Reincarnation

[QuantumT]

The concept of reincarnation was popular from the 60's to the 90's, but since the millennium it seems to have faded.
But let's assume for a moment that reincarnation is real.

What are your thoughts about having lived before this life? Remember anything?
Are reincarnation and deja-vu connected?
What will your next life be?
And: What/who runs the show?

[bahman]

The concept of reincarnation was popular from the 60's to the 90's, but since the millennium it seems to have faded.
But let's assume for a moment that reincarnation is real.

What are your thoughts about having lived before this life? Remember anything?

I have never done deep meditation but one of my friend said to me that he could see his past lives.

Are reincarnation and deja-vu connected?

I don't think so.

What will your next life be?

It is up to what you do if you believe in reincarnation.

And: What/who runs the show?

Higher minds.

[seeds]

The concept of reincarnation was popular from the 60's to the 90's, but since the millennium it seems to have faded.
But let's assume for a moment that reincarnation is real.

What are your thoughts about having lived before this life? Remember anything?

I have never done deep meditation but one of my friend said to me that he could see his past lives.

The human population on earth is currently at around 7.6 billion.

Furthermore, it is estimated that from the moment humans appeared on this planet, that it wasn’t until the year 1800 CE that the population reached 1 billion.

Setting aside the absurd notion that they were all existing as dogs, or skunks, or dung beetles, etc., then one must ask, what were the recently added 6.6 billion human souls doing in 1800 CE?...

...(Or for that matter, what were they doing in 1800 BCE?)

One of the many problems that arise from that particular line of reasoning is that almost everyone who believes in reincarnation also believes that we have all experienced a large number of past (human) incarnations.

And in most cases we’re talking about incarnations that come almost immediately after the ending of a previous one.

So the question is how could all 7.6 billion of us have experienced a long line of consecutive human incarnations if there were literally not enough bodies available for such a thing?

Or from a different perspective, why do certain human souls (Siddhartha Gautama, for example) get access to so many human bodies on earth (for the purpose of personal advancement) when, obviously, there are billions and billions of other souls who need the bodies just a much?
_______

[bahman]

The concept of reincarnation was popular from the 60's to the 90's, but since the millennium it seems to have faded.
But let's assume for a moment that reincarnation is real.

What are your thoughts about having lived before this life? Remember anything?

I have never done deep meditation but one of my friend said to me that he could see his past lives.

The human population on earth is currently at around 7.6 billion.

Furthermore, it is estimated that from the moment humans appeared on this planet, that it wasn’t until the year 1800 CE that the population reached 1 billion.

Setting aside the absurd notion that they were all existing as dogs, or skunks, or dung beetles, etc., then one must ask, what were the recently added 6.6 billion human souls doing in 1800 CE?...

...(Or for that matter, what were they doing in 1800 BCE?)

One of the many problems that arise from that particular line of reasoning is that almost everyone who believes in reincarnation also believes that we have all experienced a large number of past (human) incarnations.

And in most cases we’re talking about incarnations that come almost immediately after the ending of a previous one.

So the question is how could all 7.6 billion of us have experienced a long line of consecutive human incarnations if there were literally not enough bodies available for such a thing?

Or from a different perspective, why do certain human souls (Siddhartha Gautama, for example) get access to so many human bodies on earth (for the purpose of personal advancement) when, obviously, there are billions and billions of other souls who need the bodies just a much?
_______

I see your point.

I have my own question to him: where are the memory of past lives stored?

[Kayla]

as far as buddhists and hindus are concerned, i dont think they limit the universe to earth alone, or to known history - so the fact that there were a lot fewer humans 200 years ago should not matter much from their perspective

but i have met couples who are convinced they were an item in past lives - and they did act like they have been together for a very long time

there are two cases i am particularly familiar with - one is my kid brother and his girlfriend. they met in kindergarten - and were sure they knew each other already for a long time - and they always acted like an old married couple together - just watching them i have no trouble believing they were a couple for more than one lifetime

the other is my daughter - she has very vivid memories of dying in a mudslide before coming to live with her biological mother and then with me and my wife. some skeptics think she may have seen some very vivid imagery from a movie or something like taht and integrated it into her memory and i suppose that is possible - but that explanation seems too pat.

