I was wondering...

[MGD]

How many of you believe in reincarnation and why?

If you don't, why not?

[jcldragon]

I remember far too many past incarnations, to call it a belief. I don't believe in God either, for the same reason. The Divine is far too obvious a fact.

When you believe in something, you are just hoping that it is true. Once you experience something, it ceases to be a belief, and becomes a facet of your Knowledge. I think we should strive to get rid of beliefs entirely. Often they are incomplete or erroneous, and actually get in the way of discovering Truth. Amazingly, it is possible, through dilgent effort, to sort out beliefs from actual facts concerning anything you might want to put your Mind to.

[Malcolm]

I'm not really sure if I do or not. If I do it would be along familial lines as opposed to just random reincarnations...but that could just be genetics.

[~Jaida~]

I want to believe in reincarnation...cuz I know I've screwed up this lifetime :)

But seriously, I do believe in reincarnation because there's so much to learn and so much self-improvement to make.

[jcldragon]

The Karmic ties of families, often get them to reincarnate in groups, so it might look like a genetic thing, even though it really isn't. I have a friend who is an Orthodox Rabbi. The Orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation, (always have for that matter). I checked out his past lifetimes & sure enough, he has always been of the House of Judah.

I recall past incarnations on every continent of the planet. So I've been a member of every one of our "races" at one time or another. I've had several incarnations where I had some familial relationship with the Soul who was my Grandfather in this incarnation. When I was in Greece at the time of the Council of Nicea, he was my Dad. When I was a member of the Emperor's Guard during the Sung Dynasty in China, he was my son. He's been dead for several decades now, and is currently working as a Spirit Guide, so we frequently get together on the Astral Plane for a little chat.

[semi]

Everything in nature seems to be cyclic. Night to day to night again, seasonal changes, reproduction (as life forms age and die, others are born), and so on. So why should human life be exempt from this? I think our lives are cyclic like everything else. We are born, live, die, and are eventually born again, like Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, then Spring again. It makes more sense than birth, life, death......nothing. And it makes more sense than birth, life, death, and an eternity in an afterlife. An eternity in an after life seems to me to be a ceasing of movement forward, so a dynamic energy would grow stagnant and still. So an eternal afterlife would be the same as no afterlife at all, in my opinion.

Energy can't be destroyed. But it can be changed. I think the succession of incarnations is the refinement of the spirit, a gradual changing of the energy we are made of. However, I have no idea why this is occurring.

[Astara Seague]

Everything in nature seems to be cyclic. Night to day to night again, seasonal changes, reproduction (as life forms age and die, others are born), and so on. So why should human life be exempt from this? I think our lives are cyclic like everything else. We are born, live, die, and are eventually born again, like Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, then Spring again. It makes more sense than birth, life, death......nothing. And it makes more sense than birth, life, death, and an eternity in an afterlife. An eternity in an after life seems to me to be a ceasing of movement forward, so a dynamic energy would grow stagnant and still. So an eternal afterlife would be the same as no afterlife at all, in my opinion.

Energy can't be destroyed. But it can be changed. I think the succession of incarnations is the refinement of the spirit, a gradual changing of the energy we are made of. However, I have no idea why this is occurring.
I agree with you Semi:wave:

[Darkwater Stone]

yes. i just have a feeling to believe so.

[Meadhbh]

Of course it's one of the reasons my life is so odd today. But, I'll get into that another time boys and girls.

[catgirl]

Yes, I believe in reincarnation. I've had too many experiences *not* to believe in it. I also believe in spirit guides that someone else mentioned.

[Sionnach le Fey]

I don't believe in reincarnation. I believe that the 'cycle of life' is continued by our children, not us. We create life, and then end our own, returning to the Earth. If that makes any sense...

[Akhkharu Asgard]

No. I personally feel the concept to be quite ridiculous and falacious. But that's just me.

[LadyCelt]

I believe in Heaven, Hell, and reincarnation. Maybe purgatory, but that possibly living itself is purgatory. You don't do too great or horrible, so you're back. Do awful, you're in Hell. Wonderful, you're in Heaven. But, not sure yet.

I do believe good Christians go to Heaven and bad ones maybe Hell and/or Purgatory. Pagans reincarneted etc. Depends on the person's beliefs.

[semi]

Question for you, Ladycelt. What if a Christian, at the very moment of death, decides that reincarnation is a better option than heaven or hell? Are they then reincarnated? What if a pagan decides, as they die, that heaven or hell is better than rebirth? Where would these people go?

This is not an attack, so please don't take it personally. We're just friends discussing this matter. No offense is meant. I'm genuinely curious about what you think concerning this.

