This has been on my mind. If reincarnation actually occurs (and it's my belief that it does) does the soul decide when and where to return or is it some higher power's decision? Will cremation deter the process? If someone lives their life alone with no true love with another person do they get a restart or is their soul's entire existence to be that way?

I get theories from friends, ranging from the whole idea being crap, and that, as I asked above, if you're cremated you can't be reincarnated. There's things that have happened to me in this life that seemed so familiar that I've wondered if I'm doomed to experience them in every life. (If you believe in reincarnation that is). I've met people and something in me has said, "I've met them before." To me that feeling is proof enough for me. Situations, people, experiences, all that I know I've seen, felt and known before. No deja vu, just a knowledge. Sometimes it's almost like a muscle memory, a flood of recognition. Sometimes it scares the hell out of me, and others it comforting.

So after all this rambling that I"m sure didn't make sense. What does everyone think? Is reincarnation wishful thinking, or if you do believe in some kind of after life is it something that could be legitamite?

I would like to believe in reincarnation and there is a lot of stories of people remembering past lives, but all in all I would have to say its wishful thinking. If I'm wrong and i hope i am I'll see you in the next life!

Oh and I've never heard that one about not being reincarnated if you've been cremated, what does that matter the soul would have already left the dead body right?

Interesting topic by the way!

Yeah the cremation thing never made sense to me either, of course this person doesn't make much sunse

Hiya Pyxis, there is a book you may like to read, it is called "Life between Life" by Dr Joel L. Whitton PhD and Joe Fisher.

In this book it takes a number of people that were regressed to a time before their present life, but after their previous incarnation. It goes on to describe the processes whereby their next life is planned, both by themselves and with the help of more advanced beings. Being born into the correct place in order to achieve certain experiences, choices of parents so that genetically they will gain the best possible advantage for their new life experience etc etc.

It is a very interesting book, you could possible find it on Amazon, I got my copy purely by chance in a second-hand book shop. It is definitely worth a read if you are interested in this sort of thing.

I am having a belief complex, but when I do feel that reincarnation can happen, I think our souls decide what to become next by our actions in our last life, so indirectly I do believe we choose. I think it is a coarse of it's own octave, but maybe there is someone choosing for us, although I doubt they choose, more or less watch over.

I think your soul will eventually find it's mate, just because they didn't find it the first two rounds doesn't mean they wont find each other in another round, and just because they have there mate the first two rounds doesn't mean it's impossible to loose them again.

I do not believe that being cremated affects your soul, the only thing that is affected is your outer shell, Like a fighting crab, they move on and on from shell to shell.

I have had experiences where I felt as though, a certain place was once home for me, or have memories of a person I don't remember. Have you ever been walking and you catch your eyes with someone else's? And you feel like you should go hug them and ask them how they are doing, and it seems they feel the same way? I think that those experiences are from when you knew that soul in a different life.

Sorry if this is spaced out and unorganized, blahblahblah-lol

Hope I helped.

Yes, I think actions in the last life can have an enormous effect on the next incarnation. Perhaps someone who was a right pig in one life, beating his wife, glugging back the old whisky until he was unconscious and using her housekeeping to buy it, could end up with him in his next life, having no wife and being very lonely with a liver complaint that prevented him from drinking anything - or maybe he would end up having a massive family but never having any money for drink due to his family always taking from him lol.

The scenerios are limitless

Acording to the Tibetan Book of the Dead you can control your next birth. A while back someone posted a link to a film which explained it but now I can find it or remember who posted it.
Here is a site that explains it. Clicky Here

Thanks for the link Darkwind, very, very interesting article!!!

Very cool! I've got some errands to run but I"ll check it out when I get back. I think it seems only fitting that mistakes and choices you make in one life affect your future lives. I've had several people in my life tell me they think I'm an old soul...I've never really gotten around to asking them what exactly meant. And yes I have been walking down the street and met a person's eyes and felt like I"ve known them before. Which brings me to my next question. How does your soul know when they've accomplished what they needed, and doesn't need to come back anymore? Or is there such a point?

Do you believe that one always come back as what it was....


like a cat, a cat?

and a pig a pig?

human a human?


lol, thankyou for that lovely scenario.

