 The movie “Audrey Rose” examines the possibility of reincarnation the horrors associated with returning too soon. AP file photo By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Audrey Rose Hoover, who was born in 1959, dies in a horrific car crash — burning to death. The year is 1964.
Minutes after Audrey Rose’s death, Ivy Templeton is born.
Eleven years later, Elliot Hoover, Audrey Rose’s father, believes his daughter’s soul has manifested itself in the body of Ivy. Audrey Rose has been reincarnated.
The 1970s book and movie examines reincarnation, a belief held by millions of Hindus.
Reincarnation, which literally means “to be made flesh again,” is based on the Hindu belief and doctrine that a part of each living being survives death to be reborn in a new body. The belief is based on the Bhagavad Gita, which states the soul, or atman, is immortal while the body is subject to a birth-and-death cycle.
“According to Hinduism a soul reincarnates again and again on earth until it becomes perfect and reunited with the Source,” Jayaram V wrote, addressing reincarnation on Hinduwebsite.com. “During this process the soul enters into many bodies, assumes many forms and passes through many births and deaths.
“According to Hinduism a being has to live many lives and undergo many experiences before it attains perfection and becomes one with the Divine,” he said. “The Hindu theory of creation suggests that creation begins when the individual souls becomes separated from the undifferentiated One. It continues as the evolution of life and consciousness in matter progresses.”
When a person dies, their body and mind return to the earth, but the soul survives and continues to seek perfection.
In “Audrey Rose,” Ivy Templeton begins to have nightmares and begins screaming for her father, Bill Templeton. Ivy’s father can calm her down at first.
Meanwhile, Ivy’s mother, Janice, and father begin noticing a man wherever Ivy is. They suspect a child molestor, but he talks with the couple and reveals that he believesIvy’s body houses the soul of his daughter, Audrey Rose.
At one point, he visits the Templetons and settles Ivy down during one of her nightmares after calling her Audrey Rose. Later Ivy burns her hands on a cold windowpane, similar to Audrey Rose who pounded on the car window screaming for her father as the car burst into flames.
Hoover’s goal is to be a part of Ivy’s life. He also wants to know if there is a way to release Audrey Rose’s soul.
After Ivy experiences another nightmare, Hoover kidnaps the 11-year-old and takes her to his apartment. This prompts police involvement and subsequent court case.
During the court case, a hypnotist takes Ivy back to her past life as Audrey Rose.
This type of hypnosis is allegedly giving the Hindu belief in reincarnation some credence.
“Today this fundamantal concept of Hinduism is finding many new adherents and believers all over the world,” Jayarim said. “The reasons are many. Firstly, a great mass of evidence is gathering in favor of reincarnation through the personal experiences of many who chanced to remember their past lives and were able to record their experiences in stunning details for the posterity.
“Secondly, the modern theories of hypnotic regression are gaining acceptance in many parts of the world,” he said. “There are now many institutions, which help interested individuals to remember their past lives as a part of their spiritual awakening. Thirdly, many enlightened psychic masters like Edgar Cayce confirmed beyond doubt that reincarnation is not just a theory or imagination, but a definite reality.”
A person’s rebirth is tied to his karma, sum of a person’s actions and the force that determines one’s next reincarnation.
Hinduism is not the only religion to believe in reincarnation. Some American Indian and Inuit tribes believe in the concept of reincarnation.
Reincarnation also appears in Norse mythology regarding Helgi Hjorvardsson and his mistress valkyrie Svafa are reincarnated.
Henry Ford, the inventor of the assembly line for automobile manufacturing, and U.S. Gen. George S. Patton believed they were reincarnated. Ford believed he served at the battle of Gettysburg, and Patton as Carthaginian General Hannibal.
Christian and Islam profess there is no such thing as reincarnation.
The Rev. R.J. Davis, pastor of First United Methodist Church, said reincarnation does not happen.
“There is no biblical evidence of someone coming back as something or someone else,” Davis said. “Resurrection stories, absolutely, where the individual has been dead and comes back to life but they come back as themselves.
“The amazing thing is we don’t have much information about those individuals once they were brought back to life beyond Jesus,” he said referring to Lazarus and a young girl brought back to life.
In each of the cases in the Holy Bible, Jesus calls the person back to life.
“With Jesus, there was no one standing outside the tomb, but because Jesus is God incarnate and Jesus has died that physical human death — because He was fully human as well as fully divine,” Davis said. “I believe in the most fundamental sense, God died and brought Himself back to life.
“It was also the fulfillment of scripture given hundreds, thousands of years before.”
Davis does advise people to learn more about the other religions in the world so they can be more tolerant of them and to be more appreciative of Christianity.
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