[AlleyCat]

I remember bits and pieces, therefore I believe its extremely possible

[jcldragon]

I believe in Heaven, Hell, and reincarnation. Maybe purgatory, but that possibly living itself is purgatory. You don't do too great or horrible, so you're back. Do awful, you're in Hell. Wonderful, you're in Heaven. But, not sure yet.

I do believe good Christians go to Heaven and bad ones maybe Hell and/or Purgatory. Pagans reincarneted etc. Depends on the person's beliefs.

You might consider Heaven, Purgatory & Hell, as broad catagories describing the states of mind of people living in this world. Not all of the references to reincarnation were removed from the Christian Scriptures. Viewed from the Spiritual Plane, the series of an individual's incarnations could be viewed as a succession of days & nights in a very long eternal life. Thus, Salvation is the acceptance by a person, of the Christ Consciousness within us all.

[FaeFollower]

Everything in nature seems to be cyclic. Night to day to night again, seasonal changes, reproduction (as life forms age and die, others are born), and so on. So why should human life be exempt from this? I think our lives are cyclic like everything else. We are born, live, die, and are eventually born again, like Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, then Spring again. It makes more sense than birth, life, death......nothing. And it makes more sense than birth, life, death, and an eternity in an afterlife. An eternity in an after life seems to me to be a ceasing of movement forward, so a dynamic energy would grow stagnant and still. So an eternal afterlife would be the same as no afterlife at all, in my opinion.

I agree with that. It is my all-time goal to never stop learning or growing, so I have a hard time putting my faith in a place such as Heaven (or whatever term you use for it), because it seems to be, as Semi said, stagnant.

[Vincent Verthaine]

I've never quite understood the crhistian concept of heaven.
Exactly what goes on "up there".

There is just something about the concept o 'being in bliss forever and ever' that kind of creeps me out.
I just can't understand why would anyone would want to do or be the same thing for all of eternity?

Every time I ask a christian,it seems I can never get a straight answer.

The last time someone tried,they said that all my loved ones will be there to greet me.When I pointed out that that seems indicate that as long as you are loved by someone,you are guareneed entry into heaven.
Even Hitler had someone who loved him.
They ended the conversation right there and then.

[Alora]

Yes, I believe in reincarnation as an option for the soul. I love the idea of going to Summerland as the age you die and gradually getting younger until you are reborn. :) I hope that is the way it goes.

I look to nature to find these answers. I see that everything that dies is "reborn". Winter always turns to Spring. Night always turns to day. These things happen in a circle over and over again. That is why I believe I will be born again.

I also believe that everything in Nature mirrors. As Above so below.

Another reason is that there are things that I picked up too easily in this life without any training. I just knew. The only way I can explain this is that I did them before in another life.

[Shanti]

I believe in reincarnation cause I know its correct.
Perhaps you know the saying..'been there done that', well I have been there and done that and more than once too!! :)

[Alora]

There is just something about the concept o 'being in bliss forever and ever' that kind of creeps me out.
I just can't understand why would anyone would want to do or be the same thing for all of eternity?

I have often wondered if this is a main reason that Christianity is so popular. Why practice a religion that teaches that you have to live many lives when you can just live one life and then live in happiness forever. All you must do is call one man your savior. Seems like an easy way out to me. I'm not knocking the religion. I just don't get it.

[Wythering Wynd]

I believe in reincarnation and that is why I don't worry to much about bad karma. The way I see it, I just visualize my bad karma in a box and I send it on to my next life. Now I can do what I want without worrying to much.

What will I do in my next life when I receive all the bad karma? Send it on to the next life of course. Kind of like a bank loan I never have to pay. :boing:

[Happy Shrew]

That sounds quite crappy. You'll never truly learn from your mistakes if you don't acknowledge the consequences. Besides, if you got fired fromyour job, wouldn't bad karma manifest if you lack of paycheck? Karma is consequences, at least in terms of the sources I've read.

That said, I don't really have a stance on the afterlife or if there even is one. The only thing I suspect is that, if there is one, it's where you get the punchline.

[Wythering Wynd]

That said, I don't really have a stance on the afterlife or if there even is one. The only thing I suspect is that, if there is one, it's where you get the punchline.

:) I like that!

I don't think I have any more lessons to learn really I've figured it all out on my own with my mind, and thinking things through. I think it would be cool if reincarnation could work simultaneously, that is, more than one lifetime all at once, and maybe kind of bend the laws of physics with a super wormhole in the fabric of the space-time continueum, so your higher self/ supersoul could oversee all of them. I dont know, it's just a thought but maybe not very true.