I don't think so, I think it depends on what your spirit needs to grow.

Such a good topic! I've had many dreams (and I think they are the window into past lives) and situations that are SO familiar its hard to ignore them. There are also those severe feelings of deja vu that lead me to believe there is reincarnation or something like it.

I also feel that "karma" comes into play here. How you act, behave, and think in one life may lay out how your next life is going to be. If you are a crappy person who does crappy things, your next life is gonna stink. However, if you do unto others in a positive way in this life, your next life might just treat you the same way, you know?

And then maybe I'm just full of it. These are just random ramblings of someone who hasn't come to terms with death yet and is hoping for the best. *lol*

If my dreams have anything to do with my past lives then I've been in some adventures. Maybe that's why the few times I've been in those "life threatening" situations, I've been cold as ice. No hesitation, no fear. Do you carry a knowledge of past skills? There's so many questions!

does the soul decide when and where to return or is it some higher power's decision?
Time is irrelivant.

Will cremation deter the process?
No

If someone lives their life alone with no true love with another person do they get a restart or is their soul's entire existence to be that way?
Its is to be that way.

...what ?







MR Halfhand will do....

gosh how rude of me....B

Hmmm, I'm re-thinking my thoughts on reincarnation. I will reply later after I do more research. Hmmm, if we "are all infinite and our mind or soul never 'die' doesn't that make us all bodies in the universe"? Still learning.

♥ Jody ♥

Source: Brilliant person.

Blimey the idea that their entire soul's existence would always be to be without love would be enough to send them to suicide

Personally, I would think that just because one life consisted of a life alone, would not mean that any other lives would be the same.

Perhaps a life alone is just what would be required at that moment - but not for all eternity.

We are the Universe.

This is my thought on this. The Universe is a living entity and we are part of the mechanism, Reincarnation is random, our soul is the life force of the Universe and coont be destroyed just altered. When we die we release that enery when we are born the energy takes on material form. We do not choose our next life, it is based on the needs of the Univerese. Some critics mention that if we are reincarnated why so many new people being born where do the souls come from, my explanation is that the Univerese is part of a larger Universe and just like any living thing it grows and it dies, so not only do we riencarnate but we also reincarnate together with the rest of the Universe, into a new form. My head hurts

EXCELLENT Darkwind xo, Jody♥

I've always wondered about the subject.

is it possible ? anything is possible since we really don't know. I'd hate to think this backwoods acre is the only place we would have to choose from. It's a big Universe out there. as for gender . we really don't have one. the soul is sexless just as God is. I would think it would or could take on familiar forms ( like when people see relatives that pass ect ..) but there wouldn't be need for gender since our bodies are only rented.

I don't accept the idea of reincarnation. There are two factors that are quite well known about past life regression, 1st that the subconcious is making the whole experience up just as it does in time regression hypnosis to ones childhood. This is a well known fact and is also the reason why hypnosis is not accepted as evidence of anything especially in court, where we have children accusing their parents of molestation, when no such thing ever occured.

The mind does not keep an accurate rexord of physical memories much less of past lives. When I say mind, I also mean the spirit since ones mind, soul and spirit are closely and inextricably linked.

2nd, just how many people could have inhabited the same famous persons body, I've heard of hundreds claiming to have been Cleopatra or some other past celebrity, and all used past life regression to make the claim. That just proves point one...

i do have a belife, but i like to think, that once you die, you get to chose wheither to go on and live another life, or just go to your eternial resting place. but we will never know until we die huh?

I remember when I was four, I commented that "when we die, we come back as someone else don't we". At four I wouldn't have had a clue about reincarnation, so it was curious that I said such a thing at such an early age.

Personally, I have never been regressed and would not opt to either. A lot of the time the past is best left alone lol.

When I was young, I believed I was destined for greatness and that as I grew up something special would evidence itself in my life so that I could fulfill that greatness....

What we think when we are young isn't necessarily the truth, rather just our wishful thinking coming into play. Just because a child is young doesn't mean they can't think and come to logical conclusions, but it doesn't also mean those same conclusions are correct...

