Karma and Reincarnation

by Hiroshi Motoyama, Rande Brown (Editor)

Explains the concept of karma, looks at marital and family karma, and describes the opportunities for personal growth

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Buddhism

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Dr. Motoyama was the inspiration for Paul Grilley, and later Sarah Powers, to delve deeper into the mysterious connection of the physical movements in yoga and the movement of energy through the subtle body. Sarah has described Dr. Motoyama as a yoga adept. He was born of a mother who was an accomplished yogini with advanced psychic abilities. Early in his life Motoyama was also taken under the wing of his mother’s teacher who adopted the young Motoyama. Her name was Kinue Motoyama [1] and she was the founder of the Tamamistsu Jinja religious organization.

Tidbits of Dr. Motoyama’s life are sprinkled throughout his books. Curious readers can find more details in the book Awakening of the Chakras and Emancipation. Here we learn about the rigor of Motoyama’s early training and the awakening of his many vibhutis, or powers: his ability to see the energy fields, his ability to influence and correct faulty energy, to heal both those close to him and those in need far away.

Dr. Motoyama’s brilliance was not limited to his psychic abilities. He held two PhD degrees. He was also a Shinto priest, one highly respected in Japan. His ability to move freely between the worlds of the spirit and of the physical allowed him to investigate his own abilities using the rigors of Western science and medicine. With the aim of making the subtle measurable, he created instruments that he and others have learned to use to verify the flow of energy through the subtle body.

To further his research and spread his findings, Dr. Motoyama created institutes both in Japan and in the USA. It was during his travels that Paul Grilley came across him. Paul, as noted earlier, was inspired by what Dr. Motoyama revealed and went back with him to Japan. Later Paul introduced Sarah and others to Motoyama and they too embraced the teacher.

Dr. Motoyama passed away in 2015, but his institute is still active. It is called the California Institute of Human Science (CIHS). In his own words

I founded CIHS with two principles in mind:
​
Subtle energy can bridge the gap between spirituality and science. In my opinion, there are two kinds of subtle energy: one which is physical in nature (i.e. ki or chi energy), and the other which is not physical but rather spiritual in nature and is therefore not limited by space or time boundaries.
Education should be a transcendental experience. Through spiritual practices such as meditation, students should experience the three aspects of the human mind: the unconscious, consciousness, and super-consciousness. It is my wish to continue to create at CIHS an educational environment in which people can scientifically explore the applications of spirituality and subtle energy.

Reviews

[Maria Cecoi · Rating 1 out of 5]

M-am plictisit îngrozitor de tare citind cartea. cred ca e prima cartea care mi sa parut cea mai grea si nu aveam răbdare ca sa o finisez. Nu imi plac poveștile fantastice cum nici filmele de altfel. Ceea ce înseamnă Reîncarnare si exemplele de aici e pur si simplu ireal pentru mine.
P.S Poate nu a ajuns la mintea mea si concluziile mele sint greșite. Dar foarte straniu este tot ce e scris aici .

[Partha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Motoyama has crafted a masterly writing on karma and reincarnation..

i rate this as one of the key influencers in my thinking about karma and reincarnation and philosopy in general..

before coming across this book, i was never a strong believer of the concept of karma and reincarnation..
now i not only believe in karma and reincarnation but believe that there are enough life times one has to go through to be one with the god..

quintessially..i wonder what's this buzz about you have got only one life time and make the best use of it..
there i go..get out of the rat race and focus on quality of life and evolve as a person..

the best part of the book is that...it talks about..even if you have bad karma accumulated from the past..you can make good of it by doing good now and this will take your life forward..

this book also delves deeply into relationships between spouses and re-births in different formats with clear scientific evidences..

the author is a multi-faceted personality..an astronomer, astrophysicst, neurologist..you name it..he has reservoirs of talent, expertise, skill sets and most all abundant energy and passion to explain complex concepts in a simple easy to understand format..with lot of humor thrown in...

this book is just delicious to read..reflect and change the way you look and do things in this life time

[Deb Sawdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is in my top 3 books. Whether or not you believe in karma or reincarnation, this book will change your understanding of karma on all levels (personal and familial karma, as well as karma relating to your place of birth, residence and country).
This amazing teacher is helping us - earth's current population - evolve spiritually and karmically.
This is a life changer and will expand your perspective on your actions and life.
Please read.

[Russell Eric Dobda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summary of these Buddhist concepts from his own anecdotal experience as well as the many established teachings. Excellent “next level” realizations beyond the normal ‘self help’ books out there because it tskes into account how focus on the ‘self’ creates karma that is only cleared through reincarnation. I found this an easy read and finished it over one weekend because it was so engaging.

[Felipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-have for all those who wish to know about karma and reincarnation, as the title suggests.

It's a very precise exposition of both subjects, in spite of some specific considerations by the author - which in my opinion move non-dualism away from the reader's viewpoint here and there, while thoroughly and accurately setting up the urgent - and worrying - differences between how the East and the West deal with the religious matter. Still, it doesn't impair any contribution it's been proposed and I think that anyone who's studied Spiritism is going to find its content very familiar.

As an experienced student and practitioner of all the techniques approached within this book - as well as someone who's known mediums throughout the years who've presented the same ESP capabilities as Dr. Motoyama - I can tell that there's not only a single line inside of it that should be changed.

On the other hand and for the same reason, I have to confess that, in this case, I was expecting something new - or at least a step-by-step guide to whatever the method he was based upon as for the reader to get in contact with the phenomena he describes.

I believe that this book may be of great help to anyone desirous of developing a really serious spiritual knowledge. But not everyone is going to believe what's in these pages, since it requires decades of Yoga practice, prayers and meditation - what obviously the West is not used to...

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assuming that Mr Motoyama knows what he's talking about, this book explains a lot! The theory of karma and how it effects our present and future lives, how we have come to be in our current life with our parents, children, relatives and friends and how national, racial, and geographic karma plays into the bigger picture is explained in a way that makes sense, whether you believe in karma or not. The only part of the book I found a bit unhelpful were his examples which were drawn primarily from Japanese culture and history to which I couldn't relate at all. I would love to read an update of his theories with references to mixed culture (i.e. American) examples of how geographic and "tribal" karma plays itself out. In any case, this book provided much food for thought and his afterward about the impact of the "desert-based (Western) vs forest based (Eastern) religions" was also something I'd never considered before.