[kovacs]

One of the many problems that arise from that particular line of reasoning is that almost everyone who believes in reincarnation also believes that we have all experienced a large number of past (human) incarnations.
a

This is not correct. First there many new age people who believe in new souls and old souls. Then within Hinduism and Buddhism you have consciousness/souls/atman all over the place, animals, plants, etc. So there can be movement up and down in terms of complexity. And there is no reason to assume this is the only world in those belief systems. In Hinduism we are all seen, in a sense, as fragments of Brahma (or Vishnu, etc.). So there would be an endless supply of souls to incarnate, forgetting what they really are, and going through a cycle of lives.

[Belinda]

There is a wood pigeon in the garden who is my cousin reincarnated. I swear I recognise her.

[seeds]

One of the many problems that arise from that particular line of reasoning is that almost everyone who believes in reincarnation also believes that we have all experienced a large number of past (human) incarnations.

This is not correct. First there many new age people who believe in new souls and old souls. Then within Hinduism and Buddhism you have consciousness/souls/atman all over the place, animals, plants, etc. So there can be movement up and down in terms of complexity. And there is no reason to assume this is the only world in those belief systems. In Hinduism we are all seen, in a sense, as fragments of Brahma (or Vishnu, etc.). So there would be an endless supply of souls to incarnate, forgetting what they really are, and going through a cycle of lives.

as far as buddhists and hindus are concerned, i dont think they limit the universe to earth alone, or to known history - so the fact that there were a lot fewer humans 200 years ago should not matter much from their perspective

Hi kovacs and Kayla.

Two questions:

1. What would be the process from which a “new” soul comes into existence?

2. What would be the reason or “ultimate goal” of going through a cycle of lives?
_______

[seeds]

There is a wood pigeon in the garden who is my cousin reincarnated. I swear I recognise her.

Setting aside my surprise that you, Belinda, would be open to such a thing ...

...why do you suppose your cousin was demoted down from humanhood to pigeonhood?
_______

[philosopher]

We do not re-incarnate.

Energy is conserved. This means when we die, our brain activity turns into heat in the body, that in turn fades away, spreading to the adjacent atoms of the surroundings.

The only way to restore "you" (consciousness" is to have an exact same DNA-replica.

It is possible, but highly unlikely, and the copy will not have the memory of any past experiences, since memory is made from the way the molecules are placed in specific brain regions. Something similar to how a hard drive works, on a biological level.

In order to re-create any past memories, you need to know the locations and placement of the molecules in the brain regions responsible for the memory and re-create this on a living human being. It is virtually impossible, at least with our current technology. Nature cannot do it. Hence, re-incarnation does not work.

We have one life, and our lives are changing all the time. You are not the same as the one who started reading this post, because all your atoms have shifted/changed/replaced each other in the meantime.

[Kayla]

1. What would be the process from which a “new” soul comes into existence?

2. What would be the reason or “ultimate goal” of going through a cycle of lives?
_______

have no idea

just because i find some idea plausible or even believable does not imply i have any insight on how it might be true, specifically

according to my Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder (basically, D&D 3.5) materials dealing with the metaphysics of the game's imaginary worlds, souls/spirits are not indivisible or immutable to it is plausible for souls to be split into two or more souls from time to time

what would be the goal of all that reincarnation? I do nto see that question as being any different from the "What is the purpose of life" question

[Belinda]

There is a wood pigeon in the garden who is my cousin reincarnated. I swear I recognise her.

Setting aside my surprise that you, Belinda, would be open to such a thing ...

...why do you suppose your cousin was demoted down from humanhood to pigeonhood?
_______

It's Karma innit?