Do you believe in reincarnation?

No. People who believe in reincarnation ignore the fact that there are more humans all the time. Where are all the new people coming from if we are just born into new bodies?

Just because it is possible to be reincarnated does not mean it is impossible for new souls to be created. It just means that souls aren't always discarded.

(please recycle)

Yes.

sometimes.
sometimes i don't look forward to it.

besides in some religions reincarnation doesn't mean that you are rebirthed into the same species. maybe more humans are being born to replace all the animals we've slaughtered

I see no basis for believing in it beyond wishful thinking.

Where are all the new people coming from if we are just born into new bodies?

They are coming from Krishna.

Hare Krishna! http://www.iskcon.org/hkindex/

I believe!

Nothing says all the souls in existence have to be in a body at all times. Perhaps there are innumerable souls and only a small number of them are actually in a human body on earth at any given time. Maybe we spend most of our time elsewhere and just come here occasionally.

Ah, yes, wishful thinking is my specialty!

First of all I believe that God is foremost a unified force.
I believe there are narrative forces that are cyclical. People keep appearing to carry the torch. You can dig into a person's soul and find the entire world history of that force.
When I was 3 I was designing gas ignitors for castle lighting systems which I presume was unfinished work from a prior life. When I decided to change genders I 'downloaded' the compatable soul personality of a gal named amy who was an alabama elvis fan living back woods who drowned in her 20's.
Simultaneously, I believe that there is no future or past, and we are not subject to reincarnation. Also God reincarnates, and the entire universe may become something entirely different a trillien years from now, or even 2 seconds from now. That force is us, and therefore we will be there for any reincarnation.

I know it's not a real "answer," but I know of a (living) Zen master who believes that we have so many people being born so quickly now that many people are born with the souls of animals- this is why, he believes, there is so much rampant ignorance. The ignorant, he says, can't help being that way, they're not even human all the way through. Anyway, this guy says a lot of strange stuff about what the coming years will bring, too, because of this.

I think of it as one big ocean of existence. Each of us, in each moment, is like a wave in that ocean, destroyed and recreated, similar but not exactly the same, in every instant. When a person dies then, it's pretty much the same as them exhaling and inhaling again. When I die, all the thoughts and dreams I have, all the differences between how I see myself, and how other people see me, will collapse like a wave, and others around me will continue to up-swell or collapse, rise or fall...

Whoa, that's fascinating about the animal souls being born into humans. Has that Zen master guy written any books about it?

On the other hand, natives have always believed people possess animal spirit guides.

well, it has its place

Why yes I do!!!!!!
I feel like I've been here before,but don't know where,when,why or who.Geeze,I hope I didn't mess up that live as well too.

That's a very cool website, but I was hoping to hear more about your personal opinion. In qualification, you didn't care for the dictionary definitions of reincarnation. What do you think the difference is between your definition and the one above?

It's all a load of crap, really.

Nah, I don't think so. He's the teacher of a teacher I had briefly, so I only heard a little about him.

I'll get back to you the next life around.

think what you will if it makes you feel better, but dead is dead; this life is all you get

No. I believe in karma though.

Yes, although what the hell do I know!

Maybe you were a dung beetle last time around!
I was a big fat zit on someone's forehead once.

No. That can't be true, because then there would be no ghosts, right?

I have more fun believing in ghosts than I do reincarnation. Plus I like to think dead relatives and friends are with me sometimes. They couldn't hang out with me if they're in some other body!

I don't know.

I took one photo of a friend in which two ghosts of her appeared, plus I got to know thousands of of her reincarnations during tantra.

How can there be two ghosts for the same person??

I don't buy it. What purpose is there in constantly returning to a new body for ever. It seems like a dead end. When I die I'm going somewhere else. I'm not coming back to this rock.

Ok, I'm curious, what can you imagine to be better than this further up the road?

Are you kidding? This planet has so much misery, pain and anguish. There has got to be somewhere better than this.

But most of it was caused by us. Are you planning to leave us behind?

yup

Yes. Don't worry, you'll be coming too.

