Reincarnation: Have We All Been Here Before?

[Songster]

There are religions all over the world, most of them believe that the Soul may reappear in this physical sphere many times, in different forms or bodies, advancing or regressing according to it's actions while in the flesh. Since there are many members of this forum with different backgrounds and religious affiliations, what does your specific religion teach about reincarnation? Does it endorse the concept or deny it out right? Please, take the time to explain your understanding of the reason your faith does, or does not teach it as a path to perfection. What are your thoughts? Perhaps you are in possession of the knowledge of a previous existence in another body at another time? Please explain how you gained this knowledge, the techniques used to gain the insight, and describe your previous experience. Where you were, what you did, and why you came back. Looking forward to a very enlightening discussion.

[SalemWitchChild]

I do believe in reincarnation. I think our purpose in life is to learn and spiritually grow. We can't do this in one lifetime so we choose to do many lives.

I have had a few dreams and one vision of past lives. The more prominent ones have been a reoccurring dream where I was a small child living in a Victorian house. I was dancing in a circular room overlooking a bay. I think I was in Maine or somewhere similar. I never did anything more than just dance in the circular room with my pretty dress on. I would have maybe been 5 or 6.

(Btw, I do not know how to dance! Not in this lifetime anyway)

Another was a vision during a Samhain festival. There I saw another life, another time I was a witch, and a not so happy ending. It was either be burned alive or choose my own death. I chose my own death.

[mark 45]

in some schools of buddhism(not all buddhists agree with it)reincarnation is taught.like many other belief systems,we believe that one does not learn everything in one life time,and therefore return to learn.

[Brother Michael Sky]

One of my favorite topics of discussion....

I started out with very firm ideas about reincarnation, learned from New Age folks, when new age was new......

I read all I could from all the sources I could find - from channeled info to the Hindu and Buddhist teachings.... found esoteric teachings which were fairly similar to the rest...

But when I started practicing Astral Travel and the deeper stages of Meditation I found a completely different framework to begin understanding about my other incarnations, and how they relate to this one.....

I am now aware of an unbroken string of experience which stretches back farther than I have been able to penetrate... so many beings, personalities, faces and experiences, that to count them would be pointless...

I can not even place them in a logical progression in time..... because I have begun to think that some of them have occurred on other "timelines" - where things are just a little different - Alternate timelines, so to speak - so that we could play out lines of exploration which followed through to their conclusion, or merged back into the "present" timeline....or simply veered too far from the experience my soul desires, and were dismantled as experience after a certain point - given up as a lost cause, so to speak....

Where I used to see lifetimes as a chain - stretching back to "past" incarnations and reaching ahead into "new" lifetimes - now I see things differently.....

I see what amounts to a spider web.....

existing in it's entire perfection all at once....

with lifetimes radiating from a central hub, connected at various points around the web.... leading to nexus', when handfuls of lifetimes play into one strong cable.... several times around the periphery... but the only way this analogy fails is that it is backwards - the edges of the web are the ACTUAL center.... and we "start" in the middle creating our own "web" until it all works out into those "cables" reaching home.... to Union with our Creator.... where we shall return with our OWN experiences creating, and compare them with others...

Thousands of lifetimes, all happening at once, all playing out like the ticking of a clock....

The amazing thing to me now is realizing that the REAL us, is simply a flickering light of awareness which travels anywhere on the web it so desires.... and wherever it goes, it experiences Time, to make it SEEM like there is an actual forward progression going on.... for the purposes of exploring this web....

But at any time - should we put forward the desire to remember how, we can learn how to step back from the web - outside of time - and learn to take a MUCH more comprehensive look at the trends we are exploring.....

I know it sounds like a Buddhist monk telling you to study your navel...... but the reality of things is that we are but a tiny hologram of the whole...when we learn to Look Inside of our being for the truth, we are on the front porch of God..... Meditation is the gateway to every path we have walked, and some which have not occurred yet - but are still being formed....

If it's not over til the fat lady sings - we are the fat lady, as well as the audience... The hard part is remembering that we are the heckler too....

[Fawzo]

I use to think reincarnation was bunk, but then I experienced what I believe to have been two of my previous lives, one as an Asian and another as a Black Man.

I don't really believe they happen along a linear time line though. They might all be hapening at once like all the radio stations on your FM dial and we choose which one to focus on for periods of time.

I was praying and worshipping the Christian God when the experiences occured out of no where.

[Fawzo]

One of my favorite topics of discussion....

