Discussing evolution involves a lot of baggage as, far too often, it contradicts religious teachings established long before we had the science to understand how we and all living things have arrived at our current place in time. There has been so much evidence discovered that many, who opposed evolution because of their religious beliefs, are now accepting that evolution could be part of God's plan. As long as no one attempts to contradict scientific knowledge resulting from the life's work of multitudes of scientists who are highly educated and dedicated to their research fields, no one should discredit those that incorporate religion with evolution. I believe both have the same goal. Both are attempting to understand what this life we all live is all about.
Studying Dr. Tucker's research triggered the possibility in my mind that reincarnation could be occurring in human beings. My immediate response was not how it could be possible, I wanted to know why it could be possible. Does the evolution of mankind have anything to gain from individuals having the ability to reincarnate? To answer that question without over reaching the boundaries of this blog, I will not address Theosophy and other forms of New Age philosophy.
In my introduction to this blog I discussed our ability to overlook the obvious and expand a topic way beyond the ability of anyone to arrive at any sort of conclusion. Science does just the opposite. Any good scientist minimizes the variables and focuses on events that can be replicated under controlled conditions in order to observe and record new knowledge. It is my hypothesis that reincarnation would not occur unless there was a benefit to the evolution of our species. Not only is there a benefit, it is the sole factor that separates us from our fellow primates on this planet. I believe I have identified the missing link, one of the major unsolved mysteries of evolution. I can find no evidence that anyone else has ever suggested the ability to reincarnate is the missing link that separates modern day man from all of his related species currently existing and extinct..
As I have stated several times through out this blog religion, reincarnation, and evolution are so intertwined we have no recourse but to address them as a single topic. An example is the work done by Elizabeth Clare Prophet in her book, "Reincarnation the Missing Link in Christianity."
The Gnostic gospels have been a thorn in the side of the Christian religion primarily because they were never canonized. The reasons are open to debate but many believe they were not included because they challenge the power of the priesthood. One has to wonder. if they had been included, the research I am proposing would have been conducted hand in hand with the research done regarding DNA and the processes of human evolution on the physical level.
Fortunately I do not have to teach evolution to address the subject here but I do need to provide at least room for thought when I make the statement, reincarnation is the missing link. My first step is to challenge the current concept of mental evolution. Current beliefs are mental evolution is a subset of physical evolution. I believe that is true for every other living species. It is not true for mankind.
Let's take an animal most of us observe on a daily basis, the family dog. Anyone who owns a dog knows it dreams since they spend much of their time sleeping while we are awake. Out of curiosity (I can think of no other reason) researchers have determined that dogs dream solely about the physical world they know. That is an ability that has evolved from the physical part of evolution no doubt to serve as a training tool. This conclusion is based solely on observation as we can't ask our dogs about their dreams. In contrast mankind can dream in abstract terms with many of our dreams having either no or little connection to our physical lives.
It is my hypothesis that physical evolution is limited. Dogs 10,000 years from now will be basically no different than dogs are today. They may have more or less hair, longer or shorter legs or be tailless but they will not be discussing the weather and playing poker with their dog friends. A dog's mental evolution has gone just about as far as it can go. I believe this is true for most species on this planet. It may be true for all other species on this planet. There will be changes in behavior that improves survivability in some species. Others like the cockroach have attained all the mental evolution they need in order to maximize their survivability, something we as a species should be very thankful for. Animals like the Koala bear and the Panda have been backed into an evolutionary corner and are on the edge of the extinction because of their highly selective diet. They simply could not adapt fast enough if their food supply were to go away.
There are experiments being conducted with other primates, sea mammals and birds that seek to improve the animals communication skills in order to provide us with the ability to communicate with them. I am not aware of any serious studies to improve animal communication skills among animals though there are those that believe that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can improve an animals ability to communicate with members of its own species and other species also. All the research in this area is conducted in an effort to improve the quality of life for traumatized animals and to improve our ability to communicate with them. I include this here because mental evolution, unlike physical evolution, occurs very quickly in most cases. If EFT works, the descendants of a species that has been introduced to it should start to display improved communication skills rather quickly if the animal has the ability to reincarnate. It is my hypothesis that the animal does not have this ability and there will be no improvement from generation to generation. The animal will display little or no mental adaptation because it has reached the limit of its mental evolution.
We have learned a lot about physical evolution and have a significant understanding of how the process occurs. In most adaptations, change happens slowly over many generations. There are exceptions. If a disease like the flu has a high mortality rate, the survivors of the epidemic do pass on improved immunity to their offspring. That immunity normally goes away if there are no exposures in future generations as the genetic imprint takes time to become permanent.
We do not know a lot about mental evolution. I believe the fact we don't is due to our not looking in the right place. The reasons we are not looking in the right place are due to our religions and established social orders that are consciously and subconsciously controlling our powers of reasoning. As I said earlier, the answers have been right under our nose the whole time.
