Seth and Reincarnation
1. Seth and reincarnation
What happens when we die? There are many possible answers to that question, and each of them solves some problems and perhaps creates other. Here some examples of what I mean:
Atheists solve the problem by saying that there is no life after death. Were on our own to build whatever world we want. True, there is no answer to the question of the injustice of life. Good people, bad people, and all the rest of us, will have the same end, and there is nobody keeping score. There is no savior to reward the good or to
punish the wicked.
Christians believe in an after-life in which all wrongs on earth are righted. Jesus offers the famous parable of the Last Judgment (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25), where those who are compassionate to the poor and suffering will sit on the right hand of Jesus, while those who lacked compassion will experience some pretty bad things.
Muslims have a similar belief in an after-life in which wrongs are righted.
In the Eastern world, there is a strong belief in an after-life, and a belief that each of us will return to this earth to make up for what we failed to do this time around. For example, instead of an eternal heaven and hell, as in Christianity, bad people live lives on this earth that are pretty unpleasant, perhaps to give them the message that they need to be better to get a better life on the next go-round. This has some interesting results. If I see a poor person, for example, should I help them or let them suffer? Or should I help them and assure that I will have a better next life.
So heres the prompt: First of all, what is Seths teaching? Is reincarnation a mode of reward and punishment? Are past lives really past? Are they going on right now? What about future lives? Do they exist right now? How does reincarnation solve some of the problem weve suggested above and how, perhaps, does it create new ones? (Maybe it doesnt.)
In other words, your first possible topic is to write an interesting paper explaining and analyzing Seths teachings on reincarnation, demonstrating a knowledge of what he says, and an awareness of how they fit in the rest of Seths teachings.
