Question of the Week 17 – Reincarnation
Back at Samhain we talked about life and death, the spirit realm, and the like. We even touched on topic of Reincarnation although it was more done in passing then with any great detail. This week we’ll change that and look at it in detail. It is something that I consider a bit of a sacred cow personally, that is to say I view it as a traditional value or idea that may or may not have any value any longer. These types of things crop up in any organization religious or otherwise. Over time people do things a certain way or believe certain things without really understanding why. I look at a lot of different sacred cows in the book version of these Questions of the Week I am working on, so you won’t see too many of them posted here.
Let’s start by all getting on the same page just what is Reincarnation? How exactly does it work in your own belief system? I can give you a generic definition but that only gives us a basic starting point.
REINCARNATION –
| 1. | the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or form. |
| 2. | rebirth of the soul in a new body. |
| 3. | a new incarnation or embodiment, as of a person. |
How does it work? Is there a karmic scale the more good we do in one life the better our next life will be? Some believe that we have some say over what our lives will be like on some level so that we are able to decide what lessons we will learn in the course of our life time. I’ve also heard some people say that you always reincarnate in to the same species. So you can see already that there are lots of different theories behind just how reincarnation works.
I wouldn’t presume to guess how it works in your own faith. But don’t you think that it is something that you should consider if it is an important part of your own path. It is one thing to say that you believe in Reincarnation or that you don’t believe in it. Can you sit down with someone and talk about why you believe in it or not? It is about making an informed conscious decision.
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I find the topic of death and beyond … sensitive. I spent a long time having a strong and solid belief system and that has been shaken. I won’t go into it here.
But I do like the question you pose: why?
A person should be able to explain why they believe certain things and why they don’t believe others.
And should something occur to shake that faith (like in my case), it becomes important to find out why that belief didn’t hold up under test. And be brave enough to keep seeking knowledge.
For me, the concept of reincarnation is more based on the laws of physics rather than the ideals of faith. If I needed to choose which of the above definitions closely fit my thoughts on the subject, it would be definition #1, and even then we would need to twist and warp that definition into a pretzel for it to actually work.
I see it as all a matter of energy transfer and nothing else. It’s been long since established that when someone dies the energy that their body had in it at the time of death dissipates moving out of the body for the most part. The only part of this that is more belief than science to me comes down to which one is the person: a) the body lying there or b) the energy that has left it. I personally think it’s b. Now with that in mind, said energy will be recycled all over the place, investing itself all over the planet (or elsewhere) as the different energy fields of the planet direct it. In that way, the part that was me will be ‘reborn’ / reused, so on a base level, I could be said to have been reborn into another form. I rather like the concept of cosmic recycling in this matter.
Now that said the other side of this mindset is that I hold no thoughts that I will ever come back as me. When Max dies – he’s gone, dissipated to the four winds. It’s much like putting a drop of water into the ocean. Yes, the molecules are still there, but good luck putting that exact drop back together again…
M
Just a short note .
i am now a 53 year old gent who over the years have had a number of beliefs.
As grown men and woman dont you think its a bit like the santa claus theory about there been a god or our souls go off some where else when we die.
I personally think once weve gone weve gone. done and dusted.
The bible is a guide book for humans ,thats all…..