--- title: "Reincarnation Beliefs Across World Religions and Cultures" url: "https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/reincarnation-beliefs-across-world-religions-and-cultures/" date_published: "2026-04-10T22:25:33+00:00" date_modified: "2026-10-03T00:54:00+00:00" author: "Maris Dreshmanis" language: "en-US" site: "Reincarnatiopedia (https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/)" license: "© 2026 Reincarnatiopedia / Maris Dreshmanis. All rights reserved. Cite with a link to the source URL." --- # Reincarnation Beliefs Across World Religions and Cultures **[Reincarnation](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/what-is-reincarnation-evidence-and-scientific-research/) Beliefs Across World Religions and Cultures** Reincarnation, the belief that the soul or consciousness is reborn into a new body after death, is a concept found in various forms across numerous religions and cultures. This article explores how reincarnation is perceived and interpreted in different traditions, offering insights into its philosophical underpinnings, scientific perspectives, and practical implications. ## Which religions believe in reincarnation? Reincarnation is a core teaching of Hinduism, Buddhism (as rebirth), Jainism and Sikhism, and of the Druze faith, Spiritism and many African and Indigenous traditions. Mainstream Christianity, Sunni and Shia Islam reject it, while Judaism holds it in its mystical tradition, the Kabbalah. The table gives the short answer for each tradition; the sections below explain them one by one. | Religion or tradition | Believes in reincarnation? | What it is called | Key text or source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hinduism | Yes, a core belief | Samsara, punarjanma | Upanishads; Bhagavad Gita 2:22 | | Buddhism | Yes, as rebirth without a permanent soul | Rebirth (punabbhava), samsara | Pali Canon; *Questions of King Milinda* | | Jainism | Yes, a core belief | Samsara of the jiva | Tattvartha Sutra | | Sikhism | Yes | Cycle of births (aavagavan) | Guru Granth Sahib | | Druze faith | Yes, immediate rebirth | Taqammus | Druze scriptures (Epistles of Wisdom) | | Judaism | In Kabbalah and Hasidism; rejected by some rationalist thinkers | Gilgul neshamot | Zohar; *Sha’ar ha-Gilgulim* | | Christianity | No in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teaching; held by some Christians personally | — | Hebrews 9:27; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1013 | | Islam (Sunni and Shia) | No; taught only by some minority groups | Tanasukh (rejected) | Qur’an on one life and resurrection | | Alawites, Alevis, Yarsan | Yes, in various forms | Tanasukh, devriye, dunadun | Kitab al-Haft; oral and poetic traditions | | Spiritism (Allan Kardec) | Yes, a core belief | Reincarnation | *The Spirits’ Book* (1857) | | Theosophy | Yes | Reincarnation and karma | *The Key to Theosophy* (1889) | | Yoruba (Ifá) | Yes, within the family line | Atunwa | Odu Ifá | | Igbo | Yes, within the family line | Ilo uwa; ogbanje | Oral tradition | | Inuit and Tlingit | Yes, through names and family | Name-soul (atiq, among the Inuit) | Oral tradition | | Ancient Greece (Pythagoreans, Plato) | Yes, in some schools | Metempsychosis | Plato, *Phaedo* and *Republic* X | How does karma decide the next life? Read [Karma and Reincarnation: How They Connect](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/karma-and-reincarnation-how-they-connect/) → ## Reincarnation in Major Religions ### Hinduism In Hinduism, reincarnation, or *samsara*, is central to the belief system. The soul (atman) transmigrates through different bodies based on karma—the consequences of past actions. Liberation (*moksha*) from this cycle is achieved through spiritual growth and understanding the true nature of the self. The Upanishads compare the soul to a caterpillar that reaches the end of a blade of grass and draws itself over to the next one (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.3). The Bhagavad Gita (2:22) uses the image most people remember: as a person puts on new clothes and gives up old ones, the embodied self takes on new bodies. Hindu schools differ on what liberation means — merging with Brahman in Advaita Vedanta, eternal communion with God in Dvaita — but all of them accept rebirth. For a living example of this tradition, see [Anandamayi Ma](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/anandamayi-ma/). ### Buddhism Buddhism shares the concept of rebirth without a permanent soul. Instead, it focuses on the continuation of consciousness (skandhas) through successive lifetimes until achieving *nirvana*, liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. ### Buddhism: rebirth vs reincarnation Buddhists usually say “rebirth”, not “reincarnation”, because the Buddha taught *anatta* — there is no unchanging self that moves from body to body. In the *Questions of King Milinda* the monk Nagasena explains