82-479: Ubik ( / ˈ juː b ɪ k / YOO -bik ) is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick . The story is set in a future 1992 where psychic powers are utilized in corporate espionage , while cryonic technology allows recently deceased people to be maintained in a lengthy state of hibernation . It follows Joe Chip, a technician at a psychic agency who begins to experience strange alterations in reality that can be temporarily reversed by
164-411: A Latin term that literally means 'entering the flesh again'. Reincarnation refers to the belief that an aspect of every human being (or all living beings in some cultures) continues to exist after death. This aspect may be the soul, mind, consciousness, or something transcendent which is reborn in an interconnected cycle of existence; the transmigration belief varies by culture, and is envisioned to be in
246-621: A Timo Maas single . In 1992, Richard Pinhas released an album titled DWW featuring the tracks called "Ubik" and "The Joe Chip Song". 1969 in literature Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 350321057 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:35:59 GMT Reincarnation Reincarnation , also known as rebirth or transmigration ,
328-419: A Joe Chip coin in his pocket. What does it mean? Is Runciter dead? Are Joe Chip and the others alive? Actually, this is meant to tell you that we can't be sure of anything in the world that we call 'reality.' It is possible that they are all dead and in cold pac or that the half-life world can affect the full-life world. It is also possible that they are all alive and dreaming. Peter Fitting sees parallels between
410-528: A Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the Sangam literature is 100 BCE to 250 CE, based on the linguistic, prosodic and quasi-historic allusions within the texts and the colophons . There are several mentions of rebirth and moksha in the Purananuru . The text explains Hindu rituals surrounding death such as making riceballs called pinda and cremation. The text states that good souls get
492-696: A belief in gilgul , transmigration of souls, and hence the belief in reincarnation is universal in Hasidic Judaism , which regards the Kabbalah as sacred and authoritative, and is also sometimes held as an esoteric belief within other strains of Orthodox Judaism . In Judaism , the Zohar , first published in the 13th century, discusses reincarnation at length, especially in the Torah portion "Balak." The most comprehensive kabbalistic work on reincarnation, Shaar HaGilgulim ,
574-473: A fictional cat named Mehitabel who claimed to be a reincarnation of Queen Cleopatra. Théodore Flournoy was among the first to study a claim of past-life recall in the course of his investigation of the medium Hélène Smith , published in 1900, in which he defined the possibility of cryptomnesia in such accounts. Carl Gustav Jung , like Flournoy based in Switzerland, also emulated him in his thesis based on
656-480: A general way. Detailed descriptions first appear around the mid-1st millennium BCE in diverse traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism and various schools of Hindu philosophy , each of which gave unique expression to the general principle. Sangam literature connotes the ancient Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India . The Tamil tradition and legends link it to three literary gatherings around Madurai . According to Kamil Zvelebil ,
738-470: A list of six realms of rebirth, adding demigods ( asuras ). The earliest layers of Vedic text incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit). However, the ancient Vedic rishis challenged this idea of afterlife as simplistic, because people do not live equally moral or immoral lives. Between generally virtuous lives, some are more virtuous; while evil too has degrees, and
820-423: A look at the author's own screenplay before embarking upon their journey of interpretation". Dick's screenplay features numerous scenes that are not in the novel. According to Tim Powers , a friend of Dick's and fellow science fiction writer, in his foreword to Ubik: The Screenplay , Dick had an idea for the film that involved "the film itself appearing to undergo a series of reversions: to black-and-white, then to
902-465: A mysterious store-bought substance called Ubik. This work expands upon characters and concepts previously introduced in the vignette " What the Dead Men Say ". Ubik is one of Dick's most acclaimed novels. In 2009, it was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 greatest novels since 1923. In his review for Time , critic Lev Grossman described it as "a deeply unsettling existential horror story,
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#1732858559839984-402: A new body is asserted to be instantaneous in early Jaina texts. Depending upon the accumulated karma, rebirth occurs into a higher or lower bodily form, either in heaven or hell or earthly realm. No bodily form is permanent: everyone dies and reincarnates further. Liberation ( kevalya ) from reincarnation is possible, however, through removing and ending karmic accumulations to one's soul. From
