reincarnation in a nutshell:

[MatTheCat]

I believe that underlying/alongside the evolution of our physical and mental faculties, there is an ongoing evolution of the human spirit. Whilst the evolution of the spirit is constantly determining itself, i.e. is influenced by what we experience in this life, the underlying shape and direction of our spirit is ultimately inherited! Hence, to a great extent, our spiritual path is essentially predetermined. It stands to reason to state that we ultimately have no power over who we are. ​

Now consider the notion that humans reproduced asexually (inheriting genetic code from just one parent) and conceptualise the evolution of the human spirit as being analogous to writing an eternally long novel (but by no means infinite!). Keeping in line with the evolutionary principle, it would make sense to say that each generation would take up writing this immensely long novel where the previous generation left off. Because everyone in this conceptual asexual race of human beings, shares the exact same genetic code, would it be fair to say that every single person had lived before? Providing you are of the belief that we do not hold ultimate ownership of our souls, then there could be no denying it, as each generation of human would simply take up writing the exact same novel from the point where his predecessor left off. Since every generation of this conceptual race of asexual humans is writing the exact same book - or has inherited an identical spiritual direction- to the previous ge neration, it would be quite imaginable that each generation had an inherent/instinctual understanding of the whole of this book from the very first page…..and……possibly the ability or power to remember chapters of this book in great detail that were written by previous generations!

This brings me to what I believe reincarnation is, genetic memory. Unlike the asexual race of humans, we inherit our spirtual mould, from a massive library as opposed to just one big long novel. However, of this huge catalogue of books from which we spawn, there are always going to be a few books that contribute to our spiritual form and personality markedly more than all the other books in this library. Or perhaps, there can be cases where just one book contributes towards 95% of who a person is! If this were the case, then who could deny the principle of reincarnation, where the genetic code of an ancestor has been passed down through a few generations in order for his spirit to be reincarnated within another vessel (human body) and continue writing its book where it left of many generations ago…….and perhaps learn a few lessons in life that it failed to learn previously until it was too late….or perhaps not. ​

Me personally, I have had ‘reincarnation’ experiences consisting of a few individuals whose ‘books’ contribute greatly towards the person that I am. I also firmly believe that we have the ability to remember details and knowledge from various ‘so-called’ previous lives. To give a personal example, once upon a time whilst I was tranced out (LSD), I remember feeling as though I were someone belonging to certain group of people. Although I got a great feel for who these people were and what they were like, I cannot say what ‘my name’ was, what race of people they were, or where they lived. However, I do remember what they looked like (pale slightly tanned skin with black hair and generally not exactly how I look in other ways); I also remember linking the fact that ‘I ate from silver hands’ (cutlery) as being a sign of social status. More relevantly and more significantly, my mind was imbued with the attitudes of these people and most remarkably, for a short while I held the belief that all men were made from wood! Having done a little bit of research I have found that this was a religious belief held amongst certain Germanic tribes (who originated from heavily forested lands and worshipped trees!). Anyone who is actually bothering to read this and is following what I am trying to say will just have to take my word for the above description of my own reincarnation experience….. However here is an absolutely amazing example of genetic memory. I watched a TV program a few years ago where an Australian Aboriginal shaman succeeded in drawing a fairly accurate map of land that had been submersed under water for thousands of years. They knew the map was fairly accurate because a team of white scientists produced a similar map using the very latest sonar technology. But how did the aboriginal shaman claim he produced his map?……….. by contacting his ancestors and asking them to take a look around the place for him!

So Glenn Hoddle (Engish football manager riduculed by tabloid press for holding unorthodox relgious views) style notions of Adolf Hitler being reincarnated as a starving African (in order to see the error of his ways) just does not hold with me (unless of course he once went hunting for Sambo’s and raped some of their women along the way). Similarly, I aint keen on the Hindu idea of humans being reincarnated as animals…………what sort of evolution would be going on there??? ​

 

[granni]

good afternoon, matthecat,

i recall having seen a similar story. and, another with the location among the native peoples of northern alaska. while enthralled, i was not suddenly full of surity that 'his' ancestors gave him the info. that he'd been answered, i had no doubt.

when folks 'pray' to their saints for help/intercession/answers, and they receive the answers, of course they think it came from said saint. after all, that is who they asked.

if i were to 'pray/talk' to a spoon about a perplexity that i was dealing with and the next day, i suddenly understood the solution.... i suppose i could say that the spoon had answered me.

that the answers come to us, i have no doubt. and they arrive on time, delivered by the whoms of our personal beliefs. tailor made according to our recognition ability at the time.

i don't question that they do arrive. i've experienced it. i know it happens. but, i don't apply responsibility for it's delivery to a specific segment of spiritdom. the spirit of us knows no race, nor ethinicity... and, i doubt gender plays a role either.
but it is cloaked according to our current ability for comfortable recognition. ie., it presents as we're able to perceive.