[Amber Wynd]

I believe in reincarnation and that is why I don't worry to much about bad karma. The way I see it, I just visualize my bad karma in a box and I send it on to my next life. Now I can do what I want without worrying to much.

What will I do in my next life when I receive all the bad karma? Send it on to the next life of course. Kind of like a bank loan I never have to pay. :boing:
You could totally market this concept under the title "Karma Credit Plan" :)

[Rudas Starblaze]

i believed in reincarnation for a couple years back in the day. but when everyone said reicarnation happens so we can learn from our mistakes and better the next life, and with as smart as everyone thinks they are..... i find reincarnation to be an absolute absurdity. if we are truely given the chance to make the next life right then everyone should have only had two lives if they are as smart as they claim. in other words, a person should have figured it out the first time and did it right the second. if the populas would leave out the whole "make the next life better or right" then i would consider believing in reincarnation again. i dont mean to sound so blunt and rude, but in the research ive gathered on said subject i find it highly unlikely.

[Tzhebee]

i believed in reincarnation for a couple years back in the day. but when everyone said reicarnation happens so we can learn from our mistakes and better the next life, and with as smart as everyone thinks they are..... i find reincarnation to be an absolute absurdity. if we are truely given the chance to make the next life right then everyone should have only had two lives if they are as smart as they claim. in other words, a person should have figured it out the first time and did it right the second. if the populas would leave out the whole "make the next life better or right" then i would consider believing in reincarnation again. i dont mean to sound so blunt and rude, but in the research ive gathered on said subject i find it highly unlikely.
You are thinking too linear. Perhaps this is your first life, and you have already fixed your mistakes and learned your lessons in your next life.

Or, maybe you have this life to fix a mistake, which you have done and therefore created another mistake unbeknownst to you until you reach the next level.

OR what if when you die, your mind is washed completely and it takes you many many lives to remember the mistake and correct it. And in the process of those lives where you have forgotten, you made more mistakes that need corrected.

OR what if one lifetime is not enough to fix all the mistakes and learn everything. I mean, if I point the arrow North, I learn one thing. So to say that by pointing it South I learn everything else is somewhat limited. I mean, there are 360 degrees! That's at least 360 lives for ONE lesson...my gods, I could be here forever!!!!!

[Rudas Starblaze]

You are thinking too linear. Perhaps this is your first life, and you have already fixed your mistakes and learned your lessons in your next life.

Or, maybe you have this life to fix a mistake, which you have done and therefore created another mistake unbeknownst to you until you reach the next level.

OR what if when you die, your mind is washed completely and it takes you many many lives to remember the mistake and correct it. And in the process of those lives where you have forgotten, you made more mistakes that need corrected.

OR what if one lifetime is not enough to fix all the mistakes and learn everything. I mean, if I point the arrow North, I learn one thing. So to say that by pointing it South I learn everything else is somewhat limited. I mean, there are 360 degrees! That's at least 360 lives for ONE lesson...my gods, I could be here forever!!!!!


so pretty much what your saying is there is NO possible way to make the next life better or right. which is exactly my point to if they remove all the nonsence about "making the next life better or right" i might believe in reincarnation again. the only way to make things right is to come into this world with full knowledge and understanding as to why your here. but since no one is born with full comprehension of past lives theres really no way to prove that a past life ever truely exsisted.

grant it there are phsycic people who can come up with a full detail about something that happened in the past... dosent mean they were there when it happened. i can fully understand the concept of reincarnation, but not the whole part of making the next (or present) life better. whos to say whats right or wrong when it comes to past life mistakes? say i killed someone in a past life for darn good reason. killing is wrong, but i had a good moral reason for doing so. would i do it again? yes. because it was the right thing to do.

for instance, i used to claim i was Alexander the Great reincarnated. much to my history teachers suprise i knew a hell of alot about him and various things he did while alive. but then again, theres atleast 20,000 people around the world who claim the same thing and know just as much about his life as i did with out research. so which one of us is actually the reincarnate of A.t.G.? theres way to many loop holes in the belief, way too many people claiming to be the same person. can the spirit or soul split into several directions or into several people? its not supposed to.

[Tzhebee]

so pretty much what your saying is there is NO possible way to make the next life better or right.
Kinda....I'm more of the "better" and "right" are relative terms kinda person. What is "better" for you is not necessarily "better" for me or the universe.


which is exactly my point to if they remove all the nonsence about "making the next life better or right" i might believe in reincarnation again.
This may be a silly question...but....why the hell do you care what "they" believe and why do you allow it to influence your belief? If YOU want to believe in reincarnation...who says it has to be on "their" terms and definition?