1066-446: A nightmare you'll never be sure you've woken up from". By the year 1992, humanity has colonized the Moon and psychic powers are common. The protagonist, Joe Chip, is a debt-ridden technician working for Runciter Associates, a "prudence organization" employing "inertials"—people with the ability to negate the powers of telepaths and " precogs "—to enforce the privacy of clients. The company
1148-611: A place in Indraloka where Indra welcomes them. The texts of ancient Jainism that have survived into the modern era are post-Mahavira, likely from the last centuries of the first millennium BCE, and extensively discuss the doctrines of rebirth and karma. Jaina philosophy assumes that the soul ( jiva in Jainism; atman in Hinduism) exists and is eternal, passing through cycles of transmigration and rebirth. After death, reincarnation into
1230-538: A sect of the second century deemed heretical by the Catholic Church, drew upon Chaldean astrology , to which Bardaisan's son Harmonius, educated in Athens, added Greek ideas including a sort of metempsychosis. Another such teacher was Basilides (132–? CE/AD), known to us through the criticisms of Irenaeus and the work of Clement of Alexandria (see also Neoplatonism and Gnosticism and Buddhism and Gnosticism ). In
1312-655: A similar view. Sometimes such convictions, as in Socrates' case, arise from a more general personal faith, at other times from anecdotal evidence such as Plato makes Socrates offer in the Myth of Er . During the Renaissance translations of Plato, the Hermetica and other works fostered new European interest in reincarnation. Marsilio Ficino argued that Plato's references to reincarnation were intended allegorically, Shakespeare alluded to
1394-806: A soul into'), a term attributed to Pythagoras . Another Greek term sometimes used synonymously is palingenesis , 'being born again'. Rebirth is a key concept found in major Indian religions, and discussed using various terms. Reincarnation, or Punarjanman ( Sanskrit : पुनर्जन्मन् , 'rebirth, transmigration'), is discussed in the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, with many alternate terms such as punarāvṛtti ( पुनरावृत्ति ), punarājāti ( पुनराजाति ), punarjīvātu ( पुनर्जीवातु ), punarbhava ( पुनर्भव ), āgati-gati ( आगति-गति , common in Buddhist Pali text), nibbattin ( निब्बत्तिन् ), upapatti ( उपपत्ति ), and uppajjana ( उप्पज्जन ). These religions believe that reincarnation
1476-416: A specific use. The last chapter is introduced by Ubik claiming that it has created and directed the universe, and that its real name is unknown and unspoken. In this short chapter, Runciter, who is in the "living" world mourning the loss of his best employees, discovers coins showing Chip's face, and feels that this is "just the beginning". Dick's former wife Tessa remarked Ubik is a metaphor for God. Ubik
1558-455: A study of cryptomnesia in psychism. Later Jung would emphasise the importance of the persistence of memory and ego in psychological study of reincarnation: "This concept of rebirth necessarily implies the continuity of personality... (that) one is able, at least potentially, to remember that one has lived through previous existences, and that these existences were one's own...." Hypnosis , used in psychoanalysis for retrieving forgotten memories,
1640-480: A tactical action/strategy video game very loosely based on the book. The game allowed players to act as Joe Chip and train combat squads into missions against the Hollis Corporation. The game was available for PlayStation and for Microsoft Windows and was not a significant commercial success. In 1974, French film-maker Jean-Pierre Gorin commissioned Dick to write a screenplay based on Ubik . Dick completed
1722-439: A team of 11 of his best inertials, including recent hire Pat Conley, a mysterious girl with the unique psychic ability to undo events by changing the past. Runciter and Chip travel with the group to Stanton's Moon base, where they discover that the assignment is a trap, presumably set by the company's main adversary, Ray Hollis, who leads an organization of psychics. A bomb blast apparently kills Runciter without significantly harming
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#17328585598391804-474: Is Pherecydes of Syros (fl. 540 BCE). His younger contemporary Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BCE ), its first famous exponent, instituted societies for its diffusion. Some authorities believe that Pythagoras was Pherecydes' pupil, others that Pythagoras took up the idea of reincarnation from the doctrine of Orphism , a Thracian religion, or brought the teaching from India. Plato (428/427–348/347 BCE) presented accounts of reincarnation in his works, particularly
1886-516: Is 'souls'. Kabbalistic reincarnation says that humans reincarnate only to humans unless YHWH / Ein Sof / God chooses. The origins of the notion of reincarnation are obscure. Discussion of the subject appears in the philosophical traditions of Ancient India . The Greek Pre-Socratics discussed reincarnation, and the Celtic druids are also reported to have taught a doctrine of reincarnation. The concepts of
1968-539: Is alive and they are dead, and another claiming to have been recorded by him while he was still alive. The latter message advertises Ubik, a store-bought product which can be used to temporarily reverse deterioration and which often appears as a can of aerosol spray . Chip deduces that they may have all died in the blast and are now linked together in half-life, and unsuccessfully tries to get hold of Ubik. After receiving another message and travelling to Runciter's hometown, Chip accuses Conley of working for Hollis and causing
