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87-525: Lingbao may refer to: Lingbao School (灵宝派), branch of Taoism Lingbao City (灵宝市), county-level city of Sanmenxia, Henan, China Lingbao Gold (灵宝黄金), gold mining company headquartered in Lingbao City Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lingbao . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

174-411: 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

261-538: 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

348-716: 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 ,

435-661: A catalogue of all the Lingbao texts, and also was responsible for reorganizing and standardizing Lingbao ritual. This organization of texts and ritual provided a solid foundation on which the Lingbao School prospered in the subsequent centuries. During the Tang dynasty, the influence of the Lingbao School declined and another school of Daoism, the Shangqing School, became prominent. Borrowing many Lingbao practices, it

522-479: 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

609-480: 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 ,

696-583: A great deal with ritual in other Daoist traditions. Like other traditions, Lingbao rituals had a theatrical quality that involved accompanying music, dances, and chants . Lingbao Daoism also shared the multidimensional aspect of Daoist ritual, meaning that it was carried on at several different levels simultaneously. For example, while a ritual was being performed, the priest would repeat the ritual within himself through interior meditation . There are three categories of ritual in Lingbao Daoism. The first

783-470: 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

870-402: 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

957-626: 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

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1044-549: 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

1131-645: A similar role to the deified Laozi in the Celestial Masters. According to the scriptures, this god went through a series of kalpa cycles that were given names similar to dynastic names, until emerging at the beginning of the Kaihuang period. The next most important god was Laojun, the deified form of Laozi , who was the Celestial Worthy's chief disciple. Below these two main gods in the celestial hierarchy were those deities associated with

1218-675: 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

1305-813: 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

1392-455: 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,

1479-474: 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

1566-523: 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

1653-524: 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

1740-468: 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

1827-493: 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

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1914-592: 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

2001-449: Is known as the heavenly Golden Register of Rituals, and is carried out to prevent natural disasters. During the Tang dynasty , this ritual was carried out in honour of the imperial family, but later it could be performed by anyone. The earthly Yellow Register ritual was performed to ensure the dead was at rest. The final type of ritual, which has not survived, was the human Jade Register, which

2088-510: 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

2175-538: 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

2262-556: 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

2349-472: 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

2436-465: 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

2523-588: 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

2610-798: 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

2697-806: 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

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2784-767: The Daozang . Apocalyptic notions that appeared in Shangqing Daoism were first developed fully by the Lingbao School. Lingbao cosmology supposed that time was divided into cosmic cycles, which correlated with the Five Phases . At the end of a cosmic era, the god of the colour associated with that era would descend onto earth and reveal a teaching that would save a fixed number of people from death. There were two types of cosmic eras, short ones that were characterized by an excess of yin energy, and long ones that were characterized by an excess of yang energy. At

2871-727: The Dongzhen corresponding to the Shangqing School, the Dongxuan to the Lingbao School, and the Dongshen to the Sanhuang teaching. The integration of Buddhism within Lingbao practices and beliefs ensured that Buddhist elements would remain an important aspect of later Daoism, and also aided in integrating Buddhism into all levels of society in China. Reincarnation Reincarnation , also known as rebirth or transmigration ,

2958-707: 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

3045-517: 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

3132-507: 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

3219-510: 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

3306-520: The liver and lungs . The Director of Destinies lived in the heart and sexual organs , and finally, the Peach Child lived in the lower dantian . Normally these deities resided in the heavens, but they could be activated by scriptural recitations to descend into the body. Despite a belief in reincarnation, the Lingbao School maintained the traditional Daoist idea that certain techniques could allow an adherent to achieve immortality. One technique

3393-612: The yuanqi is subdivided into three types of qi that correspond to three deities: the lords of the Celestial Treasure, of the Sacred Treasure and of the Divine Treasure. These three deities later introduced the teachings of the Dongzhen (Perfect Grotto), the Dongxuan (Mysterious Grotto), and of the Dongshen (Divine Grotto). These three teachings form the basis for the later classification of texts in

3480-668: 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

3567-700: 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,

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3654-611: 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

