If You Were Offered Reincarnation ... Would You Grab the Opportunity ?

Originally posted by Trappestine
reply to post by Dock6

 

If I had a choice, I think I would live again on the condition that I have no memory whatsoever of this life. Who knows, it may have already happened! Right now I live a modest, upper-middle class white suburbanite life. My life has very little troubles and tribulations in relation to other lifestyles, rich and poor alike. I think I'd like to have a different life experience. I wouldn't want to be impoverished or dying from starvation or anything, but I think I would want a life where I had to fight for what I wanted. I want the sense of satisfaction that comes from succeeding in a life where nothing is handed to me, and I can earn my way to the pinnacle of whatever that life may be. If I end up as a rebel soldier fighting for a cause along with underfunded and undertrained compatriots, I'd want to accomplish something - maybe fight an autocratic regime and bring power to the people, or play a part in such a turn of events. If I were to be reborn as a poor immigrant living in New York with no education, very little money, and a dream, I'd want to use what little I have to achieve financial and personal success in business/fashion/etc.

I want to know what it's like to truly earn my rightful place in the world and not cruise by with little effort as I have so far in this life. I know this may sound a little bit arrogant or pompous of me, but I assure you, I would work hard if I really needed to.

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Ahhh ... thank you for such a wonderful post !

I think I speak for everyone when I say you sound admirable !

If I have to do another 'tour of duty ' ... hope I run into you .

Thank you again

I'm going to answer your questions in my own way for the moment because its the way I personally feel (since the character is a personification of an ideal me I suppose) and it's altered my theories on many things. Suffice to say I have to give you some backstory first before I answer the actual question, so sorry if its a bit long...

When I was about 16 I started writing some stories about a guy who is basically the primeval god Chaos in human form (and all things lead back to him, he is THE god above all others, but only the gods now that so to speak). The idea goes that Chaos realised that humans and the gods that created them (its in a fantasy universe but it ties in with our own because all universes are equal in Chaos' eyes and he gets reincarnated equally here and in his 'own' world) would ultimately mess up by starting wars and so forth and being that humans are naturally chaotic, he had a bit of a soft spot for them so made himself an avatar that could directly influence people's lives for the better (since he himself can't be seen to be meddling). Now, the stories take on this guy at different points in his lives (he has therefore lived before time began), and he gets visited by Chaos and then gets sort of 'rebooted' so he knows every other past life he's had and has his powers restored as a being outside of time.

Given that, every time Chaos visits him, he fills him with this knowledge and each time, he goes a bit mental to start with and gets really angry for having had his life turned upsidedown AGAIN. Suffice to say its all because he can't really ever marry anyone or have kids, because they'll ultimately die and he can't give them his power to be infinite because they're human.

So, it would depend on whether it works the same - if I knew about my past lives, then no, I would hate to have to keep loosing everything I loved and start again in effect. Even Gandy (his name is Gandilus) eventually stops doing it because he wants to feel 'normal' and it really bothers him enough that he actually alters time to become fully human (suffice to say it was all a ploy by Chaos and that REALLY pisz him off when he finds out) because he loves one woman so much he can't ever leave her.

I feel the same, I would rather not know and have no choice in it, than I would to feel outside of it (f.e. every time you reincarnate your conciousness uses it as an experiment to feel different emotions) because I would hope to be a naturally moral and 'good' person, so doing evil in one life would ultimately make me feel well, unpleasant about it all and not in control.

It's like whenever I play an online game or an RPG, I generally end up being exactly the same, I generally never stray into very dark areas and I always look for ways out of situations that would ultimately lead me into areas of hateful or unpleasant actions. My bro-in-law for example can't see why I feel very unhappy about PvP in computer games, but to me, that leads to negative emotions, and a surge of 'dark passions' if you tend to 'get off' on killing other players, it's just not my style I guess. I'm not saying I don't kill people, or steal, but I generally do it in a way that makes no difference unless absolutely necessary to those who are not involved (i.e. I wouldn't say kill a whole town of people in Oblivion JUST for fun, but if I had to kill someone evil then I would feel justified and have no qualms, but on the other hand if someone saw but didn't understand why I had, I wouldn't kill them just to keep it quiet).