No. I've never met any rational people who believe in reincarnation. It's always people who think their life sucks right now and hope for something better.

Maybe isn't a good thing to come back. Maybe reincarnation is another word for hell.

No, but I believe in cloning. It faster than having to wait around to die and then be reborn.

Nope, I prefer to believe in being reunited with my loved ones in Heaven someday.

i agree. no one said that a soul has to be in a body all of the time. perhaps souls are scattered innumerably around the universe in other bodies on other planets. perhaps the soul can choose its next game and earth is a popular game right now.

some religions say that when an evolved person dies, the soul goes on to be a guide or an angel for a life or two, but could always choose to be born in the world of matter again. i don't know if animals have souls but they are every bit as conscious and self aware as we are, so who knows. there would be nothing wrong or unholy about living your life in an animal body, it would just be a new experience. maybe people reincarnate that way just for a 'change'. and the idea of reincarnation isn't just a form of wishful thinking either, not everyone wishes to be born again and agin.

yes

I believe it is entirely possible, if not likely.

The soul is eternal. The body is temporary.

In a way yes and in a way no. I think it is a romantic idea. I think also if there is a heaven and hell may it goes like this. Humans were put on earth(hell) to live multiple lives untill they live a perfect life. If they do immoral things or are just bad people they are reincarnated to earth. If they finally get it right and pass all of lifes tests they then get to go to heaven which is a perfect world. It is a romantic idea but I think religion is just a way to give stability to people so ??I don't know??

There can be ghosts, too. I don't think we instantly pop back into another body when we die. I think we spend most of our time in another dimension (for lack of a better description) and we can choose whether and when to be born as a human again. So I believe people you know who have died can be around you all the time.

Maybe the purpose for living several lifetimes on earth is to learn and experience things. Maybe this is school for our souls. Don't worry though...I think you get to choose whether or not you want to come back.

Oh, so now I'm irrational, huh?

You could be right. Maybe it's just, as romkey said, wishful thinking. But I think it's fun to ponder.

Are you in the when- you-die-that's-the-end crowd?

If you end up being wrong about that I hope I'm there waiting for you so I can see the look on your face.

That's exactly what I used to believe, but I've kind of changed my mind over the years. I don't believe in heaven and hell at all, but I do believe we go someplace better after we die, and then we can choose to come back here again as a different person if we want to. It really boggles the mind to think about the possibilities, doesn't it?

No, I believe in resurrection, not reincarnation. One life now, then another after death. But no going backwards or round and round again here.

will I have a face?

No.

That's the crowd I'm in.

I haven't decided yet.

Yes the unknown can let your imagination go wild sometimes.

Well how about THIS one:

What if I don't WANT to come back and do all this wretchedness all over again! I hope we get a choice!

AfterLife Consultant: Let's see... Kiehart, Justina... Ah yes, lapsed Roman Catholic. You have some options here, okay, you can either hedge your bets on the Christian Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory; or you can come back as another creature- Human, animal, no difference; or you could come back as a ghost. Now this is really interesting: You can either be a friendly ghost who watches over those you love, or you could haunt those who antagonized you in your Earthly form. Or, finally, you could just *wink out* and your energy will be used to power a 60-watt lightbulb in the bedroom of a very confused 15-year-old boy.

Me: Um... I'll be friendly ghost, please!

Souls don't just move to other bodies when their previous body has died...

Souls just go to heaven or hell.

Another advantage to merging with the mind of God is that God's going to be around forever.

Yes once you die you comeback to life as an other person.

No.

We just are. congratulations.

Well that would be a resounding NO from me.

So, do you believe in heaven and/or hell, or some other afterlife?

I don't know if you'll have a face. I don't think we can really comprehend whatever form we take after this, but I do think we'll be able to recognize each other. But if we just cease to exist, that's okay, too, because I'll never know the difference!

I won't mind if we just wink out (as jkiehart put it). I believed that for a long time, but I've read about so many other possibilities over the years that seem to make sense, I've really changed my mind about that. But, who knows...

