The Breath and Spirit of Life

"Breath of Life" courtesy of artist Gerald Mendez
View Gerald's gallery at airbrush artists.org

Many traditions believe that God/Creator breathes the spirit and life into humans:

Baha'i

Direct thyself unto the Lord of the Supreme World and loosen thy tongue, so that He shall confirm thee by the spirit of Beyan (i. e., explanation) and breathe into thy mouth the Holy Spirit and move thy tongue with the best meanings and mysteries.

Christian

Genesis 2:7 says, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Daoist

In the Tao Te Ching the Chinese sage Lao Tzu says: “Tao is the breath that never dies. It is the mother of all creation.”

Egyptian

Kneph: the breath of life, his name meaning soul-breath. Kneph was a spirit that breathed life into things, giving them form. "In the Egyptian Coptic rite, the priest immediately after baptism breathes on the face of the infant saying, “Receive the Holy Ghost”; and their priests are ordained by the reigning bishop breathing on the new prelate’s face. And, by inhaling a dying breath capture its power."

Greek

The Greeks called the life-force Pneuma. Pneuma has the same range of meanings as prana, and more. It not only refers to breath, air, wind, and the spiritual life-force, it also means “spirit” and “soul.”

Hindu

In the Hindu tradition, God, Prana, and Divine Consciousness are considered to be one and the same. This is why the Hindu sages also call Prana “the Breath of God.” They go on to say that God creates the universe with his own breath because the pranic life-force (or Breath of God) is the same as Divine Consciousness in its creative (or moving) aspect.

Jewish

But, into this dirt, God breathes ruach elohim, God's breath. Man is made of dirt, like the animals, but endowed by God with God's spirit.

Mithraic

"…the sacred spirit may breathe in me…"

Muslim

"When thy Lord said unto the angels: lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire, And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down before him prostrate." (Qur'an. Ch 38- vrs 71&72)

Native American

Oh Great Spirit, Whose voice I hear in the wind, Whose breath gives life to the world, Hear me!

Roman

The Latin word spiritus not only has the same range of meanings as pneuma (breath, wind, spirit, soul, and life-force), it also means “God within the breath.”

Scandinavian

Each god gave Ask and Embla, the first woman and man, a gift: Odin gave them breath; Hœnir gave them understanding and spirit; and Lodur senses and outward appearance.

Shinto

"Rise early in the morning to greet the sun. Inhale and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and let the cosmos inside. Next breathe up the fecundity and vibrance of the earth. Blend the breath of earth with your own and become the breath of life itself. Your mind and body will be gladdened, depression and heartache will dissipate and you will be filled with gratitude (kansha)."

Sikh

"Enough to breathe the spirit of God on earth, And to live in the joy of Nam, And if these things are not given to him, Pray, here is Thy rosary of beads! I cannot tell beads unless I am quite comfortable." –Guru Granth, in the Measure Dhanasari.

Reincarnation or Resurrection

Almost all religions believe you come back, the question seems to be, do you come back as the same old You or a brand new You?

Reincarnation graphic courtesy of Himalayan Academy via Wikipedia.

Traditions that believe in Reincarnation

British/Celtic

Buddhist

Daoist

Gnostic

Greek

Hindu

Jainism

Jewish (some)

Native American

Scandinavian

Sikh

Wiccan

Traditions that believe in Resurrection

Christian

Egyptian

Jewish (some)

Mithraic

Muslim

Traditions that I'm not sure about or have found conflicting information

Baha'i

Confucian

Shinto

Zoroastrian

Spirits of Divine Light

Baha'i:

Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favour upon thee.

Christian:

The Holy white light spirit of God of Mount Sinai lives inside of every person on Earth. (Psalm 82:6).

Daoist:

Chinese called the human souls Hun and Po. Hun represents the light [yang], heavenly soul while Po represents the dark [yin], earthly soul.

Egyptian:

Gnostic:

Sophia-Achamoth communicated to him a ray of her divine light, and so animated man and endowed him with a soul. (Salvation: A person attains salvation by learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of light or spirit.)

Quaker:

(George Fox) He believed that an element of God's spirit is implanted within every person's soul. He called this "the seed of Christ", or "the seed of Light".

Sikh:

"The way one spark lights many fires,
individual flames leap up separately
then sink back into the original fire.
The same way from the Universal Creator all objects are born,
emerge from Him and are engulfed by Him."

Zoroastrian & Sufi:

Ishraq, the theosophy of Suhrawardi, a an Iranian Sufi master who was martyred in 1191, "was as close to the original teachings of Zoroaster as you could get. At its core was the concept of mundus imaginalis, a kind of parallel world, the Earth of Hurqalya, the Heavenly Jerusalem, a world of light that was itself a mirror of a still higher realm. In this world of light each person had another self, a self of light that was his or her true identity or Perfected Nature - but until this was realized it appeared as a guardian angel or spiritual guide." - Paul William Roberts, Journey of the Magi (1995) p. 245