3741-470: 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

3828-626: The Five Old Men, the Dragon Kings , and the Demon Kings. Deities were present not only in the heavens, but also in the human body itself. They were responsible for maintaining the body's five viscera , guarding the registers of life, and regulating the souls. There were five internal deities that were particularly important in Lingbao Daoism. The Great Unity lived in the head, along with Lordling and White Prime, who could descend into

3915-464: 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

4002-569: The Lingbao Canon, there were a total of 34 texts in the canon, of which three have been lost. While the Lingbao school did not survive as a distinct entity, its ritual apparatus did, and it forms the basis for present-day Daoist ritual practice. In addition, many of the innovations introduced by the Lingbao School have survived to the present, including its division of the Daozang into three sections corresponding to different teachings, with

4089-456: The Lingbao scriptural tradition. The Lingbao School began in around 400 CE when the Lingbao scriptures were revealed to Ge Chaofu , the grandnephew of Ge Hong . Ge Chaofu claimed that the scriptures came to him in a line of transmission going back to Ge Hong's great-uncle, Ge Xuan (164–244). Ge Chaofu transmitted the scriptures to two of his disciples, and the scriptures quickly gained immense popularity. In 471, Lu Xiujing (406–477) compiled

4176-399: The Lingbao texts first to his disciple Zheng Siyuan, who then transmitted it to Ge's grandnephew Ge Hong (284–364), who is well known for his alchemical innovations. The claim that the Lingbao texts derive from Ge Xuan, however, was likely a way of legitimizing them through the exaggeration of their antiquity. In reality, they were likely assembled by Ge Chaofu himself. Within a few years of

4263-707: The Southern Palace, where spirits went after death to prepare for rebirth. The head of this group of gods was known as the Perfected of the Southern Extremities. Beneath him was the Director of the Equerry, who was in charge of the life records of the spirits, and Lord Han, who controlled Fengdu , the city of the dead. Below these principal gods in the Lingbao hierarchy were other deities such as

4350-624: The body consisted of two steps; the yin components of the person were refined in the Palace of Supreme Darkness, followed by the yang components in the Southern Palace. The Lingbao concept of rebirth is a Chinese adaptation of Buddhism, mixing traditional Chinese concepts with newly arrived Buddhist ideas. Lingbao cosmology also borrows heavily from Buddhism . Unlike previous Daoist cosmological systems which were divided into four to nine regions, Lingbao cosmology supposed that there were ten regions, an idea borrowed from Buddhism. In addition to

4437-456: The concept of reincarnation , and also some cosmological elements. Although reincarnation was an important concept in the Lingbao School, the earlier Daoist belief in attaining immortality remained. The school's pantheon is similar to Shangqing and Celestial Master Daoism, with one of its most important gods being the deified form of Laozi . Other gods also existed, some of whom were in charge of preparing spirits for reincarnation. Lingbao ritual

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4524-448: The cosmological regions, there were 32 heavens divided into four sectors, each with eight heavens that were placed horizontally on the periphery of the celestial disc. Each of the four sectors was ruled by an emperor and populated by denizens of an earlier cosmic age ( kalpa ). Like Buddhism, the heavens were divided into the "three worlds" of desire, form, and formlessness. Lingbao cosmology deviated from Buddhist beliefs by proposing that

4611-579: 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,

4698-617: 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

4785-573: 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

4872-399: 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

4959-408: The end of a short cosmic era, the moon was prophesied to produce a flood that would erode the mountains, renew the qi of the universe, and change the rankings of the members of the celestial bureaucracy. At the end of a long cosmic era, evil creatures were unleashed, heaven and earth were turned upside down, and metals and stones melted together. The people who followed the correct teaching revealed by

5046-409: 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

5133-462: 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

5220-405: 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

5307-429: The god of the colour would be gathered up by the Queen Mother of the West and transported to a "land of bliss" that would not be affected by the apocalypse. In addition to borrowing deities from the Celestial Masters and the Shangqing School, the Lingbao School also developed its own gods. The supreme god of Lingbao Daoists is known as the Yuanshi Tianzun or the Celestial Worthy of the Original Beginning, who played

