Welcome to Gaia! ::

- Now, I don't believe in reincarnation, but I know some who do. Although off the wall to me, it is still interesting. I'd hate to come back as a fly or whatever, but of course some beliefs on this is that there is only progression as long as you are 'good' or something (which is relative).

- I don't really agree with it, but find the topic fascinating. Please add what you think of the subject of reincarnation...

Reincarnation, to me, is something that is constant. Every soul is reborn and every soul has to deal with the consequences that their actions have created for them, and their future lives.

Heaven and hell are only the lives that we create for ourselves. Everything that happens to us in this life is a reaction to the life before We are destined to learn from those actions.

I've heard stories that point towards the possibility of past lives, and I find the idea fascinating. 3nodding
The eastern idea of reincarnation sounds a bit unsound to me though.
So no, I don't believe in reincarnation.

-Alezunde

Ahh, one of my favorite topics. A lot of people seem to have very limiting ideas of what reincarnation means. Reincarnation can be interpreted in lots and lots of ways, more than just "human... coming back as an animal" as Kimp braught up. That's just one take on reincarnation... there are many mmore that haven't been braught up here yet. I'm not familiar with all of the concepts of reincarnation, but I'll give a few examples of it that haven't been mentioned yet.

Some believe that when we die, we go to a land to contemplate the next lesson we which to learn. We are reborn over and over again, into many forms and many places, all to learn new lessons in the wheels of life.

Others believe we are reborn over and over again, with the goal of getting out of the cycle of rebirth by purifying the mind, body, and spirit to unify with the All.

Others still believe in reincarnation in a more physical, scientific sense. When we die, our bodies decay into their original elements and are 'reborn' into new organisms.

With so many views on what reincarnation is, it becomes difficult to discuss unless we first determine which kind of reincarnation we are talking about. So, which one should we take a look at first? smile

Well, I took it to mean that you are the exact same self in this life as you are in the next life. Everything is the same. I can't think of any documented system offhand that believes this, though.

If I remember right, deja vu happens when one half of your brain percieves incoming information faster than the other half. So, you feel like you've experienced it twice or have familiarity because your brain HAS experienced it twice a few fractions of a second earlier. Other times, maybe you actually HAVE seen these things before in real life but don't remember it consciously. Our memories are very imperfect things. =)

Personally, any kind of reincarnation seems a bit sketchy to me. I mean what are the odds that a metaphysical part of you (your soul) could inheret a new body, or be reborn into the same body for that matter? It seems odd that such a cycle of rebirth could exist. On another note, what is there to back the idea up besides thesis and belief? (not that that isn't the case with most subjects in philosophy...)

I personally take my belief on this subject not only from the context of my own religion, but the much better sited works of Epicurus. "With your last breath, your entire being is gone. There is nothing more after death." - or in some sense of the terms.

As far as the scientific reference to reincarnation, it seemed moreover a statement about spontaneous generation, which has been disproved many times over... And it hardly seems like rebirth when your physical being rots away to give way to the soils. xp

I personally don't believe in reincarnation, but I do know of other faiths that do.