[Buddha-l] Reïncarnation is a memoryproblem

[curt]

Sherab Lodro wrote:
>
>
>    While working in a Hamlet in the Canadian Arctic called Igloolik. A 
> town that had not, on principle, allowed Television to be introduced 
> and that was pretty much divided (perhaps 800 people in total in the 
> early eighties) between being Catholics and Anglicans.  In which 
> *everyone* went to church, many of them wearing vestry gowns, many of 
> them going to Church seven times on a Sunday (Matins through Vespers 
> etc.), there existed a belief in reincarnation.  This was told to me 
> by an lay Catholic missionary women named Georgette.  "They" she said, 
> "have camp leaders."  When a child is born after a camp leader passed 
> upon observation by the elders of the community they may say something 
> like " Oh that boy is Willi Tapetai"  Now there are no bricks and 
> mortar to be reclaimed by the young Willi no thrones to sit on or 
> brocades to wear but this extremely harsh environment requires special 
> survival skills and apparently by about the age of eight or nine if 
> young Willi proves to be living up to expectations that is shown 
> through the display various knowledges (he may also receive special 
> tutoring, not sure about that) he becomes a camp leader as he was 
> apparently before and is charged with the responsibility for choosing 
> the campsites and general leadership chores and the older folks abide 
> by his choices. Now this is serious business it may even mean life and 
> death.  All that devout Christianity had not removed that from the 
> minds of the people, which was at least somewhat to Georgette's chagrin.
>
>
This is an excellent example of belief in reincarnation that:
(1) involves no grandiose claims about past life memories, and
(2) is subjected to a kind of limited empirical testing.

The critical, and yet not arrogantly dismissive, attitude of the good 
Christian folk of Igloolik reminds me of the story about Kalu Rinpoche's 
parents who insisted on raising him themselves in spite of the fact that 
it was believed he was a Tulku. If he was a reincarnated master, they 
reasoned, any special training was unnecessary, and if he was not, any 
special training would be wasted. So instead of shipping him off to a 
monastery while still an infant they assumed he would be able to seek 
out teachers and undergo whatever training he really needed when he was 
old enough (which is just what he did).

- Curt