Reincarnation and the "Little Deaths"

So, reincarnation—the idea that you’ve lived multiple lifetimes before this one and will continue to do so afterward. Some believe, and some don’t. But why? What are the reasons to believe or disbelieve?

First off, you obviously need to have a belief in some sort of afterlife or continuation after the demise of the body. If you have this belief, then it could go a couple different ways. You could go to a final destination forevermore: Heaven, Hell, Hades, Valhalla etc. Even in the Hindu faith, there are various Lokas (worlds) that one can ascend to after physical death. Indeed, there does seem to be some final destination according to Hinduism as well. The reincarnation cycle does seem to have an end, but the concept of reincarnation suggests that we have a long road to travel before reaching the end.

Since reincarnation describes a cycle, I started looking towards other cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth to help set a precedent. Well, that one’s easy, right? We essentially see it every year as we watch the transformation of the seasons. Even the stars themselves undergo a complex cycle of transformation.




Okay, so there are repeating cycles in nature. I’ll take that one for granted since I need not look too far for an example of it. I, as a mere human being, was born, am currently alive, and will die. Will I have a rebirth or recycling process as the tree and star example? That’s the 64,000 dollar question!

I thought long and hard about this, trying to find real world examples that might provide some insight. This is what the ancient sages did—they looked to nature to teach the lessons. What did they come up with that convinced them? I don’t know, but I started to notice that the micro-world often mimics the macro-world and vice-versa. I started noticing the fundamental resemblances in which nature would repeat the structures of other forms of nature.

We’ve all seen this by now, right?

But are there more examples?
How about the orbiting planets of our solar system: to the orbiting electrons of an atom?

Or the osteon structure of bone: to a cross-section of tree rings?

A network of carbon atoms: to the matrix of a honeycomb?
(note: the first image is an electron microscope image that emphasizes the shape of individual carbon atoms!)

and the double-helix structure of DNA: to the intertwining shape of growing vines?

Okay, granted…I’m reaching a bit to make connections here. In fact, I’ll save you the trouble—these are pretty arbitrary matches. The neuron most certainly doesn’t resemble a solar system model. And that model doesn’t bring to mind DNA. And the double-helix doesn’t resemble a honeycomb etc. Does the micro really resemble the macro? Do nature’s patterns pervade all scales big and small?

Let’s look at some fractals (a form with a repeating pattern):

There, wasn’t that neat? But it still doesn’t help me figure out if I repeat a pattern! Are there any patterns I repeat as a human being that might look like a death/rebirth cycle?


D’oh! Maybe the sleep and wake cycle is a resemblance! I wake each day, I stay awake for a while, I fall asleep, and I wake up again to a new day! Sure, why not! Let’s go with this metaphor! Reincarnation is supposedly a cycle wherein we experience a lifetime, die, and then experience a new lifetime with a change to the previous form.

But, I’m sure you’re thinking and ready to hit the reply-to button to post “But we have no memory of previous lifetimes.”

But is this a fair argument? Can you remember what you had for dinner 2 weeks ago? What color shoes did your first girlfriend wear? How many words did you get wrong on a 3rd grade spelling test? There are plenty of events of my own lifetime that I can’t remember. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that only the most dramatic, concrete details are retained—and even then—only in some crystalized form that soon slips into an imagination of skewed accuracy. If I can hardly even remember the trite details of my life now, it doesn’t surprise me that I can’t remember the trite details of previous lives. I had an infancy, but I definitely cannot remember it. I can't remember much of my early childhood either, but I had one.

But there still does seem to be some inborn memories, instincts, and emotional triggers. Why am I afraid of drowning, but not of being shot with a gun? Why am I terrified of spiders, but not snakes? Why do I get an eerie feeling meeting that stranger, but instantly fall in love with this strange person? Again, I’m sure you’re ready to say, “But our experiences since birth shape our perceptions and influence our attitudes towards our surroundings.” Indeed, but there do seem to be many intuitive feelings that can’t be traced to my memory or experiences. Could these intuitive feelings be some spillover accumulated from previous lifetimes?

