past lives

[Liv]

yes, I am sure you're right. And as far as I can see the historical Buddha was much more interested in people's actions than whether they held certain beliefs. He actually refused to even offer answers to some metaphysical/philosophical questions becasue he thought they weren;t useful to worry about

[Recursive Paradox]

In my past life I was most likely a star. And by that I mean my molecules probably came from a star that exploded, made dust clouds and eventually squished into this solar system with gravity.

^^

Although I believe in the concept of a Spiritual Reflection (similar to a soul) I recognize there is no evidence for it beyond faith based beliefs. So I don't discuss it to any real degree.

I also operate in this life as though this life is all there is in existence because of that lack of evidence. Heh, if we manage to figure out immortality in my generation using biology? I'll take it. I can Ascend myself and my consciousness while alive too.

[AlexTheSane]

I'd say there's a fuzzy definition of soul, so I don't understand a lot of this talk of whether a soul is being reincarnated or not.

[Gwydion]

Liv, I tend to side with the Tibetans on literal reincarnation. Also I am not particularly old, as I date only from the fall of the Taira in japan.

Kami, I tend to avoid groups of Buddhists as i am not interested in ritual and group chanting. I am focused on praxis and exploring the path. Groups tend to be distracting.

[Kaimialana]

Liv, I tend to side with the Tibetans on literal reincarnation. Also I am not particularly old, as I date only from the fall of the Taira in japan.

Kami, I tend to avoid groups of Buddhists as i am not interested in ritual and group chanting. I am focused on praxis and exploring the path. Groups tend to be distracting.

The ritual and the group chanting is what turned me off. Its dissapointing really, because the times we have been with a group that simply wants to practice quiet mindfulness meditation, it has been wonderful.

Also, just out of curiousity (because sorry, I don't really believe you), how do you know how old your "soul" is?

[Some Kid]

Reincarnation makes no sense to me. It's a nice thought, but I can't see any possible way consciousness can be transferred outside of one person's brain.
The only time I believed in reincarnation was when there was A LOT of very good weed involved, and that turned into a weird past life regression thing whose only real purpose was to teach me to not needlessly force myself to suffer because I believed I "had to".
</rambling>

[Jaimey]

I do think we have souls, but I have no basis for that idea. It just works for me. I would say that there's a "soul" or some sort of "essence of life" (that's the best way I can describe it) in everything on earth...sort of like the Japanese belief (I think it's Shinto...but I could always be wrong) of everything having "kami". I like that. The idea of not having a soul and everything ending when our bodies die doesn't seem very interesting to me, so I don't use it. I like a little more mystery in life (and afterlife, I suppose).

[Garçonne]

I believe in reincarnation, but not for any religious reasons, since I don't follow any particular religion (unless Deism counts) and I'm too skeptical to believe in anything based on pure faith. I became convinced after learning more and more about stuff like Ian Stevenson's research on children's past life memories and some of the more uncanny past-life regression cases.

I was very skeptical myself, and I've read pretty much every skeptical argument against the evidence for reincarnation (as well as various other "paranormal" phenomenon), I just find them lacking. Sure, a lot of it can be dismissed as fantasy, but when someone is suddenly capable of speaking a dead dialect of a language that they've never learned and manages to accurately describe the place and time period they lived in down to extremely obscure details (verifiable by historians), explanations like "she's probably just basing this off of some book she read and forgot about" don't cut it.

In the words of Carl Jung, "I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud."

[Jaimey]

As far as reincarnation is concerned, I have thought that perhaps I was a gay man in a past life during a time when it was not accepted (...when was it accepted before now, right? ) and I couldn't be with the person I love, so I chose to be born in a female body this time around. Well...when you're looking for answers, sometimes you'll cling to anything. I like the idea of reincarnation though.

[Garçonne]

You're hardly the first person to make the connection between gender identity and reincarnation. Like Ian Stevenson, who I just mentioned. He spent 40 years studying small children who vividly remember previous lives, some of whom had memories so specific that he was capable of finding out who they were previously and reunite them with their living family members and friends.

