Reincarnation and multiple lives - if you believe this what does it mean

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 2023-03-10T20:40:47+00:00

Just for fun really, as I don't believe in reincarnation. The idea of it is so fucking tiring! When I'm dead I want peace and quiet and a rest [grin] the thoughts of starting the whole thing again is quite draining... But, if you have an interest in this stuff, what do our hardships mean in the present life? Is it all something to do with karma and about lessons we need to learn this time round? Is it like - we start off with 'easy' lives to begin with, and build our experience, and our lives get progressively harder until we reach enlightenment? Or the opposite! Do we start off with 'harder' lives - and then they get easier the more we work our way through multiple lives? Kind of like a career pathway where you get really experienced and do more challenging things later on lol. And get to enlightenment that way? And then is there something about karma biting us on the ass/ bad stuff happening as punishment in this life for stuff we fucked up last time round? Hmmm, that seems a bit victim-blamey. What way does it work? Who has read about this or has any thoughts?

Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 20:42

Oh ffs I've mangled up my thoughts, where I was referring to the 'career' comparison what I meant was that as you get experienced in your career it gets easier - you can do more complicated things that you would have thought daunting when you were young in your first job.

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OnlyFannys · 10/03/2023 20:45

I would like to believe in reincarnation because the idea of death and nothingness terrifies me but sadly I dont

HildasLostSock · 10/03/2023 20:49

I don't believe in it (although occasionally I would like to, time going by too fast and all that) but I've wondered the same myself. I have a vague idea that we're meant to learn something each lifetime (as in, something "spiritual" not algebra or some such!)

Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 20:52

OnlyFannys · 10/03/2023 20:45

I would like to believe in reincarnation because the idea of death and nothingness terrifies me but sadly I dont

I love sleeping. Death and nothingness seem quiet and peaceful to me!

I'd find it quite stressful to think it's a never ending conveyer belt of lives, never knowing what bullshit you have to deal with.

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Peonies84 · 10/03/2023 20:52

I don't believe in it. When younger I had a reading from a past life regressionist who told me my current husband was my dad in my past life. That my surname was Brady and I set up an orphanage in Ireland to home children and I still carry the hurt of not being able to save every single child left on my doorstep in the past life. In the life before that I was a North American Indian and my mum was my sister. We were killed in a massacre.
There you go, make of it what you will.

Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 20:52

HildasLostSock · 10/03/2023 20:49

I don't believe in it (although occasionally I would like to, time going by too fast and all that) but I've wondered the same myself. I have a vague idea that we're meant to learn something each lifetime (as in, something "spiritual" not algebra or some such!)

It's a good job it's not algebra because I can safely say I've failed to make any progress in this lifetime

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Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 20:53

Peonies84 · 10/03/2023 20:52

I don't believe in it. When younger I had a reading from a past life regressionist who told me my current husband was my dad in my past life. That my surname was Brady and I set up an orphanage in Ireland to home children and I still carry the hurt of not being able to save every single child left on my doorstep in the past life. In the life before that I was a North American Indian and my mum was my sister. We were killed in a massacre.
There you go, make of it what you will.

Um, well that's a lot.

Very intense!

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Zcity · 10/03/2023 20:55

I don't believe in anything woo.

I really think your personality is created from your brain, and to a lesser extent your experiences and upbringing.

Sadly, once your brain is dead then the person is gone, too.

This is why I think dementia is so cruel. The person is lost before their body is.

girlfriend44 · 10/03/2023 20:56

It's a load of old dogs do da reincarnation and has never been proven.
There's no afterlife and no reincarnation, how can there be. Totally Crap.

Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 21:02

I'm not asking if it's real. It's not my belief system.

Some do however believe in reincarnation, and others are more agnostic about it but have read books about it and things. And I was curious and asking about how it all works, in their understanding of it.

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Choconut · 10/03/2023 21:08

I don't believe in it and wouldn't want it. Honestly, one life time is more than enough for me to experience everything I want to.

nutroasty · 10/03/2023 21:09

I have a vivid memory of running away from a village and hiding from authorities because it was being purposely burned down due to a disease that was spreading. It seemed Celtic ish.... does that count?

RSintes · 10/03/2023 21:11

My barmy Swedish grandmother was a follower of Emmanuel Swedenborg who was big on past lives. She believed for example that she used to be Henry VIII.

Like I said, barmy.

She died many years ago so the jury's out on who she might be now.

😳

illiterato · 10/03/2023 21:29

Also where do all the extra people come from? And do you get recycled immediately or do you have to wait for an opening?

I do sometimes joke that I reckon I got hanged in a former life as I’ve never been able to stand wearing ties.

BertieBotts · 10/03/2023 21:29

My mum is into this kind of stuff and her belief is that it's about growth. Not punishment as such but for example somebody who was an abuser in one life might come back in a victim position in another life, not as payback but because that is something that they have chosen in order to understand or grow on a soul level.

She believes that you basically get to choose whether you come back or not, and when you choose to come back you are basically able to "see" a whole life and choose a specific journey or set of experiences. That we are much more wise on the spirit plane without human feelings like tiredness or stress, so it wouldn't feel stressful to come back and have an endless conveyor belt of lives. And that people might spend some time in spirit or they may come back to experience another life because growth is much more effective/easier in the human plane. She also believes that souls tend to cluster around each other so there will be people that you seem to meet by chance in this life who have been with you in previous lives and so on.

I know that people can struggle with the idea that suffering, especially something horrifically awful like a really aggressive cancer, or losing a child or being a victim of war, torture, child abuse etc is chosen. The explanation for this is that it's beyond our scope of understanding. Like an animal would not necessarily understand that a human is trapping it in order to rehome it somewhere away from a danger, or like a child feels that parental decisions are some kind of extreme injustice when really long term these things are good, except on a much more massive scale - that human/mortal understanding cannot comprehend the wider picture but on a level of God/spirit/etc it would make sense.

