Past lives, do you believe?

[staggerwing]

There are generally two schools of thought about these kinds of phenomena, those who think every creek in the night is paranormal, and those who would deny the existence of the paranormal if George Washington's ghost materialized in front of them and shook their hand. And I've learned, it's no use trying to change the minds of either.

With respect to reincarnation being explained by old movies, I was an aviation nut and a WWII buff since early childhood. I read everything I could, watched any movie even tangentially related to either of those topics, build countless model airplanes and ships, and today I'm an experienced pilot with several thousand hours in both civilian and military aircraft. Couldn't tell you how to fire up a Corsair if my life depended on it. The kid in the book I referenced in an earlier post could, and from a very early age (i.e., he didn't look up the flight manual on the internet). So, how exactly did he come by this information?

As for the ghost stories around Civil War battlefields, I'll share this. In real life, I direct a TV show that follows a team of paranormal investigators. We often pick up anomalous voices with our recording equipment. Frankly, as an electrical engineer by training I thought I could explain the voices pretty easily as radio frequency breakthrough interference. However, I actually was able to test that theory by isolating some equipment in a Faraday cage. Actually got more anomalous voices on the equipment in the cage. Anyway, my theory doesn't explain why the voices are often directly responding to questions fro the cast.

At a Civil War related location in Virginia, the cast was communicating with what they believed to be the spirit of a Confederate soldier who was "trapped" at that location. One of the cast members tells him "Just go towards the light." A faint voice responds "I see something silver," and a moment later says "Christ, help me!" Kinda made a believer out of me.

 

[Treetopflyer]

I don't know, but I am open to the possibility.

 

[ButteMT61]

^^^
Being “in the zone”.

If you’ve played tennis matches, you would know
what I mean & how it feels...

No, I'm talking about this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734627/

 

[2jakes]

No, I'm talking about this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734627/

I was on a different zone, but I see what you mean.

Reminds me of this one.

 

[Zombie_61]

There are generally two schools of thought about these kinds of phenomena, those who think every creek in the night is paranormal, and those who would deny the existence of the paranormal if George Washington's ghost materialized in front of them and shook their hand. And I've learned, it's no use trying to change the minds of either...

Don't forget about the third school of thought--the much smaller group in-between the other two. The group who neither believes nor disbelieves, but is open-minded and will allow the possibility if enough evidence is provided.

That would be me; I'm a born skeptic. Or, in the context of this discussion about reincarnation, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that was me. I'm still skeptical about a great many things, but I've had experiences that convinced me there is something out there in the universe that's much grander than our perception of life here on Earth.

 

[2jakes]

Don't forget about the third school of thought--the much smaller group in-between the other two. The group who neither believes nor disbelieves, but is open-minded and will allow the possibility if enough evidence is provided.

That would be me; I'm a born skeptic. Or, in the context of this discussion about reincarnation, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that was me. I'm still skeptical about a great many things, but I've had experiences that convinced me there is something out there in the universe that's much grander than our perception of life here on Earth.

Yep !

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Even if reincarnation could be scientifically, metaphysically & philosophically proven to be impossible, the need to believe will remain.

 

[Zombie_61]

Even if reincarnation could be scientifically, metaphysically & philosophically proven to be impossible, the need to believe will remain.

Oh, absolutely. I think some people are so afraid of death that they'll believe almost anything that appears to give their lives some form of higher meaning or purpose, even if overwhelming and conclusive evidence proves otherwise.

The way I see it, believing in an afterlife and/or reincarnation doesn't harm anyone unless someone actively attempts to scam those people in some way by preying on those beliefs; the con-artists at the "psychic hot lines", for example. If my beliefs are correct, when my body dies my soul/self/consciousness/energy/lifeforce/whateveryouwanttocallit will return to wherever they go and will probably reincarnate at some point to attempt to correct the next "character flaw" on the list. If I'm wrong and the only thing to look forward to after death is the big dirt nap, so be it. Regardless, my beliefs aren't harming anyone because I'm not imposing them on anyone else.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Just a couple of centuries ago there were fewer than a billion people in the world. Now there are seven billion and counting. In fact, most of the people who have ever lived are alive today. So not everyone has been reincarnated, there just aren't enough souls from previous lives. Unless you subscribe to the Hindu belief in animal reincarnation. Has anyone ever recalled being a bark beetle or garter snake in a former life?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I know a lot of people who are pretty snakey right now.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Has anyone ever recalled being a bark beetle or garter snake in a former life?

Yes but it ended tragically

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Just a couple of centuries ago there were fewer than a billion people in the world. Now there are seven billion and counting. In fact, most of the people who have ever lived are alive today. So not everyone has been reincarnated, there just aren't enough souls from previous lives.

That is an interesting point but...................if we just stick to our species Homo Sapiens Sapiens, it has been estimated that around 108 billion people have been born since our apparition, even if we subtract the current 7 billion, that still leaves an ample stock of souls to be reincarnated. Reincarnation seems to be quite a 'modern' modus operandi of lost souls though,so I doubt our ancestors Home Erectus or Homo habilis or even our cousins the Neanderthalians had the gift of reincarnation as all the reincarnations I've heard about never go back as far as prehistory.