We live each day assuming that it is a part, only a subunit, of one complete lifetime—that it is a graduation from gestation to infancy to childhood to adolescence to adulthood to old age to decomposition. This complete cycle must surely be not at all the same as a cycle of reincarnated forms, right? Or is it?

I learn things in childhood that carry over into my adolescence. I gain experience in adolescence that I bring into my adulthood. And I utilize my knowledge of adulthood to demonstrate mastery into my old age. In my old age I can hardly even remember my childhood—it is but a fleeting, vague impression; an intuitive feeling of what was.

Have you ever thought back to when you were younger and said, “Wow, I don’t even know who that person was! I’m glad I’m not the same as I was before!” With hindsight, do you find it difficult to believe that you could have ever done some of the dumb things you used to do? I sure do.

Each daily experience is stacked right on top of the other and builds a monument of memories over a lifetime. Each time I go to sleep and wake up is like having a new life with the accumulated knowledge and experience of all my previous days being alive.

I am reincarnated every new day. Each day I have an opportunity to live a new life. I am the same, yet I am slightly modified and different. These slight modifications add up over time to make significant transformations. I can choose to be a different person every day, gradually approaching the ideal image I have for myself—or I can regress and be a jerk, a lowlife, a criminal, and a heathen. If I wake up every day, I can fall into a repeated pattern of daily behavior. If I am reincarnated repeatedly, I can fall into a pattern of incarnated behavior.

Are we not constantly modifying ourselves based on a reservoir of previous experience and memory?—to the point that we can’t even recognize the old when held up against the new?

What if each new day was a mini-reincarnation? If I live to be 75 years old, I will have lived 27,375 mini-lifetimes—each subsequent one containing the accumulation of many, many mini-lifetimes of memory and experience.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote, “Sleep, those little slices of death; Oh how I loathe them."

Are our many sleep and wake cycles simply the "little deaths" in an even bigger reincarnation cycle? Are we looking at wheels within wheels here?

I really am not trying to teach anything in this thread, but I am trying to learn.

However—If we only get one lifetime, then perhaps we should treat each sleep as a “little death” and place the importance of a lifetime on every single day. Give it your best shot no matter what you believe! Each day is up to you—the shape of your life is molded by your own hands.

I really, really enjoyed reading this!

It's like when you have a dream - and as soon as you wake up, you can remember every detail of the dream but when you try to remember it later on in the day, it's completely gone from your memory. I wonder if reincarnation is like that? Which may explain why supposedly, very young children remember details from their past lives but then forget as they grow older. It fascinates me!

There have been a few instances in my life where I've been convinced that I've been here before. For instance, when I met someone for the first time who has been a very influential person in my life (when they were in it - we have no communication now). Literally the first thing I thought as soon as I saw him was, "oh. it's you. "...with an overwhelming feeling we'd known each other before, and not in a positive way.

Since becoming a mother - I've always wondered if the reason why some babies are born so placid and calm and others are hard to settle, irritable, clingy etc - could be because of how peaceful/traumatic their previous life had been? It makes a lot of sense to me.

reply to post by KatieVA


Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed! I'm not really sure what I was trying to say--I'm just trying to get some brainstorming going.

As far as the dispositions of infants (irritable vs. calm,) I suspect that reincarnation does play a part in this as well. Although everyone else will tell you it's genetic predispositions, that doesn't preclude the possibility of our karmic past, based on previous lifetimes, being written in our DNA.

However, this idea does create an ethical and moral dilemma that I'm sure we're not ready and/or willing to face (and for very valid reasons.) If we started with the assumption that our past is reflected in our genes, then we'd start persecuting people for having genetically inherited diseases etc. In fact, this already happens in places where karma and reincarnation are accepted as spiritual truth.

