Discussion Topic #2 -- Reincarnation: Do You Believe?

I like the idea of reincarnation, although I certainly have no memory of any past lives and don't pursue to learn of any. I do have this feeling that if we want to come back God will let us, but have no basis for this belief other than it somehow makes sense to me.

No, I do not believe in trial lives. We get one shot. If we're smart, we use our gifts, we believe in something, we establish and hold ideals and then we get promoted.

With that said; I am no stranger to deja vu. I have visited a place for the first time or met someone for the first time but have experienced an exhilerating rush that I've been there before, met that person before, had the same conversation before. What propels deja-vu I cannot say but I don't think it's reincarnation.

I absolutely believe in reincarnation. I believe we incarnate to learn and experience and "get it right" as long (or as many lives) as it takes! The idea of one life and that's it does not seem feasible to me. I have not had a past life regression but i would love too and probably will in the future.

Absolutely NOT!!...I believe we only go around once !!

On this planet or level of existence once is more than enough. No I don't believe in reincarnation, but, I do believe in resurrection.

Not in the sense that we can be recreated in a lesser or higher live form,

I think my present cat is a reincarnation of the cat I once had, the similarities including peculiarities are just too much to be considered coincidence.

For people, I have a bit more trouble with that, however I allude to a reincarnation though I do not spell it out in my book angels watching over me.

I have been places that I had never been to before and felt I had been there before,

First, I want to confirm loudly that I believe in God our creator as my Father and Father of all. I believe in his son Jesus and his salvation. I also believe in alot of other things that are quite simply unexplainable, I also know I'll have the answers one day. Reincarnation is something I believe in as I know I have been here before. I have had dreams all my life of new orleans and cemetaries above ground. I didn't know where I was dreaming until I was in my early thirties. I was telling a friend about a disturbing dream. I told him about a walk I took in a cemetary and upon aproaching an above ground gravesite with a beautiful statue of an angel on top I became overcome with pain because I knew I was visiting my grave and I could have done better while here. He told me to describe the cemetary. I told him of the street it was located on and the bakery I passed, an unusual restaurant and the gates at the entry and the biggest flowers I had ever seen, bright orange. He said you just described my home town of New Orleans. I know that cemetary well. I have had this dream as long as I have had memories. I believe in reincarnation. I don't believe I will come back as anything other than a human, honestly I hope this is my last time out.

From the time that I heard that life was eternal, I began to think about what that meant. If our souls were eternal, that meant that there was no beginning and no end. It had never made sense to me that a baby would be born and only live for a few days. I've had many people that I've had the feeling of having known them before. Finally, I read a book about reincarnation and it all came together. Then back around 1988, I had a past life regression.

I was skeptical at first, but the experience I had was incredible. I was regressed to a time in the early 1900's. I was an over-weight beat cop in Belfast, Ireland. I saw my family and recognized my now husband who was my wife at that time. My father in this life was my son. After this, I was a believer. Had I been regressed to a lifetime where I was Cleopatra or Joan of Arc, I would have thought it was my mind at play. I could never have dreamed this experience up.

My belief is that our souls are all evolving in consciousness and spiritual awareness. Over our many lifetimes, we learn through our experiences and gain more wisdom. Hopefully, we learn to love unconditionally and be more compassionate toward our brothers and sisters.

I want to learn to love unconditionally and be more compassionate in this life right now. I need to be that way. It is the goal that gives purpose to my life for me to the end now.

Please tell me the name of the book you read. I have never read a book on this topic. I just always knew. I moved to the town I live in now sixteen years ago. I remember one day taking a drive to the country. my son said we were lost and I said no, I know exactly where I'm at, and I did.

Apryl, That is incredible. I've never experienced a sense of having lived before. But, the truth is, I know someone that if she hasn't I'd be surprised. I knew her from infancy. When she was 2 years old she would talk about souls being crumbs and when people came back to Heaven God would put their crumb into another body. She was 2 years old ! There are other oddly unsettling things about her that I won't go into, but if ever anything could convince me it was true, this young woman could. I really have to question the absolute possibility of it because of her.

Apryl, I cannot recall the name of the book but I will work on that. It was many years ago that I read it. Your experience has been shared by many people, although most people don't think about it or recognize it as a past-life memory.