Anyway, past life memories tend to fade into a child's subconscious as they get older, but they still make an impact on their personality. One thing that Stevenson noted is that gender dysphoria is common among children who were a different sex in their previous life, and that this often continues long after their memories have faded.

[Jaimey]

Hmm...that's some pretty interesting stuff. I'll have to look into it more! Thanks, Garconne!

[Cassandra]

So feel like I'm jumping into a cold pool, uninvited....

I believe in past lives. I just...don't know if I trust myself, 'far as being right. <.<

I believe in the soul, and I'm in the camp that it's kinda needed to reincarnate. But that's not really important with why I believe. I believe because I have some memories and things I can't explain. That's slowly starting to feel more and more like I made it all up, though...so, oh well.

[vampyre_smiles]

Unfortunately, whatever past life memories I retain are not from this world or are very fragmented... I think I've been switched between male and female so many times I don't particularly care.

[Gwydion]

It has been said that obsession with the details of past lives is a distraction. such memories will surface as part of the path to enlightnment, but they are a side effect, not important in themselves.

[Cassandra]

I think they're about as important as any day in this life. You get good lessons from past lives. ^^

'Far as gender, I've only been a girl twice (that I remember)...which kinda only added to me going on with this SN.

[LeoNine]

I certainly believe in past lives, Buddhism being my "faith". I believe not just in us humans having been here before, but also animals. I've had the privilege of having animal soulmates several times over, and accept that we have shared not just this life together, but others past as well. And likely to have been switched over, too.

[Yo'mumma]

Yarr harr, I be believin' in the reincarnation o' ye souls. [/pirate]

Sorta, at least, but for me it's mostly because I believe in a higher power/gods/spirits/whatever you want to call them, but find the idea of a singular higher power unrealistic. Reincarnation seems to be a logical explanation. As has been stated, there is some evidence for reincarnation, especially in young children. I also belive that life is a learning process, and reincarnation works with that really well.

But I also figure I don't know much about it. I mean, maybe when I die, I'm instantly reborn, or maybe when I die, I wait twenty years to be born. Perhaps their are multiple planets with life I may be reborn on. Maybe there are multiple dimensions. Maybe I die, and come back to a universal hub, and chill with me homies for twenty years, and then decide to be reincarnated on a different planet.

So although I generally belive in higher powers and reincarnation, I don't follow a strict belief system.

[Estraven]

I have to say that the idea of reincarnation doesn't really appeal to me. I mean, it would be cool to live another life, I guess, but I'd really rather not forget everything (or most things) from the last one every time... And I'd rather not go through childhood again. Childhood sucked for me and sucks much worse for the vast majority of people on this planet.

So yeah, if there actually some process by which whatever makes a person *that person* is transferred to some other body after death, I hope I can opt out.

[BeckyBoiGrrl]

I was a wiccan for a time. I had the notion that the soul is a metaphysical core of our being and goes to a place of rest between different lifetimes. I imagined this place to be that which celts call the summerlands or the norse call valhalla.

I've always believed in the concept of a soul and have never doubted the existance of such a thing. It's true that it cannot be seen, measured or quantified by science, but that does not disprove it's existance. Only a couple of hundred years ago magnetism was thought to be some sort of supernatural force. Now it's pretty well understood.

I am a (Liberal) Christian these days. I believe in a God of love, so find the idea of hell to be a bit dodgy. Sure the bible refers to places where you dont want to end up, but never unites them or defines them well. Being reincarnated is not an obvious tennet of the Christian faith, but I believe that if we live a life of love maybe we end up with God. Perhaps if we miss the mark, we are 'sent back' for another crack at it. Maybe 'Karma' determines the starting point for next time.

Peace.

[Cassandra]

BeckyBoiGrrl...you sure you ain't more Jewish? 'Cause yer beliefs sound closer ta' Jew than Christian.