then go through several lives in

9225-573: The early 20th century, interest in reincarnation had been introduced into the nascent discipline of psychology , largely due to the influence of William James , who raised aspects of the philosophy of mind , comparative religion , the psychology of religious experience and the nature of empiricism. James was influential in the founding of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) in New York City in 1885, three years after

9348-399: The early stages of Jainism on, a human being was considered the highest mortal being, with the potential to achieve liberation, particularly through asceticism . The early Buddhist texts discuss rebirth as part of the doctrine of saṃsāra . This asserts that the nature of existence is a "suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end". Also referred to as

9471-463: The end of the Timaeus . The Orphic religion , which taught reincarnation, about the sixth century BCE, produced a copious literature. Orpheus , its legendary founder, is said to have taught that the immortal soul aspires to freedom while the body holds it prisoner. The wheel of birth revolves, the soul alternates between freedom and captivity round the wide circle of necessity. Orpheus proclaimed

9594-424: The entire structure in a computer. What level of detail such scans and simulations would need to achieve to emulate awareness, and whether the scanning process would destroy the brain, is still to be determined. It is suggested that achieving immortality through this mechanism would require specific consideration to be given to the role of consciousness in the functions of the mind . An uploaded mind would only be

9717-431: The existence of biologically immortal species demonstrates, there is no thermodynamic necessity for senescence: a defining feature of life is that it takes in free energy from the environment and unloads its entropy as waste. Living systems can even build themselves up from seed, and routinely repair themselves. Aging is therefore presumed to be a byproduct of evolution , but why mortality should be selected for remains

9840-418: The face of changing availability of suitable resources as environmental conditions change. After avoiding aging, disease, and trauma, death through resource limitation is still possible, such as hypoxia or starvation . If there is no limitation on the degree of gradual mitigation of risk then it is possible that the cumulative probability of death over an infinite horizon is less than certainty , even when

9963-417: The first few decades of the 21st century with the help of certain technologies such as mind uploading ( digital immortality ). Other advocates believe that life extension is a more achievable goal in the short term, with immortality awaiting further research breakthroughs. The absence of aging would provide humans with biological immortality, but not invulnerability to death by disease or injury . Whether

10086-462: The form of a newly born human being, animal, plant, spirit, or as a being in some other non-human realm of existence. An alternative term is transmigration , implying migration from one life (body) to another. The term has been used by modern philosophers such as Kurt Gödel and has entered the English language. The Greek equivalent to reincarnation, metempsychosis ( μετεμψύχωσις ), derives from meta ('change') and empsykhoun ('to put

10209-405: The foundational assumption that soul ( Jiva ) exists and asserts that this soul is involved in the rebirth mechanism. Furthermore, Jainism considers asceticism as an important means to spiritual liberation that ends the cycle of reincarnation, while Buddhism does not. Early Greek discussion of the concept dates to the sixth century BCE. An early Greek thinker known to have considered rebirth

10332-440: The future after cures to the patients' diseases have been discovered and aging is reversible . Modern cryonics procedures use a process called vitrification which creates a glass-like state rather than freezing as the body is brought to low temperatures. This process reduces the risk of ice crystals damaging the cell-structure, which would be especially detrimental to cell structures in the brain, as their minute adjustment evokes

10455-486: The ideal life for ancient Greek aristocracy. Flavius Philostratus ' Life of Apollonius of Tyana (v.2) says, "And they also say that the Islands of the Blessed are to be fixed by the limits of Libya where they rise towards the uninhabited promontory." In this geography Libya was considered to extend westwards through Mauretania "as far as the mouth of the river Salex, some nine hundred stadia , and beyond that point

10578-464: The immortal gods consequently were considered to have physical bodies. In Mesopotamian and Greek religion, the gods also made certain men and women physically immortal, whereas in Christianity, many believe that all true believers will be resurrected to physical immortality. Similar beliefs that physical immortality is possible are held by Rastafarians or Rebirthers . Physical immortality

10701-482: The immortal rational soul to the image of God found in Genesis 1:26. Among them is Athanasius of Alexandria and Clement of Alexandria, who say that the immortal rational soul itself is the image of God. Even Early Christian Liturgies exhibit this connection between the immortal rational soul and the creation of humanity in the image of God. Islamic beliefs bears the concept of spiritual immortality within it; following