Oh yeah, "they" say so...and we all know "they" are always right. ;)

[Rudas Starblaze]

Kinda....I'm more of the "better" and "right" are relative terms kinda person. What is "better" for you is not necessarily "better" for me or the universe.


This may be a silly question...but....why the hell do you care what "they" believe and why do you allow it to influence your belief? If YOU want to believe in reincarnation...who says it has to be on "their" terms and definition?

Oh yeah, "they" say so...and we all know "they" are always right. ;)


lol, yeah, i tend to go against the grain. if its something the majority believes, i go the other way (or to the side of it anyway:lol: ). i just wanna die and get it over with! ya know, go somewhere else. ive always said, "life doesnt suck, its the events that happen in life that suck!"

[Wythering Wynd]

Don't die or anything yet! From what I can see it doesn't sound very fun and if it is nobody's coming back and talking about it. As far as I know there is no 'death park' or 'croaker coaster' you know what I mean?

[Meabh23]

so pretty much what your saying is there is NO possible way to make the next life better or right. which is exactly my point to if they remove all the nonsence about "making the next life better or right" i might believe in reincarnation again. the only way to make things right is to come into this world with full knowledge and understanding as to why your here. but since no one is born with full comprehension of past lives theres really no way to prove that a past life ever truely exsisted.

grant it there are phsycic people who can come up with a full detail about something that happened in the past... dosent mean they were there when it happened. i can fully understand the concept of reincarnation, but not the whole part of making the next (or present) life better. whos to say whats right or wrong when it comes to past life mistakes? say i killed someone in a past life for darn good reason. killing is wrong, but i had a good moral reason for doing so. would i do it again? yes. because it was the right thing to do.

for instance, i used to claim i was Alexander the Great reincarnated. much to my history teachers suprise i knew a hell of alot about him and various things he did while alive. but then again, theres atleast 20,000 people around the world who claim the same thing and know just as much about his life as i did with out research. so which one of us is actually the reincarnate of A.t.G.? theres way to many loop holes in the belief, way too many people claiming to be the same person. can the spirit or soul split into several directions or into several people? its not supposed to.


I don't know. Some of my relatives get into the whole reincarnation thing since they are Tibetans and that was sort of part of the culture. But it never really meant the same thing as what most of you westerners think it means. You guys tend to get into it all extremist-like. You have no subtlety about it. There is no "person" that gets reincarnated, nor is it the opposite. But if you want to know your "past" person, look at who you are now, if you want to know your "future" person/life, look at how you are living now.

While it might seem that I agree with the materialist view, that is wrong. I have seen and experienced reincarnation within my own family, so I accept it as a matter of course. But it isn't quite like what people assume it is.

[Happy Shrew]

In summary, reincarnation is not like Quantum Leap. You're not necessarily righting what once went wrong, and hoping each time that the next leap is the leap home... or Nirvana or something.

[semi]

I don't believe that transmigration is for righting wrongs or balancing anything. Right and wrong are concepts far too subjective to carry over from one life to the next. Suppose you kill someone. Most people believe that's wrong. In my opinion, it depends on why you killed the person. A couple years ago, a friend of mine was shot dead and robbed for less than a hundred dollars. I believe that was a wrong thing to do. A few years back, a friend of mine walked into his apartment and found a guy just getting up off his girl after having raped, tortured, and killed her, so my friend beat him to death on the spot. This was the right thing to do, in my opinion. Yet many people say that all killing is wrong. So if we're born over and over to right our wrongs, does it all depend on our own interpretation of right and wrong or is there a universal guideline? I think it's too easy to think of reincarnation in terms of righting wrongs or not. There is no right or wrong, only what you believe to be right or wrong. Do your beliefs create reincarnation, bringing your definition of right and wrong into it? Does reincarnation exist for you if you don't believe in it? I would like to see some responses to these questions, please, just because I'm curious.

I remember having been alive before. I remember a life where I killed people in battle. I remember another life where I killed people because I was unhappy with my life. I remember other lives where I was killed and murdered (there's a difference). And one when I was murdered as a girl of about 17 years after being raped. Does it all balance out somehow? Was I killed to balance the killing I did? I don't think so. I don't think it's that black and white. I think we're here to learn certain things, to experience certain things, and this learning and experience causes us to change and grow, whether these experiences are killing or being killed or whatever. I don't see balance of any kind entering into it. Any sort of balance, like any concept of right and wrong, is too subjective to carry over from lifetime to lifetime.


(Edited to correct spelling. I is a gud riter. Heh.)

[Wythering Wynd]

I have stepped on many a worm and I am always looking up at the sky waiting for that one big shoe to fall on my little head.