2050-400: Is all-powerful and all-knowing, and Ubik is everywhere. The spray can is only a form that Ubik takes to make it easy for people to understand it and use it. It is not the substance inside the can that helps them, but rather their faith in the promise that it will help them. She also interpreted the ending by writing Many readers have puzzled over the ending of Ubik , when Glen Runciter finds
2132-511: Is an extensive literature of Jewish folk and traditional stories that refer to reincarnation. Reincarnationism or biblical reincarnation is the belief that certain people are or can be reincarnations of biblical figures , such as Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary . Some Christians believe that certain New Testament figures are reincarnations of Old Testament figures. For example, John
2214-464: Is central. In the first century BCE Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor wrote: The Pythagorean doctrine prevails among the Gauls ' teaching that the souls of men are immortal, and that after a fixed number of years they will enter into another body. Julius Caesar recorded that the druids of Gaul, Britain and Ireland had metempsychosis as one of their core doctrines: The principal point of their doctrine
2296-489: Is cyclic and an endless Saṃsāra , unless one gains spiritual insights that ends this cycle leading to liberation. The reincarnation concept is considered in Indian religions as a step that starts each "cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence", but one that is an opportunity to seek spiritual liberation through ethical living and a variety of meditative, yogic ( marga ), or other spiritual practices. They consider
2378-578: Is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting-point. Existence without limitation is Space. Continuity without a starting point is Time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in." Around the 11–12th century in Europe, several reincarnationist movements were persecuted as heresies, through the establishment of the Inquisition in the Latin west. These included
2460-407: Is implied that Jory has allies in the real world who help him find other half-lifers to consume in order to prolong his own half-life, or that entities like Jory can arise from any collection of half-lifers. Ubik is claimed to have been developed by Ella and several other half-lifers as a defense against Jory. Each chapter is introduced by a commercial advertising Ubik as a different product serving
2542-500: Is referred to also by Lucretius and Horace . Virgil works the idea into his account of the Underworld in the sixth book of the Aeneid . It persists down to the late classic thinkers, Plotinus and the other Neoplatonists . In the Hermetica , a Graeco-Egyptian series of writings on cosmology and spirituality attributed to Hermes Trismegistus / Thoth , the doctrine of reincarnation
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2624-481: Is run by Glen Runciter, assisted by his deceased wife Ella who is kept in a state of "half-life", a form of cryonic suspension that allows the deceased limited consciousness and ability to communicate. While consulting with Ella, Runciter discovers that her consciousness is being invaded by another half-lifer named Jory Miller. When business magnate Stanton Mick hires Runciter Associates to secure his lunar facilities from alleged psychic intrusion, Runciter assembles
2706-525: Is sometimes understood within Orthodox Judaism in terms of reincarnation. According to this school of thought in Judaism, when non-Jews are drawn to Judaism, it is because they had been Jews in a former life. Such souls may "wander among nations" through multiple lives, until they find their way back to Judaism, including through finding themselves born in a gentile family with a "lost" Jewish ancestor. There
2788-556: Is such a thing as living again, and that the living spring from the dead." However, Xenophon does not mention Socrates as believing in reincarnation, and Plato may have systematized Socrates' thought with concepts he took directly from Pythagoreanism or Orphism. Recent scholars have come to see that Plato has multiple reasons for the belief in reincarnation. One argument concerns the theory of reincarnation's usefulness for explaining why non-human animals exist: they are former humans, being punished for their vices; Plato gives this argument at
2870-472: Is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another... the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Diodorus also recorded
2952-465: Is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death . In most beliefs involving reincarnation, the soul of a human being is immortal and does not disperse after the physical body has perished. Upon death, the soul merely becomes transmigrated into a newborn baby or an animal to continue its immortality . The term transmigration means