That's partly the reason why I think I stopped working for the government because I dislike secrecy and deceit of others, it just isn't in my nature, so I would be very uncomfortable having to incarnate into someone who felt that way all the time - I'd just rather not know, or be ultimately, good every lifetime, which defeats the purpose of reincarnation IF it is to feel the whole gamut of human nature.

Sorry its a bit longwinded and odd, but thats my take on it.

Originally posted by Dock6
Thanks, everyone. Some interesting and considered responses there.

Several are quite similar, too .. have you noticed ?

Suggests that Life is not considered to be as 'great' as some would have us believe, perhaps.

If you could return as a gifted healer though ... wouldn't you be tempted to return, knowing that in doing so, you could improve the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands or tens of thousands ? When you look at what Lister, Pasteur and Fleming (who gave us penicillin) gave to the world during their lifetimes ... wouldn't you agree to spend another 70 or 80 years on the planet in order to make a contribution similar to theirs ?

Or maybe if you could return as a musician whose genius would enrich millions, generation after another ... wouldn't you consider it worth the sacrifice ?

No, thanks, if god is listening, thanks but no thanks, i would rather be just a tree, or a dog if reincarnation is real(i would prefer it not to be).

Against your argument, being a musician, look at kurt cobain, look at britney spears. For being a healer or what ever, thats also a life of suffering usually. Though that saying"to save one person is like saving the world", this is very true in my opinion.

So all in all, me personally, if theres something up there watching us, i would not like to be reincarnated in this world, and if i had too, let me be a farmer back a few hundred years ago, a big no no with regard to today or in the future.

It is an interesting subject, though and i will read it in the future, to see how others feel.

[edit on 2/9/2008 by andy1033]

[edit on 2/9/2008 by andy1033]

reply to post by Dock6



So the less "good" can screw it up and make your message an twisted parody of a joke.
Heck. Look at if Jesus Christ did actually exist and did in fact teach messages of brotherhood, tollerance, and forgiveness.

Then look at the middle ages and mainstream christianity in america.

My view is stop this farce I want off.

And yea in some senses we are all one.
In the physical at least.
Spiritually I think its a different manner.
But then again I am the "We are baby gods" guy.


And I heard something about regression theropy is more or less a joke but having no experience in it I don't know.
Saw it on Penn and Teller's BullS***.

[edit on 9-2-2008 by WraothAscendant]

I would want to try life again but I would like to pick the year to come back. Somewhere in the 1940's maybe. I have always wanted to be able to play a guitar and sing ( can't carry a tune). If I could play like Stevie Ray Vaughn, I would be blessed and I would surely bless others!

reply to post by ejsaunders



.......................

But can you appreciate and understand white, if you have no experience of black with which to compare it ?

Extreme example, but just to get the mind ticking.

Can we fully empathise, sympathise and act wisely and well with regard to those living in extreme poverty, for example ... if we've never walked in their shoes ?

Can we hope to propertly fulfill the roles of judge or jury or legislator --- if we've never experienced what it's like to be standing in the dock accused of a crime ?

Can we develop true piety unless we've known the opposite ?

Can we become healers if we've never experienced sickness ?

I'd be glad to come back, but give me a purpose, make interacting with others meaningful on a spiritual level, day after day. Otherwise I'm in the same mindset as those who aren't interested.

Too often there are times where I realize I'd learn and effect quite nearly as much through pure observation - as extreme as it sounds, i'm sorry but people just don't pay attention/remember anything. Sure you have to get close enough for the conversation to be there, but at the end of the day we learn through observation, not by manipulation. Why must we be in a position to manipulate? When basically knowledge, spirit, and love are all that we leave with?

reply to post by andy1033


......................

Well, you needn't be Cobain or Britney. You could be another Mozart or even a Mantovani. They've provided unimaginable pleasure to millions.

reply to post by Dock6


Usually, a person who has gone through no pain, does not generate that stuff that effects millions. I do not know what those composers went through, but all i see are famous people with empty lifes, cobain had maybe one year of happiness in his life.

I am talking from my point of view, and i am just saying that if i was given the choice, and i would say no. But heck maybe we do not have a choice.

There is nothing in being famous i like. Like i said, i would rather just be a nobody farmer in the hills, hundreds of years ago than anyone in todays world or in the future.

reply to post by Dock6


But one does not necessarily have to have done bad things, only been an observer or an unwilling participant - i.e. have had bad things done to them for them to know them.

