Claim. The Hindu and Buddhist doctrines of reincarnation correctly perceive the outward phenomenon of mission-bearing earthly people serving as the “second coming” of past mission-spirits — but misinterpret the mechanism. What is actually happening is returning resurrection (one spirit assisting one body to complete a shared mission), not soul-transmigration (one soul taking serial physical bodies).
Elaboration. Per 2.4. The Theory of Reincarnation Examined in Light of the Principle of Returning Resurrection: spirits who could not complete their missions must return to earthly people of similar mission. “From the standpoint of mission, the physical self of the person concurrently serves as the physical self of the spirit. In a sense, he is the second coming of the spirit; hence he may sometimes be called by the spirit’s name and appear to be the reincarnation of that spirit.”
Canonical example: JtB-as-Elijah (extends Ch 4’s identity-by-mission framework) — “John the Baptist was to have fulfilled the mission which Elijah left unfinished during his earthly life, since he received Elijah’s assistance.”
Last-Days application: worldwide-mission-bearers “must inherit and complete the responsibilities of all the spirits of the past who were devoted to the same field… Hence, in the Last Days there are people claiming to be the second coming of Jesus, the Maitreya Buddha, Confucius, the Olive Tree, or the Tree of Life. The Hindu and Buddhist doctrines of reincarnation interpret these outward phenomena but without the benefit of knowing the principle of returning resurrection.”
DP’s apologetic posture: Eastern reincarnation traditions are partially correct — they observe a real phenomenon; DP supplies the correct mechanism. Connects to §3.2’s unified-Christ christology: “Maitreya returned in person X” can be true in mission-and-spirit-assistance terms without soul-transmigration.
See also. dp-returning-resurrection-mechanism-spirits-descend-to-earthly-people