3034-399: Is unabridged and runs 7 hrs 56 minutes. Secret Chiefs 3 created an auditory adaptation on their "The Electromagnetic Azoth - Ubik / Ishraqiyun - Balance of the 19 " 7" record. The "Ubik" track features musicians Trey Spruance ( Faith No More , Mr. Bungle ) and Bill Horist. In 2000, Art Zoyd released a musical interpretation of the novel titled u.B.I.Q.U.e. . It is also the name of
3116-574: The Myth of Er , where Plato makes Socrates tell how Er, the son of Armenius , miraculously returned to life on the twelfth day after death and recounted the secrets of the other world. There are myths and theories to the same effect in other dialogues, in the Chariot allegory of the Phaedrus , in the Meno , Timaeus and Laws . The soul, once separated from the body, spends an indeterminate amount of time in
3198-779: The Tibetan Book of the Dead . While Nirvana is taught as the ultimate goal in the Theravadin Buddhism, and is essential to Mahayana Buddhism, the vast majority of contemporary lay Buddhists focus on accumulating good karma and acquiring merit to achieve a better reincarnation in the next life. In early Buddhist traditions, saṃsāra cosmology consisted of five realms through which the wheel of existence cycled. This included hells ( niraya ), hungry ghosts ( pretas ), animals ( tiryaka ), humans ( manushya ), and gods ( devas , heavenly). In latter Buddhist traditions, this list grew to
3280-772: The Cathar , Paterene or Albigensian church of western Europe, the Paulician movement, which arose in Armenia, and the Bogomils in Bulgaria . Christian sects such as the Bogomils and the Cathars, who professed reincarnation and other gnostic beliefs, were referred to as "Manichaean", and are today sometimes described by scholars as "Neo-Manichaean". As there is no known Manichaean mythology or terminology in
3362-693: The Druze , Kabbalistics , Rastafarians , and the Rosicrucians . Recent scholarly research has explored the historical relations between different sects and their beliefs about reincarnation. This includes the views of Neoplatonism , Orphism , Hermeticism , Manichaenism , and Gnosticism of the Roman era , as well as those in Indian religions. In recent decades, many Europeans and North Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation, and many contemporary works mention it. The word reincarnation derives from
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3444-512: The Germanic peoples prior to Christianization and potentially to some extent in folk belief thereafter. The belief in reincarnation developed among Jewish mystics in the medieval world, among whom differing explanations were given of the afterlife, although with a universal belief in an immortal soul. It was explicitly rejected by Saadiah Gaon . Today, reincarnation is an esoteric belief within many streams of modern Judaism. Kabbalah teaches
3526-498: The Orphic religion and Thracian systems of belief. Surviving texts indicate that there was a belief in rebirth in Germanic paganism . Examples include figures from eddic poetry and sagas , potentially by way of a process of naming and/or through the family line. Scholars have discussed the implications of these attestations and proposed theories regarding belief in reincarnation among
3608-501: The Theosophical Society 's dissemination of systematised and universalised Indian concepts and also by the influence of magical societies like The Golden Dawn . Notable personalities like Annie Besant , W. B. Yeats and Dion Fortune made the subject almost as familiar an element of the popular culture of the west as of the east. By 1924 the subject could be satirised in popular children's books. Humorist Don Marquis created
3690-536: The film adaptation of Dick's novel A Scanner Darkly , said in an interview in July 2006 that he "still [had] the option for Ubik " and wanted to "make a live action feature from it". In 2007, Dick's daughter, Isa Dick Hackett , said that the film adaptation of Ubik was at an advanced stage of negotiations. In May 2008, the film was optioned by Celluloid Dreams , to be produced by Hengameh Panahi for Celluloid Dreams and Isa Dick Hackett for Electric Shepherd Productions. It
3772-663: The 'soul, Self exists' ( atman or attā ), while Buddhism aserts that there is 'no soul, no Self' ( anatta or anatman ). Hindu traditions consider soul to be the unchanging eternal essence of a living being, which journeys through reincarnations until it attains self-knowledge. Buddhism, in contrast, asserts a rebirth theory without a Self, and considers realization of non-Self or Emptiness as Nirvana ( nibbana ). The reincarnation doctrine in Jainism differs from those in Buddhism, even though both are non-theistic Sramana traditions. Jainism, in contrast to Buddhism, accepts
3854-680: The Baptist is believed by some to be a reincarnation of the prophet Elijah , and a few take this further by suggesting Jesus was the reincarnation of Elijah's disciple Elisha . Other Christians believe the Second Coming of Jesus would be fulfilled by reincarnation. Sun Myung Moon , the founder of the Unification Church , considered himself to be the fulfillment of Jesus' return. The Catholic Church does not believe in reincarnation, which it regards as being incompatible with death . Nonetheless,
