If we start to examine basic views of the New Age movement and the Oriental religions, it is good to start from reincarnation. This doctrine is namely in the background almost in all teaching of the New age movement and it is also the basic belief of the Oriental religions, in other words of Hinduism and Buddhism. About its commonness has been estimated, that about 25 % of people in the western countries believes in it, but in India and other countries of Asia, where is the origin of this doctrine, the percentage is naturally much bigger. There, in other words mainly in India and other countries of Asia has been taught this doctrine already at least for 2000 years, and obviously it was accepted generally about 300 before Christ, not just before it.

When it is a question of reincarnation, it in any case is based on the fact, that our life is believed to be continuous circulation. Its is believed to be continuous circulation, so that each person is born on the earth again and again and again, and gets a new incarnation always according to that, how he has lived in his former life. All that bad, what happens to us today, should only be consequence of the earlier happenings, and that we must now reap it, what we have sown earlier. Only if we experience enlightenment and at the same time are freed from the circulation, in other words we will achieve moksha, so this circulation does not continue eternally. (However in the western view achieving of moksha is not very important. Instead of that, in the western world reincarnation is seen in positive light, in other words mainly as a possibility to develop and to grow spiritually. It hasn't similar negative nuance to generally in east.)

But what can we think about reincarnation; is it really true or not, and is it worth while to believe? We try to search for answer to this matter in this writing.

http://koti.phnet.fi/elohim/Reincarnation

Here is a link that has some interesting counters and thoughts for reincarnation.

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen03.html

I personally believe in reincarnation because of my own personal experience and also after considering and weighing the following thought;

Does it make any sense some people are born into wealth and some are impoverished and some have opportunites and some don't? Why would we be given a life into which some had advantages over others and one chance to live? One life just does not resonate with me at all. There has to be a balance and there is no balance when you ask an athelete and a man with one leg to reach the goal line in the same amount of time, so to speak a lifetime and thats even if one lives that long without having died very young. Just my thoughts.

The title is amusing, but I'm with stargazer on this one. I'm fairly certain it exists, based on personal experiences.

Its all down to chance,if someones parent are well off then they will be born into wealth they aren't automatically rich thats not a natural aspect thats their surroundings etc.

What are your guys personal experinces?

I think the person was referring to karma.
edit: Well I've been known to speak a language that I didn't know (no one taught me) and this happened recently. I asked a guy a question in Romanian (don't know how the hell I did this)and he was stunned that I knew it. And I was telling him that I didn't. Actually I didn't find out he was Romanian until afterward, which was the freaky part. This happens with German too. And I have dreams of being there, very detailed. Sometimes I share dreams of the past with other people, and we can both piece it together. And lots of other spooky experiences and coincidences. I just don't question it.
Personally, I think reincarnation can explain a lot of odd talents, phobias, etc.
If someone were to get a proper regressionist, perhaps they can find out who they were in the past.

Yes somethings are circumstance of environment, I agree however some are born into lives with opportunity to have the advantage to where others or not.
In regards to it I was thinking from a spiritual point of view, karma as Yelekiah said.

As in regards to experiences, I do not like to share them very much...I suppose i tire of being called wacko. However there was one experience I'm willing to share that began swaying my thoughts on reincarnation.

I did not believe in reicarnation at one time. I thought it was silly. My daughter who was very young at the time came up to me and asked me what the word was for someone that had lived a past life. I asked her why and she preceeded to tell me that she lived a past life with our family cat. Okay so I thought she had a pretty good imagination and I also spoke with other adults who had direct contact with her and none of them believed in it either and all claimed they had not even mentioned that possibility.

One particular day she came home crying and telling me that the boys down the street were making fun of her. She told me she didn't like this life because she had to be a child again and childen were mean. That same day she found a catepillar in the street that was dead. She cried about it and took a white piece of paper and taped it to her door. She walked right up to me and asked me if I knew why she did that. She then went on to tell me that the white on the door represented the catepillar's soul passing to the other side. now I knew that this was actually an ancient tradition in some asian cultures but she didn't and not very many people know that. In the western world black represents death.

A short time after that she noticed my new pocket book sitting on the table and remarked about the weave. Now each weave was the same. She told me it was a word in japanese but that she couldn't remember what the word was. Now of course I asked her where she got that from and she said she rememebered and asked me if I remembered. I said, "remember learning it?" and she responded "No mommy remember being japanese once like me?" When I researched that weave design it did infact look exactly like a japanese word which I believe was japanese for love if I'm correct.

This was just the start for me believing the possibility, of course I look at the logical but after so many experiences and those of my own I cannot seem to find the logic.

I can relate. Thank you for sharing the story.

Some ants are born queens and others workers.
Why, if we are recycled, are there more people alive on Earth today, than have ever lived in the past?
Why would not a cat, or a bumble be also be reincarnated. Life is life.

Because we split our souls imo (same way a nucleus splits)

Thanks for yours as well. I can relate to your as well, especially the dream part.

Many Buddhists and other religions believe that all life, including animals and insects have a soul and do get recycled into human form at one time or another.

Well, we will all find the answer to this sooner or L8R.
I don't wanna learn how to be an ant though.

me neither

I could see you asking another ant to bend that piece of sand....

"While my spoon, lays just they way it has been!"

AHH just mail it to me already and I'll bend it and send it back....COD.

Ya know, even though the spoon hasn't bent, it does look bored!

Well think of it ths way; the legend of the spoon has traveled to many posts. probably every member feels at one with your spoon. it has had a cosmic journey through the boards.....never has one single spoon had such an effect in history.

PetriFB, I read your link. And I have a great many problems with it.

1. You ask questions about reincarnation's flaws, however, by not giving the anwsers that respective "New Age" groups have, you are leading your readers to believe that there are none.

Example:


As stated previously in this thread, many "New Agers" believe that all lifeforms have spirits and reincarnate as humans at some point. Also, there may not be many humans "graduating" now, because this is a very materialistic world where most don't care about spirituality. Additionally, there are spirits from other realms and galaxies that might want to experience human life.
Now don't pretend that you haven't reasearched this stuff, and aren't guilty for being leading. You've certainly done enough reasearch to attack a belief.


