Who were you???

Good day all,
I wanted to recommend a few outside resources for further research into the philosophies and/or proof for reincarnation.
Do a search for : Judy Goodman, Ian Stephenson, Edgar Cayce.

When I was a preteen I had a definite conviction - quite disparate from my Episcopal upbringing - that we come back over and over 'til we get it right. When we finally have reached a certain level, we can choose to return, in order to help, OR we can move on to another dimension of existence. Examples: Jesus Christ, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama, Buddha...

Reincarnation is widely accepted and believed in much of the world, especially among non-Christians and pretty widely even within the "Christian" doctrines, and while I have no memory I would call vivid enough to override imagination, I did not ever hear of anyone else sharing the above "theory" (of coming back repeatedly to learn lessons) until I was much older.

I have a number of disturbing death-scenario dreams that recurr often: Drowning, Plunging off a cliff in a vehicle; Being chased and shot by someone; Being attacked by a large animal. All of which terrify me in my dreams and always *always* scare me awake just at the last second. And always seem so real - invariably I think "Wow, this is it, this time, not a dream."

I wonder if (believe that?) these nightmares, with no basis in my present-life history, are memories of previous deaths.

As for the recognition factor: Some theorists say we reincarnate in "groups", at various times, so yes, we know each other in that weird way that you sometimes see someone and it's like WHOA, I KNOW YOU, even though you never knew the person existed before. We can come back in different genders and different relationships to one another, but always before we do we are given choices. We choose the life that indicates the best opportunity for our soul to either TEACH someone else something, LEARN more about life, or EXPERIENCE things we need in order to align our various experiences. (These are ideas I have gleaned from other sources and research, as well as thought very much about)

This theory also can include the idea that we do not remember in our "present embodied" self what the lesson is, because it would be too distracting for the lesson to be learned. However, there are many books written by the exceptional few who can remember quite clearly or have suddenly been made aware spontaneously.

For more info (I would insert links here but I'm brand new and still learning the ropes and ways to do things) -
in addition to the persons above, check out:
Indigo people,
and
The Urantia Book (where my wild idea was first shown to me as not belonging only to me!),

and just do a general search for "reincarnation". There are fascinating boards out there that have hundreds of links and articles on this subject, which I find absolutely mesmerizing...one recently brought to my attention is entitled "Heaven is Real", written by the parent of a 5-year old who underwent clinical death and returned to say he had met his grandfather and an older sibling who die before he was born...

Separate theories talk about "alternate dimensions" of existence, and string theory says that "time" as we know it only exists in these machines we breathe within and from which we look out...based on our senses and capacity to see (e.g. we don't see the same light spectrums that other animals do, don't hear the same waves that dolphins or bats do, can't sense when it's time to migrate like birds do...etc.)

In any case,this is one of my very favorite topics, and once I get up to my 20 posts and can make my own threads, BOY do I have some questions for everyone.

Meanwhile: Enjoy Your Discoveries!

Disclaimer: I am no longer affiliated with any religion, Christian-based or otherwise, and consider myself a seeker after the Truth.

reply to post by purplemonkeydishwasher


Interesting, pmdw.

It may be slightly off-topic, but I too was drawn to the story of Hypatia. So much so that I even penned a poem in her honour and of my own inherent shame (for which I have no idea, but there it is).

I hope you relate.

reply to post by avatar22


This is very unusual your story is meant for my mother...
My brother was also born with a cleft lip and I will tell you who you described is just like him...I have to tell you he is 32 and has found his place in the world for at least 5 years now...Your son will find his place also....
Thank-you for sharing...

I feel I was a man,a warrior and this helps me sometimes in some situations... when an astrologist made my readings he told me that in previous life i was a warrior,very strange coincidence, i dont know how he came up to this but who knows
when i was 4 or 5yrs old, I remember having a memory being a ghost,this was very strange feeling, I felt deserted, hopelessly alone and desperate,these feelings were totally devastating for me ...I didnt want to think about these memories but they would suddenly pop out in my mind...I remember long, dark and narrow corridor,two windows at one side and moon light on the floor,moon was always full and I "remember" view from that windows,it was sea side, deserted place,very seldom a carriage would drive by...I was always in that damn corridor as if i was attached to it...