3936-588: The British Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was inaugurated in London, leading to systematic, critical investigation of paranormal phenomena. Famous World War II American General George Patton was a strong believer in reincarnation, believing, among other things, he was a reincarnation of the Carthaginian General Hannibal. At this time popular awareness of the idea of reincarnation was boosted by
4018-466: The Celts and not the opposite, claiming he had been taught by Galatian Gauls, Hindu priests and Zoroastrians . However, author T. D. Kendrick rejected a real connection between Pythagoras and the Celtic idea reincarnation, noting their beliefs to have substantial differences, and any contact to be historically unlikely. Nonetheless, he proposed the possibility of an ancient common source, also related to
4100-460: The Gaul belief that human souls were immortal, and that after a prescribed number of years they would commence upon a new life in another body. He added that Gauls had the custom of casting letters to their deceased upon the funeral pyres, through which the dead would be able to read them. Valerius Maximus also recounted they had the custom of lending sums of money to each other which would be repayable in
4182-508: The God-Devil/Life-Death relationship of Ubik and the antagonist's consumptive abilities within half-life, and the commercialized industry between psychics and psychic-inhibiting "inertials" which occupies the novel's "reality". Fitting also notes Dick's effort to desacralize and commercialize Ubik through the ironic advertising messages which begin each chapter. In 1998, Cryo Interactive Entertainment released Philip K. Dick's Ubik ,
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#17328585598394264-417: The awkward jerkiness of very early movies, then to a crookedly jammed frame which proceeds to blacken, bubble and melt away, leaving only the white glare of the projection bulb, which in turn deteriorates to leave the theater in darkness, and might almost leave the moviegoer wondering what sort of dilapidated, antique jalopy he'll find his car-keys fitting when he goes outside". Tommy Pallotta , who produced
4346-566: The cycle of birth and death, saṁsāra , and liberation partly derive from ascetic traditions that arose in India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. The first textual references to the idea of reincarnation appear in the Rigveda , Yajurveda and Upanishads of the late Vedic period (c. 1100 – c. 500 BCE), predating the Buddha and Mahavira . Though no direct evidence of this has been found,
4428-426: The deterioration with her ability, and while he himself is withering away, she confirms this. As she leaves him to die, he is saved by Runciter, who sprays him with Ubik and tells him that the group is indeed in half-life and he himself is alive and trying to help them, although he does not know where Ubik comes from. As Runciter disappears, Jory reveals himself to Chip, telling him that he, not Conley, has now killed off
4510-596: The doctrine of reincarnation but Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by authorities after being found guilty of heresy by the Roman Inquisition for his teachings. But the Greek philosophical works remained available and, particularly in north Europe, were discussed by groups such as the Cambridge Platonists . Emanuel Swedenborg believed that we leave the physical world once, but then go through several lives in
4592-558: The early 20th century, interest in reincarnation had been introduced into the nascent discipline of psychology , largely due to the influence of William James , who raised aspects of the philosophy of mind , comparative religion , the psychology of religious experience and the nature of empiricism. James was influential in the founding of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) in New York City in 1885, three years after
4674-399: The early stages of Jainism on, a human being was considered the highest mortal being, with the potential to achieve liberation, particularly through asceticism . The early Buddhist texts discuss rebirth as part of the doctrine of saṃsāra . This asserts that the nature of existence is a "suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end". Also referred to as
4756-458: The end of the Timaeus . The Orphic religion , which taught reincarnation, about the sixth century BCE, produced a copious literature. Orpheus , its legendary founder, is said to have taught that the immortal soul aspires to freedom while the body holds it prisoner. The wheel of birth revolves, the soul alternates between freedom and captivity round the wide circle of necessity. Orpheus proclaimed
4838-526: The entire group (including Conley), as he "eats" half-lifers to sustain himself, and that the entire reality they are experiencing is created and maintained by him. However, Chip is temporarily protected from being consumed through the effect of Ubik, and leaves Jory. As he at last begins to deteriorate again, he meets Ella, who saves him by granting him a certificate for a life-long supply of Ubik, and instructs him to stay half-alive and seek cans of Ubik to further assist Runciter after she herself reincarnates . It
