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Reincarnation Qestion

Skwim

Veteran Member
It's going to depend on which model of reincarnation one is talking about. Teachings on this differ.

In my case, it's not so much that it has a "purpose" as it is an intrinsic quality of our reality (without which our reality would simply not exist). As I see it, our reality operates in cycles: there is no death, there is no birth, there is only transformation. Put another way, all things in our universe are exchanges of matter and energy. When one thing passes, something else comes to be in its place. It is simply how things are and how they must be. It has no purpose beyond that, to my mind.
Hmmm Interesting.Never heard this before.

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Hockeycowboy

Witness for Jehovah
Premium Member
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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More obfuscation, experiences designed to fool those who want to believe it. General Patton was a firm believer, as he was given premonitions (?) of being in places he had never visited before.

Wierd!
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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Your soul progresses from the learning and growth experiences. Each life should be at a higher spiritual (soul) level than the last.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Curious as to where this information comes fro. Got a source?

Note to be smart, but a dandelion only takes a few weeks to mature. :shrug:

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Hinduism ... not sure of a specific source. I've read too much to remember specifics, and we're not focused on scripture. Yes a dandelion only takes a few weeks. it was an analogy. Theology matters little to me.
 

beenherebeforeagain

Rogue Animist
Premium Member
I have no idea what the purpose is...I know there are a number of different traditions about the concept (as others have noted here), but all I have is a number of 'memories' that look and feel just like 'this-life' memories, as well as some other experiences that seem to support the idea that some part of me has 'been here before, before.'

I think that many people have a problem with transmigration or reincarnation (or my favorite, reintarnation--coming back as a hillbilly...) because they think of themselves as a singular entity...I find it much easier to accept reincarnation/transmigration if I start by thinking of myself as collection of many, many parts...some come back, others go on to do other things...some components end when I end, others start during 'my' life, and will continue after I end...
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
The soul, according to the Bible, in Genesis, requires two things to exist, the breath of life from God, and a physical body. Without both components, there is no living soul.

In Hinduism, there is no need for a physical body for the soul to exist. There are 5 bodies (koshas) or sheaths, ranging from gross to subtle, with the physical being the most gross, and the soul being the most subtle.

Edited ... Here's one explanation ... https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/getting-know
 
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Skwim

Veteran Member
Your soul progresses from the learning and growth experiences. Each life should be at a higher spiritual (soul) level than the last.
Do you mean to say that my next door neighbor might be at a higher or lower spiritual level than me? If so how do I tell. Or is everyone now living at the same level, and we're all progressing together?

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George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Do you mean to say that my next door neighbor might be at a higher or lower spiritual level than me? If so how do I tell. Or is everyone now living at the same level, and we're all progressing together?

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Yes, I mean Jesus was higher than some brutish creep. By their fruits ye will know them.
 

robocop (actually)

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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Even if reincarnation weren't real, like many versions of the afterlife, it can positively motivate people who believe in it and leave those who don't believe in it unharmed. Or so the theory goes.
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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In a universe where the number of living beings is increasing, there'd not have been enough previous individual living beings in prior generations from which the number of current living beings could all have been reincarnated.

If all life began at one place somewhere in our universe from one-self replicating molecule, then there'd have been no prior life from which any "soul" then would have been reincarnated.; if the first living being "soul" evolved from life that came into being without reincarnation, then this is process of reincarnation is unnecessary for any life to come into being. If the first living being came into existence without reincarnation, then all life likely comes into being without reincarnation.
 
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MJFlores

Well-Known Member
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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10d27d3b4c12b62330d305d418b8a116.jpg


Reincarnation, no such thing.
But it is funny though.

myths-legends-buddhism-buddhists-reincarnations-reincarnated-monk-jprn605_low.jpg
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Purpose?! What does purpose have to do with reality? Physics doesn't have purpose. Chemistry doesn't have purpose. The universe operates mechanically; automatically. There's no intention involved.

Reincarnation, like time dilation or quantum entanglement, has no purpose. It just is. It's how the universe is constructed.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Do you mean to say that my next door neighbor might be at a higher or lower spiritual level than me? If so how do I tell. Or is everyone now living at the same level, and we're all progressing together?

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Might be, might not be, sure. But one has to look at behavour, not belief. Kindness trumps cruelty. Humility trumps arrogance. Giving trumps taking. That sort of thing.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Hmmm Interesting.Never heard this before.

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It's a fairly common view within contemporary Pagan circles. Natural sciences inspires many within that demographic, and by extension that means that natural laws as revealed by the sciences impact how things like reincarnation are viewed. In nature, we clearly see things operating in cycles and humans are understood as part of nature rather than separate from it. Hence, it just makes sense to surmise that as reality/nature on the whole operates in cycles, so do humans (being part of nature).
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
If reincarnation actually occurs what is its purpose? I ask because if I had previous life I sure don't remember it.

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There are many thoughts as to the purpose, but that’s all they are...thoughts. The best I’ve come up with is to experience life in relative reality.

As to why you don’t remember, memories are stored in the brain. In my understanding, when the body dies, so does the brain. But the part of you that is aware that the brain remembers, your consciousness, is immortal.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
I’m wondering if you missed understood something or I’m not understanding something. That was a general answer, it has nothing particular about Skwim in it.

I guess I was confused by the used of the word "your" in your response to him.

But the second question still remains unanswered. How do you know one's soul progresses from the learning and growth experiences? That each life should be at a higher spiritual (soul) level than the last?
 
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