Just like Casper!!

What if you could come back and live any sort of life you wanted? Can't you imagine a life on earth that would be totally desirable?

It seems to me that living as an animal would be an interesting experience. I kind of hope that we get the chance to do that.

I'm a little slow responding, but I loved the dung beetle bit!

sure,it could be a more fulfilling life even

Heaven, definitely. I'm undecided on the reality of hell.

Hmmm...maybe that explains it. Life is here 'cause being a spirit is boring.

All the spirits wrestle with each other to get a shot at "life" to forget about "spiritdom", kick up their non-existent heels, and run around life debating whether or not they really every existed as spirits.

(Sounds a lot like the time the dentist "od'ed" me on nitros oxide.)

So, what will you be next?

Ahhh, yes, but is it recycleable crap?

Just to let you know where I'm coming from, one of my favorite shows, Classic Arts Showcase, was just cancelled to save energy. I looked out the window, coming from a period that was gung-ho on conserving resources but never had to, to age that does. I foresaw anything from entropy to rebirth, and possibly just another dark ages. then read your comment. then realized perhaps I should maintain composure and answer personally. Having just transferred the class catalog to spread sheets, I can do that by saying I plan to go back to college and get a teaching degree, preferably 6th grade (11 years old) which is the last chanceto teach interdisciplinary before subjects get segregated, or college art, or at a free form private school. I imagine I will continue to bounce around through it all. I spiritually got my doctorate in Arts last night, did several projects I'd been meaning to do for a couple years, and will now spend the next three years demonstrating formally what I just learned over that four hour period. This world drives me crazy sometimes. Your next comment only drove the issue home. What do you know, your former comment drives home the point too. One of the many things I learned last night is that I can repeat my guitar channeling handiwork in front of others, so being a performing musician might be in the works soon too.

Imagine your whole purpose in life is to roll around an ever increasing ball of poo!!!! Actually human life feels a lot like that sometimes.....

You're welcome to recycle your crap if you want to!

I love casper

Recycling crap is okay, it's the attempts to return it to it's original location that are troublesome.

Yes, but people who believe in reincarnation don't believe we have a choice. Besides, even if I'm happy, it won't change the state of the world.

It sure does!

I beg your pardon? I believe in reincarnation, and I think we have a choice. Who says we have to believe exactly what any specific religion believes? Maybe you can live an extremely happy lifetime and still do something good for the world. The two are not always mutually exclusive.

Whatever....I think reincarnation is a croq, and any questions relating to reincarnation are irrelevant because this is it, if you fudge up this life - too bad!

No, I don't.

My niece was a croc in her last life.

"God" just isn't a concept I'm comfortable with. I suppose I feel something more than what's obviously here but what that is confuses me. The idea that I can merge with that troubles me even more. I just can't believe in God as a figure. As a feeling that we all share, that's almost what I sense. In a way, I suppose that if we exist as that connection between all people we never die - what we truly are is shared between us all so something of us exists in different bodies. But that we have single souls that are reborn into individuals - I just don't feel it to be true. And when it comes to this subject, all I have to go on is what I feel to be true.

Hmmm, all of what I wrote there is pretty garbled. Not sure if you can make any sense of it!

Not garbled at all. Your arriving at part of my own conclusion. When you've seen it work together with the precision of clock gears to the extent that you can even communicate with the clock as a whole, yet contemplate why we should exist as individuals even if it is a god conscious to at least our degree, and see that even the past is mutable, it all gels into an understanding. History does and does not exist. Reincarnation is like that.

Isn't that evaporated milk from dead cows?

if I'm wrong then I definitely hope that you're there to greet me when I die!

I'll do my best!!

:-~

i was reincarnated from my cousin. she died a couple years before i was born and my aunt always called me by her name, mistaking me for her when i was younger. i have flashbacks and dreams that relay back to her sometimes also.

most definitly.

Ah, perhaps reincarnation is what you meant.

Absolutely!!

What a delightfully evil remark!