I have a very strong belief in the soul and accept that reincarnation may be possible. I do not think it happens in all cases and much of this is down to the belief of the soul/person.

Very true, very true. However, as I have got older I still do believe in reincarnation, it would, in my opinion, be very hard to learn everything we need to learn in one life.

That certainly depends on the objective purpose one has in life. I believe that purpose is to get to know God, our Creator. All other things that come in this life are challenges that help us or hinder us in this knowledge.

We were put here for the greater Glory of God and even though we may not see this systematically in our day to say living, we were given the privelage of doing so as human beings...

Personally, I see it as a gradual evolvement of the Soul, tests come to us in one way or another, all depending how we deal (or don't deal) with them, we move on or go through a similar test until we get it right.

As an example, a brand new soul starts its first life, there is no way it would be able to digest any knowledge of magnificence straight away - it would like trying to feed a newborn baby a slice of beef, it wouldn't be able to digest it and would get very ill. Milk first and then onto the harder stuff.

The soul is another word for the mind and as far as I know, the mind matures as we get older in this life... trying to stretch that to encompass many lives is also saying that a mind in this life can't digest the concept of God, not very likely... unless they are vegetative...

I do not see the soul as another word for the mind at all, therefore, we are talking differently. I still could not see how in just one life, a Soul could understand all there is to know and I still stand by what I said that it IMO takes many, many lifetimes.

Then exactly what is the Soul to you?, because in all the writings I've studied, the two are things are interchangeable, the soul and the mind...

And as it says in the scriptures, it is meant for man to live once and then comes the judgement... so it seems you get one try, this is not a video game where you get multiple lives until you get it right...

The idea of reincarnation has never been accepted by Christianity because it undermines its basic tenets. First, it compromises God’s sovereignty over creation, transforming him into a helpless spectator of the human tragedy. But since he is sovereign and omnipotent over creation, God can punish evil and will do it perfectly well at the end of history (see Matthew 25,31-46; Revelation 20,10-15). There is no need for the impersonal law of karma and for reincarnation to play this role.

Second, belief in reincarnation may affect one’s understanding of morality and motivation for moral living. An extreme application of reincarnationist convictions could lead to adopting a detached stand to crime, theft and other social plagues. They could be considered nothing else but normal debts to be paid by their victims, which originated in previous lives.

Third, reincarnation represents a threat to the very essence of Christianity: the need for Christ’s redemptive sacrifice for our sins. If we are to pay for the consequences of our sins ourselves in further lives and attain salvation through our own efforts, the sacrifice of Christ becomes useless and absurd. It wouldn’t be the only way back to God, but only a stupid accident of history. In this case Christianity would be a mere form of Hindu Bhakti-Yoga.

As a result, no matter how many attempts are made today to find texts in the Bible or in the history of the Church that would allegedly teach reincarnation, they are all doomed to remain flawed.

See: Reincarnation vs Christianity

Hebrews 9:27-28

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

I have no idea what the Soul really is, I do know I do not think it is the mind though.

As for Christianity, I am not a Christian so really, your arguments are different from my own. However, I also do not consider that Jesus Christ's sacrifice was in vain, I just believe differently, that's all.

I believe is that there is no way a person can learn everything needed in just one lifetime and in my own opinion my belief in reincarnation is not flawed and to me it makes perferct sense.

However, I fully understand that it is not everyone's belief and that is fine with me too.

But if you don't think it is the mind, then you must have some idea of what it is.. if an idea makes perfect sense, it implies that you have at least researched it so that you know you aren't BSing yourself by believing what can't be believed.

It is my opinion that one cannot accept the concept of reincarnation without at least knowing what passes on from one body to the next... if the soul isn't the mind then what is it?

As for the christian perspective, I have no problem with that, each person has a right to believe what they believe, although it is my considered opinion that they should at least be able to explain their belief to the next person if so required...

with all due respect...

Jor-el

When i was much younger and in an extremely stressful situation i called out to the sky..ie God.. and hollered "Im not comming back". After i said that i was puzzled as to what i just said. Im still not sure to this day. It was as if i had a moment of clarity. A moment when a secret part of my soul was seen in my everyday life. It was spooky.