There are some things I know and I find this to be very interesting. One thing I know was I was once a native American and the life I led was a good one. I was always at home in the woods, never lost and I still cannot read or think too deeply at the demise of this culture, a great sadness here. I am still what was once called a half breed.

I also remember well, dying as a young man in Europe, being gunned down by machine gun fire during war, more than likely during ww 1 as the primitive tank beside me predates ww 2. I woke with this memory constantly as a young child, but know we in those days did not have tv, nor even radio as I was a neglected street kid minus any family.

Two others were of being a soldier putting to death some folks in a village, seemingly roman times. I was very sad to be doing this and know today what it feels like to hold a short sword while piercing a body. One other was way back and I was an old black woman going into the jungle to die,it was my time and this was a good thing.

Very interesting read.
Love all stories, it´s great to see that there are so many who go through this idea.

I remember, when I was a kid about four, that I loved to play violin. But not only this, I was really good and a conductor also. I used to hide before the eyes of my grandparents and then play standing before the musicans I saw at TV. I don´t know why I was so ashamed about it.

Another memory was about a white tissue with the initials: G.B. and the year 1600. I remember fire, but I don´t know if it was me standing inside it. And a weird feeling about Italy... I don´t like it Later I found out, it could be Giordanno Brunno. But, perhaps I only saw him burning and wasn´t actually him.

In first class we made an excursion with class into the forest nearby, I told my friend that some people during the WWII were brutally killed in a forest. They had to sit down on a tree, that had a spike on top. They were pulled down from their own weight. It was horrible. I think I was one of the bad guys.

Then in the sixties I was a boy in America. I remember driving with a man in a Pickup, I think it was a red one, but old. I don´t know if I knew him, but I know he would kill me, if I try to escape. He was listening to some now old songs... I get chills to: Hello Darkness my old friend.
So he brought me to an empty gas station. It could be in Texas... but I really don´t know. We were light years away from the next town, nothing but desert. He made a hole near the gas station, really deep. I had to stay there.
He came every day or every second and brought with him some fast food burgers. I decided to try to escape, it was very cold at night. I had a red creyon and draw some pictures of me sitting in the hole. The plan was, that perhaps someone would come and the wind could bring the drawings to someone who could help me.

But I was impatient. I climbed to the top of the hole, where the grate was (I could not open it) and threw out the drawing in form of a paper plane. But he stood near the hole. I heard his footsteps, then saying him something then my memory fades.

In this life I love drawing, I could draw everything I like, but I can´t finish my pictures. It´s like knowing: It won´t help you. It´s useless. Don´t like these feelings.

I remember my first or second life here on earth, but I think it was the second. I made something wrong and was punished to live as a black caterpiller. They Mayan or Inka culture was already on this planet, this is why I think it was the second life.
The first one was more about beeing in a mine like underground structure and planing a revolt against some very dangerous beings. I see myself standing in front of many very dirty humans, mostly dark skinned and telling them we would fight. But there was so much fear in their faces. Someone I trusted was the leader, and he was more like the ones we fighted.
This and the one life I told you before are the most strange, so I don´t really believe in them.
But I can´t proofe one of the others also.

Originally posted by masqua
reply to post by purplemonkeydishwasher

 

Interesting, pmdw.

It may be slightly off-topic, but I too was drawn to the story of Hypatia. So much so that I even penned a poem in her honour and of my own inherent shame (for which I have no idea, but there it is).

I hope you relate.

Thanks for the link and sharing I enjoy your poetic prose! I have never been a fan of clams - heh and when I think about the number of scars I carry on my body lends one to wonder how I have any skin left at all sometimes - albeit, that is a slight 'hy'perbole I found this a few months ago when I was attempting to trace connections between Ovidius and Hypatia.. perhaps you might find it interesting - the site itself is in german, not all of her works have been translated - but this one is pretty good

www.relativityhair.de...

peace.