it with a lamp: a flame lit from another flame is neither the same flame nor a different one. What continues is a stream of consciousness shaped by karma. Tibetan Buddhism describes the passage between lives as the *bardo* and recognises reborn teachers, the tulkus — among them female lines. More: [The Bardo Thödol and modern life-between-lives research](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/the-bardo-thdol-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-and-modern-lbl/) and [Women in Buddhism: Bhikkhunis, Female Lamas and Tara](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/women-in-buddhism/). ### Jainism Jainism emphasizes the journey of the soul (*jiva*) through endless cycles of birth and death until it attains freedom (*moksha*). Jains believe in strict non-violence and ethical living to purify the soul and break free from reincarnation. Jain teaching is unusually concrete: karma is a fine kind of matter that sticks to the soul through passions and harmful acts. The soul is reborn in one of four states — heavenly, human, animal or plant, or hellish — and only when all karma is shed does it rise to liberation. ### Sikhism Sikhism incorporates the idea of reincarnation, viewing it as a cycle driven by karma. Sikhs aim to escape this cycle through devotion to God and living a truthful life, guided by the teachings of their Gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib speaks of the soul wandering through “8.4 million” life forms (*chaurasi lakh*). Human birth is the rare chance to end the cycle — not by karma alone, but by God’s grace (*nadar*) and remembrance of the divine Name. ## Does Christianity believe in reincarnation? No — the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches teach one earthly life followed by judgment and resurrection. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says plainly: “There is no ‘reincarnation’ after death” (§1013). Yet surveys show that a sizeable minority of Christians believe in it personally. ### What does the Bible say about reincarnation? The verse churches cite most is Hebrews 9:27: “it is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment”. Supporters of reincarnation point to other passages: Jesus says of John the Baptist, “he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:14; 17:12), and the disciples ask whether a man born blind sinned before his birth (John 9:2). Opponents answer that John himself denied being Elijah (John 1:21) and came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), not as his reincarnation. ### Origen and the Council of 553 A popular claim says reincarnation was “removed from Christianity” in 553. The real story is more modest. The theologian Origen (3rd century) taught that souls exist before birth, but he did not teach rebirth in new earthly bodies in the Indian sense. In 553 the Second Council of Constantinople met, and anathemas against Origenist teachings are linked with it. Historians note, however, that Origen’s name is missing from the first draft of these anathemas and from the version later signed by Pope Vigilius — so how and when he was condemned is still debated. Ian Stevenson made the same observation in his book on European cases. ### Do Christians believe in reincarnation today? Many do, alongside their faith. In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, 24% of Americans and 22% of American Christians said they believe in reincarnation. In England, the sociologists Tony Walter and Helen Waterhouse found that many people who believe in reincarnation also call themselves Christians and hold the belief quietly, without dogma. ## Does Islam believe in reincarnation? No — Sunni and Shia Islam teach one earthly life, a waiting period in the grave (barzakh), resurrection and judgment. The idea of transmigration, *tanasukh*, was rejected by Muslim theologians and listed among the beliefs of “extremist” sects. The Shia idea of *raj’a* — the return of some of the dead at the end of time — is a return to the same person, not reincarnation. Several communities that grew from Islam’s mystical or esoteric margins do teach rebirth: - **Alawites (Nusayris)** teach that souls pass into new bodies, and explain inborn suffering by deeds in a former life. - **Alevis** in Turkey speak of *devriye*, the soul’s journey through mineral, plant, animal and human forms; poets such as Rumi and Yunus Emre are quoted on both sides of the debate. - **Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq)** describe *dunadun*, “from garment to garment”: the soul passes through a thousand and one bodies, its “garments”. ### Druze reincarnation For the Druze, reincarnation (*taqammus*, from the Arabic word for “shirt”) is a central belief: the soul moves into a newborn at the moment of death, always into a human being and, in Druze teaching, into another Druze. Children who speak of a previous life are called *nutq*, “those who