Many people sense that they have been reincarnated and some even claim they have memory of past lives. While these memories may seem very vivid and real to the claimants, there are a few logical problems that must be answered to validate these claims.

Firstly, how many people were Napoleon or Shakespeare in the past? There could only be one. Yet the majority of people who believe they were reincarnated claim they have a grandiose past. Few say they lived the life of Adolf Hitler, a mass murderer or a lunatic. Is it possible that so many people could have been Napoleon or Elvis in their past lives? Isn’t there a more logical explanation?

Secondly, if reincarnation were true, memory of previous lives should be commonplace in everyone. Clearly it is not. Instead these memories are usually drug induced and drug enhanced. Why are drugs necessary to recall these “memories”?

Why then did Buddha teach on reincarnation? For further study, please read From Buddha to Jesus which devotes several chapters on why this is one of the most interesting teachings of Buddhism.