I really don't care if you attack these thoughts/beliefs, but represent the whole issue if you do so. You can try to prove the whole thing wrong, but represent BOTH sides and then try to tear it down.

stargazer, thank you for sharing that amazing story.
I too believe in reincarnation, because of personal experiences. My son also, when he was a tiny tot, he said to me, mommy, when I was big, I spoke another language"
ahh, ok.......

I also believe in reincarnation due to personal experiences with my son & others.
My son is the reincarnation of my maternal grandfather.

Thank you as well for sharing your as well shadowdancer
I believe there are many people who have these experiences with their children. Perhaps sometimes it is looked at as imagination and others it is overlooked. My neighbor recently told me a story of her own daughter. I invited her over one day and as she looked around she asked me shly if I believed in reincarnation. I assumed at the time it was because she saw my Buddhas and bonzai tree and such and assumed I was Buddhist.

I told her I did. She than told me that she never believed in reincarnation and infact was Christian however her daughter had said something to her that stuck in her mind. She was having a conversation with a guest about a place when her four year old daughter said, "I used to live in that place." She laughed and told her, "Honey we never lived there." The daughter insisted she had but at the time she was a boy. "A boy!" my neighbor said. "I was boy and I got killed by accident when I was 7" the daughter said. The neighbor told me it gave her chill bumps because it was very odd for a daughter to say such a thing. She told me she was very logically even for a little girl.

For myself it makes the most sense....As the old Buddhist teaching goes, nothing is lost in the universe. energy turns into matter and matter turns into energy. A dead leaf turns into soil. A seed sprouts and becomes a new plant. Old solar systems disintergrate and turn into cosmic rays. We are born of our parents, our children are born of us......

You know it is said by some that souls choose to experience life in groups and reincarnate in different roles together over multiple lifetimes.

When my daughter was born I remember looking into her eyes and feeling this bizarre feeling similar to deja-vu as if I had known her before. I didn't share it until my husband at the time just stared at her strangely and I asked him what was the matter. He remarked, "Its the oddest thing but when you look in her eyes she looks like an old soul or something its very wierd." He did not believe in such things either. it wasn't until much later that I would come to believe I knew her before this life.

fluke
great reincarnation movie
sad though

Even the Bible has hints of reincarnation.

When asked why some men are born rich Jesus said, " Don;t envy them, they have their reward".

You can't get a reward without doing something to earn it. And you have to exist in some way in order to be able to do something to earn it.

Question is, what is it that they did to deserve to be born rich?

not only animals and insects (we're animals to anyway) but also plant life.

?

I had to think for a moment of what movie you're speaking of. Would it be Birth?

Firstly the daughter did not say she lived in a particular house but a city. Secondly I don't think the 4 year old daughter saw the movie and lastly the neighbor's husband later verified the story.

That happens often in families, Purplos. ty for sharing.
As for the Bible, yes there are hints, but it was also removed from the Bible as well.

I've had this memory of a native american guy getting hit in the face with tomahawk since i can remember

your title is pretty misleading, you say reincarnation is a deception, yet show you believe in it

She is fighting against the caste system in India.
It is her way of fighting for equality of civil rights in her nation of India.
She has seen the horrors of the caste belief and rejected reincarnation because in her nation to retain belief in reincarnation is to retain belief that the caste system is good and right.
They do not seem to able to separate the two concepts at all int he minds of the people.
Christianity and Buddhism are seen as freedom, equality, acceptance, and justice to them.

Are we all reading the same topic?

http://koti.phnet.fi/elohim/reincarnation_again_and_again

Journal of Scientific Exploration
. Vol. 16. No. 3. pp. 363-380, 2002 0892-3310/02

Development of Certainty About the Correct Deceased

Person in a Case of the Reincarnation Type in Lebanon:

The Case of Nazih Al-Danaf

ERLENDUR HARALDSSON

Department of Psychology University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Icelund

MAJD ABU-IZZEDDIN

Beirut, Lebnrzon

Abstract-This case concerns a young boy in Baalchmay, Lebanon, who

made specific statements before several family members asserting memories

of a previous life, such as being a man who carried pistols and hand-grenades,

having a mute friend, describing a house, having children, living in

the village of Quaberchamoun, and being shot by armed people. The case is

unusual because when the child was taken at age 7 to the village, a corresponding

deceased person was identified by means of his claimed memories,

and the widow and the man's brother became certain of the authenticity of

the child's reincarnation through his correct answers to their questions, recognition

of people and possessions, and his own knowledgeable questions to

them.

Keyworcls: past life memories-personal identity-Lebanon-Druzememory-

reincarnation-violent death

Introduction

From August 1988 to March 200 1 the first author made six journeys to Lebanon

to conduct a psychological study of children who claim to have memories

of a previous life or who are believed to have them by those around them.

Thirty such children were found, 19 boys and 1 1 girls, all in the Druze community

in Lebanon. A few cases were picked out for a detailed investigation.

This paper reports one case which is notable for several features. Nazih

Al-Danaf lives with his father Sabir Al-Danaf, his mother Naaim, and seven

sisters and brothers in Baalchmay, about 15 miles east of Beirut. The exceptional

features of his case (e.g., the number of witnesses to his statements

before an attempt was made to find a deceased person) seemed in particular

to deserve a thorough investigation.

The family and home of the claimed previous person were found by following

Nazih's directions. The two families were complete strangers with no previous

meeting or connection between them. There were a high number of

363

364 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

recognitions made by the child as he first met the wife and children of the deceased

person, and the person's brother. The family of the deceased probed

the child's detailed knowledge of the life of the individual they had known,

and verified his memories.

This paper describes our investigation of this case and also the process of

how members of the alleged previous family responded to Nazih's statements

and tested him until they arrived at a certainty about his claims and came to

accept him as a rebirth of a previous member of their family.

