Reincarnation?

[MystyGlyttyr]

This isn't something I see discussed a lot, so I'm curious. Believe in it? Don't believe in it? Think it could be possible?

Even though I'm arguably Christian, I do believe in it, though it's hard to describe how. I think maybe sometimes there are souls that either have a need to come back and do good again, or something happened that wasn't supposed to (what with free will and all) and a person gets a second chance. I don't think it's something one HAS to do, but a choice one gets offered and some feel the need to take back up, or just want to experience something different, like coming back as a cat or something. (Me and my family are pretty well convinced that my mom's current cat Ozzy was also her cats from the past, Thomas, Moose, and Moe, and that he knows my mother needs him so he keeps coming back to be with her again...I know it may be silly sounding, but every one of those cats was just so remarkably similar in personality and appearance that it's pretty easy to believe.)

At least that's my thought, YMMV, heh. I'm just curious to see what other people think about it.

[Flyndaran]

Eh, for a while I toyed with the idea; as a born atheist living among a species of relgious and spiritual majority it gets pretty darn lonely.

My favorite, though gruesome, "evidence" for reincarnation comes from India but not in the way you may think.

A chicken farmer wondered why so many of his animals were getting killed and eaten. He madet proper precuations... until he realized that it was one of his other animals kept with the chickens to save space etc.
Yes, a docile cow loved to devour chicken live. It was concluded that s/he was a reincarnated tiger.

[Boozy]

Well, that was a rather horrifying story, Flyn.

Thanks for the nightmares.

[AFPheonix]

Meh, it seems a little warm and squishy to me. I do make stupid karma jokes though.

I really don't see why it's so scary for some people to just not exist at all after they die.

[Slytovhand]

I've got things that I call memories from a lifetime different to this one.

When I deal better with my stuff, and get my act together, I shall try my best to validate those memories in present life.

No, not Cleopatra or Mark Antony or anything so glorious (or standard )

I've also walked into a person's room and recognised where the decor was orginally from, just as I recognised her from a similar time period.

And other similar weird and unusual occurances.

So, for some of us, it's not a matter of it being scary, it's a matter of taking our experiences and making the most amount of consistent sense of them.


yes, nice chicken story Flyn....

[DrT]

I like the idea, but I don't like the fact that you're not supposed to remember your past life, except through random details and memories that don't appear to come from you (as in: the right now you)

Now if one could make it happen with the option of carrying the memories from one to the next, I'll sign up for it. (kinda like the Gholas in Dune).

There are a plethora of people like Sly saying that they have memories/skills/etc that don't belong to them. The issue being: it's very difficult to prove.
Tis enough to intrigue me, but since I don't really like the format of it (losing all memories of before) I don't really see the point of it

[vanima]

a friend of mine went to Ireland and was driving past a field.. she stopped because she felt she HAD too..


she decided to walk into the field and suddenly had a strong visual of herself (in male form) with a bunch of sheep...


she feels in the past life she was a sheep herder... and was male.. and had sex with sheep..




and yes.. we make fun of her constantly....

[Slytovhand]

So... she's feeling a bit sheepish about that now?




(Whatt??????? someone had to...)

[AFPheonix]

I guess this is the perfect gift for her then?

[rdp78]

I don't really believe in reincarnation but I think there is some existence of it. I mean I never really experience it myself but I have seen somethings on it. Of course, I always want to know what happens with children that died or weren't even born when they died (miscariage, abortion). Did they ever get a second chance at life or was that there only chance?

In 2006, "Primetime" did story on a little boy who could remember details of of being WWII Navy pilot and having nightmares of being shot down. The parents found he was reliving a past life and yes, there were people saying they were telling their child these stories because he was interest planes. Anyway there has be studied where young children are remembering past lives but in a few years they will forget about them.

I know that reincarnation is very common in Eastern religions mainly Buddhism and Hinduism. Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama and other Lamas are reincarnations of previous Lamas. In Hinduism where castes have been common for centuries it is believe if you were born in a lower caste and do good you will be reborn in a higher caste.

[Flyndaran]

That's the true insidiousness of reincarnation. It makes it far too easy to blame people for circumstances outside their control.
You were born poor and disabled? You must have been a bad person in a previous life.

[Slytovhand]

While I sort of understand the last line, it doesn't really match up with the first there, Flyn.

If you were bad in a past life (and presuming there is some connection between past life behaviour and current life situations), you've still got to take responsibility for your actions in this life. Poor and disabled? Bad person before? So what?? Get on with it, and stop looking for excuses.

Besides, it's no more insidious than blaming God, the Devil, society, the government, parents, or anything else...

[Flyndaran]

But they believe that your actions follow you through incarnations. What I wrote was simply the logical conclusion of such beliefs.
It's not blaming any deity or even luck. It's blaming your past self's actions as a natural state of continuation. If you jump off a cliff, would you get mad at the earth for not protecting you? To them karma is as real as gravity and just as inevitable.

If some deity were responsible for my suffering that had nothing to do with my actions, then I would blame it. As an atheist though, I have no one to blame, or thank, but myself and irritating chance.

[MystyGlyttyr]

Of course, I always want to know what happens with children that died or weren't even born when they died (miscariage, abortion). Did they ever get a second chance at life or was that there only chance?

That's actually something that has been experienced, where people do have some recollections of things of that sort.

I personally think if ANYONE gets a second chance, the ones who die young do...

[Amethyst Hunter]

I really don't see why it's so scary for some people to just not exist at all after they die.

Well, if you had a good life, why would you want to give that up even in an afterlife? Conversely, what if you had an absolutely shittastic life and retained some fragile sliver of hope that the afterlife would be better? That would really suck to go through something horrible on earth and then get jack shit for compensation. 'Tis why I cannot believe in atheism. Too cold and hard for me. (Besides, if there is no god and no heaven or hell, then we may as well be as pure evil as we want, because unless we got caught by human authorities, we wouldn't have to worry about any punishment. Not that I'm any fan of the "be good or else God will get you!" school of thought either, but I would like to think that the decent people get rewarded and the assholes get a serious karmic kick in the teeth.)

I like the idea, but I don't like the fact that you're not supposed to remember your past life, except through random details and memories that don't appear to come from you (as in: the right now you)

Yeah, me neither. If I fucked up in a past life, then dammit, I want to know about it so I can *avoid* repeating the same thing in my current life!