Kinda funny how I made thread about the subject and nobody cared and this one explodes. I'll put it up again then.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by religiousmurder


That´s because you ask: FAKE or TRUE??

Here nobody cares if it´s fake or true. We tell each other just our experiences. No judgement!

Originally posted by zbeliever
reply to post by Burgo

 

I don't feel as if I was ever anyone famous or important to history...Just a average soul that is trying to make it....I feel alot of people on this thread have also just lived regular lives....

I respect that, Im just a bit weary as I also underwent rebirthing, regression etc
not 100% convinced, i'll stick with Lord Jesus Christ

Originally posted by Burgo

Originally posted by zbeliever
reply to post by Burgo

 

I don't feel as if I was ever anyone famous or important to history...Just a average soul that is trying to make it....I feel alot of people on this thread have also just lived regular lives....

I respect that, Im just a bit weary as I also underwent rebirthing, regression etc
not 100% convinced, i'll stick with Lord Jesus Christ

Duuuude - there are 300 sextillion stars in the Universe (approximately) God did not send his "only" son down to Earth to save a bunch of gnats - there are most likely trillions upon trillions of other gnats to be saved, considering the statistical likelihood of life existing everywhere!

Yehoshua was a prophet, an advanced, spiritual entity; like Buddha - the Empire deified Julius as Jesus (Hey -Zeus! Hey Jupiter!) to sell us into slavery and keep us behaving like good children.

You might have a few more lives to go through yet ..

Originally posted by Burgo
not 100% convinced, i'll stick with Lord Jesus Christ

Excellent opportunity!

Let's go back to the very beginning of the Christian faith:

In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom (To Autolycus II.15). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time. Afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian (On Pudicity 21). In the next century the word is in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen ("In Ps. xvii", 15). The first creed in which it appears is that of Origen's pupil, Gregory Thaumaturgus. In his Ekthesis tes pisteos composed between 260 and 270, he writes:

There is therefore nothing created, nothing subject to another in the Trinity: nor is there anything that has been added as though it once had not existed, but had entered afterwards: therefore the Father has never been without the Son, nor the Son without the Spirit: and this same Trinity is immutable and unalterable forever (P.G., X, 986).
www.newadvent.org...

Above is the manner in which the Holy Trinity is described. Read the bolded section carefully, because it is WAY important.

"There is nothing therefore created"

I read in this that the holy spirit is unalterable from the very beginning. It exists in totallity. Now, I would bring this further and encompass everything which exists in, at the very least, our entire known universe. All, suns, planets, gas/dust clouds, rocks, trees, water and air, is imbued with the unaltered spirit of the Deity which gives everything form.

"nothing subject to another in the Trinity"

In other words, nothing which depends on the other for its existence. These entities, in the case of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) are, indeed one and the same, always have been and ever will be.

"nor is there anything that has been added as though it once had not existed, but had entered afterwards"

Once again, the three facets of the Deity have always been, are, and always will be, utterly unalterable.

OK... the last bit just states again what the first part said, so let's apply that to the idea of reincarnation.

IF the Holy Ghost, described by that same first Christian church is correct:

In the New Testament
(a) The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6), the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7). These terms imply a relation of the Spirit to the Son, which can only be a relation of origin. This conclusion is so much the more indisputable as all admit the similar argument to explain why the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of the Father. Thus St. Augustine argues (Tractate 99 on the Gospel of John, nos. 6-7): "You hear the Lord himself declare: 'It is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you'. Likewise you hear the Apostle declare: 'God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. Could there then be two spirits, one the spirit of the Father, the other the spirit of the Son? Certainly not. Just as there is only one Father, just as there is only one Lord or one Son, so there is only one Spirit, Who is, consequently, the Spirit of both. . . Why then should you refuse to believe that He proceeds also from the Son, since He is also the Spirit of the Son? If He did not proceed from Him, Jesus, when He appeared to His disciples after His Resurrection, would not have breathed on them, saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'. What, indeed, does this breathing signify, but that the Spirit proceeds also from Him?" St. Athanasius had argued in exactly the same way (De Trinit. et Spir. S., n. 19, in P.G., XXVI, 1212), and concluded: "We say that the Son of God is also the source of the Spirit."
www.newadvent.org...