You cannot describe the Soul if there are no words suitable to describe it and that is why I cannot put it into words. However, the mind, in my opinion, is our thoughts and that to me is totally different to what the Soul is. I do however, think that the Soul carries all memories from all past lives.

I have not done any extensive study on reincarnation, I just believe in it and think that is what happens. I believe in God, but I have not studied that subject at all, again it is just something I believe in.

Belief is a very personal thing, what is right for one person will not be so for another, that is why explaining all my beliefs are pointless as they are personal to me.

well, since you can't come up with the words I decided to add a little input fom Wikipedia...

The Soul

The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the self-aware essence unique to a particular living being. In these traditions the soul is thought to incorporate the inner essence of each living being, and to be the true basis for sapience. It is believed in many cultures and religions that the soul is the unification of one's sense of identity. Souls are usually (but not always as explained below) considered to be immortal and to exist before their incarnation in flesh.

The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly, even within a given religion, as to what may happen to the soul after the death of the body. Many within these religions and philosophies see the soul as immaterial, while others consider it to possibly have a material component, and some have even tried to establish the mass (or weight) of the soul.

Skeptics of the soul cite phenomena such as brain lesions (as in the case of Broca's aphasia) and Alzheimer's disease as evidence that personality is material, and furthermore, exists in discrete components, contrary to the philosophy of an immortal, unified soul.

The Greek word is derived from a verb "to cool, to blow" and hence refers to the vital breath, the animating principle in man and animals, as opposed to σῶμα "body". It could refer to a ghost or spirit of the dead in Homer, and to a more philosophical notion of an immortal and immaterial essence left over at death since Pindar. Latin anima figured as a translation of ψυχή since Terence. It occurs juxtaposed to σῶμα e.g. in Matthew 10:28.

In the Septuagint, ψυχή translates Hebrew נפש nephesh, meaning "life, vital breath", in English variously translated as "soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion"; e.g. in Genesis 1:20

The Ancient Greeks used the same word for 'alive' as for 'ensouled'. So the earliest surviving Western philosophical view might suggest that the terms soul and aliveness, were synonymous - perhaps not that having life, universally presupposed the possession of a soul as in Buddhism, but that full "aliveness" and the soul were conceptually linked.

Francis M. Cornford quotes Pindar in saying that the soul sleeps whilst the limbs are active, but when man is sleeping, the soul is active and reveals in many a dream "an award of joy or sorrow drawing near".

Aristotle, following Plato, defined the soul as the core essence of a being, but argued against its having a separate existence. For instance, if a knife had a soul, the act of cutting would be that soul, because 'cutting' is the essence of what it is to be a knife. Unlike Plato and the religious traditions, Aristotle did not consider the soul as some kind of separate, ghostly occupant of the body (just as we cannot separate the activity of cutting from the knife). As the soul, in Aristotle's view, is an actuality of a living body, it cannot be immortal (when a knife is destroyed, the cutting stops). More precisely, the soul is the "first actuality" of a naturally organized body. This is a state, or a potential for actual, or 'second', activity. "The axe has an edge for cutting" was, for Aristotle, analogous to "humans have bodies for rational activity," and the potential for rational activity thus constituted the essence of a human soul. Aristotle used his concept of the soul in many of his works; the De Anima (On the Soul) provides a good place to start to gain more understanding of his views.

There is on-going debate about Aristotle's views regarding the immortality of the human soul; however, Aristotle makes it clear towards the end of his De Anima that he does believe that the intellect, which he considers to be a part of the soul, is eternal and separable from the body.

Aristotle also believed that there were four parts, parts understood as powers, of the soul. The four sections are calculative part, the scientific part on the rational side used for making decisions and the desiderative part and the vegetative part on the irrational side responsible for identifying our needs.-

For more, see: The Soul

Didn't the early Jews believe in reincarnation? All I'm saying is I know that this life isn't the first and it's not the last, at least not for me.

The question is, How do YOU know?

I mean, if this life isn't the 1st nor the last, how do you know this?

People keep on saying they believe in reincarnation as if it is something beyond dispute, all I'm asking is how can you be so cetain that you aren't really deluding yourself?