Previously the first author (E.H.) has investigated and published reports on a

number of cases in Sri Lanka (Haraldsson, 1991, 2000a, b; Haraldsson &

Samararatne, 1999; Mills et al., 1994), besides conducting two psychological

studies of children who claimed memories of a previous life (Haraldsson, 1995,

1997; Haraldsson et al., 2000). The second author (M.A.I.) has an intimate

knowledge of Druze culture, served as an interpreter, took an active part in the

investigation of this case, and assisted another researcher, Ian Stevenson, in the

investigation of numerous cases in Lebanon in the seventies (Stevenson, 1980).

The Druzes

The Druzes are one of four main ethnic communities of Lebanon, the

others being Christian Maronites, Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The Druzes number

about 300,000 in Lebanon and also live in Syria, Jordan and Israel and as

immigrants in other countries. The Druze religion is generally considered a

subgroup within Islam with its origin traced back to the 1 I th century, but is

sometimes looked upon as independent of Islam (Abu-Izzeddin, 1993;

Makarem, 1979). The Druzes tend to cloak their religion in secrecy and differ

from mainstream Muslims in many important respects, such their scriptures,

and by showing no observance of the five fundamental tenets of Islam. Their

religious scriptures are kept secret from non-Druzes as well as the great majority

of Druzes (the juhhal, perhaps 90% of the community) who have not

been initiated into their religion. Around 10% of Druzes (the uqqal), go

through religious training and are initiated into their religion, usually in later

life, and then obtain the honorific title of Sheikh or Sheikha in the case of

women. They abstain from alcohol and tobacco and are expected to lead a

more virtuous life and take on a dress that distinguishes them from the rest of

the population, although the last requirement is not always observed among

Druzes working in higher positions in Beirut. Plato, the Greek philosopher

that predates Islam by many centuries, is held in great esteem in the Druze

scriptures, and in his writings the concept of reincarnation plays an important

role. Reincarnation is an important tenet of the Druze religion.

Methodology

The methodology applied in

previous lives consists primarily

claimed investigating cases of

of the following steps.

memories of

Development of Certainty 365

t

1. Ascertain the facts of each case by interviewing independently available

witnesses as to the child's statements about a previous life. We conducted interviews

about this case with the principal witnesses-Nazih's mother and father

and his six older sisters and his older brother, all at the family's home.

We interviewed the family during three trips to Lebanon, in May 2000 and in

January and March 2001. We visited their home seven times for interviewing,

and thus came to know them fairly well, which is essential if a case is to be

studied thoroughly. With a few exceptions the interviews were conducted in

Arabic and interpreted by M.A.I. Relevant notes from the interviews were in

most instances later checked with the interviewees.

Each witness was interviewed individually, mostly alone but sometimes

someone else or others were present in the living room where the interviews

took place. (In small apartments where many family members live, it may be

difficult to ask people to leave the living room.) The witness would be asked

to sit on a special chair, and if others were present, they would be asked to

keep quiet while the witness was interviewed. We emphasized that each witness

should only report what s/he had heard or witnessed directly, not what

s/he had heard others say. Thus we obtained testimony from nine witnesses regarding

the statements that Nazih had been making about a previous life, particularly

statements that he had made before the first contact with the alleged

previous family. All the major witnesses were interviewed on more than one

occasion several months apart. Their testimony was on the whole consistent

over time but additional testimony would sometimes emerge on a later visit

that the witness did not recall in the earlier interview, as is not uncommon

when interviewing witnesses.

The witnesses were cooperative. Our impression was that they were honest

and open about their observations and did not try to embellish the case.

Nazih's sisters and brother would sometimes argue about some differences in

their observations, in those few instances when more than one witness was

present. They would generally be very clear about which statements they had

heard Nazih make and which they had not.

2. The second step in investigations of claimed spontaneous past-life memories

is to ascertain how far each case may already have been verified when the

investigator comes to the scene, and to critically examine that verification, by

a new thorough investigation. We therefore interviewed on two occasions the

principal witnesses of the family in Quaberchamoun that was traced through

Nazih's instructions and became identified by him as his previous family.

Great care was taken in finding and interviewing persons who knew intimately

Fuad Assad Khaddage, the deceased person that Nazih claims to have been.

Extensive notes were taken of our interviews, often first in Arabic by M.A.I.

and then in English as they were translated into English during the interviews.

3. The final step consists in checking the correctness of each statement

made by the child by comparing each of them to life events and characteristics

of the person(s) who have been identified as a potential "previous person366

E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

ality". The methods of investigating cases of claimed memories of previous

lives, or spontaneous past-life experiences, have been amply described elsewhere

(Haraldsson, 199 1; Stevenson, 200 1).

Nazih's Initial Statements Regarding his Previous Life

Nazih was born February 29, 1992, and was eight years old when we first

met him at his home in Baalchmay in May 2000. We learned about this case

from the family of another child. We had some difficulties finding Nazih's

home on the Beirut-Damascus highway, and stopped at a shop to ask where

Nazih's father lived. When the shopkeeper learned that we wanted to speak to

his son Nazih, he seemed in no doubt what the errand might be: "What has

he done now? He is a naughty boy."

Nazih was in school when we arrived and his mother, Naaim Al-Danaf,

was, at first somewhat reluctantly, willing to speak to us. We asked her what

first made her think that Nazih was speaking of a previous life. According to

her he was only a year and a half old when he began using words that they

did not expect a child of his age to know. He would tell his mother, "I am not

small, I am big. I carry two pistols. I carry four hand-grenades. I am `qabadai'

(a fearless strong person). Don't be scared by the hand-grenades. I know how

to handle them. I have a lot of weapons. My children are young and I want to

go and see them." He also told her how many children he had, but she has

forgotten the number now. He did not give their names to his mother.

Nazih stated that he wanted to go to his previous home to get some papers

for money that he had lent to people so that he could get the money back. He

said his previous name was Fuad. In a later interview Nazih's mother withdrew

that statement and thought that name first came up after the first visit

to the village of Qaberchamoun where his previous family was identified.

Nazih's sister Sabrine insists she heard him say the name Fuad before

that visit.