I would rather not DO them, but I will accept that we cannot appreciate the good without the bad, just I personally wish to not have to do them, that was more my point and that based on the standard view of reincarnation, you experience having good and doing good, and having bad and doing bad - I would rather always strive to do good and receive bad, than do bad and receive good.

reply to post by andy1033



...................

Okay .. understand.

So if you were offered a fresh life as a humble farmer in the hills .. would you take it, seeing it would provide you the opportunity to perhaps raise a family and be self-sufficient .. live a plain but toil-filled life ? Which sounds a worthwhile life, no doubt about it.

Would you choose to live that life in the same country you live in now .. or would you choose a different location altogether ?

Would you choose to be male or female .. or stay the same sex as you are now ?

Originally posted by ejsaunders
reply to post by Dock6

 

But one does not necessarily have to have done bad things, only been an observer or an unwilling participant - i.e. have had bad things done to them for them to know them.

I would rather not DO them, but I will accept that we cannot appreciate the good without the bad, just I personally wish to not have to do them, that was more my point and that based on the standard view of reincarnation, you experience having good and doing good, and having bad and doing bad - I would rather always strive to do good and receive bad, than do bad and receive good.

......

Oh, I wasn't criticising .. apologies if I gave that impression.

We do seem to have developed into perpetual observers, rather than participants though .. don't you feel ?

Maybe it's the result of the 'screens' .. the movie screens, the tv screens, computer screens, cell-phone screens. People are tending more and more to live life several times removed.

Seems to me that God intended we should 'experience'. Stone Age man's existence was almost total experience, for example. And the majority of the world's people, throughout the ages, has tended far more to experience (mostly harsh) than passive observation.

For example, you can be fully trained in birthing procedures. You can learn every possible potential birth scenario. You can even be a 'birthing trainer' or nurse or doctor. But only when you've given birth, do you know what birthing's about.

reply to post by Dock6


Put it this way, i would rather be a dog or a cat that live in todays world, or in the futrue.

With regard to living on a farm, just as long as its self sufficent and i do not need to rely on others, i would be ok.

It would be that or live as a monk. But they too in todays world are not wanted, just look at tibet and china. Its amazing that if you leave people alone in this world, and try to live a peaceful life, people cannot leave you alone.

But heck like i said earlier, i would rather just live once, i saw what i saw, of this world, and thats it, thx but no thanks, in capitals.

Though it is interesting to see that others too, would prefer thsi to be a one life experience. What did we learn from all this.

I have said for a long time, this world is what we percieve hell to be like, and its just getting worse, with all the police state things coming.



[edit on 2/9/2008 by andy1033]

Nor did I take it that you were, and I too apologise if I seemed to be upset about it, it was not my intention, merely that I wanted to make sure you understood what I meant in my rather longwinded version, the short version says what I mean, but doesn't get to my ideal behind it I suppose, it gives no bearing on why I feel that way.

I wrote in another post that I've had a fair amount of bad in my life, but along with that, I've had some extremely great goodness too, and while I did often think I'd like to have gone back and changed it or to have not experienced it at all, I now think it was for a purpose, to make me appreciate the 'good' a lot more than I originally did. It's like I used to think I'd love to be the character and change the world, but its not that simple - changing one simple thing for the better would mean a knock-on effect that would ultimately hurt a lot of people that would also benefit from the good, so its better to leave everything as it is, which is why IMO God doesn't really answer prayers in a way that satisfies the person asking (i.e. "Can I win the lottery?" - he'd maybe give you the OPTION to do it yourself, or make you see that what you have is far more importan that what you think you need and will gain from all the money, or perhaps the winning would change you in a way you'd ultimately not like, so he's actually doing you a favour not letting you win).

reply to post by ejsaunders


They reckon on some level we all agree to what happens to us in our lifes. Whether thats true or not, i understand what you mean.

reply to post by Dock6


Hi Dock6, this question was really in a way asked by a colleague of my one year ago.
I said to him in a way the same thing as I say here.
So lets fantasize.

Originally posted by Dock6

Where would you choose to be born and live ?

On Earth

Would you choose to be male or female ?

In this case Male, but it must makes no difference.

