Have you ever given any thought to this question?

And I believe it is a good question--because neither theists, nor atheists ever seem to address it.

But stop and think for a moment about from whence you came...

Imagine the cute puppy, or kitten, or baby, and the curious compulsion you have to observe
and be amused by their innocent struggle to come to grips with their surroundings.

Now step back and clear your head...

Doesn't it seem that the cute entity that you are watching is testing out his new digs?

And isn't that what you find to be the most compelling reason to observe? To watch while another life
force is struggling (like you) to understand the parameters of his or her confinement--to watch while they struggle to come to grips with the tiny body they have found themselves in; their surroundings in
this strange environment of air and water and soil....and their limited sense of reality, provided by
their meager sense of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.....?

So what do you think of this life you have acquired...?

And to hell (or heaven) with where you go when you die....Where did you come from?

Were you something before?

Or did you, and your consciousness simply coalesce at this particular time, in this particular place, on
this particular little blue ball...in the middle of nowhere?

The same place the flame goes when you blow the candle out.

It was a timeless spacelessness, the nous.

I do recall when I discovered being in my Moms womb and what I thought about this incarnation.

For as long as eternity I have been traveling and will continue to forever.

I was in Heaven.

I only agreed to come here to get my kids back.

since so many decided to give me a difficult time about what belongs to me, i've decided to stick around for awhile and make them regret it.

This might sound very weird but I always had the thought I was the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler
I know, it sounds like bull, and I don't have his Idea's or anything.. the thought just popped up once and never went away.

An idea ive had lately that has taken hold is that we are eternal, spiritual beings.

While physical existance can be hellish at times, id like to suggest it might be nothing compared to the crippling boredom that might set in after trillions of years of being alive. Yes, things may be wonderful and new when we die, but watching big bang after big bang, exploring every corner of the multi-verse and more, i can imagine a brutal, oppressive boredom setting in. Perhaps our eternal souls wish to rest, or at least forget for a time and we choose to reincarnate as a physical being on one of the billions of habitable planets in this universe and beyond!

Just food for thought.

From what I understand (and believe to a certain degree) is that we've all been here lots and lots of times before as previous human entities in the form of re-incarnation. Only when your 'soul' has evolved and we understand the system will we progress to the next phase of life (Heaven, Light-Beings, etc). Unless you haven't gathered by now, if you're not ready and live a negative life-span, you'll re-incarnate again....or in other words stay in 'Hell'!

Forget the phrase "Hell on Earth"...."HELL IS EARTH"!

Why I was in the womb before I was born of course.

seriously though my brain had not yet been formed by my conception so I did not exist at all.

neither did you

or them

I was in a kind of classroom. lot of people. lot of discussion. then i had an assignment. and then I arrived here. i know it sounds daft. but thats what i remember,

Meh. At most, got to exist outside of time for a moment, but I doubt that I existed much before fertilization to make it worth my time to worry about. Where you have been is not nearly as important as where you are going.

I don't know what the place was called, but at the age of nineteen years I had a short visit of a few minutes. That was forty two years ago, and I remember it all as though it happened only yesterday. I didn't want to come back here, but was told only that it wasn't my time yet. Here I am all these years later, and I still don't know!
I've never cared to know whom or what I was in previous lives, although any wrongs I did I'm hoping I've corrected in this one. However, I have my doubts!

Quite a few replies...thanks

What bothers me the most about this question is this damn consciousness I possess...

And as one poster pointed out, the question does presuppose an existence prior to birth, but
it is not the only platform from which to reply.

We simply could have been somewhere before we came into existence...or it could be that we simply
did not exist until we coalesced into what we are.

But there still remains the riddle of our singular consciousness.

You certainly are YOU. And I am ME. And all of us are uniquely alone in our existence...

And I don't know how to put into words.....this....

I can't actually explain my point of view on it....it is best described with questions.

Why here?
Why now?
Why did I arise a consciousness at all?
And why am I so singular....so alone in my thoughts, and yet so obviously a small portion of the greater
whole we call the universe, and yet so completely apart from it.

I sense (in the same way theists do) that I was "before"...and that I will be "after." You can call that
spirituality if you want, but I call it science based on personal observation. It is poor science, to be
sure, but I'm a little reluctant to kill this body I am inhabiting for the sake of scientific inquiry, and
without some other from of evidence I only have two things to base my hypothesis on...

One, is the first words that it has been said that God spoke.....I AM

And the other is my innate sense of self, alone, individual, and isolated in the midst of the chaos that is
our universe. The idea that I just arose from nothing requires something more than....ahhhh I dunno.

maybe it's the meds lol

I existed for a short time (about 9 months) in my mother’s womb before I was born. No thought or consciousness can I remember during this time.

Before I was conceived there was nothing, I simply just did not exist – it will be the same for all of us after we die.

My first memory or thought as a human being was around 2 years of age, I realised I could think and do things on my own..... therefore I realised I was alive, a being that can do things and learn.

In answer to your questions....

Why here? – This is where I was conceived, a sperm and an egg combined to create my life.
Why now? – This is when my parents had sex and the combination of his sperm and her egg created my life during this time, without them I would not exist at all in any shape, spirit, energy or form.
Why singular? – Everyone on this earth is different, with their own thoughts and emotions. We are part of the universe, not separate from it.

You are an individual of the human species, don’t be worried about that, everyone is.... you’re not alone, just an individual.

The idea that you “arose from nothing” does not require more of an explanation – you did because of your parents, so be thankful that they created you in exactly the way that they did at exactly the time that they did – otherwise you would simply not exist.

My 5 year old boy understands that he could not or would not have existed if he was conceived at any other time, or without his mum or dad. He understands the concept of creating life and that the all life on the planet is different.

Mickierocksman

You could say that consciousness is just your particular random mix of chemicals and signals you gathered whilst in the womb. Before being born, I was nothing. I was everywhere, but nowhere. Simply didn't exist in the form I do now. As I was formed, thought patterns and chemicals coalesced to create my individuality. There was no rhyme or reason except that which I personally applied to it once I began to think. You tend to have a melting pot of possibilities when you are a child. Subconsciously, you decide what you want to develop and what you want to allow to fall away from your personality.

The prime factor in all of this is change and chaos. All can change, die, and disappear, just to reappear again in another form. That's all reincarnation is. You will never be who you are made up of. You are individual from even your past lives.

Originally posted by antar
It was a timeless spacelessness,

This is almost what I remember, timeless, spacelessness, blackness...millions of us there, don't remember the womb part; but I do remember leaving all of that timeless, spacelessness, blackness behind to began a new life.

rival
I was in the "The Guff" or "The Hall of Souls" This is were all were all souls are created and also were we go when we die until we go through the process of reincarnation. It gives you time to learn from your life what you didn't see when you were in the flesh form....

Most reincarnation takes time. This is to keep you from being with ones you knew in life. Even though you wear a new body of flesh you might still have attachments that will draw you to them and this is not what they need in life or you in the new one. It also gives you time to see all those you knew in life and to greet them, thank them or ask their forgiveness for what transpired when you were in the flesh form. peace,sugarcookie1

Ive wondered this for some time as well. One day we just realize we are on this earth but no one ever really thinks about why or where they come from. Where we are is a good question because it is unsolveable. A man by the name of Roy Mills states that we are all in heaven. It just brings on a further question like why do we feel like we just appear one day? Did we see the big bang somwhere else? Are we even real?

Im just rambling now but I hope that makes sense. We just appear but have no memory of where we were before this "appearance"

The worm at the bottom of a Tequila bottle on a dusty shelf in the back corner of a liquor store in the sixties,