I stepped on the worms for fun and also ants and potato bugs but never spiders. And yet I think in a past life I was killed by a spider bite, so maybe that's why. Or maybe I was a spider that bit someone, I don't know.

I recall my fellow spiders were fine and none but noble souls; souls without sentiments could never live there, poets and spinners alone would inhabit it. All that ever brought a population to that rock were the salt-marshes and the factory which prepares the salt. On one side the sea; on the other, sand; above, illimitable space.

[Xirian]

I believe in reincarnation of energy, because it seems sensible to me and helps me to answer some of the questions about deja vu and other things, that I've wondered about. I believe that one's energy is the only thing that is reincarnated and whatever that energy goes into can cause feelings and partial memories (of any sense) of that passed on energy.

Don't know if that makes sense to anyone, but it does to me.

[sweetfairy]

i belive in reincarnation
due to haveing faint glimpses of memories of past times
things that when i see a certain thing or smell or even rememeber
its almost scary at first remebering. but then i reconise and it hits me like a bright flash back

not nessary the same person. we are all different
but the same form whether it be spirit, soul, magic or engery if this makes sense.

[Philosophia]

I believe in reincarnation (for lack of a better word) because I believe that the our energy is continually reused and cannot fade away. Our energy is like a fingerprint, specific to only us and in each life we leave specific marks on this energy (kinda like memories, etc.) regardless of what life we leave. I don't believe in any lessons (accept current life lessons) but I do believe we can gain knowledge from our energy and learn from that experiance.
Anyway, this is what I believe in.

[sweetfairy]

this is soooooo true ...
Our energy is like a fingerprint, specific to only us and in each life we leave specific marks on this energy (kinda like memories, etc.)

[lady_fey]

I believe in reincarnation of energy, because it seems sensible to me and helps me to answer some of the questions about deja vu and other things, that I've wondered about. I believe that one's energy is the only thing that is reincarnated and whatever that energy goes into can cause feelings and partial memories (of any sense) of that passed on energy.

Nicely worded.

I think it's possible that when a person dies their energy, life force or whatever one shall call it just moves on. Maybe it moves on into the Universe or maybe it moves on into another life. I don't know.
Somehow I don't think that energy moves on into another body or life. I suppose that energy is just absorbed into the energy around them. Might be why there are ghosts.

lf

[Wythering Wynd]

Do you think we can be reencarnated into a plant?
Would we be the whole plant or just a cell or a leaf of a plant?

(When I was a child I used to name my plants and sleep
with them instead of dolls and sometimes the plant was
a little worse for wear in the morning. My mother wasn't
to happy about it.)

[seekerofknwoledge]

There are things in my present life and personal mythos that run too deeply to be only from this life, plus a lot of it I've never experienced (so how would I know it?). So yes, I believe in reincarnation.

[Wythering Wynd]

I do remember being a rock, but that was a very long life.

[Semjaza]

I think we're reborn into the lives of those we've loved before, ancestors to descendents... tribal or family lines, so to speak. I also think that there is a before-and-afterlife of some sort. I don't believe in reincarnation as a haphazard, random sort of thing, and while I have great respect for the spirits or life-forces of trees and plants and animals, I don't think that these spirits were once, or will ever be, human spirits or beings or whatever. The idea of karma in its present sense (ie. cosmic retribution etc) doesn't hold much validity for me, and the term "energy" used in connection with people, souls, and/or magic just sets off my New Age alarm bells.

While I might jokingly speculate with family members when a new baby is born, "Oh, is this someone new or someone coming back to us?" and sometimes be freaked put by said newborn's reaction, my family and I leave it at that. Thinking too much about possible past lives is a waste of the time and relationships we have in the present (without getting into the idea that there is no difference between past, future, and present.)

Anyway, now I'm rambling...

Cheers,

Semjaza
FFFF

[Wythering Wynd]

I do respect your opinion and I really do remember a past life as a rock. Not a very big rock though, other rocks were bigger.

Maybe this is why I have such an odd shaped head. I think this might be an unusual past life though and not very common to humans. Maybe I'm in human form by accident or for some punishment for something I did. It makes sense to me though, I don't feel "otherkin," I feel "otherthing."

((((hugs))))

[Novembers River]

I believe in reincarnation for a few reasons.

First, I believe in karma. And I don't believe karma only rolls over into the next life, it can affect your current life as well.

Also I believe that there is an ultimate goal in our human lives, whether we know it or not, and that is to reach a state of...enlightenment, for lack of a better word.

Most of my beliefs in reincarnation or very similar to the Hinduism concepts of reincarnation.