 

[emigran]

Chinese medical theory defines "pre-natal Jing" ( a fundamental substance and essential component of human life) as being stored in the Bone Marrow and Kidneys. This Jing essence (a kind of "pilot-light") is responsible for our constitution, basic physiological characteristics and subsequent growth, development and decline over the course of our lives. It can be likened any discussion around DNA /RNA and even more currently to Stem Cell technology. Thoughts/thinking/ memory are considered as energetic "substances " which can be addressed and manipulated via Chinese medical protocols.
Which brings me to the point of this thread... and my original post that asks whether energy can ever actually cease to be or does it just transform... ??

 

[scotrace]

I do believe in past lives and reincarnation. Yes, sometimes our fears, phobias, or whatever you want to call them, are carried over from a previous life, but not always; often it's because one of the reasons you've reincarnated is to work on ridding yourself of them.

And with regards to your question, "Do we meet and interact with the same people over and over and don't even realize it?", the answer is yes. Those people in your life that you feel a strong "connection" to have possibly spent previous lifetimes with you. Just as we, as human beings, have families here on Earth, our souls maintain similar groupings. Quite often two or more souls will incarnate in the same lifetime(s) to help each other progress towards becoming a more perfect entity. That, by the way, is the answer to the big question: "Why are we here?" We are here to learn, and we are here to teach. Simple as that.

I'm with you. We're here to learn, and to teach. And what you're saying plays into quantum theory and the notion of infinite universes of existence. I think there's an awful lot we don't understand, and can't, because of human limitations. Which brings me back to the Nicene Creed: I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We see and understand a fraction of what is all around us, and that is as intended.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

 

[Harp]

... We see and understand a fraction of what is all around us, and that is as intended.

The Mets bullpen crew threw 95mph+ strikes at the Cubs... et finis pax vobiscum Chicago.

 

[Zombie_61]

Just a couple of centuries ago there were fewer than a billion people in the world. Now there are seven billion and counting. In fact, most of the people who have ever lived are alive today. So not everyone has been reincarnated, there just aren't enough souls from previous lives. Unless you subscribe to the Hindu belief in animal reincarnation. Has anyone ever recalled being a bark beetle or garter snake in a former life?

Ah, but you're assuming that every soul that's currently incarnated was at one time incarnated in a previous life form here on Earth, and not considering life elsewhere in the universe (not to mention other dimensions and/or planes of existence). I'll continue this though below, because it's directly related to something Scotrace mentioned in his post.

I'm with you. We're here to learn, and to teach. And what you're saying plays into quantum theory and the notion of infinite universes of existence. I think there's an awful lot we don't understand, and can't, because of human limitations. Which brings me back to the Nicene Creed: I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We see and understand a fraction of what is all around us, and that is as intended.

"Human limitations". Exactly right. Our human brains can only process so much information. Contrary to popular belief, we do use 100% of our brains. We just don't use that 100% all of the time, and certain portions of our brains are dedicated to subconscious functions--controlling our heartbeats, for example--rather than conscious functions like memory storage and recall. And this limitation is the reason we don't remember our previous lives; there isn't enough space in our brains to retain all of that information. Memories and experiences from countless lifetimes? Most people can't remember every second of what happened in their lives today, or last week, or 10 years ago; we simply don't have that capacity.

Of course, there are exceptions. Albert Einstein, for example. Why was he able to conceive of his theories, and no one else? He was essentially a messenger. He was gifted with certain abilities in order to deliver his theories at the right time for them to benefit humanity in general (i.e., when we as a species were ready to understand them and utilize this knowledge). His theory that the speed of light is a constant, for example, was the starting point for much of our modern physics (as we understand physics today, that is) and led to a number of discoveries that may not have been made otherwise.

Think of it this way. Some people continue their education and become brain surgeons. They go through elementary school, middle school, high school, college, medical school, specialized education and training, and so on, in order to become brain surgeons. But they wouldn't have been ready to be brain surgeons when they were in the third grade because they hadn't developed mentally, physically, and psychologically enough to have done so. The progress of humanity on this planet isn't too dissimilar. Modern humans have only been around for approximately 200,000 years, and civilization is only about 6,000 years old; we, as a species, are not yet ready to have a full understand of how everything in the universe works. Hell, many of us can't even figure out how to set the clock on our new coffeemakers.

 

[Stearmen]

The way my life is going right now, I must have murdered a Hobo in a former life!

 

[Blackjack]

They say every second we live creates a different dimension which are infinite. Once we can navigate these dimensions we will time travel, but then again if time travel is happens at any time in the future then it's happening now. Anyway, possibly past lives are the soul moving through different dimensions which means you could live, are living in different times, at any givin time... ugggg

 

[Stearmen]

They say every second we live creates a different dimension which are infinite. Once we can navigate these dimensions we will time travel, but then again if time travel is happens at any time in the future then it's happening now. Anyway, possibly past lives are the soul moving through different dimensions which means you could live, are living in different times, at any givin time... ugggg