Note the part I bolded.

Jesus Himself said that according to John. He was NOT talking about Himself, he was talking about John and John, while an apostle and saint, is no Jesus. Then it must follow that this same Holy Spirit may pass to any and all creatures in the universe that are self-aware. Even you and I.

Now, don't misunderstand me... I'm no Christian but honestly DO take into account everything which has been said in those early centuries after the Ebionites spread the word of their prophet throughout the Roman Empire. Without going into Arianism, Saul of Tarsus and the subsequent counsels in Nice and elsewhere, there is much to be gleaned from the theological debates which went on. The more I've learned, the less problem I have with the idea of reincarnation in relation to Christianity.

The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote about the Pharisees being believers in reincarnation. The Pharisees were the Jewish sect which Paul belonged to before his NDE and conversion to Christianity. Josephus wrote about the Pharisees' belief that the souls of evil men are punished after death. But the souls of good men are "removed into other bodies" and they will have "power to revive and live again."

From time to time throughout Jewish history, there was a persistent belief about dead prophets returning to life through reincarnation. But the Sadducees, a purist sect of Judaism, rejected the Persian concepts of resurrection and all Hellenistic influences involving reincarnation that was happening in Jesus' day. The Sadducees accepted only the orthodox Hebrew belief in Sheol. So there were a variety of influences going on in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.

[snip]

The first great Father of the early orthodox Church was Origen (A.D. 185-254) who was the first person since Paul to develop a system of theology around the teachings of Jesus. Origen was an ardent defender of pre-existence and reincarnation. Pre-existence is the religious concept of the soul as not being created at birth; rather the soul existed before birth in heaven or in a past life on Earth. Origen taught that pre-existence is found in Hebrew scriptures and the teachings of Jesus.

www.near-death.com...

I think I was a genius before, because of all the stupid decisions I am making now.

I have no idea who I was.

I have too many memories of things that have never happened to me to possibly be able to differentiate between the multiple lives I might have lived. And every single time I see a "psychic" they themselves can't differentiate between all my lives. But then again.... I'm Catholic... so only like 15% of me actually believes that I've lived other lives. And I don't believe in psychics, so the only time I've ever actually talked with them have been when other friends have dragged me along.



But I feel that I can say for "sure" that my most recent death involved me falling from the top of a building. Heights and gravity are the only things that scare me. Even if I'm walking with friends around the second floor of the mall, I refuse to stand on the outside towards the railings. Even if I'm safely secured in a tall building, I will not approach the windows. Even now, I'm sitting here safe in the basement, but I can still see flashes of an experience of falling from a great height.

So yeah... I've always thought that my irrational fear of falling from a great height was a result of something that happened to me in another life.

Originally posted by mr10k
I think I was a genius before, because of all the stupid decisions I am making now.

No one is immune.

i don't think anyone else actually exist and everyone is just made from my imagination, and me myself, I am just a thought, and expression of my own conciousness

Na, sorry, i dont have a clue

I think I was in World War Two, either as a German, or Russian. I often have dreams where I'm on the Eastern front, more commonly as a German officer. I've always had an insane interest in History, epecially the second world war.

I might also have been a famous musician, in the 60's. My favorite being Brian Jones, the founding member of the Rolling Stones. Sadly, no one even knows who he was.

i envy those who are able to remember past lives... i believe in reincarnation but cant remember jack! i've been toying with the idea of past life regression.

I love hearing peoples stories. I have several memories of my own past lives.

I have spent many lives in China and Japan. I was married to a wonderful man who raised and trained beautiful birds for the Emperor. We had a wonderful life. In Japan I was married to a man who was quite a rouge. I was really jealous. We died on a ship when It was hit by a giant wave. I get really upset watching the recent tsunami videos.