Yeah, it's an interesting thought to consider...but it just doesn't seem like it leads down a good road for us.

I became convinced about reincarnation last year after I realized that counterfeit religion is all one huge lie.

When I began to see that reincarnation was connected to false religions, that's when I knew that it was just another ploy to mislead people away from the truth.

"Why would Satan bother coming up with a big lie about reincarnation? What's the point?"

Mankind has an innate desire to commune with God. It is in our nature, because God put it there. Satan will use any means available to lead people away from God. He doesn't have to get people to believe there is no god, he simply has to get them to not believe in the Christian God. A simple way for him to do this is with counterfeit religious experiences such as "reincarnation past-lives."

Reincarnation -- Satan's Second-Biggest Lie

Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age beliefs are deceptions.

Through Hinduism and Buddhism, and their core belief of karma and reincarnation, Satan has deceived many people into accepting and believing that by doing good works, a person would qualify to have his spirit elevated from one lifetime to the next in order to eventually reach a state of spiritual ‘enlightenment’.

I believe even rational and logical thinking persons can choose to believe in ‘reincarnation’. This is because they have been deceived by demonic spirits. They are rendered blind to reason and logic regarding spiritual matters.

Through Hinduism and Buddhism, Satan and his fellow demonic spirits have deceived many generations of people in large parts of the world into unwittingly allowing their bodies and souls to be possessed. This permits the demonic spirits to 'reincarnate' in them serially.

Satan inspired Hinduism and Buddhism with the core beliefs of Karma and reincarnation.
The concept of reincarnation has been debunked by the concept of demonic spirit possession explaining all the ‘evidence’ proffered for reincarnation.
Hence reincarnation is a lie and Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age beliefs are deceptions. They bear the signature of Satan. Source

reply to post by Murgatroid


Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion and I appreciate you voicing it. Star for contributing.

But, I hardly think Hinduism and New Age can be likened to one another in the same sentence. Let me see if I get this right: Everything before Christianity is Paganism, and therefore wrong? And everything post-dating Christianity is New Age, and therefore wrong?

Christianity just fell right in that sweet zone of truth, huh?

Originally posted by NarcolepticBuddha
Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion and I appreciate you voicing it. Star for contributing.

Thanks for the kindness NB...

Rarely is it seen on ATS sadly.

Just a little brief insight before I crash (2AM here)...

If I were to tell you how many hours of sleepless nights for weeks on end after I began to learn the truth about this.

You probably would not even believe me.

Because it is so late, just in case you are curious, here are a few links to some of the posts I wrote about this:

We have been lied to about EVERYTHING...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Spirituality is the ultimate conspiracy and it is the elite's PRIMARY target
www.abovetopsecret.com...

We have been conditioned to DENY REALITY
www.abovetopsecret.com...

There is a VAST Satanic conspiracy behind false religions to deceive every person on earth
www.abovetopsecret.com...

To Those Struggling with their Non-Faith
www.abovetopsecret.com...

ATS Search

Wheels within wheels. As above, so below. Very well done thread. As is said in some circles, "Brother speaks the truth." One of my favorite reincarnation stories is the little boy that had memories of his life as a WWII fighter pilot, right down to knowing family members and the people the pilot fought with.

On a personal level though, I had an experience with my son and him not feeling safe that resulted in him remembering being chased down and shot in the head right in the spot he has a very prominent mole.

There was another time where I was hearing an African drum performance (dancing to it really) and I just started weeping uncontrollably at a certain talking drum part. After the piece the lead was talking about it and said the talking drum part translated to "take me back to [village in Africa] the place of my birth. I have a real resonance with African drumming and culture and am sure that it is because that was one of those non-trite life experiences that you reference.

Now there is a line of thinking that says that everything is happening right now. That our soul is much bigger than we can consider and pieces of it (holographically the whole is represented by the single piece) are experiencing different lives in different time periods (because time is spherical) at the same time, the NOW. This also applies to parallell universe versions of our current selves. Gets to be a real mindf**k when you really think about it. I'm not sure about this version but it's interesting to consider.