I started out with very firm ideas about reincarnation, learned from New Age folks, when new age was new......

I read all I could from all the sources I could find - from channeled info to the Hindu and Buddhist teachings.... found esoteric teachings which were fairly similar to the rest...

But when I started practicing Astral Travel and the deeper stages of Meditation I found a completely different framework to begin understanding about my other incarnations, and how they relate to this one.....

I am now aware of an unbroken string of experience which stretches back farther than I have been able to penetrate... so many beings, personalities, faces and experiences, that to count them would be pointless...

I can not even place them in a logical progression in time..... because I have begun to think that some of them have occurred on other "timelines" - where things are just a little different - Alternate timelines, so to speak - so that we could play out lines of exploration which followed through to their conclusion, or merged back into the "present" timeline....or simply veered too far from the experience my soul desires, and were dismantled as experience after a certain point - given up as a lost cause, so to speak....

Where I used to see lifetimes as a chain - stretching back to "past" incarnations and reaching ahead into "new" lifetimes - now I see things differently.....

I see what amounts to a spider web.....

existing in it's entire perfection all at once....

with lifetimes radiating from a central hub, connected at various points around the web.... leading to nexus', when handfuls of lifetimes play into one strong cable.... several times around the periphery... but the only way this analogy fails is that it is backwards - the edges of the web are the ACTUAL center.... and we "start" in the middle creating our own "web" until it all works out into those "cables" reaching home.... to Union with our Creator.... where we shall return with our OWN experiences creating, and compare them with others...

Thousands of lifetimes, all happening at once, all playing out like the ticking of a clock....

The amazing thing to me now is realizing that the REAL us, is simply a flickering light of awareness which travels anywhere on the web it so desires.... and wherever it goes, it experiences Time, to make it SEEM like there is an actual forward progression going on.... for the purposes of exploring this web....

But at any time - should we put forward the desire to remember how, we can learn how to step back from the web - outside of time - and learn to take a MUCH more comprehensive look at the trends we are exploring.....

I know it sounds like a Buddhist monk telling you to study your navel...... but the reality of things is that we are but a tiny hologram of the whole...when we learn to Look Inside of our being for the truth, we are on the front porch of God..... Meditation is the gateway to every path we have walked, and some which have not occurred yet - but are still being formed....

If it's not over til the fat lady sings - we are the fat lady, as well as the audience... The hard part is remembering that we are the heckler too....

Many times when pondering the workings of the Universe I have seen a 3-D WEBLIKE SPHERICAL ORB which seems to be showing me the interconnectedness of all things.

I have been imaging myself as just a portion of the overall fractal of life recently. Its seems to resonate with your holgraghic descriptor.

[RabbiO]

Since there are many members of this forum with different backgrounds and religious affiliations, what does your specific religion teach about reincarnation? Does it endorse the concept or deny it out right?

Judaism has nothing to say about reincarnation and denies it out right.

Judaism believes in reincarnation and has a great deal to say about it.

Any other questions??

Edited October 14, 2011 by RabbiO

[Fawzo]

Judaism has nothing to say about reincarnation and denies it out right.

Explain yourself please! How is this possible?

[Songster]