Nazih's mother did not encourage Nazih to speak about his previous life.

She had an older daughter, 23 years at the time of our first interview, who

had also talked of a previous life. "Life is not easy for such children," the

mother said, "as they want to see their previous family." She did not want to

go through that strain again. Nazih used to tell his mother. "My wife is prettier

than you. Her eyes and mouth are more beautiful." This statement may in

fact have been the first that made her think that he was talking about a previous

life. Later we learned that Nazih also said this to most of his six sisters

who are older than he is.

When he was around four he saw a young woman that worked in a store

across the street. His mother and sister Mirna remember him saying that she

looked like his previous wife and had the same beautiful eyes. He liked her a

lot and went as far as to ask her to marry him!

Development of Certainty 367

.

Nazih's mother told us that she remembered hearing him saying to his father

that he had lots of weapons and that he knew how to handle them. He

wanted to bring his father to his house and show him the weapons. He told

him that, like his father, he had children and deeds for a house. He often

talked about a friend who was mute and had only one hand (or he may have

said that there was something wrong with his hand). Nazih said his friend

could hold a gun in one hand and work it, getting it ready to shoot. He referred

to him as "my friend the mute."

Nazih described how he had died. "Armed people came and shot at us. I

also shot at them and killed one. We were shot and later taken by an ambulance."

(And thus his life ended.) Nazih told his mother that he remembered

that they gave him a shot of anesthesia in his arm in the ambulance on the way

to the hospital. He would point to a spot on his upper arm and say: "This is

where they stuck the needle." We did not see there any sign of a birthmark.

Nazih often insisted that his parents take him to his previous home so that

he could see his children and do other things already mentioned. Nazih's

mother did not recall that he had specified where he had lived. Sometimes he

would threaten them: "If you don't take me there I am going to walk." His

statements are listed in Table 1.

Not only did Nazih's claims of previous life memories puzzle his family;

he also has some behavioral characteristics that are unusual for a child of his

age, apart from his fearless, firm behavior. When he sees a cigarette box he,

on occasion, wants to get it and smoke from a cigarette. If someone has a

whisky, he wants it too. This was particularly the case during the period when

he spoke most about his previous life, which was until the alleged previous

family was identified.

Description of Nazih

Nazih returned from school near the end of our first interview with his

mother. He is a slim, well-built and handsome boy, alert and attentive but did

not seem much interested in us. His mother told us that he is no longer spontaneously

speaking of his previous life, will only do so when asked and only

remembers bits of what he earlier was talking about. This is in line with the

general tendency of children who around the age of five to six either stop

speaking of their previous life or do so much less than before, and then seem

to have forgotten most or much of their former memories. In Nazih's case the

forgetting seems not to have started until after he met the previous family.

However, Nazih still remembers the fearful events that lead to his death, and

still speaks of being a brave, fearless person.

The following are some of Nazih's mother's responses to the Child Behavior

Checklist that was administered to her: he argues a lot, wants to be involved

in discussions and convinced by arguments, prefers being with older

children, tends to hang around with boys who get into trouble, does not seem

to feel guilty after misbehaving, feels he has to be perfect, gets in many

368 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

x x x x x X x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x X x x x X

x x x x x x x x x x X x x x X

x x x x x x x x x x X x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x X

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x

X

X x x x x x x x

Development of Certainty 369

fights, gets teased, is nervous and high-strung, is much concerned with neatness

and cleanliness, tends to boast and brag and show off, is unusually loud

and hot tempered, and talks too much. He gets along with his sisters and

brother no better or worse than children tend to do. He is helpful to his mother

around the house and to his sisters and brother when they need him. These

characteristics are found in a number of children who speak about a previous

life (Haraldsson, 1977; Haraldsson et al., 2000). According to Nazih's teacher,

he works `much less hard' than other pupils, is not learning much, but behaves

a bit better than the average pupil. It seems that Nazih behaves well at

home and in school and his naughtiness finds expression elsewhere.

We did not meet Nazih's father, Sabir Al-Danaf, a mason by profession,

until during our visit in January 2001. He told us that he had been more ready

to listen to Nazih's talk about the previous life than his mother. He did not

encourage Nazih, but he listened to him, although he also did not want his

son to get mixed up with two lives. "Besides, his mother feared that he might

go away to the previous family", Sabir said. This fear is common among

mothers of children who speak about a previous life.

Nazih's First Visit to Qaberchamoun

According to his father Sabir, Nazih insisted that his parents take him to

Qaberchamoun, a small town that is about 17 km away. "My home (house) is

in Qaberchamoun", he said. Nazih wanted to show them where his house

was. "If you don't take me there I am going to walk there", he threatened.

His father states that when Nazih was 2.5 years old, he drew a map of his

previous house for them and also of an intersection near his house. Unfortunately

these drawings no longer exist. Nazih's father tried for a long time to

put off bringing Nazih to his previous home in spite of his persistent requests.

Nazih also told his sisters and brother that he wanted to go and see his children

and get his weapons and other things.

Nazih's mother, sisters and brother, however, do not remember that Qaberchamoun

was mentioned by Nazih before they went there, whereas his father

claims that he did, and that is why they drove to Qaberchamoun. Qaberchamoun

is at an intersection of major roads. Sabir had been there and has relatives

near the village but had no knowledge of anyone living in the village

itself. We made two trips from Baalchmay to Qaberchamoun to try to reconstruct

what happened during Nazih's first visit to Qabarchamoun when they

traced the alleged previous family. Our first trip was with Nazih and his older

sister Sabrine, and the second with Nazih and his father Sabir.

When Nazih was six years old (early 1998, witnesses not quite sure) his father

and mother finally agreed to drive Nazih to Qaberchamoun. They were

accompanied by his sisters Sabrine and Hanan and his brother Baha. When

they came to Ainab, a place about a kilometer away from Qaberchamoun,

Nazih asked them to stop at a mud road on the left side. He told them that this

370 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

road came to a dead end and that there was a cave there. They did not inspect

it and went on.