In addition (wheels within wheels) what make us us comes from seven generations of our ancestors as well. Things like skills, talents, interests are in your DNA because they were put there by your great-great-great-great-grandparent. And so on forward down the line.

Linear or spherical? Past or present? To that I say, "wave or particle?"

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


I don't see where you gave your opinion on rather it is really real or not. Just a bunch of things to consider.


So, do you think it's real?


I think reincarnation works like psychic reading. Our memories are stored in the energy that makes up our cells. When we lose cells through cell reproduction that energy can become dust, food, water, etc and when someone's brain then takes in the energy that used to make up another person they can read the information that person stored and then believe that that persons memories were their own. But they're not. Thus, I think reincarnation is misunderstood reading of energy.

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Great thread! Enjoyed the read!

I have a "belief" in reincarnation because the Universe indeed recycles. As above so below. We do see it in nature as well.

Energies are never lost and thus reincarnation fits with this above and also with MANY people's experience's as MANY do recall past lives.

Edgar Cayce said that we choose our lives with specific astrological signs based on what lessons we need to learn in each life. I think reincarnation makes sense- moreso than the Christian belief that you live once, and then die either going to Heaven or Hell. I came out of a Christian background, but I was put in a place where I was able to really investigate my religion and belief system. Once I seriously thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't make a lot of sense that you had this one small chance to make it to Heaven or suffer eternal damnation.

Sal

reply to post by Murgatroid


To each ones views...

I actually believe that Christianity is the most influenced religion of all by Satan.

However—If we only get one lifetime, then perhaps we should treat each sleep as a “little death” and place the importance of a lifetime on every single day. Give it your best shot no matter what you believe! Each day is up to you—the shape of your life is molded by your own hands

Great thread and really enjoyed reading it. Made me ponder and think deeply.

The above statement was profound for me, never thought of things this way, you did teach something, a different way of thinking about life.

I also have a reincarnation story and do believe in it. But, I won't tell it here, too long.

S&F

I am reincarnated every new day. Each day I have an opportunity to live a new life. I am the same, yet I am slightly modified and different. These slight modifications add up over time to make significant transformations. I can choose to be a different person every day, gradually approaching the ideal image I have for myself—or I can regress and be a jerk, a lowlife, a criminal, and a heathen. If I wake up every day, I can fall into a repeated pattern of daily behavior. If I am reincarnated repeatedly, I can fall into a pattern of incarnated behavior.

Are we not constantly modifying ourselves based on a reservoir of previous experience and memory?—to the point that we can’t even recognize the old when held up against the new?

What if each new day was a mini-reincarnation? If I live to be 75 years old, I will have lived 27,375 mini-lifetimes—each subsequent one containing the accumulation of many, many mini-lifetimes of memory and experience.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote, “Sleep, those little slices of death; Oh how I loathe them."

Are our many sleep and wake cycles simply the "little deaths" in an even bigger reincarnation cycle? Are we looking at wheels within wheels here?

Wow, what a FANTASTIC thread! S&F! I agree with most everything here, really. Very good thoughts and insights on this life "cycle"

I also like that Poe quote, which reminds me I should be in bed now, but would rather be observing all of the fascinating things in this life.

When it comes to the 27k lifetimes, yeah I think that's a good point. Your life path and how you are currently living today is based on all previous life decisions, compounding. I wonder about what it means when people "shift" their realities and move to remote regions disconnected from outside influences and making them change lifestyle completely. Would that be considered "born again"? (Having to learn everything new about "life" in order to survive.)

Originally posted by SallieSunshine
Edgar Cayce said that we choose our lives with specific astrological signs based on what lessons we need to learn in each life. I think reincarnation makes sense- moreso than the Christian belief that you live once, and then die either going to Heaven or Hell. I came out of a Christian background, but I was put in a place where I was able to really investigate my religion and belief system. Once I seriously thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't make a lot of sense that you had this one small chance to make it to Heaven or suffer eternal damnation.