Instead of conducting research we relegate most phenomena associated with the mental evolution to the junk science pile at best and the activities of kooks at the worst. Very little money is provided for research. What is tragic is the money that gets spent trying to contact ones lost love or parent in the afterlife or delving into the many varied forms of Existentialism or other New Age philosophy could be used to do serious research. Occasionally a phenomena becomes so painfully obvious like the cases of recall Dr. Tucker and his staff are studying at the University of Virginia, some effort and money is made available. I have not talked to the Doctor but I am gong to go out on a limb and say I doubt he is happy with budget he has to work with as he is conducting his research.
Physical evolution is all about one generation passing information to the next. Mental evolution is no different. It is my hypothesis that physical evolution is simply to slow of a process to pass all the knowledge and ability the next generation will need to adapt to its environment when a species has evolved to the degree modern man has. Reincarnation is the process adopted by mental evolution by our species to transfer mental abilities and knowledge to the next generation.
Let me be perfectly clear here. Reincarnation may have little or nothing to do with the survivability of each of us as individuals. As evidenced in the cases Dr. Tucker is studying that can happen but is the new person the same person? Physically that is not true. There may be no association between the DNA of the new person and the old. Does the new person have the same personality as the old one? We don't know but we do need to conduct more in depth research beyond recovering recalled memories. Unfortunately the ability to recall diminishes as a person ages so comparing the personality of a young child to that of an adult can be very difficult. The top post on this blog addresses whether reincarnation happens to the benefit of the individual, the species or both. All are possible.
One of mankind's biggest problems is the promotion of self over species. We make a huge deal out of individualism. Most western religions are all about us as individuals and how we relate to God. The Constitution of the United States was the first proposal that put the fate of the species ahead of the individual but all most people talk about are the individual rights that had to be added after it was originally adopted. Individualism is important. A lot of work went into making everyone of us unique but the bottom line is the survival of our species is the prime directive set by the evolutionary process that has created us. I will confess when I first started studying reincarnation it was all about me. I wanted to survive beyond this life but I came to realize, it isn't all about me at all. We reincarnate solely for the purpose of mental evolution. All one has to do is observe all the phenomena around them that is the result of the process and it really does become as plain as the nose on our face that reincarnation is happening.
We all know, for mankind to survive for eternity, we have to get off this planet and propagate across the universe. The time may come when we can manipulate suns and possibly even galaxies to insure adequate environments. For the moment, those capabilities are so far beyond our current knowledge we can't even speculate on the ability to control the stars. Our technological skills have skyrocketed in the last 100 years. 111 years ago mankind first flew. We have already gone to the moon and have landed unmanned space craft on Mars and impacted an asteroid. We have probes that are leaving our solar system that are still functioning. What will the next one hundred years bring?
Every scientific report or study I am aware of comes to the same conclusion. For interstellar travel or intergalactic travel to be possible based on the physics we know, we will have to build self propelled mini planets capable of sustaining generation after generation until a livable environment can be found. Another possibility is to place people in suspended animation but, to travel for thousands of years in such a state, would be extremely difficult if not impossible to maintain. There is another possibility. If our abilities and knowledge can survive in energy form, a journey of many millennium is certainly possible especially if the energy has no sensory input and is unaware of the passage of time. The length of the journey becomes immaterial. We don't have to send any physical life forms along for the ride if we have sensors that can detect life forms that have evolved to a point where they can host our energy forms. To be safe, we could seed developing worlds with DNA and let evolution evolve hosts.
Many will say why worry about leaving this planet at all? We have approximately 2 billion years before our sun will boil away our oceans and end all forms of life on the planet other than microbes. Accepting that as the final outcome of millions of years of evolution is first of all fatalistic and second of all, it is not what the process is telling us. It's all about survivability.
We may not have 2 billion years. Our galaxy is in the process of merging with the Andromeda galaxy. Right now there at least 1500 asteroids that cross our path that are capable of destroying our planet. There are at least 135,000 smaller ones that are capable of drastically altering our environment. We recently had one that crossed our path that was only 6 hours away from impacting this planet. As our galaxies continue to merge the number is going to increase. We have no guarantees
If survival wasn't the name of the game, evolution would not be happening.God or chaos has been evolving a life form capable of controlling its environment for millions of years. The ability to pass ability and knowledge through subconscious recall with the potential of evolving to conscious recall fits the design like a glove. Please take the time to consider all the evidence. The process is happening and I believe we are ready to take the next step toward conscious recall of past lives so we can mentally evolve far faster than we are now. This is a journey we are all going to take as far it can go. The why of it all, if there is a why, will remain a mystery for the foreseeable future and we will need faith until faith and knowledge become one in the same.
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