When they arrived at the intersection in Qaberchamoun where six roads

converge Sabir stopped the car and asked Nazih where to go. Nazih pointed

to a road to the left downward, and told him to continue on that road until

they come to a road that forks off upward. "My house is there."

The road to the left that started downward leveled off and became flat.

Sabir drove on, perhaps 100 to 120 meters, until he came to the first road

upward. He drove up the very steep road and had to stop a few car-lengths up

the gravel road. A man was washing the stairs of his house with a water hose

and the road had become too wet and slippery for the car.

Here Nazih opened the car and ran out while his father backed the car

down to the flat road and parked it. Then he walked up the road to find Nazih

while his wife and daughters remained near the car. Sabir asked the man

washing the stairs if anyone around had died in the war (been "martyred").

Yes, a young man had been martyred nearby. Sabir went to that house and

asked if somebody had died in the circumstances described in Nazih's statements.

The man who had lived in this house had died in a bomb-blast so that

did not fit. Sabir went further up the road to look for Nazih and found him.

Nazih had also been looking for the right house. Nazih asked: "Take me to

where I can see the white villa on the other side of the valley; I used to see it

from my house." Then they walked down the steep road.

The women who stayed with the car saw a young man who was washing a

car only a few meters below where they originally had to stop their car on the

steep road. They started speaking to him. This is how he, Kamal Khaddage,

described their first meeting:

1 was washing my car and watering at the entrance to our house. A car came up the

road, stopped at the next house above and on the other side of the road. A young boy

sprang out of the car. Then the car backed down and parked on the level road below

at the corner of our lot. A man [Nazih's father] left the car and walked up the road to

follow the boy. The women saw me and walked towards me. They asked if I knew

someone who had been shot, they did not know his name but he had carried handguns,

hand-grenades, and had owned a red car.

Kamal was surprised because the boy described by the women seemed to remember

life as his father, Fuad Khaddage; his father had died many years

ago, so he asked about the age of the boy. Kamal said that Nazih's mother

told him he was around seven. The visitors said more about the person whose

life the boy seemed to remember but Kamal does not remember further details.

What they did tell him fitted his father. He then shouted to his mother,

who was working in a field close by, that they had visitors. At this time

Nazih and his father joined the group.

Development of Certainty 371

Najdiyah Khaddage's Account of her First Meeting with Nazih

Najdiyah Khaddage was Kamal's mother and the wife of Fuad, the alleged

previous personality. "When Nazih came here I was picking olives in our garden

some distance away. My children yelled at me that there was a boy who

said that he was their father, and they wanted me to come and see if he would

recognize me. I went to them and told his mother that my husband died in the

war. When he saw me, he looked like he knew me, and looked up and down at

me. Kamal then said to him: Is she her [your previous wife] or not? Nazih

smiled."

Najdiyah told us, "I wanted to be sure of him, sure that he was my previous

husband". She asked him: "Who built the foundation of this gate at the

entrance of this house?" Nazih replied: "A man from the Faraj family." This

was correct.

Najdiyah continued, "Next, we invited them into the house. He went by

himself to a room and pointed to a cupboard: `Here I used to put my pistols',

he said and pointed to the right side of the cupboard. `Here I used to put the

weapons' [used slab in Arabic which means unspecific kinds of weapons],

and he pointed to the left side of the cupboard. Then he asked: `Where are

they?' I explained to him that they had been stolen. He did not say anything.

Fuad had kept his arms in this cupboard and in the way Nazih described."

Najdiyah's account confirmed what Nazih's father and mother had reported to

us before our first visit to Qaberchamoun.

Najdiyah decided to put some more questions to Nazih to test his memories.

She asked him if she had had any accident when they were living at the

house in Ainab. (They lived in Ainab when they were building this house,

and it was not fully completed when Fuad died, see below.) He replied that

she had fallen and dislocated her shoulder-that this had happened in the

morning-and that Asaad, Fuad's father, was with them. Nazih said that she

had skidded on plastic nylon while picking pinecones for her children to play

with. Najdiyah said that Nazih mentioned that at the time he had told her:

"After I come back home from work in the afternoon I will take you to the

doctor," which he did. He said that a cast was put on her shoulder that she

had on for some time. Najdiyah said that everything that Nazih had told her

was correct.

Najdiyah also asked Nazih if he remembered how their young daughter

Fairuz got seriously sick. He said: "She was poisoned from my medication

and I took her to the hospital." Fairuz had in fact eaten Fuad's medication

pills that were in his jacket. She was four years old at the time, and had become

very sick.

According to Najdiyah, Nazih also reminded her of some incidents in their

life: "Do you remember when we were going up from Beirut in the car and

the car stopped and twice the Israeli soldiers fixed it for us?" That was true.

The Israeli soldiers had charged the car battery twice.

372 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

He told her of another incident: "One night I came home drunk. You

locked the door and I slept outside the house on a rocking sofa." This was

true; she was scared, so she locked the door.

Nazih told her that there had been a barrel in the garden where he used to

teach her to shoot. "Where is it now?" he asked. She told him it was in the

garden. Nazih wanted to look at it so they went out to the garden. When he saw

the barrel, he said: "this is it." This was correct. Fuad's widow added: "Once

my son Kamal said we should throw this rusted barrel away. I replied, maybe

my husband comes back reincarnated and recognizes the barrel, so it was left

there." Najdiyah told us she showed Nazih a photograph of Fuad and asked

him: "Who is this?" He replied: "This is me, I was big but now I am small."

Najdiyah was much impressed and so were his five children. They told us

that they all believed that Nazih was Fuad reborn. This was the only way they

could understand how Nazih was able to reveal such knowledge of their father's

life. Since that time the families occasionally visit one another and

have, evidently, an affectionate relationship. We observed affectionate embraces

between Nazih and the family as we parted.