4920-512: The form of a newly born human being, animal, plant, spirit, or as a being in some other non-human realm of existence. An alternative term is transmigration , implying migration from one life (body) to another. The term has been used by modern philosophers such as Kurt Gödel and has entered the English language. The Greek equivalent to reincarnation, metempsychosis ( μετεμψύχωσις ), derives from meta ('change') and empsykhoun ('to put
5002-405: The foundational assumption that soul ( Jiva ) exists and asserts that this soul is involved in the rebirth mechanism. Furthermore, Jainism considers asceticism as an important means to spiritual liberation that ends the cycle of reincarnation, while Buddhism does not. Early Greek discussion of the concept dates to the sixth century BCE. An early Greek thinker known to have considered rebirth
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#17328585598395084-589: The intelligible realm (see the Allegory of the Cave in The Republic ) and then assumes another body. In the Timaeus , Plato believes that the soul moves from body to body without any distinct reward-or-punishment phase between lives, because the reincarnation is itself a punishment or reward for how a person has lived. In Phaedo , Plato has his teacher Socrates , prior to his death, state: "I am confident that there truly
5166-450: The inter-relation of Manicheanism, Orphism, Gnosticism and neo-Platonism is far from clear. Taoist documents from as early as the Han dynasty claimed that Lao Tzu appeared on earth as different persons in different times beginning in the legendary era of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors . The (ca. third century BC) Chuang Tzu states: "Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There
5248-687: The leaders of certain sects in the church have taught that they are reincarnations of Mary - for example, Marie-Paule Giguère of the Army of Mary and Maria Franciszka of the former Mariavites . The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith excommunicated the Army of Mary for teaching heresy, including reincarnationism. Several Gnostic sects professed reincarnation. The Sethians and followers of Valentinus believed in it. The followers of Bardaisan of Mesopotamia ,
5330-494: The moment I don't feel up to doing it. It doesn't have the dramatic structure that would make it a good film. I received a script that disheartened me a bit, and that was it. It was a dream, but in life you can't always have what you want." An audiobook version of Ubik was released in 2008 by Blackstone Audio . The audiobook, read by Anthony Heald , is unabridged and runs approximately 7 hours over 6 CDs. Another version released in 2016 by Brilliance Audio, read by Luke Daniels,
5412-635: The need of the grace of the gods, Dionysus in particular, and of self-purification until the soul has completed the spiral ascent of destiny to live forever. An association between Pythagorean philosophy and reincarnation was routinely accepted throughout antiquity, as Pythagoras also taught about reincarnation. However, unlike the Orphics, who considered metempsychosis a cycle of grief that could be escaped by attaining liberation from it, Pythagoras seems to postulate an eternal, neutral reincarnation where subsequent lives would not be conditioned by any action done in
5494-529: The next world. This was mentioned by Pomponius Mela , who also recorded Gauls buried or burnt with them things they would need in a next life, to the point some would jump into the funeral piles of their relatives in order to cohabit in the new life with them. Hippolytus of Rome believed the Gauls had been taught the doctrine of reincarnation by a slave of Pythagoras named Zalmoxis . Conversely, Clement of Alexandria believed Pythagoras himself had learned it from
5576-451: The others. They rush back to Earth to place him into half-life, but they cannot establish contact with him so his body is set to be buried. From the moment of the explosion, the group begins to experience shifts in reality . Many objects they come into contact with (especially cigarettes ) are much older than they should be, some being older types of the same object , and are rapidly deteriorating. They gradually find themselves moving into
5658-637: The passing of a soul from one body to another after death. Reincarnation ( punarjanman ) is a central tenet of the Indian religions such as Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism , and Sikhism . In various forms, it occurs as an esoteric belief in many streams of Judaism , certain pagan religions including Wicca , and some beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Aboriginal Australians (though most believe in an afterlife or spirit world ). A belief in
5740-412: The past , eventually anchoring in 1939. At the same time, they find themselves surrounded by "manifestations" of Runciter; for example, his face appears on their money. As the novel progresses, members of the group one by one begin to feel tired and cold, then suddenly shrivel and die. Chip attempts to make sense of what is happening and discovers two contradictory messages from Runciter, one stating that he
5822-420: The previous. In later Greek literature the doctrine is mentioned in a fragment of Menander and satirized by Lucian . In Roman literature it is found as early as Ennius , who, in a lost passage of his Annals , told how he had seen Homer in a dream, who had assured him that the same soul which had animated both the poets had once belonged to a peacock. Persius in his satires (vi. 9) laughs at this; it