I also spent a lot of time in France. I was an orphaned street urchin in Paris. Then I was a very fat Friar living with others in the forest. That was a very good life. Once we had the task of moving a very powerful religious figure from one place to another, to save his life due to an uprising. We dressed as interns from an insane asylum and told everybody that we were taking this crazy rich guy who thinks he is YOUR HOLINESS to the hospital for his own good. During the trip, out of respect we called him that, "Your Holiness", but in a mocking way, which saved his life, but pissed him off. One of my companions during that life is my father in this life.

Another time in 1686, France, I remember walking in a group of about a dozen darkly dressed somber individuals. I was directly behind my husband who led the group. My daughter, was about 2 and had blond curly hair and laughed and sang as we trudged along a sulpher stained hot spring. Finally, we arrived a cave entrance at which time my husband lifted my daughter upon a rock pedestle a proceded to lop her head off. As her head hit the ground I fainted. I awoke from my afternoon nap in 1986 suddenly and started asking what year is this 1686? That's when I realized I was having a dream. That's how I remebered this particular life time. I believe that little girl is my daughter today.

I remember living in Scotland in the 1800's. I was about 13 and was betrothed to a bully that I hated. I knew my life would be filled with beatings and rape. I was with my twin brother sittiing on the grass at the edge of a cliff lamenting my fate and pulling at the crab grass beneath me. I pulled a big clod of dirt up that caused the cliff where I was sitting to collapse and I fell to my death. My brother, who did not fall told everyone that I jumped because he wanted to shame my parents.

I have many memories some fond and some make me greatful to be alive in these times and others make me yearn for simpler, happier times. My hope is that I will remember me, next time!

Nonbeliever here.

Have enjoyed reading the various stories though, if nothing else, testaments to incredible imaginations.

Obviously there is no proof for reincarnation, but I will say that the notion enjoys a few merits that supersede some of the more traditional ideas, especially ones like "hell".

One of the reasons religion has such power is because it hands out answers to the unknown. But sometimes, they're kinda silly answers, IMO.

Contrasting hell, and reincarnation, at least we have some remedial value in reincarnation. A person lives so many decades perhaps, maybe is a screw-up in some moralistic sense, and instead of getting tossed in the eternal waste-bin, they get to try again, maybe within a new context that underscores a lesson that for whatever reason, needs learning.

SO, all that being said, I don't want to come off as judgmental of anyone's beliefs, because that's what they are, again, there isn't any real evidence, other than these anecdotal, imaginative stories.

However, beyond the very human "need" to have unknowable answers, I still don't see a "need" to posit anything like reincarnation, which seems contrary to common sense anyway, in many respects.

I'm fairly OK with seeing "who" I am in the mundane context of my genetic heritage, the way I was raised, and environment that I have grown in. All these things impacted "who" I am, and the thoughts that I ultimately thought, which may have further influenced the "who" that I have become.

Further, I have no memory of any "previous life", and many of my "tendencies" are easily explainable by genetics and upbringing. Do I enjoy drinking wine? Well, yes, and my ancestors going back at last five generations seem perfectly adequate in explaining that! Do I have a bit of a temper at times? Sure, so did my Dad, and his Dad, etc...

Could I have been a ditch-digger with a low IQ in a previous life? Maybe, but why?? Or perhaps I could join the legions of Alexander the Greats, but my "experience" as him has apparently done me no good anyway.

I'm not sure anyone has it figured out. Relgionists have different schemes, imaging that they know the Meaning of Life. Perhaps they will recite their catechism, which might suggest that they were here in this life to know God, love and serve Him, but what does that say about babies who die, retards and nut-jobs? There are some seemingly "pointless" lives, if you will, that defy "reason" even in a cosmic sense.

Of course, the various belief-systems come in to answer the constant enigmas life throws at us, but as for me, I continue to see nothing terribly convincing.

I hope this didn't seem like a derail. Again, I've enjoyed the stories, I'll S & F this thought-provoking thread, thanks OP.

JR