speak”. This made the Druze villages of Lebanon one of the main fields of reincarnation research: Ian Stevenson worked there from the 1960s, and Erlendur Haraldsson later found that most adults who had spoken of a past life as children still remembered parts of it decades later. ## Does Judaism believe in reincarnation? Partly. The Hebrew Bible and the Talmud do not teach it, and the medieval philosopher Saadia Gaon rejected it outright. But in the Kabbalah reincarnation — *gilgul neshamot*, “the rolling of souls” — became a major teaching. The Zohar speaks of it, and in the 16th century Rabbi Isaac Luria’s disciple Hayyim Vital set it out in *Sha’ar ha-Gilgulim* (“The Gate of Reincarnations”): a soul returns to complete commandments it left unfulfilled or to repair what it damaged. Today gilgul is widely accepted in Hasidic and many Orthodox communities. Women’s role in this history: [Female Rabbis](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/female-rabbis/). ## Cultural Beliefs in Reincarnation ### Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhists practice sky burials, reflecting their belief that the body is returned to nature while the spirit continues its journey. The Dalai Lama’s reincarnation process is a well-known example of how spiritual leadership is maintained through successive rebirths. ### Ancient Greece: Pythagoras, Plato and the Orphics The Greeks called reincarnation *metempsychosis*. The Orphics saw the body as the soul’s prison, Pythagoras was said to remember earlier lives — one of them as the Trojan warrior Euphorbus — and Plato ends his *Republic* with the Myth of Er, in which souls choose their next lives and then drink from the river of forgetting. ### Celtic Spirituality The Celts believed in the transmigration of souls, where individuals could be reborn into family members or animals. This belief influenced their rituals and respect for nature. Julius Caesar wrote that the druids taught that souls do not perish but pass after death from one body to another (*Gallic War* VI.14). ### Aboriginal Australian Beliefs There are hundreds of Aboriginal nations in Australia, and their beliefs differ. Many describe the Dreaming, when ancestral beings shaped the land, and in parts of northern Australia a child is said to come from a spirit-child that lives at an ancestral site and enters the mother. A spirit returning to its country is a common idea; a single doctrine of reincarnation shared by all Aboriginal peoples is not documented. ### Inuit Traditions In many Inuit communities a newborn receives the name — the *atiq* — of a recently deceased relative, and with the name something of that person’s soul and character is believed to return. A child named after a grandmother may even be addressed by the grandmother’s kinship terms. Among many Inuit, a newborn receives the name of a recently deceased person, and with the name comes something of that person’s soul (*atiq*). Further south, the Tlingit of Alaska look for birthmarks and behaviour that show which relative has returned — one of the communities where Ian Stevenson collected cases. ### Siberia and the Eastern Slavs Peoples of Siberia kept their own forms of the belief. Among the Evenki the soul (*omi*) waits in the clan’s dwelling of souls before it returns in a descendant. Among the Chukchi, the ethnographer Waldemar Bogoras described how a newborn’s name was chosen by divination, and when the sign fell on a dead relative’s name, everyone said that person “has come back to us”. Folklorists among the Eastern Slavs recorded the custom of naming a child after a recently deceased grandparent rather than a living one. ### Yoruba Ifá (West Africa) In the Ifá religion of the Yoruba people, reincarnation is called *atunwa*. Before each birth the soul chooses its Ori — its personal consciousness and destiny — with Orunmila, the Witness of Destiny, and children are still named Babatunde (“father has returned”) and Yetunde (“mother has returned”). [Read more: atunwa, Ori and destiny in the Yoruba Ifá religion](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/atunwa-reincarnation-ori-destiny-yoruba-ifa/). ### Igbo: ogbanje and the return of ancestors The Igbo of Nigeria believe that ancestors return within the same family. Ian Stevenson, who studied Igbo cases in the 1980s, described how families identify the returned relative by birthmarks, by what the child says once it can speak, by behaviour, and often by consulting an oracle. A darker figure is the *ogbanje* — a spirit-child who dies young and is born again to the same mother; its Yoruba counterpart is the *abiku*, whose names plead with it to stay, such as Durojaiye, “stay and enjoy life”. ### Spiritism: Allan Kardec In 1857 the French educator Hippolyte Rivail, writing as Allan Kardec, published *The Spirits’ Book*. Spiritism teaches that the spirit returns to bodily life again and again to progress morally and intellectually, and that