10824-408: The immune system), whereas most somatic cells express it only at very low levels in a cell-cycle dependent manner. Technological immortality is the prospect for much longer life spans made possible by scientific advances in a variety of fields: nanotechnology, emergency room procedures, genetics, biological engineering , regenerative medicine , microbiology , and others. Contemporary life spans in

10947-417: The individual's mind. One idea that has been advanced involves uploading an individual's habits and memories via direct mind-computer interface . The individual's memory may be loaded to a computer or to a new organic body. Extropian futurists like Moravec and Kurzweil have proposed that, thanks to exponentially growing computing power, it will someday be possible to upload human consciousness onto

11070-604: The intelligible realm (see the Allegory of the Cave in The Republic ) and then assumes another body. In the Timaeus , Plato believes that the soul moves from body to body without any distinct reward-or-punishment phase between lives, because the reincarnation is itself a punishment or reward for how a person has lived. In Phaedo , Plato has his teacher Socrates , prior to his death, state: "I am confident that there truly

11193-453: The inter-relation of Manicheanism, Orphism, Gnosticism and neo-Platonism is far from clear. Taoist documents from as early as the Han dynasty claimed that Lao Tzu appeared on earth as different persons in different times beginning in the legendary era of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors . The (ca. third century BC) Chuang Tzu states: "Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There

11316-516: The islands, while the South and West winds that envelop the islands sometimes bring in their train soft and intermittent showers, but for the most part cool them with moist breezes and gently nourish the soil. Therefore a firm belief has made its way, even to the barbarians, that here are the Elysian Fields and the abode of the Blessed of which Homer sang. Pliny the Elder 's Natural History adds to

11439-704: The leaders of certain sects in the church have taught that they are reincarnations of Mary - for example, Marie-Paule Giguère of the Army of Mary and Maria Franciszka of the former Mariavites . The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith excommunicated the Army of Mary for teaching heresy, including reincarnationism. Several Gnostic sects professed reincarnation. The Sethians and followers of Valentinus believed in it. The followers of Bardaisan of Mesopotamia ,

11562-447: The machines that maintained them. Transforming a human into a cyborg can include brain implants or extracting a human processing unit and placing it in a robotic life-support system. Even replacing biological organs with robotic ones could increase life span (e.g. pace makers) and depending on the definition, many technological upgrades to the body, like genetic modifications or the addition of nanobots would qualify an individual as

11685-640: The need of the grace of the gods, Dionysus in particular, and of self-purification until the soul has completed the spiral ascent of destiny to live forever. An association between Pythagorean philosophy and reincarnation was routinely accepted throughout antiquity, as Pythagoras also taught about reincarnation. However, unlike the Orphics, who considered metempsychosis a cycle of grief that could be escaped by attaining liberation from it, Pythagoras seems to postulate an eternal, neutral reincarnation where subsequent lives would not be conditioned by any action done in

11808-533: The next world. This was mentioned by Pomponius Mela , who also recorded Gauls buried or burnt with them things they would need in a next life, to the point some would jump into the funeral piles of their relatives in order to cohabit in the new life with them. Hippolytus of Rome believed the Gauls had been taught the doctrine of reincarnation by a slave of Pythagoras named Zalmoxis . Conversely, Clement of Alexandria believed Pythagoras himself had learned it from

11931-435: The normal levels of telomerase lived 50% longer than normal mice". In normal circumstances, without the presence of telomerase, if a cell divides repeatedly, at some point all the progeny will reach their Hayflick limit . With the presence of telomerase, each dividing cell can replace the lost bit of DNA , and any single cell can then divide unbounded. While this unbounded growth property has excited many researchers, caution

12054-505: The obligatory description—that they "abound in fruit and birds of every kind"—the unexpected detail that, "[t]hese islands, however, are greatly annoyed by the putrefying bodies of monsters, which are constantly thrown up by the sea". The Isles are mentioned in Book II of A True History by the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata . The author makes fun of the heroes residing there by giving an account of their petty squabbles as presented to

12177-458: The other hand, scientists hope to be able to grow organs with the help of stem cells, allowing organ transplants without the risk of rejection, another step in extending human life expectancy. These technologies are the subject of ongoing research, and are not yet realized. Life defined as biologically immortal is still susceptible to causes of death besides aging, including disease and trauma, as defined above. Notable immortal species include: As