That's an excellent analogy, Bro. Mike. My experience with TM started at 14 when I and was given a book about it for my birthday. I immediately started reading and practicing the techniques, seeking the Enlightenment that would free my Soul from the necessity of having to reincarnate. My first attempts met with failure, and were followed by frustration at my inability to achieve any insight at all. But I kept trying, and finally was able to connect with the Super-Consciousness. What I'd like to relate now is a vision that I had, and a subsequent dream. While I was in a self-hypnotic trance, I saw myself as a member of Celtic tribe, wearing blue paint on my face and body, and clad in a toga-like wrap that was little more than rags. It was only a brief vision, but I was struck with the feeling that what happened to me in that life was the reason that I was in my current life. Several nights later I had a dream in which I was again that Celt, and was a member of a raiding party against another clan. During the raid, I was separated from the rest of my kinsmen and was being pursued by the defending villagers. Running through a field away from the village, seeking my escape, I tripped over a young woman that had been hiding from us. Rather than being scared and screaming, she pulled me behind a hay pile, and covered me with straw. When her tribesmen, looking for me, approached her, she motioned towards the woods, and told them that I had run in that direction. She had saved my life, and I promised her that, somehow, I would repay her kindness. As we were standing there, my kinsmen came upon us. I told them how she had saved me, and hoping to keep her from being harmed by the others, I claimed her as my captive, They laughed at me, and because I had no status in the clan, they took her from me. She screamed, pleading for me to save her, but I was powerless to help, and just stood there watching while they raped, tortured, and killed her in front of me. Instantly the scene disappeared, and I was sitting in an easy chair reading my paper. A young boy ran up to me and said, "Dad! Mom needs you in the laundry room right now! The washing machine's busted!" I let him pull me to the back of the house to the laundry. There, on her knees on the floor, was a woman cleaning up the suds and water that had flooded the room. When she stood up and turned around, I instantly recognized her. She was the girl who had saved my life. I woke immediately, and sat up in bed thinking about what I had dreamed. When I related the dream to my wife, and I told her that she was not the girl that had saved me, she was not happy. I never thought of the dream again. Several years, and a bitter divorce later, I met and fell in love with another woman. We married and moved into a house up the street from where I was raised. We had been married for about 5 years, when one morning, I was reading my paper when my son ran up and said, "Dad! Mom needs you in the Laundry room . . ." It happened exactly like it had happened in my dream. It wasn't til she stood up and turned toward me that I remembered my dream and recognized her. My wife was the girl that had saved my life. I had not even thought of nor remembered my dream until that minute. While I helped her clean the mess, I told her about my dream. When I had finished she said, "Well, I guess we're even now. Lord knows you saved my life." I guess I wont know for sure until I leave this life, but I hope that I've paid my Karmic debt to her.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Songster

[RabbiO]

Explain yourself please! How is this possible?

Reread my post and then get back to me.

[Qryos]

~ I realise that being an avid reader since 6 has left me open to a very strong creative imagination.

I do have vivid dreams.

'Memories' of past lives are different... they're not connected emotionally & they're fragmented.

When you're tossed in to 're-living' that, you don't feel the emotions you normally would if in that situation. It's dis-jointing.

I remember a few. I don't like to do so because it's usually of the dying part & dying is unpleasant.

There's a reason I don't like Frank Sinatra. A big piano & big windows over-looking a cliff & ...

There's a reason air raid sirens & slabs of concrete upset me.

There's a reason a tall riser of stairs upsets me.

... Hell, if ya go back far enough, there's a good reason most people are afraid of spiders! Most { but not all } bugs are eaten by them.

That's a definately unpleasant way to die

Oh! I'm sorry... I don't have a religion to attribute this all to.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Qryos

[Fawzo]

Reread my post and then get back to me.

RabbiO Did, I still am drawing a blank. My reasoning facilities are faulty like the Steelers "O Line"

Songster, very kewl story.....I've had a couple similar experiences with members in my family. I experienced my nephew and sister as married in another life and my sister had him killed. Now she has to help him grow.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Fawzo

[Bro. Hex]

(1) Judaism has nothing to say about reincarnation and denies it out right.

(2) Judaism believes in reincarnation and has a great deal to say about it.

Any other questions??

Hey Fawz, You were just concentrating on "LINE 1"...

You have to interpret Line 1 in light of "LINE 2".

Simple, right?

Christianity does similar stuff to us all the time.

You just have to "stop tryin' to make sense of it"

and let the words roll down, and wash over you

like the waters from an ever-flowing stream!

And a big "THANK YOU" goes out to Peter (RabbiO),and to Amos 5:24

Edited October 16, 2011 by Hexalpa

[Songster]

So, Rabbi . . . . which came first the chicken or the egg? That's the way I read your riddle. I have a another question. One worthy of serious thought, and may require a lengthy response . . . "Has there ever been a question that you answered with anything more than "yes", "no", "you'll never know", or "you don't want to know"?"

I think you're holding out on us here. . . .

Edited October 17, 2011 by Songster

[Brother Michael Sky]

