The Wheel of Rebirth

By Douglas M. Baker

THE WHEEL OF REBIRTH
This book goes to the heart of the esoteric basis of reincarnation to reveal the truth of this ancient belief.

Dr. Baker elucidates the principles of rebirth and provides convincing arguments for having a positive understanding of this timeless subject. He surveys the concepts of reincarnation found in many of the world's religions including Judaism, early Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.
 

         Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise

          From outward things, whate 'er you may believe.

         There is an inmost centre in us all,
          Where truth abides in fullness; and around,

          Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,

         This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.
 

—From Paracelsus by Robert Browning

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker eBooks Publishing
• Release date: Apr 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781625690340

Douglas M. Baker

Dr. Douglas M. Baker. English born and raised in South Africa has done extensive scientific research into those hinterlands of the mind which one might call psi-semantics. He graduated in the Arts & Humanities in South Africa and qualified in medicine at Sheffield University (UK) in 1964. Having taught in the East End schools of London for 10 years, he began his tour of the Western world giving lectures and seminars in Esoteric Healing, Esoteric Anatomy, Esoteric Astrology, Esoteric Psychology, Esoteric Science and Metaphysics. He, more than any other, set in motion the trends towards alternative methods of medicine which have transformed that field in Britain today. As medical advisor to the De la Warr laboratories in Oxford, he undertook research into Biomagnetism and quantum physics their effects on the human aura and dark matter, producing the book by the same name in conjunction with George de la Warr. Through the years he has given more than 15,000 lectures and attracted people from all over the world to his Esoteric Science Festivals and International Summer Schools staged in America, Canada, England, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. His transformative experiences during the Second World War, when twice severely wounded, set the pattern for his life long investigations into the Powers Latent in Man. His extensive esoteric writings are said to be the largest collection in the world produced by a living author. He has written over 100 books, many of which have been translated into the 9 European languages at https://www.douglasbaker.com, and his list of downloadable MP3 audio lectures available at www.douglasbaker.org, include 500 live lectures given around the world and on a vast range of subjects. He has led the field in esoteric astrology, producing with a team, his magnum opus, a Dictionary of Astrology for the 21st Century in three volumes. This is in addition to the already existing 11 volume set of books on the same subject.

Book preview

Table of Contents

THE WHEEL OF REBIRTH

Introduction

Chapter One - In The Beginning . . .

The Captain of Our Ship

Mother Church

Chapter Two - Man, Know Thy Self!

Questions of the Ages

The Self—A Mirage?

Spark of The Divine

Chapter Three - Rebirth: Fact or Fiction?

Is There a Future Life?

Past, Present, Future

Objections to Reincarnation

Harps and White Clouds for Eternity?

Rhyme or Reason?

Truth IS!

Chapter Four - Karma As Related To Rebirth

Perfect Poetic Justice

Cause and Effect

Chapter Five - Reincarnation in Myth and Symbol

Classical Mythology

Psyche and the Butterfly

The Transformation of Proteus

The Wheel of Rebirth

Archetypes

Chapter Six - Reincarnation in the Religions of the World

Hinduism

The Upanishads

The Bhagavad-Gita

Buddhism

The Dhammapada

Zen Buddhism

Taoism

Egyptian

Judaism

The Old Testament

The Kabala

The Zohar

Christianity

The New Testament

Church Fathers on Reincarnation

Gnosticism

Gnosticism on reincarnation and karma: -

Gnosticism on the origin of man and his purpose -

The Fifth Ecumenical Council

CLAREGATE COLLEGE

Appendices

Appendix One - The Monad

Appendix Two - The Seven Postulates

THE WHEEL OF REBIRTH

by

Dr. DOUGLAS BAKER

B A, MRCS., L.R.C.P.F.Z.S.

First Edition 1978

This Edition 1993

Copyright © 1993 by Douglas Baker

Printed Edition ISBN : 9780906006160

Little Elephant,

High Road, Essendon,

Herts, AL9 6HR, England.

This is the only authorised eBook of the printed edition.

ISBN 9781625690340

© Copyright Dr. Douglas M. Baker 2011

Published by Baker eBooks Publishing

Many audio lectures and some of the images and charts used here can be downloaded in higher definition for free from our website https://www.douglasbaker.org.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Introduction

This book goes to the heart of the esoteric basis of reincarnation to reveal the truth of this ancient belief.

Dr. Baker elucidates the principles of rebirth and provides convincing arguments for having a positive understanding of this timeless subject. He surveys the concepts of reincarnation found in many of the world's religions including Judaism, early Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise

From outward things, whate 'er you may believe.

There is an inmost centre in us all,

Where truth abides in fullness; and around,

Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,

This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.

—From Paracelsus by Robert Browning

* * * * *

There is something finer than the ardor of youth, and that is the endurance of experience. Ardor of youth may turn to dust in the impact of disaster, but he who has faced the worst and lived through it not once but many times knows that he can live through it, and so meets serenely what fate may have in store, going forward undaunted, undismayed.

Experience is our best teacher, it has been said why then shun and evade it? Life is a serious matter and the most serious thing in it is doubt and indecision.

Watch with eager and steadfast eyes for the dawn upon the hills. In good time it will come, in the best, the perfect time, adjusted to Karmic Law and laden with blessing. It will come with hush and coolness, and still and fragrant breath. With the Master's peace it will come, the peace He gives to the disciple who is as Himself—a warrior tried and true.

Not to the man who waits can it come, not to him who avoids the conflict, not to the fretful, not to the objector, not to the fear-ridden, not to the over-sure, but to him who battles to the end with back against the wall and broken sword, it may be. Watch, watch, I say, for the dawn upon the hills

—from Cave Theosophia, Spring 1958

Chapter One - In The Beginning . . .

The Captain of Our Ship

The modern and shortest way with the soul or inner Self is to deny it outright. Can we suppose 'that a ship might be constructed of such a kind that entirely by itself, without captain or crew, it could sail from place to place for years on end, accommodating itself to