12300-652: The passing of a soul from one body to another after death. Reincarnation ( punarjanman ) is a central tenet of the Indian religions such as Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism , and Sikhism . In various forms, it occurs as an esoteric belief in many streams of Judaism , certain pagan religions including Wicca , and some beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Aboriginal Australians (though most believe in an afterlife or spirit world ). A belief in

12423-486: The perspective of Islam but most people believe is that the angels will die and that the Angel of Death will die, but there is no clear text concerning this. Rather there are texts which may indicate this, and there is the well known hadeeth (narration) about the "trumpet", which is a munkar hadeeth (rejected report). alternatively, Jinn have a long lifespan between 1000 and 1500. In some Muslim Sufi mystics, Khidr

12546-518: The physical body is found in 2 Maccabees , according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh. Resurrection of the dead is specified in detail in the extra-canonical books of Enoch , and in Apocalypse of Baruch . According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism P.R. Davies , there is "little or no clear reference ... either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead" in

12669-672: The point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor". The idea was incorporated into Feynman's 1959 essay There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom . Cryonics , the practice of preserving organisms (either intact specimens or only their brains) for possible future revival by storing them at cryogenic temperatures where metabolism and decay are almost completely stopped, can be used to 'pause' for those who believe that life extension technologies will not develop sufficiently within their lifetime. Ideally, cryonics would allow clinically dead people to be brought back in

12792-420: The previous. In later Greek literature the doctrine is mentioned in a fragment of Menander and satirized by Lucian . In Roman literature it is found as early as Ennius , who, in a lost passage of his Annals , told how he had seen Homer in a dream, who had assured him that the same soul which had animated both the poets had once belonged to a peacock. Persius in his satires (vi. 9) laughs at this; it

12915-405: The process of internal immortality is delivered within the upcoming years depends chiefly on research (and in neuron research in the case of internal immortality through an immortalized cell line) in the former view and perhaps is an awaited goal in the latter case. From at least the time of the ancient Mesopotamians , there has been a conviction that gods may be physically immortal, and that this

13038-477: The release from the cycle of reincarnations as the ultimate spiritual goal, and call the liberation by terms such as moksha , nirvana , mukti and kaivalya . Gilgul , Gilgul neshamot , or Gilgulei Ha Neshamot ( Hebrew : גלגול הנשמות ) is the concept of reincarnation in Kabbalistic Judaism , found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews . Gilgul means 'cycle' and neshamot

13161-447: The risk of fatal trauma in any finite period is greater than zero. Mathematically, this is an aspect of achieving 'actuarial escape velocity' . Biological immortality is an absence of aging. Specifically it is the absence of a sustained increase in rate of mortality as a function of chronological age. A cell or organism that does not experience aging, or ceases to age at some point, is biologically immortal. Biologists have chosen

13284-407: The risk of the person to be declared dead and thus not be a legitimate owner of his or her property. After this point, the human body could be treated as an optional accessory and the program implementing the person could be transferred to any sufficiently powerful computer. Another possible mechanism for mind upload is to perform a detailed scan of an individual's original, organic brain and simulate

13407-869: The solutions provided in research to any end providing such alternate theories at present that require unification. See also: DNA damage theory of aging Aubrey de Grey , a leading researcher in the field, defines aging as "a collection of cumulative changes to the molecular and cellular structure of an adult organism , which result in essential metabolic processes, but which also, once they progress far enough, increasingly disrupt metabolism, resulting in pathology and death." The current causes of aging in humans are cell loss (without replacement), DNA damage , oncogenic nuclear mutations and epimutations , cell senescence , mitochondrial mutations, lysosomal aggregates, extracellular aggregates, random extracellular cross-linking, immune system decline, and endocrine changes. Eliminating aging would require finding

13530-513: The soul's rebirth or migration ( metempsychosis ) was expressed by certain ancient Greek historical figures, such as Pythagoras , Socrates , and Plato . Although the majority of denominations within Abrahamic religions do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Cathars , Alawites , Hassidics ,

13653-562: The spiritual world—a kind of hybrid of Christian tradition and the popular view of reincarnation. By the 19th century the philosophers Schopenhauer and Nietzsche could access the Indian scriptures for discussion of the doctrine of reincarnation, which recommended itself to the American Transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau , Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson and was adapted by Francis Bowen into Christian Metempsychosis . By