That's an excellent analogy, Bro. Mike. My experience with TM started at 14 when I and was given a book about it for my birthday. I immediately started reading and practicing the techniques, seeking the Enlightenment that would free my Soul from the necessity of having to reincarnate. My first attempts met with failure, and were followed by frustration at my inability to achieve any insight at all. But I kept trying, and finally was able to connect with the Super-Consciousness. What I'd like to relate now is a vision that I had, and a subsequent dream. While I was in a self-hypnotic trance, I saw myself as a member of Celtic tribe, wearing blue paint on my face and body, and clad in a toga-like wrap that was little more than rags. It was only a brief vision, but I was struck with the feeling that what happened to me in that life was the reason that I was in my current life. Several nights later I had a dream in which I was again that Celt, and was a member of a raiding party against another clan. During the raid, I was separated from the rest of my kinsmen and was being pursued by the defending villagers. Running through a field away from the village, seeking my escape, I tripped over a young woman that had been hiding from us. Rather than being scared and screaming, she pulled me behind a hay pile, and covered me with straw. When her tribesmen, looking for me, approached her, she motioned towards the woods, and told them that I had run in that direction. She had saved my life, and I promised her that, somehow, I would repay her kindness. As we were standing there, my kinsmen came upon us. I told them how she had saved me, and hoping to keep her from being harmed by the others, I claimed her as my captive, They laughed at me, and because I had no status in the clan, they took her from me. She screamed, pleading for me to save her, but I was powerless to help, and just stood there watching while they raped, tortured, and killed her in front of me. Instantly the scene disappeared, and I was sitting in an easy chair reading my paper. A young boy ran up to me and said, "Dad! Mom needs you in the laundry room right now! The washing machine's busted!" I let him pull me to the back of the house to the laundry. There, on her knees on the floor, was a woman cleaning up the suds and water that had flooded the room. When she stood up and turned around, I instantly recognized her. She was the girl who had saved my life. I woke immediately, and sat up in bed thinking about what I had dreamed. When I related the dream to my wife, and I told her that she was not the girl that had saved me, she was not happy. I never thought of the dream again. Several years, and a bitter divorce later, I met and fell in love with another woman. We married and moved into a house up the street from where I was raised. We had been married for about 5 years, when one morning, I was reading my paper when my son ran up and said, "Dad! Mom needs you in the Laundry room . . ." It happened exactly like it had happened in my dream. It wasn't til she stood up and turned toward me that I remembered my dream and recognized her. My wife was the girl that had saved my life. I had not even thought of nor remembered my dream until that minute. While I helped her clean the mess, I told her about my dream. When I had finished she said, "Well, I guess we're even now. Lord knows you saved my life." I guess I wont know for sure until I leave this life, but I hope that I've paid my Karmic debt to her.

to really get to the "meat" of your connection, several more lifetimes will need to be reviewed.. until trends are discovered...

The validation you received is what folks literally pray for, but have a hard time accepting.... I would advise you run with it, and work hard at breaking through again...

[RabbiO]

So, Rabbi . . . . which came first the chicken or the egg? That's the way I read your riddle. I have a another question. One worthy of serious thought, and may require a lengthy response . . . "Has there ever been a question that you answered with anything more than "yes", "no", "you'll never know", or "you don't want to know"?"

I think you're holding out on us here. . . .

There is a story told about Calvin Coolidge, otherwise known as "Silent Cal." Supposedly he was seated next to Dorothy Parker, the famous writer/critic, at a dinner. The story goes that Parker remarked to him, "Mr. President, I have a bet that I can get more than two words out of you." Coolidge looked at Parker, said simply, "You lose," and then went back to eating his dinner.

What I wrote was not a riddle, it was an accurate statement as to whether or Judaism has a position regarding reincarnation.

[Songster]

Hahahahaaa! Thanks!

[To`na Wanagi]

I had this discussion with God once, and only once, and during this lifetime. I told the Creator that I suspected I had been here before as it was vaguely familiar and that I really loved the diversity of the planet but did not enjoy much of the human's condition and their cruelty to one another. While I stated I would love everyone no matter their condition I was adamant that the Creator not have any ideas about sending me here ever again and that if It did, Armageddon would look like a tennis match.

[RabbiO]

Hahahahaaa! Thanks!

By way of further explanation, there often appears to be a perception among non-Jews that Judaism is monolithic, that one can, if one knows Judaism, provide THE Jewish understanding, THE Jewish position, THE Jewish explanation, THE Jewish way of seeing and doing. Although there are some within the Orthodox community who might say otherwise, the truth is that very, very often there are a multiplicity of Jewish viewpoints that are considered equally valid.

I go back to the midrash I have mentioned before regarding a heated dispute during the time of the Second Temple between the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel. The views were diametrically opposed to one another. Nevertheless there came a voice from heaven declaring -

אלה ואלה דברי אלוהים חיים

Elu v'elu divrei elohim chaim

These and these are the words of the living G-d.

In other words, both positions were valid.

Edited October 17, 2011 by RabbiO

[Songster]

Rabbi, Although I am not Jewish by birth, or faith, I feel an inate "closeness" that I cannot explain. I am certain that there is much you could teach me, if you desired to impart your knowledge to a non-Jew. Thanks again for your answer.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Songster