Sal

Even if I do not like the Christian bible because of Paul. Even according to it Jesus came to earth when what you call heaven was his home already. So by his example even if you get into heaven do not mean you stay there always. Sometimes there is a need and souls fall willingly.

First of great, great thread!!! I really enjoyed reading it for sure!

Anyways, I often ponder about reincarnation and personally believe that it makes more sense than any religion. I was brought up in Christianity and forced to go to church, bible study, church camp, and have read the bible front to back, and was never able to bring myself to believe any of it even from a really young age. I believe in some form of a previous life of mine, whether it be dimensional or in the past, that I knew, or believed, religion was a lie, not saying religion is a lie just my own personal beliefs. From what I can recall I don't think I've had any sort of past life memory of any sort, although I don't have dreams/remember any of them except on rare occasions in which they are always nightmares that are so surreal and involve many, many people I've never personally encountered and it's said your mind cannot dream of a person that you haven't already seen or met. None of my dreams involve things that one would deem not possible in our reality which only leads me to believe that these things have happened or my mind has a real sick way of screwing with me.

Originally posted by theMediator
reply to post by Murgatroid

 

To each ones views...

I actually believe that Christianity is the most influenced religion of all by Satan.

From my point of view: Yes it is very dualistic based on some souls corrupting it by eating the small minded apple of thinking the ego know right from wrong. But Islam is also really screwed up from my point of view with all the writing that you should fear god. But then Islam is probably not meant to help me in my journey and are written for other souls and it might be perfect for them.

There is nothing to fear from god but justice that occurs when the single soul makes trouble for other souls for small minded reasons and that is more like you have to take a timeout or are not allowed everywhere where you wanna go.

But then I can find issues with all spiritual knowledge on this planet except buddhism but I am sure it is not the truth of what is but a simplification and therefor a lie. But who cares. What is described as god can find a soul anywhere when the soul is ready no matter what indoctrination/knowledge that exists around that soul.

Also here's a thought.

If heaven and hell are real, if you sin and don't repent for your sins, and are sent to hell because of it, why would Satan punish you for it? Wouldn't it make more sense if he welcomed you and was like "Yo hey whats up mah brotha, welcome to my humble abode"

Just a little thought to ponder on.

I just want to reply to say that this was an awesome thread OP! I love the way you look to the world of nature to find answers rather than what scientists "study". Nothing can tell us more about ourselves than the natural world, I dont have much to add to the thread but just wanted to say nice job and I wouldnt doubt that some of this is true!

Thank you for the interesting read!

A few random bits I would like to post about this topic...

We all know that energy is conserved, so reincarnation does fit in with that law. However, the understanding that the pattern of life will just keep replicating its same pattern is quite enough for some people to realize this is not necessarily a good thing. This life is full of suffering and ends in death - only to start up again - and again - and again? All of our loved ones die and so do we? What kind of plan is that?! It isn't a plan, but it is the way things just keep replicating - like cellular reproduction, so too, life after life. Hey, stop this merry-go-round, I want to get off! And of course, that takes hooking up with the Reality that transcends the pattern patterning, and is the subject of other threads.

The reason we do not remember our past lives generally speaking is that the brain is structured to actually keep such experiences out of our conscious awareness. The brain is not about ever-expanding our experience of our subconscious, unconscious, what is above the brain, etc. - but about keeping much of that out of our awareness, so that we can consciously focus on this life. But of course, as you point out, people report that certain memories or intuitions of past lives sometimes leak through or are experienced when an above-the-brain experience occurs, etc.

Well-considered thread. Thanks again.

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Why don't you read up on the Unified Field and the true nature of the Universe .

The answer is obvious if you can comprehend the abstract .

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