Would you choose to be rich or poor .. or anywhere in-between ?

Extremely rich.

What skills, talents and abilities would you choose to have in your new life ?

Extremely intelligent, convincingly / persuasively / impressively..

Would you choose to be a member of a large family, or small ?

This doesn’t matter.

Would you prefer to be handsome/beautiful or 'average' ?

This doesn’t matter.

Would you choose to be similar to the person you are now ?

No.

If not, please describe the person you'd like to be .. and the reasons you'd prefer to be different to the way you are now.

Look above.

Would you choose a different religion to the one you belong to now ?

This doesn’t matter.

Would you choose to have a perfectly healthy body in your new life .. or would you like to experience a disability or particular condition or disease ?

To do what I will do, a strong indestructible body.

Would you choose to live a life of luxury and ease .. or would you choose to return as a healer, a missionary, a politician, a rebel, a revolutionary, etc ?

The only thing I would choose, is to get the opportunity, to try with all my capabilities and money to unit all the leaders of this world and therefore all their people to become for once and for all one race, with only one goal, ban all inhumanly things.

Originally posted by CavemanDD
I think everyone diserves the ability to right their wrongs. We think conciousness comes entirely from the brain yet, how come everyone is so different? I mean... our brains are pretty much the same yet there are varying types of people. It seems some of have no judgment whatsoever, whereas some others are born incredibly wise. So is it experience or luck of the draw?

Not to be a killjoy, but we're each "different" because of our environment. We are raised differently, learn things differently, and as such, our personalities develop differently. Has nothing to do with the "soul." Just environmental. Also, intelligence also has to do with how the neurons fire. Some fire faster then others, some have a stronger physical link between left and right hemispheres of they're brain, some use one hemisphere predominately more then the other, etc.

I don't think any civilization could be self-sustaining if its members didn't have the ability to continueously learn.

If we were continuously learning, why has humanity done the same exact damn thing for 4,000 years? Get born, let dumb people run they're lives, fight and war with each other, breed like jackrabbits and die. Theres no learning.

I believe this is not true in my oppinion because of the people who have demonstrated that their thoughts are capable of leaving their brain and interacting with other objects or people.

Theres a sign in a California emergency room which had high reports of out of body experiences. It is a sign that had a unknown phrase on it, facing the ceiling of the emergency room. Its been there for 10 years, not one Out of Body Experiencee has been able to see it. OBEs are just your brain firing in weird ways, and taking information received of the area your in, and translating it into an almost lucid dream state. The OBErs couldn't see the sign, because the physical eyes did not see it (its facing up to the ceiling) so when the neurons began firing and creating the OBE illusion, it can only show what the eyes can see.

Telekinesis or Psychokinesis.. the ability to move objects without making physical contact.

Theres yet to have been any proof of psychokinesis or Telekinesis. There is a skeptic with a million dollar prize out there for about 5 years now, nobodies been able to claim it.

Mind reading, remote viewing, ASTRAL PROJECTION / OBE* thats a big one.

Mind reading is just cold reading, the illusion of reading ones mind. Remote viewing, which I have an interest in, had a military project which was terminated rather quickly, it obviously wasn't effective. Astral Projection is in the same boat with OBEs, no proof of it being anything more then lucid dreams.

hey say energy cannot be destroyed, and afterall isn't matter just energy assuming a different form?

Well when you burn down a tree, its energy turns into ash and smoke and a few other gases. It wasn't destroyed, but it didn't turn into a ghost tree and float about.

reply to post by WolfofWar


You are entitled to your own oppinion

It could be that its all a lie...

Or the best kept secret.

reply to post by CavemanDD


Well its not really my opinion, just scientific debunking on commonly held superstition.

It's like NDEs. Everybody thinks its some type of mystical heavenly gateway, when experiments with certain chemicals that are released in the brain during tramatic events are shown to cause NDEs in non Near Death Experiences.

reply to post by CavemanDD



Or just a mind that cannot accept anything that doesn't submit to mankinds blunt little scalpel known as the big S.



I've always thought it was possible there where very physical things the brain does as a way of sorta padding the soon to be bodiless soul.
But who is to know that hasn't already passed beyond telling?

Death I am told is already a pretty disorienting and messed up experienced as is.

[edit on 9-2-2008 by WraothAscendant]