Past lives
November 9th 2006 03:23
Along with channeling, the concept of past lives is another highly challenged facet of spiritual beliefs. Firstly it requires belief in re-incarnation, which in turn requires the belief that we have a spirit or energy that continues on after our physical death. It is the journey of this spirit through varying physical forms and lifetimes that many see as providing insight into the present physical experience.
Buddhism believes we re-incarnate in order to learn and gain connection to the spirit realm. It is based on karma. Live a “bad” life and you will return in your next life to correct this behavior. Christianity has a much simpler premise. You live, you die. If you lived a good life and accept Jesus you get to go heaven (cue harp music), if you live a life of sin then you take the down escalator to hell. Both encourage a good life based on eternal rewards. (I accept that this is a very simplified version of each religion)
Here’s a new energy concept to consider; We are all born of the same energy and existed in oneness. We chose one day to separate and become a unique individual energy. We created this human realm to come and play in, to step into the human experience and touch, taste and feel. In the process we forget about the oneness, although some of us regain the memory and truly cherish each moment knowing we have chosen it. When we leave we return to the other realms and share what we experienced, the others nod and say, “Yeah, we know, we were watching”. So you too sit back and watch those in the human realm, learning from them. One day though you get restless, you miss being in the human and so you come back for another turn.
Your spirit consciousness connects across these experiences so that you will occasionally get flashes of these past times. You may meet someone who you interacted with in another form in another time. You arrive somewhere and have a feeling you have been there before. Those who choose to immerse in spiritual studies may find the memories are stronger or clearer. Often the stories remembered allow a shift in the present as we use past lessons to learn in the current life.
I have concerns that for some with dissatisfaction in the present life, the attachment to these past experiences can stop them truly engaging in the now. Rather than connecting to our current creations we can distract ourselves with stories of past glories or wounds.
It is also bemusing that many connect to similar times or roles. An Egyptian priestess, a medicine woman, a religious trailblazer murdered for their beliefs. As a comedian once said “no-one is ever Chinese!” Having said that I would love to hear from anyone who believes they were.
As I have written before, it is all well to look to the past for understanding. As my dear spirit friend Tobias says “The future is the past healed” However if we continually look backwards we can miss so much that is around us now. Do you wish to cross over and see a life of remembering instead of living.
Buddhism believes we re-incarnate in order to learn and gain connection to the spirit realm. It is based on karma. Live a “bad” life and you will return in your next life to correct this behavior. Christianity has a much simpler premise. You live, you die. If you lived a good life and accept Jesus you get to go heaven (cue harp music), if you live a life of sin then you take the down escalator to hell. Both encourage a good life based on eternal rewards. (I accept that this is a very simplified version of each religion)
Here’s a new energy concept to consider; We are all born of the same energy and existed in oneness. We chose one day to separate and become a unique individual energy. We created this human realm to come and play in, to step into the human experience and touch, taste and feel. In the process we forget about the oneness, although some of us regain the memory and truly cherish each moment knowing we have chosen it. When we leave we return to the other realms and share what we experienced, the others nod and say, “Yeah, we know, we were watching”. So you too sit back and watch those in the human realm, learning from them. One day though you get restless, you miss being in the human and so you come back for another turn.
Your spirit consciousness connects across these experiences so that you will occasionally get flashes of these past times. You may meet someone who you interacted with in another form in another time. You arrive somewhere and have a feeling you have been there before. Those who choose to immerse in spiritual studies may find the memories are stronger or clearer. Often the stories remembered allow a shift in the present as we use past lessons to learn in the current life.
I have concerns that for some with dissatisfaction in the present life, the attachment to these past experiences can stop them truly engaging in the now. Rather than connecting to our current creations we can distract ourselves with stories of past glories or wounds.
It is also bemusing that many connect to similar times or roles. An Egyptian priestess, a medicine woman, a religious trailblazer murdered for their beliefs. As a comedian once said “no-one is ever Chinese!” Having said that I would love to hear from anyone who believes they were.
As I have written before, it is all well to look to the past for understanding. As my dear spirit friend Tobias says “The future is the past healed” However if we continually look backwards we can miss so much that is around us now. Do you wish to cross over and see a life of remembering instead of living.
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Comment by Wendi
Past lives have been a subject of interest for me, intensified lately. I've heard before that past life regressions could be unhealthy, for the precise reason you mentioned - it distracts from the present.