Further Statements by Nazih and Claims of Observed Recognitions

Nazih visited Fuad's younger brother Sheikh Adeeb' at his home in Kfermatta

shortly after the first meeting with the family in Qaberchamoun. Sheikh

Adeeb is a senior employee of an airline and works in Beirut. This is Sheikh

Adeeb's account of their first meeting:

Nazih, and his family came to my house and asked for me. I was at a Druze prayer

house [majlis] and left immediately to find my house full of people. I saw a boy running

towards me who said: "Here comes my brother Adeeb", and hugged me. I remember

it was wintertime and Nazih said: "How do you go out like this (not warmly

dressed], put something on your ears." Then he told me: "I am your brother Fuad."

I looked at him and said: "What is the proof that you are my brother Fuad." He said

that he once gave me a handgun as a gift. Then I asked, what kind of gun? He told

me: "I gave you a Checki 16" (a gun from Czechoslovakia). Nazih asked me if I still

had it. Then I hugged him and was 100% sure that he was my brother.

The Checki 16 is not common in Lebanon and is considered a precious

item. Fuad had given this handgun to his brother around 1980. "Fuad liked

guns a lot", Sheikh Adeeb added. Fuad had also given a gun or guns to his

other brother Ibrahim who died in the war.

Sheikh Adeeb asked Nazih where his original house was (where he lived

with his first wife). Nazih asked him to go out so he could show him the

house. Sheikh Adeeb reported, "We walked a little further down the same

street, and Nazih said: `This is the house of my father and this [he pointed to

that next house] is my first house'. This was absolutely correct. Inside the latter

house, Nazih said, he had made one wooden ladder that still stands there."

Adeeb affirms that he remembers that Fuad made this wooden ladder. Fuad's

previous wife still lives in the house. Adeeb asked him afterwards about the

Development of Certainty 373

woman that they met in the house. Nazih replied: "That is my wife Im

Nazih." (Fuad's oldest boy was named Nazih. Druze women are often called

after their oldest son, namely mother of so and so, in this case Nazih.) Sheikh

Adeeb felt sure that no one would have told Nazih who had lived in these

two houses as he was visiting Kfarmatta for the first time in his life.

Sheikh Adeeb showed Nazih a photo of three men and asked him who they

were. Nazih pointed with his finger at each of them and told who they were:

Adeeb, Ibrahim and Fuad. He showed him one more picture and Nazih told

him that this was their father, which was correct. Sheikh Adeeb showed us

these photographs.

Nazih asked where their father was. Adeeb told him he had died, but he

had been alive when Fuad died. Sheikh Adeeb told us that the first meeting

with Nazih was very emotional, people were crying and hugging, as it brought

back so many memories. Table 2 summarizes the statements and confirmations

in meetings with the family and brother of Fuad Khaddage.

Later Sheikh Adeeb visited Nazih at his home in Baalchmay. He took a

handgun with him and asked Nazih if it was the gun that he gave to him.

Nazih replied with a no and that was correct. It was, in particular, the story of

the Checki 16 handgun that completely convinced Sheikh Adeeb that Nazih was

his brother Fuad reborn, because nobody would have known about Fuad giving

this handgun to him. Sheikh Adeeb admitted that perhaps his wife might have

known, but not anyone else. By the time we met him he had sold this gun.

Major Events in the Life of Fuad Asaad Khaddage

Fuad was born 1925 in Kfermatta, which is only a few kilometers away

from Qaberchamoun. He had two brothers, Ibrahim and Sheikh Adeeb, who

gave us valuable information about Fuad. Fuad's first wife was Fida, with

whom he had eight children. They divorced and he married Najdiyah. They

had five children. The oldest was 8 years old when he died.

When Fuad had finished compulsory schooling he started to work at the

Druze Orphanage in Abey, and then at the Druze Center (Dar El Taifeh) in

Beirut, where he was employed for 30 years. He worked for Sheikh Al Aql

(title for the highest sheikh, who is the spiritual leader of the Druze community).

At this time Sheikh Al Aql was Mohammad Abu-Chakra. The Dar El

Taifeh is the religious center for Druzes in Beirut. It consists of an imposing

building that houses assembly halls where Druzes hold religious meetings and

funerals, and where their religious leaders have their offices. On the compound

there are also some smaller buildings, a burial site and a shrine.

At the time Fuad was assassinated he was manager at the Center and responsible

for all paperwork. At the same time he was the companion/bodyguard

for Sheikh Al Aql, who was usually accompanied by three bodyguards.

Fuad also served as a bodyguard to Khalid Baik Jumblatt (deceased). During

374 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

TABLE 2

List of Nazih's Additional Statements and Recognitions at his First Meetings With the Alleged

Previous Family

Place of meeting Statements, questions, recognitions Answers, comments

Najdiyah's home Nazih asked Najdiyah:

1. Do you remember when we

were going up from Beirut, the

car broke down and twice Israeli

soldiers charged the battery for

us?

2. Do you remember that one night

1 came home drunk and you

locked the door and I slept

outside on a rocking sofa?

3. Where is the barrel where

I taught you to shoot'?

Najdiyah asked Nazih:

4. Who built the foundations of

this gate`?

5. Did she have an accident when

they lived in Ainab?

6. Does he remember how their

young daughter got seriously

sick`?

7. Nazih showed Fuad's family in

which cupboard he had kept his

arms.

8. Nazih said to Fuad's brother

Adeeb as they met: Here comes

my brother Adeeb. I am your

brother Fuad.

Adeeb's home Adeeb asked Nazih:

9. What is the proof that you are

my brother?

10. What kind of a pistol?

1 1. Where was the house of your

father and your first house?

12. Inside Fuad's first house Nazih

pointed to a ladder and said he

had made it.

1.3. Nazih recognized Fuad's first

wife and referred to her as Im

(mother of) Nazih.

14. Adeeb showed Nazih a photo of

three men.

Yes (correct).

Yes (correct).

It is in the garden (correct).

A man of the Faraj family

(correct).

She fell and dislocated her

shoulder (correct).

She was poisoned by taking my

medication and I took

her to the hospital (correct).

Correct.

Correct.

I once gave you a pistol

(correct).

It was a Checki 16 (correct).

Nazih stepped out and showed

him both houses (correct).

Correct.

Fuad's oldest son was

named Nazih (correct).