Lynn, I, too am working on being unconditionally loving and compassionate. And let me say that when we make a commitment to doing something like this, the universe will put many people in front of us who will test this commitment and push our buttons. But it is like exercises that use resisitance; we build our spiritual muscle through practice.

I believe in reincarnation. Not that I am aware (yet) of what lives I have lived before, but I believe that fears and phobias stem from things that may have occurred in our past lives. It is also my belief that we choose whether or not we want come back.

(I like what you've had to say Carla and am looking forward to more of your discussions.)

For those of you looking for books on reincarnation....I highly recommend the books by Brian Weiss, M.D.. His first one was "Many Lives, Many Masters" and I recommend you read that one first. "Same Soul, Many Bodies" is the newest one by Dr. Weiss. He is a well-known doctor living in Miami who has done many past life regressions with people. You will be amazed by the stories he has to share. He also teaches others to do regressions. Here is the address for his web site. http://www.brianweiss.com/

Good questions, Adam. Actually there is evidence in the Bible that reincarnation was accepted and embraced. I will be doing an article in the next few days about this.

Great comments. Reincarnation is most often misunderstood. I believe in karma and the eternal cycle of birth and death. So for general purposes, I suppose I would respond here that I do believe in reincarnation.

I was on the fence about this until I had a series of spontaneous past-life regressions several years ago, as a result of meditation. In every case, what I saw explained something that was concerning me in this lifetime. I saw the roots of relationship difficulties, explanations of fears and obsessions, and a clear understanding of my purpose in this life. I've also had a couple of guided past-life regressions that were, while somewhat helpful, not nearly as powerful. Reincarnation explains a great deal about how people go through this life and the choices that they make. A psychologist who I knew several years ago told me that, of all the modalities he used, past-life regression was the most-effective at getting to the source of difficulties in this lifetime.

I look for God anyway I can. I don't care whose thinking it is or where it came from. There are many spiritually uplifting ways of believing in religions that are not my own. I think if God is shining through we know it. But what I don't know, and this is not in anyway accusatory or questioning the correctness of your faith, is how do you reconcile reincarnation with christianity. I have been to the Unity church here. I believe it is christian. To me it is in no way offensive. So I know a tadbit about Unity. But do you run into difficulty with this? I'm just wondering. It would not upset me at all to find a way to include reincarnation with christianity.

Great comments! Good to hear from you, Jared.

Michael, thanks for sharing your experience. when insights like that come so spontaneously, I believe that they're a wonderful gift. Delving into my past lives has helped me in this life to understand some of my fears in this life.

Lynn, I have been working on an article on just this topic. Check back in a day or two and you will get your answer. Let me just say for now that Unity is a Christian denomination. The founders were Charles and Myrtle Fillmore and they believed in reincarnation, although they did not push this teaching on others. They left it to people to make their own decisions. As a Unity minister, I have embraced this concept but I also believe that it is up to each person to decide if it rings true for him or her.

Adam, you have spent a great deal of time attacking Unity, but that is not what the subject of this discussion is. You have some incorrect information about Unity, by the way. While we are not a fundamentalist Christian denomination, as seems to be your background, we are Christian--and not a cult.

Adam, I am wondering if this group is one that you should be involved with? Here is the Group Description that I used when I started Spirituality Explorers:

"Are you interested in metaphysics, spirituality, reincarnation, and other religions? Join us for an open-minded discussion on life, death, heaven, hell, religion, the Bible and God.

Are you looking for new friends who are open-minded about alternative religions and theologies? Do you believe in reincarnation but are afraid to talk about it with Christian friends? Are you open to new ideas and want to explore your potential, not as a worm of the dust and sinner, but as a divine spiritual being having a human experience? Do you believe that God is more than a big man on a white cloud? Come explore with us and share your views. We are here to discuss, not to judge others or their beliefs. If you wish to contribute, please keep this in mind."

Adam, you do not seem to have any interest in discussing these topics with an open mind. You seem to only be interested in attacking the beliefs of others and trying to invoke fear and guilt upon those who are seriously exploring different ideas. I would like to invite you to seek out a group that is more in keeping with your beliefs. May God bless you.