I love the quote about the future being the past healed. I'm going to have to engrave that one on my heart and carry it with me. It vibrates.
Could it be a combination of the loose descriptions you've offered for the "purpose" of reincarnation? Perhaps we do take turns sitting in pergatory's lounge watching the ultimate in reality t.v. before returning as part of the cast. But maybe we also keep taking turns in order to gain enlightenment.
I follow the "we are all one" way of thinking and often equate Humanity and God to an ocean. The ocean is god, the waves are individuals. We merge from the whole and take on a temporary identity of our own, and then we slip back into the all that is.
I can't give you Chinese, but my fourteen-year-old believes he may have once been beheaded by sword in Japan.
I watched a show just the other night about reincarnation discovered through hypnosis in which the hypnotized woman began speaking a foreign language. It was a fascinating show that actually traced the roots of the woman's past life regression and found all of her hypnotic claims to be true. Of course, that's t.v., so it has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Looking forward to reading more. Judging by your recent topic list, we have similar interests.
Comment by Marisa
New Spirit New Energy
Love your analogy of the God ocean and the waves. That really vibrates with me.
Oh and since writing that articlew my cousin informs that she was once Chinese!
Comment by Wendi
I've made a fun habit out of saying, "In my next life...." and then stating what I'll do differently. In my next life I won't smoke. In my next life, I'll take better care of my skin. In my next life, I'll wait a little longer before having my kids, and so on. I guess there's no harm in planning for the future *grins*, but that shouldn't remove me from the responsibility of working with what I've got. Some things can and should be fixed within this lifetime.
One of my favorite personal quotes: "I don't believe in accident, irony, chance, or luck."
Another curiosity comes to mind. Do you believe that during the rencarnation process, we travel with the same souls? Not always in the same relationship, of course - my mother may have been my sister, best friend, cousin, whatever, but that her energy sticks with me through each cycle (just as an example). What's your opinion on staying with the same souls through multiple lifetimes?
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
...*lol* enjoyed this post too!
...My tarot reading activities take me amongst a great many psychics and mediums, channellers and sensitives and ALL of them have Big Cheif Sitting Bull, Tutankhamun, Mother Theresa or Ghandi as their past life or guides... whilst I tend to buy the famous 'ascended soul' guides reality, I find it hard to believe that no one was ... *lol... as you say, Chinese... or just an ordinary Caveman - like one of my guides is supposed to be... *giggle* the other is a French Nun... can you imagine why I seek solitude...?
*guffaw*
Lilla...
Comment by Marisa
New Spirit New Energy
I do feel we interact with the same souls in different relationships across different lifetimes. This can be due to karmic ties or that we simply make contracts to share our experiences. Even in the what often seems horrible cicumstances.
However I know believe that if we open our conciousness into new energy we can release ourselves from karma and these contracts. Then when we come back we are a "clean slate" or a crystal. Look into the eyes of many newborns now and you can feel the newness and clarity they come in with. No baggage!
Lilla- yes there is a nice celebrity aspect to choosing a past life. The more dramatic the better. I do love that you have a caveman ..and a nun! Nice balance of masculine and feminine.....and development!
Comment by Wendi
We do look a lot alike. In fact, one day, we were walking out of a beauty salon and a guy passing by did a double take and then said out loud, "Hey, you guys are wearing the same face!" - So I wondered if her comment was just a reflection of the fact that she's a "mini-me", or if she had some greater insight she was sharing.
I'm curious about your theory of releasing karma and eliminating contracts to start over fresh. If I had the choice, I don't know if I'd want to. It goes back to the age old question, "If you could change one thing, what would it be?" - My answer, inevitably, is nothing. I wouldn't change a thing because everything I've been through, the good, the bad, and the ugly, has shaped me into what I am today. I wouldn't want to imagine an existence that isn't connected to the energy that is my daughter, my sons, my sister. There are a few connections I could do without - but if it meant losing the connections I adore, I'd rather keep them all.
And when it comes to karma, I believe we're meant to correct, not escape it, although I'm open to the possibility that I could be wrong - it has happened before *grins*. There does come a point where we have to say enough already and forgive ourselves for our past, but that usually comes naturally, I think, once we've put forth the correct effort in making right what we've created as negative consequence.