5904-468: The release from the cycle of reincarnations as the ultimate spiritual goal, and call the liberation by terms such as moksha , nirvana , mukti and kaivalya . Gilgul , Gilgul neshamot , or Gilgulei Ha Neshamot ( Hebrew : גלגול הנשמות ) is the concept of reincarnation in Kabbalistic Judaism , found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews . Gilgul means 'cycle' and neshamot
5986-423: The screenplay within a month, but Gorin never filmed it. The screenplay was published as Ubik: The Screenplay in 1985 ( ISBN 978-0911169065 ) and again in 2008 ( ISBN 9781596061699 ). Dick's former wife Tessa claims that the published screenplay "has been heavily edited, and others have added material to the screenplay that Phil wrote", though she suggests that "film producers really ought to take
6068-508: The soul's rebirth or migration ( metempsychosis ) was expressed by certain ancient Greek historical figures, such as Pythagoras , Socrates , and Plato . Although the majority of denominations within Abrahamic religions do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Cathars , Alawites , Hassidics ,
6150-544: The spiritual world—a kind of hybrid of Christian tradition and the popular view of reincarnation. By the 19th century the philosophers Schopenhauer and Nietzsche could access the Indian scriptures for discussion of the doctrine of reincarnation, which recommended itself to the American Transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau , Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson and was adapted by Francis Bowen into Christian Metempsychosis . By
6232-926: The texts assert that it would be unfair for people, with varying degrees of virtue or vices, to end up in heaven or hell, in "either or" and disproportionate manner irrespective of how virtuous or vicious their lives were. They introduced the idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell in proportion to one's merit. Early texts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism share the concepts and terminology related to reincarnation. They also emphasize similar virtuous practices and karma as necessary for liberation and what influences future rebirths. For example, all three discuss various virtues—sometimes grouped as Yamas and Niyamas —such as non-violence , truthfulness , non-stealing , non-possessiveness , compassion for all living beings, charity and many others. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism disagree in their assumptions and theories about rebirth. Hinduism relies on its foundational belief that
6314-618: The third Christian century Manichaeism spread both east and west from Babylonia , then within the Sassanid Empire , where its founder Mani lived about 216–276. Manichaean monasteries existed in Rome in 312 AD. Noting Mani's early travels to the Kushan Empire and other Buddhist influences in Manichaeism, Richard Foltz attributes Mani's teaching of reincarnation to Buddhist influence. However
6396-521: The tribes of the Ganges valley or the Dravidian traditions of South India have been proposed as another early source of reincarnation beliefs. The idea of reincarnation, saṁsāra , did exist in the early Vedic religions . The early Vedas mention the doctrine of karma and rebirth. It is in the early Upanishads, which are pre- Buddha and pre- Mahavira , where these ideas are developed and described in
6478-551: The wheel of existence ( Bhavacakra ), it is often mentioned in Buddhist texts with the term punarbhava (rebirth, re-becoming). Liberation from this cycle of existence, Nirvana , is the foundation and the most important purpose of Buddhism. Buddhist texts also assert that an enlightened person knows his previous births, a knowledge achieved through high levels of meditative concentration . Tibetan Buddhism discusses death, bardo (an intermediate state), and rebirth in texts such as
6560-461: The writings of these groups there has been some dispute among historians as to whether these groups truly were descendants of Manichaeism. While reincarnation has been a matter of faith in some communities from an early date it has also frequently been argued for on principle, as Plato does when he argues that the number of souls must be finite because souls are indestructible, Benjamin Franklin held
6642-412: Was slated to enter production in early 2009. Michel Gondry was working on a film adaptation in early 2011, with Steve Golin and Steve Zaillian producing. In 2014, however, Gondry told French outlet Telerama (via Jeux Actu) that he was no longer working on the project and explained: "The book is brilliant, but it's good as a literary work. Having tried to adapt it with several screenwriters, ... at
6724-481: Was written by Chaim Vital , based on the teachings of his mentor, the 16th-century kabbalist Isaac Luria , who was said to know the past lives of each person through his semi-prophetic abilities. The 18th-century Lithuanian master scholar and kabbalist, Elijah of Vilna, known as the Vilna Gaon , authored a commentary on the biblical Book of Jonah as an allegory of reincarnation. The practice of conversion to Judaism
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