we forget past lives so they do not weigh on the present one. Spiritism remains strongest in Brazil. ### Theosophy (19th-century West) The Theosophical Society, co-founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, did more than any other movement to bring the ideas of karma and reincarnation to Europe and America. In *The Key to Theosophy* (1889) Blavatsky taught that every soul is reborn again and again under the law of karma. [Read more: Helena Blavatsky, Theosophy and Reincarnation](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/helena-blavatsky-theosophy-reincarnation/). ### Women, religion and rebirth In most teachings about rebirth the soul itself is neither male nor female, and Tibetan Buddhism has recognised female reincarnation lines for centuries. Yet in most large religions the highest offices were long reserved for men. [Read more: Women in Religion — patriarchy, prophetesses and spiritual leaders](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/women-in-religion/). ## How many people believe in reincarnation? About a third of adults worldwide. In 2025 the Pew Research Center asked people in 35 countries whether they believe “that people will be reborn in this world again and again”. The median was 33%. Belief was highest in India, Nigeria and Thailand (48% each) and lowest in parts of Europe, such as Poland and Sweden (12% each); in the United States it was 31%. Hindus and Buddhists were consistently the most likely to believe in reincarnation, and Muslims among the least likely — in Sri Lanka, for example, 70% of Buddhists and 63% of Hindus believe in it, compared with 47% of Christians and 17% of Muslims. ## Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives Philosophically, reincarnation has been discussed by thinkers like Plato, who argued for the transmigration of souls. In contemporary times, the concept is explored in discussions about consciousness and quantum physics. Scientifically, while there’s no empirical evidence supporting reincarnation, parapsychological studies have documented cases of individuals recalling [past lives](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/terms/past-life-regression/). The Academy of Reincarnatiology offers resources to explore these phenomena further, encouraging a scientific approach to understanding reincarnation. The best-known research comes from the University of Virginia, where the psychiatrist Ian Stevenson began collecting cases of young children who speak of a previous life; his colleague Jim Tucker continued the work. Many of these cases come from cultures that already believe in rebirth — India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, the Igbo and the Tlingit — but cases have also been recorded in Europe and America. More: [The Reincarnation Research of Dr Ian Stevenson](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/the-reincarnation-research-of-dr-ian-stevenson/) and [Reincarnation Research at the University of Virginia](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/reincarnation-research-at-the-university-of-virginia/). ## Practical Advice for Exploring Reincarnation For those interested in reincarnation: 1. **Educate Yourself**: Read how each tradition describes rebirth — start with the [Encyclopedia of Reincarnation](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/encyclopedia-of-reincarnation/). 2. **Try It Yourself**: Many people explore their own past lives in a regression session with a trained practitioner. Meeting 3–4 practitioners and choosing the one you feel most comfortable with is a good way to begin. 3. **Reflect Personally**: Contemplate your beliefs and how they influence your life, seeking guidance from spiritual teachers or texts. Patterns that repeat in your life are a natural starting point — see [How Karma Is Balanced Between Lifetimes](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/how-karma-is-balanced-between-lifetimes/). ## Conclusion Reincarnation is a rich tapestry woven into the fabric of human belief systems across cultures and religions. Whether approached philosophically, scientifically, or spiritually, it offers profound insights into existence and our place in the universe. By exploring these beliefs through reputable sources like Reincarnatiopedia and the Academy of Reincarnatiology, we can gain a deeper understanding of this enduring concept. ## Frequently asked questions ### What religions believe in reincarnation? Hinduism, Buddhism (as rebirth), Jainism, Sikhism, the Druze faith, Spiritism, Theosophy, Jewish Kabbalah and many African, Inuit and Native American traditions. Mainstream Christianity and Islam do not. ### Which religion believes in reincarnation the most? Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism build their whole view of life around the cycle of rebirth. In Pew’s 2025 survey, Hindus and Buddhists were consistently the most likely to say they believe in reincarnation. ### Does Christianity believe in reincarnation? Official Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teaching does not. About one in five American Christians believes in it personally (Pew, 2009). ### What is the difference between rebirth and reincarnation? Reincarnation usually means a lasting soul taking a new body, as in Hinduism. Buddhist rebirth denies a permanent self: a stream of consciousness and karma continues, like a flame lit from another flame. ### Is there proof of reincarnation? There is no proof accepted by mainstream science. The strongest body of evidence is the research on children’s past-life memories begun by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia. ### What percentage of people believe in reincarnation? A median of 33% of adults across 35 countries (Pew Research Center, 2025); 31% in the United States. ## Sources 1. Pew Research Center. *Beliefs About the Afterlife*, 6 May 2025; *Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths*, 9 December 2009. 2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1013. 3. Walter, Tony, and Helen Waterhouse. “A Very Private Belief: Reincarnation in Contemporary England.” *Sociology of Religion* 60(2), 1999, 187–. doi:10.2307/3711748. 4. Bender, Courtney. “American Reincarnations: What the Many Lives of Past Lives Tell Us about Contemporary Spiritual Practice.” *Journal of the American Academy of Religion* 75(3), 2007, 589–614. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfm037. 5. Irwin, Lee. “Reincarnation in America: A Brief Historical Overview.” *Religions* 8(10), 2017, 222. doi:10.3390/rel8100222. 6. Burley, Mikel. “Karma and Rebirth in the Stream of Thought and Life.” *Philosophy East and West* 64(4), 2014, 965–982. doi:10.1353/pew.2014.0079. 7. Obeyesekere, Gananath. *Imagining Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek Rebirth*. University of California Press, 2002. doi:10.1525/california/9780520232204.003.0001. 8. Stevenson, Ian. “The Belief in Reincarnation Among the Igbo of Nigeria.” *Journal of Asian and African Studies* 20(1–2), 1985, 13–30. doi:10.1177/002190968502000102. 9. Tucker, Jim B. “Children’s Reports of Past-Life Memories: A Review.” *Explore* 4(4), 2008, 244–248. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2008.04.001. 10. Haraldsson, Erlendur, and M. Abu-Izzedin. “Persistence of ‘Past-Life’ Memories in Adults Who, in Their Childhood, Claimed Memories of a Past Life.” *Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease* 200(11), 2012, 985–989. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182718c51. 11. Hayyim Vital. *Sha’ar ha-Gilgulim* (The Gate of Reincarnations), 16th–17th century. 12. Allan Kardec. *Le Livre des Esprits* (The Spirits’ Book). Paris, 1857. 13. Waldemar Bogoras. *The Chukchee*. Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 1904–1909. ## Related Articles - [Women in Religion: Patriarchy, Prophetesses and Spiritual Leaders](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/women-in-religion/) - [Anandamayi Ma: Life, Teachings and the Bliss-Permeated Mother](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/anandamayi-ma/) - [Karma and Reincarnation: How They Connect](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/karma-and-reincarnation-how-they-connect/) - [The Reincarnation Research of Dr Ian Stevenson](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/the-reincarnation-research-of-dr-ian-stevenson/) - [Reincarnation and Quantum Consciousness: Scientific Frontiers](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/reincarnation-and-quantum-consciousness-scientific-frontiers/) - [Why souls incarnate across different races, cultures, and religious traditions](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/incarnations-across-races-and-religions/) - [Contracts for Healing Across Lifetimes](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/contracts-for-healing-across-lifetimes/) - [Contracts of Limitation and Soul Growth](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/contracts-of-limitation-and-soul-growth/) - [Contracts of Service and Sacrifice](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/contracts-of-service-and-sacrifice/) - [Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton: A Guide to the Spirit World](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/destiny-of-souls-book/) [Reincarnatiopedia](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/what-is-reincarnatiopedia/) · [Reincarnatiopedia](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/) · [Reincarnation](https://wikibase.reincarnatiopedia.com/wiki/Item:Q2) --- Source: [Reincarnation Beliefs Across World Religions and Cultures](https://reincarnatiopedia.com/en/reincarnation-beliefs-across-world-religions-and-cultures/) — Reincarnatiopedia, Maris Dreshmanis. License: © 2026 Reincarnatiopedia / Maris Dreshmanis. All rights reserved. Cite with a link to the source URL.