Nazih pointed correctly to

each and gave their names as

Adeeb, Ibrahim and Fuad.

Nazih's home 15. Adeeb brought a pistol to Nazih Nazih correctly stated: This

to test him. is not the pistol I gave to you.

the civil war Fuad armed himself with two pistols and hand-grenades whenever

he left the Center.

What kind of man was Fuad? His brother Sheikh Adeeb described him:

Development of Certainty 375

"He was a brave person, fearless, who liked people and they liked him. He

was very honest, spoke gently and nicely to people, had a sweet tongue as

they say here. He did not have enemies." His cousin Sheikh Mosleh, whom

we visited in Beirut, described him as follows: "Fuad was brave, overexcited,

took risks, liked weapons a lot, was `qabadai'. `Qabadai' means a brave courageous

man, honest and the word has only a positive meaning. Fuad did not

take part in the war. He liked to show off with his pistols, but never used

them. He also worked for a very important person, Sheikh Al Aql and that he

apparently enjoyed." Sheikh Mosleh's daughter Wafa added: "He used to like

any kind of show off."

At the time of his death Fuad and his wife Najdiyah lived at the Dar El

Taifeh in Beirut. He would work three days and have three days off when

they would go up to Ainab and Qaberchamoun, where they were building a

house and where they spent their nights. Before they started to build their

house, they lived for about five years in a house in Ainab that was provided

for them, only a kilometer away from Qaberchamoun. They moved there during

the civil war at the time when the Syrian army entered Lebanon.

The Israelis were invading Lebanon around the time Fuad died. Because of

this he brought his wife and children to their house in Qaberchamoun, which

is about half an hour drive from downtown Beirut up in the hills-which is to

say it was safer. Then he went back to Beirut.

Death of Fuad Khaddage in Dar El Taifeh

The following night, July 22, 1982, three armed men broke into Dar El-Taifeh

and shot two guards at the gate and Fuad who was inside the building.

Apparently the attackers tried unsuccessfully to set the house on fire and then

ran away, and were never identified. According to newspaper reports the

bodies of the three men were brought to the American University of Beirut

Hospital for examination. This was Thursday night, the night of prayer for the

Druzes. The three men were not sheikhs (religious men) and they were not in

the prayer assembly hall when they were shot.

Najdiyah learned about her husband's death from neighbors who heard the

news over the radio. There was a funeral for Fuad in Dar El Taifeh but she

was not present. His body was brought the next day to Qaberchamoun and

then to his village Kfarmatta, where he was buried.

We were able to obtain a post mortem report on Fuad dated July 2, 1982,

and signed by Dr. Hussary. There it is stated that he died from gun shot

wounds. One ran in vertical direction in the right front section of the head,

another on the right neck with gunpowder blaze and burns at the edges, which

indicates that the distance was less than one half meter. "And this shot hit the

main artery which caused the quick death."

376 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

Verification of Nazih's Statements

The 23 statements listed in Table 1 were uttered by Nazih before his first

visit to Qaberchamoun that took place about two years before we first met

him in May 2000. This is what our nine witnesses affirmed when we interviewed

them, some on more than one occasion and in most instances independently

of one another. There is always some risk that such lists may be

contaminated by knowledge gained after the two families meet. Fortunately

there were many witnesses to Nazih's statements because he had six sisters

and one brother, all of whom were older than he, and that reduces the likelihood

of contamination. These witnesses agree that he used to talk a lot about

his previous life until he met his alleged previous family. Then he became

more relaxed and spoke much less about it.

As can be seen in Table 1 all the witnesses heard him talk about carrying

pistols and hand-grenades and being a brave person (`qabadai'). That fits Fuad

perfectly as those who knew him describe him. So does the statement that he

had many children and the very specific statement that he had a mute friend.

Sheikh Adeeb told us he knew him well. His name was Aref Ghallab from

Kfermatta; he disappeared before the civil war was over. Fuad's wife and

Kamal knew about him but never met him. Sheikh Adeeb was not aware that

there was anything wrong with his hand or arm.

Of the 23 items, 17 seem to fit the life of Fuad. We cannot be sure but it

seems quite unlikely that one of them is correct, i.e., that he received a shot

of anesthesia in his arm as the ambulance brought him to the hospital. Why

would he have been given an injection, since he apparently died immediately

when he received his second shot?

We could not verify that there was anything wrong with his mute friend's

arm as we were unable to trace close relatives of Aref Ghallab to get full certainty

about this statement. Furthermore, Nazih claims that he shot at the attackers

and killed one of them. When witnesses came to the scene the

attackers had left so it is not known if Fuad shot at them and wounded or

killed anyone. We were not able to get at any report of an investigation into

this incident. Our inquiries revealed that no official investigation was conducted

by the public prosecutor as this occurred in the midst of the civil war,

and during the Israeli occupation, when the government was paralyzed. One

important sheikh in Beirut told us that there were rumors about a shoot-out

during the attack. This is not mentioned in newspaper reports of the incidents,

but we also have no proof that it did not take place.

Nazih had stated that he lived in a house with two stories and that it was

like a villa with trees around it. His parents and Fuad's family understood that

he was here referring to the house in Ainab where his family lived for a few

years, including the time during which they were building the house in Qaberchamoun

(which was not fully completed when Fuad died). These statements

fit the house in Ainab that is located next to the mud road where Nazih stopDevelopment

of Certainty 377

ped during his first trip to Qaberchamoun. Nazih had also stated that there

was a cave near this house. At this mud road there is indeed a cave and it is

only a few minutes walk from the house. We found it large enough to hold

several people.

For two items we have only one witness. First, Nazih's father states that he

mentioned the location Qaberchamoun before they went there. (Why would

they have gone there if Nazih had not mentioned it?) Secondly Nazih's brother

Baha reports that once when they were standing on their veranda watching

the cars passing by, they saw a red Transam car. Nazih then claimed he had

owned a car like that. According to his wife, Fuad had owned four cars, first

a red car with a black roof that could be removed, then a white Volkswagen,

a blue Mercedes and last, a red Datsun. A red car was one of the items that

Kamal Khaddage remembers that Nazih's mother or sister mentioned, and

hence was one of the statements that lead to the identification of Fuad as

Nazih's previous personality. This item of the red car came up in one of our

last interviews, and we did not have a chance (or forgot) to check this item

with Nazih's sisters.