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5394-405: The heavens rotated around a huge mountain known as the Jade Capital, which was the residence of the Celestial Worthy, the Daoist version of the Buddha, and the primordial deity. Certain traditional Daoist ideas were retained in Lingbao cosmology, such as the idea that the world originated from a type of primordial qi known as yuanqi , and then was divided into heaven and earth. Furthermore,

5481-419: The ingestion of potions or talismans . Early Lingbao ritual was mostly done on an individual basis, either in a meditation chamber, or the courtyard of a house. Early practitioners were not professional priests, but rather 'students of the Dao'. Later on, as the Lingbao movement developed religious institutions and an established clergy, ritual practice became more of a communal rite. Lingbao ritual shares

5568-439: 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

5655-405: 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

5742-495: 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 ,

5829-431: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lingbao&oldid=875676980 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lingbao School The Lingbao School borrowed many concepts from Buddhism , including

5916-585: 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

6003-481: 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

6090-486: 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

6177-420: 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

6264-477: 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

6351-513: 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 ,

6438-562: 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

6525-926: 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

6612-665: The texts' dissemination, they had become extremely popular. The canon itself is a mix of previous Daoist traditions, combining features from the Shangqing School and the Celestial Masters, along with other ancient texts and even some Buddhist ideas. The two most important texts of the canon besides the Wufujing are the Red Book of Five Writings ( Chi shu wupian ) and the Scripture of Upper Chapters on Limitless Salvation ( Wuliang Duren Shangpin ). According to Lu Xiujing, who edited

6699-642: 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

6786-530: 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

6873-556: 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

6960-479: The work of Ge Hong , his great uncle. Being the most ancient Lingbao text, the Five Talismans provided the framework of the remainder of the Lingbao canon, which was based on the five directions . Because all Lingbao texts descended from the Five Talismans , it was believed that they had been revealed to Ge Xuan, presumably the original owner of the Five Talismans . Ge Xuan is purported to have transmitted

7047-466: 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

7134-542: Was initially in individual practice, but later went through a transformation that put more emphasis on collective rites . The most important scripture in the Lingbao School is known as the Five Talismans ( Wufujing ), which was compiled by Ge Chaofu and based on Ge Hong 's earlier alchemical works. Although Lingbao no longer exists as a distinct movement, it has left influences on all subsequent branches of Taoism. The " yinyang masters" popular in contemporary northern China are defined as Zhengyi Taoist priests following

7221-685: Was performed to ensure the salvation of mankind. Of the rituals that have survived, the Golden Register has assumed the role of the Jade register, ensuring salvation and preventing bad weather. Lingbao scriptures arose as a direct result of the success of earlier Shangqing texts. Lingbao scriptures are all based on a text known as the Text of the Five Talismans ( Wufujing ), which was compiled by Ge Chaofu between 397 and 402 and borrowed from

7308-466: Was that of reincarnation . Both Buddhism and the Lingbao School share the idea of the Five Paths of Rebirth (Gati). People were reborn into earth prisons , as a hungry ghost , as an animal , as a man , or as a celestial being . After death, the body would be alchemically refined in the Palace of Supreme Darkness located in the north, and the Southern Palace in the south. The transmutation of

7395-468: Was to ingest the essence of the sun and the moon. Practitioners would expose themselves to the celestial bodies at certain times of the month. Closing their eyes, they would visualize that the essences would solidify and enter their bodies. Once in the body, the sun's essence was matched to the heart and visualized as red, while the moon's was matched with the kidneys and seen as black. Besides interior meditation practices, immortality could be achieved through

7482-555: Was well accepted by the aristocracy and established an influence in court. Some early Lingbao scriptures borrowed so many Buddhist terminological, stylistic and conceptual elements that Zürcher describes them as "Buddho-Taoist hybrids". Many Lingbao beliefs are borrowed from Buddhism . The names of the many different deities and heavens were often given titles based on phonetic transcriptions of Sanskrit . Many Sanskrit terms were borrowed phonetically, but given completely different meanings. One significant concept borrowed from Buddhism

7569-487: 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

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