yet........ simutaneously, i cannot ignore the possibility of genetic memory playing some kind of role. and there, i see myself and all others as simply co-creatures of a species called mankind. therefore, genetically speaking.... i would carry memory from all peoples across this world. and said memory would be available to me.....from all who've lived before.

i comfortably perceive this as what is referred to as universal conciousness. but, as humans, we seem as a group to be uncomfy unless things are neatly nitched.

re your 'trip'..... it's only natural that you'd not be able to say what your name was. as we're going through our life, we do not think, "I, mat the cat".... or, "i, hank williams"..... we think only as "I" "I'm" "Me". We react only when we hear our name called.... therefore, recognizing that noise of some form is being directed at us specifically.

i'd had a dream (regular sleep cycle, no drugs) in which i was with a group of other females, standing in a forest clearing, talking. the instant i realized that we were speaking a native american language, that i was thinking in that language.. and that i was indian...... i awoke. startled. astounded. i don't speak any native american language. how did i know i was native american? cuz i was dressed the same as they, and that we were all comfy with each other. and that another indian female was my sister. in this life, i am not indian. but, my grandfather is from the highlands of scotland. and, i've never spoken scottish either. nor, have i had a dream of such.
but i did recognize the language of speaking was also the language of thinking.... just as when way back in high school, i'd been learning french. i thought it, as i spoke it.
i didn't know my indian name either. no one said it. but i did know that a specific she was my sister. ancestorally, i have no native american blood.

as for the hindu believing that we can incarnate as animals, i do not find that remotely insulting. but, it would be quite disheartening, after-all... we'd have to deal with humans. perhaps that's what resides behind the negative reaction to the concept.... that knowledge of what we'd run into. and for the human mind, that is indeed a fearsome thing.
we teach them to communicate with us. it's the rare human who's able to communicate with them. using the ability to communicate as the measuring stick for intelligence... or who's who at the top of the evolutionary chain.... it would seem we're not as great as our conceit would have us be.

and, matthecat.... i thank you for the thought provocative posting.

granni

 

[Erynn]

I'm a firm believer in not only reincarnation as human, but in the transmigration of souls from form to form. I don't see it as being in any way negative or discouraging. In fact, my belief is that we take these forms in order to experience existence from a myriad of viewpoints and perspectives.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a tree, or a star, or a mountain? What the experience of a whale or a falcon or a gazelle might be?

I believe that we experience these incarnations not as punishments or rewards, but to teach us about our connection with every other form of life and existence (even those things viewed as non-living and not sentient), and to help us develop compassion for others. The Lakota people speak of "all my relations" -- from the stone people to the winged people to the star people and beyond. The early Irish spoke of the connecting thread of poetry that joined all things. I see these notions as being fundamentally the same. I don't think either expression was meant in an exclusive, human-only way.

 

[iBrian]

Why is it so unnerving that re-incarnation could be random? Does it frighten us so much that perhaps our personal sense of morality here on earth is not shared by the Divine Mind in administrating the universe?

Would it scare you to think that you may be experiencing each of your incarnations simultaneously - each experience as like a cell in a larger body of experiences?

Just a couple of questions to stir up the mix.

 

[granni]

good morning Erynn, and I Brian....

in all that we see, and all that we know of, we see not one thing wasted. everything becomes something else.
i too see a logic behind the theory/belief of reincarnating as animals, and any other form that exists in what we call our universe. i view the negative thinking of this as coming from mankind's full knowledge of how he thinks of and treats animals and all other forms of life on this planet. and, i do not see us as being earth specific forever and always.
nor do i see reincarnation as a punishment. i see our lives as one of learning, in whatever form we may inhabit.
humans tend to ascribe to God/Great Spirit/Goddess/Universe, the characteristics of mankind. we cast him/her/it in our image. but, that's according to our capacity to imagine, let alone....understand. therefore, they also think of teaching/learning as being because-of, inspite-of....because that is what they understand. when they think of discipline, it's synonymous with punishment. they are still in the newbie stage with ....discipline, let alone....learning. becoming unafraid to think and be self-responsible is a relative new thing for mankind.
the one thing i've seen via NDE's, is that thinking is most altered toward understanding, compassion, and, yes..... love. it's as if they not only return fuller, but with a desire to help others in what ways they can. and, repeatedly, we hear "we're here to learn. and the lesson is love."
we celebrate the arrivals of new life, and greviously mourn it's leaving. we weren't afraid to enter.... yet, we fear the exit. and, we all will. without exception.

and, I Brain....... i think we're beginning, enmass, to approach the understanding that we are not mortal (physically, yes...like tossing aside a vehicle no longer required...oh, my! at that moment,. we utilize public transit!). that the divine mind has arranged that the knowledge of carnations will to a degree be retained during each incarnation. and now in these todays, we're beginning to remember what so many wished the masses to not know.

namaste all........

and, erynn..... jes imagine the magnificent stories the stone people could tell! and the tall people. ohh, the tall people. the place i'm most at home.

granni