13776-471: The subject of speculation and debate. In religious contexts, immortality is often stated to be one of the promises of divinities to human beings who perform virtue or follow divine law . Life extension technologies claim to be developing a path to complete rejuvenation . Cryonics holds out the hope that the dead can be revived in the future, following sufficient medical advancements. While, as shown with creatures such as hydra and Planarian worms, it

13899-926: The texts assert that it would be unfair for people, with varying degrees of virtue or vices, to end up in heaven or hell, in "either or" and disproportionate manner irrespective of how virtuous or vicious their lives were. They introduced the idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell in proportion to one's merit. Early texts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism share the concepts and terminology related to reincarnation. They also emphasize similar virtuous practices and karma as necessary for liberation and what influences future rebirths. For example, all three discuss various virtues—sometimes grouped as Yamas and Niyamas —such as non-violence , truthfulness , non-stealing , non-possessiveness , compassion for all living beings, charity and many others. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism disagree in their assumptions and theories about rebirth. Hinduism relies on its foundational belief that

14022-516: The theory that we will be able to continually create biological or synthetic replacement parts to replace damaged or dying ones. Future advances in nanomedicine could give rise to life extension through the repair of many processes thought to be responsible for aging. K. Eric Drexler , one of the founders of nanotechnology , postulated cell repair devices, including ones operating within cells and using as yet hypothetical biological machines , in his 1986 book Engines of Creation . Raymond Kurzweil ,

14145-642: The third Christian century Manichaeism spread both east and west from Babylonia , then within the Sassanid Empire , where its founder Mani lived about 216–276. Manichaean monasteries existed in Rome in 312 AD. Noting Mani's early travels to the Kushan Empire and other Buddhist influences in Manichaeism, Richard Foltz attributes Mani's teaching of reincarnation to Buddhist influence. However

14268-537: The time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death (the Intermediate state ) is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom ." This kingdom will consist of Heaven and Earth "joined together in

14391-530: The tribes of the Ganges valley or the Dravidian traditions of South India have been proposed as another early source of reincarnation beliefs. The idea of reincarnation, saṁsāra , did exist in the early Vedic religions . The early Vedas mention the doctrine of karma and rebirth. It is in the early Upanishads, which are pre- Buddha and pre- Mahavira , where these ideas are developed and described in

14514-480: The vast majority of speculation on immortality before the 21st century was regarding the nature of the afterlife. The viewpoints of Christianity , Islam , and Judaism regarding the concept of immortality diverge as each faith system encapsulates unique theological interpretations and doctrines on the enduring human nature soul or spirit . Christian theology holds that Adam and Eve lost physical immortality for themselves and all their descendants through

14637-556: The wheel of existence ( Bhavacakra ), it is often mentioned in Buddhist texts with the term punarbhava (rebirth, re-becoming). Liberation from this cycle of existence, Nirvana , is the foundation and the most important purpose of Buddhism. Buddhist texts also assert that an enlightened person knows his previous births, a knowledge achieved through high levels of meditative concentration . Tibetan Buddhism discusses death, bardo (an intermediate state), and rebirth in texts such as

14760-643: The word "immortal" to designate cells that are not limited by the Hayflick limit , where cells no longer divide because of DNA damage or shortened telomeres . The first and still most widely used immortal cell line is HeLa , developed from cells taken from the malignant cervical tumor of Henrietta Lacks without her consent in 1951. Prior to the 1961 work of Leonard Hayflick , there was the erroneous belief fostered by Alexis Carrel that all normal somatic cells are immortal. By preventing cells from reaching senescence one can achieve biological immortality; telomeres,

14883-466: The writings of these groups there has been some dispute among historians as to whether these groups truly were descendants of Manichaeism. While reincarnation has been a matter of faith in some communities from an early date it has also frequently been argued for on principle, as Plato does when he argues that the number of souls must be finite because souls are indestructible, Benjamin Franklin held

15006-422: Was eventually tried as a means of studying the phenomenon of past life recall. Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess ' biological immortality ' due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit . Some scientists, futurists and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immortality may be achievable in

15129-487: Was written by Chaim Vital , based on the teachings of his mentor, the 16th-century kabbalist Isaac Luria , who was said to know the past lives of each person through his semi-prophetic abilities. The 18th-century Lithuanian master scholar and kabbalist, Elijah of Vilna, known as the Vilna Gaon , authored a commentary on the biblical Book of Jonah as an allegory of reincarnation. The practice of conversion to Judaism

#820179