As for the Jews having believed in the concept of reincarnation, yes some of them did although it was never a widespread belief, even today there are some jews and some christians who do believe this, mainly because of erroneous interpretations of a few biblical verses in the Old and New Testament.

Actually, the idea of reincarnation is as antagonistic to jewish and christian philosophy as you can ever get... but that's my opinion.

Hmmmmmm Like this a lot!!!! Thanks Jody ♥

I think it all has to do not with the way you live, but the way you leave. As for reincarnation, I don't think you have control over that. Right now, the way the world is, there might be a few who reincarnate to lead those who are not going to be harmed into the next generation, but reincarnation in itself is not right. You are to progress beyond this life not come back to it.

I don't know about right or wrong, and like you said, "...I don't think you have control over that," perhaps??? Reincarnation or not, I certainly don't want to remember my past life or lives... Then again, quite a large number of people believe in Bodhisattvas and avatars and so on; therefore, reincarnation is "right," in this sense.

Just a thought.

I believe in rebirth. From what I've remembered from my many past lives. I've always died young. Some of them was result of an attack. And I've been "killed" on purpose.

I'm regaining memories from three past lives. And I think I've had another but I'm not sure.

Questions: Is it possible for someone to remember someone elses past life? Also it is possible to "surrpress" a memory without knowing it?

And how can you be certain that these "memories" are actually real? I mean did you research in the library to see if this person actually existed, or is it simply something you take on faith?

Reincarnation, as usually explained, has never seemed likely to me, but as i gain more experience with the nature of the universe and "god" it seems that in some ways the two ideas are connected. If god is an entity which exists throughout time and space, and is able to manipulate all elements of the environment, then god is also within us and we are in a way a part of the whole universe. Thus it is not so much classic reincarnation as an ability for us to mingle with the universe; past, present and future. In some cases we can become almost aware/conscious of this potential and experienc it during our present life.

As i get older, i feel myself sreading more and more thinly through space and time. I often feel as if I have lived in many other times and understand why the people of those times are how they are. I do not claim to have precise memories of individual lives in those times, just what it meant to live in them. This also projects into the future, which I have seen to be a much better and more positive time for most of humanity than any other, including the present.
Thus, as god exists both within, and around me, i exist both within a continuum of time, and experience that time flow around me. It often confuses me that other people, who obviously do not have the same experiences, find it so difficult to appreciate the motivations, lives and cultures of past cultures, or to see how our present universe extends through both past and future. Many of the posts in this thread resonate with my experience, even if they are not identical.They could easily be other ways of interpreting/explaining what i experience.

I have a question. If reincarnation does in fact exist, and you find a soul mate within a certain life, will you be with that soul mate again in the next life?

I have read that a soul mate is someone who has incarnated with another for many lifetimes, therefore, if this is true, I dare say you would meet again in the next life.

I would have to ask if a "soul mate" actually exists in the context you are ascribing to the word. I certainly don't think so, we don't have soul mates, we have people who we meet and get along extraordinarily well with, to such a point that we become linked in a spiritual sense. But after death that link ends, because so does our period of life on earth end.

It is well known that we are spirit inhabiting a physical body. This spiritual body was created at the moment of conception and does not exist previously to the conception. It does continue to exist though after death, but can we say that this Spirit form of ourselves has a sexual element?

Spirit beings are asexual. They aren't female or male, they exist as pure conscience that takes the form of a spiritual being. If soul mates did exist they would (if reincarnation were real) run the risk of incarnting in a physical body with the same sex... if you were both born male or both female, would this mean that you in that life would become a Homosexual?

I agree that "we have people who we meet and get along extraordinarily well with, to such a point that we become linked in a spiritual sense." Any deep relationship takes TONS of work, however. I'm more in the serious variety; therefore, I really chose the people who I share my energy with. Alliances are, on the other hand, essential and not so time consuming (and energy draining) as deep relationships. Regardless, I'm also open to "soul mates." If anything else, it works as a pick-up line, most often than not. It's also a good icebreaker, if all else fails, if one knows how to work with it, for it can be quite tricky and sticky, but if the chemistry is there, then watch out. At any rate, it's harmless to believe in the "soul mate" concept. It's good clean fun under the sun.