It does seem to bring her comfort when she is going through something she is struggling with, to believe that it has purpose and sense that she can't immediately see or understand.

I don't share all her beliefs but I do quite like the idea that everything makes some kind of sense that we are just too petty and mortal to understand And honestly, I see reincarnation as making a huge amount more sense than eternal life - surely with eternal life, the afterlife would just fill up with souls and you'd be stuffed together like sardines. (I know I know that's not how magical astral-plane space works) It kind of makes more sense that the same few souls are just being recycled over and over again. Although I do wonder about population growth, because at some point in history there were only a few thousand people but today there are billions. So even if souls are being recycled, that still means that new souls would have to be created to fulfil the increased numbers of people. And you have to wonder what the point of all this growth is - are there souls who have been living countless lives on Earth back through generations and generations? Does anyone ever retire? What do they do with what they have learnt? There is a lot of vague stuff about the more enlightened souls (presumably the ancient ones) bringing abundance into being for everyone, but I'm sure a lot of this is just sales talk for "Please come to my expensive retreat and buy my overpriced crystals, courses and tarot cards" (She does go into a lot of that).

Ludo19 · 10/03/2023 21:31

Peonies84 · 10/03/2023 20:52

I don't believe in it. When younger I had a reading from a past life regressionist who told me my current husband was my dad in my past life. That my surname was Brady and I set up an orphanage in Ireland to home children and I still carry the hurt of not being able to save every single child left on my doorstep in the past life. In the life before that I was a North American Indian and my mum was my sister. We were killed in a massacre.
There you go, make of it what you will.

That's really interesting a psychic once told me we are always reincarnated within our family. I hope this life is my last and I've learned all I need to in that case!

BertieBotts · 10/03/2023 21:32

Past lives are always really intense and everyone seems to have been told that they were some famous figure. Well you can't ALL be him if you're alive at the same time now, unless there is some kind of argument that time works differently on the astral plane (which there probably is TBH, because there's usually a handy explanation for everything).

stardustpixy · 10/03/2023 21:34

OnlyFannys · 10/03/2023 20:45

I would like to believe in reincarnation because the idea of death and nothingness terrifies me but sadly I dont

I feel the exact opposite.. the thought of life after life with most of the world's populace having very challenging lives terrifies me whereas if there's nothing it's like before you were born ..

surreygirl1987 · 10/03/2023 21:36

I believe in reincarnation. I'm not into 'woo' at all, but I just instinctively believe in it. I sometimes find myself thinking about 'last time' and 'next time' (as in next life), automatically. I'm surprised I believe in it because I'm usually a very logical and scientific person.

I haven't really thought about it in detail though- I'm just sure we have lived before and go on to live again. I kind of see it as recycling rather than anything like developing towards enlightenment etc.

XenoBitch · 10/03/2023 21:36

I want to believe in reincarnation, as the life I have now is shit. I would like the chance to try again as someone else.
The thought of eternal life somewhere as me feels me with dread.

Original poster

Pleasekeepmycoffeehot · 10/03/2023 21:39

And honestly, I see reincarnation as making a huge amount more sense than eternal life - surely with eternal life, the afterlife would just fill up with souls and you'd be stuffed together like sardines.

Ugh feck no I don't like the sound of this either. I could hardly stand living in a houseshare after I turned 30, I don't want dormitory style housing in the afterlife!

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Wooooooo · 10/03/2023 21:40

Name changed for this as I know how…strident…MNers can be about woo stuff.

I fully believe. My now adult sons had a joint weirdy thing going on.
When ds1 was 3 he started pointing up a hill near where we live, and talking about there being a house up here, and talked about the animals he had, and that another man used to come and help him, and that they were good friends. He named names. This went on for a couple of years. We put it down to his imagination and forgot all about it.

Then ds2 came along, and when he was around 3 (ds1 was 9 and had no memory of it) he started pointing up the same hill, saying that he used to help there, with his friend X. Same details, same names. It was quite freaky. Again, went on for a couple of years then stopped.

In the last few years a FB history group started about the local area. Someone posted about a house that had once stood up the hill, had burnt down and the ruins grown over about 50+ years ago. They named the names my sons had named - the owner and his friend.
I showed ds1+2, the oldest could remember the younger saying these things but had no memory of saying anything himself. As adults they are very close.

So yes I believe. I don’t know how it works, but I find it quite comforting.

BertieBotts · 10/03/2023 21:42

I think the idea that we are reincarnated within our families is a comforting one because it means that our loved ones that we miss might conceivably come back as a niece/nephew, grandchild, etc.

And in a way they often do - in that you notice little mannerisms which are similar or you think "Oh that's just like X used to be!" Of course this is more genetics and coincidence, but I think that imagining a link there can be quite comforting. Like how people are apt to interpret little coincidences as a sort of "wave from the afterlife".

stardustpixy · 10/03/2023 21:45

The Netflix docu on currently about life after death has an episode devoted to reincarnation. There's some compelling evidence some of which makes your hair stand on end. I believe. Though I'd rather I didn't.

Tockomtele · 10/03/2023 21:46

I used to believe in it, it made so much sense.

As PP said, it's all about learning and growing through being reborn. The end goal is to get out of it though by reaching a very pure soul state. That's me trying to put it in a non-religion specific way.

Since I've had my children though, I've become a lot more 'bloodthirsty' and it doesn't give me any comfort that, for example people who hurt children will go through the same thing in a next life. I'd love to sew them getting a proper punishment in this life.
(But to be fair, executions did exist in India and had a place in the system.)