Najdiyah and Sheikh Adeeb were not aware that Fuad had any outstanding

money owed to him. In Lebanese society men tend not to involve their wives

in financial matters and relatives may not be well informed either, so this

statement can neither be verified or falsified. The statement that his wife of

the previous life was prettier than his mother is a matter of aesthetic taste.

Perhaps he was right. Now middle-aged and not in good health, Najdiyah's

features are still strikingly feminine. A photograph taken at her wedding

shows a beautiful woman. Being a widow with five young children has been

difficult, and still is. They are a poor family; Kamal is an automechanic, another

son is a barber but unemployment is high in Lebanon. They were very

hospitable to us.

Conclusion

Regarding the statements that Nazih made before he visited his alleged previous

family we may say after extensive interviewing and inquiries that 17 of

the 23 statements correspond to facts in the life of Fuad Khaddage, one is

most likely wrong (no. 21 in Table 1) and five proved uncheckable (8, 12, 13,

16, 20).

At the time Nazih first met the members of his alleged previous family he

made, according to our witnesses, at least eight additional correct statements

(nos. l-6, 7, 8 in Table 2) about his previous life, most of them highly specific,

like the statements that he had given his brother a Checki 16 pistol, and that

a man of the Faraj family had erected the gate at Najdiyah's house. Furthermore

there are seven cases of recognitions which apparently were quite convincing

to those present, although they are in retrospect hard to evaluate.

Quite remarkable is item 15 in Table 2, where Sheikh Adeeb brought a pistol

378 E. Haraldsson & M. Abu-Izzeddin

TABLE 3

A Brief Chronology and Some Characteristics of the Case of Nazih Al-Danaf

Year of birth of Fuad A. Khaddage

Date of death

Age at death

Mode of death

Date of birth of Nazih Al-Danaf

Age in years when first speaks of memories

Age in years at first meeting with alleged previous family

Interval between death of Fuad and birth of Nazih

Number of statements made by Nazih

Statements fitting Fuad Khaddage

Statements not fitting Fuad Khaddage

Unverifiable/unfalsifiable statements

First investigation of case by EH and MA1

Further visits to sites

1925

July 2, 1982

57 years

Shooting/murder

February 29, 1992

2-2.5

5-6

8 years

31

2 5

1

5

May 2000

January 200 1

March 2001

to Nazih to test him and he responded that this was not the pistol that he

(Fuad) had given to him. To summarize: Thirty-one different statements of

Nazih came to light in our investigation of this case. A total of 26 could be

checked by witnesses and all but one of them proved correct, as summarized

in Table 3, which also gives the chronology of the case.

The principal weakness of this case is that no record was made of Nazih's

statements before he met the previous family. This is mitigated by the fact

that there were many witnesses that testified to his statements. When evaluating

this case it should also be born in mind that thousands of men were killed

in the Lebanese civil war, many of them carried arms of various sorts, and

would have owned a house and had children. However, Nazih made some

very specific statements. We may ask how many of the men who died in the

war had a mute friend and a cave near their house, had given their brother a

Checki 16 pistol and had a gate built in front of their house by a man from

the Faraj family? In this case the combined odds against chance seem very

high indeed, assuming that we can trust the testimony of our witnesses.

The many recognitions of things and persons are particularly impressive in

this case, and come from two persons. In 60 cases that the author has investigated

in Sri Lanka and 30 in Lebanon, he has not come across such an impressive

array of recognitions reported by more than one person. How well

can we trust them? Were some of them obtained by leading questions or helpful

comments that are not reported, or forgotten? After a thorough interviewing

of the witnesses this does not appear a likely explanation. The witnesses

seem credible people with no axe to grind. There was no social or financial

benefit for Nazih or his family to get to know the poor Khaddage family. The

witnesses were consistent in interviews conducted months apart, although

there is an exception. Nazih's mother first told us that Nazih had mentioned

the name Fuad as his previous name, but when we met her the next year she

Development of Certainty 379

claimed that he had mentioned no name before the first meeting with the

Khaddage family. (We stressed more in the second interview that she should

only tell us what Nazih said about his previous life, hc-lfwe his meeting with

the previous family. That might explain the difference.)

The consistency across witnesses was good and supports the conclusion that

they are accurately reporting what they witnessed. They differed somewhat in

the number of Nazih's statements they witnessed (see Table I), which is natural.

Worth mentioning is that it is only the father who recalls Nazih giving

the name Qaberchamoun, where Nazih claimed to have lived before. Is there

still a missing link we have not found? Those who accompanied Nazih to

Qaberchamoun in search for his previous family all agree that it was a genuine

search. The hypothesis of fraud or general family fantasy is made remote by

the sheer number of individuals who were interviewed and gave consistent

testimony.

Belief in reincarnation is an important tenet of the Druze religion and that

brings with it a certain readiness to accept claims of memories of a previous

life, and probably a tendency to process relevant material in a pro-reincarnationistic

way. Although Nazih's statements about Fuad's life were impressive,

the two main witnesses, Najdiyah (Fuad's widow) and Sheikh Adeeb, further

explicitly tested Nazih about his knowledge of Fuad before they accepted his

claim. The additional statements that then emerged brought them certainty

that Nazih was Fuad Khaddage reborn.

Notes

' Sheikh is here a honorific not a personal name and refers to the fact that

Adeeb Khaddage has received Druze religious training and observes the

Druze religion.

Acknowledgments

A grant from the Bial Foundation in Portugal is gratefully acknowledged.

We express our thanks to two Journal reviewers for thoughtful comments on

a draft of this paper, and to Dr. Sami Makarem at the American University in

Beirut, and Dr. Stevenson at the University of Virginia, for useful comments

and other assistance. We also thank the members of the two families for their

cooperation in the investigation.

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