Hello . Maybe this isn't the best place to post this, feel free to move it or something if i've got it wrong, but what do people think about the idea of past lives? In my opinion, i believe that we have quite a few past lives, at least until we have experienced and learnt all there is to learn. And each life is in a different time and place, and time does not matter at all. For example, i could die in (hopefully) 60 or 70 years, and get born in Ancient Greece. I think that we have an almost subconcscious tendency to the era that some of our past or future lives lived in. I think that maybe, if it is true, that i had or will ahve lives in Ancient Rome and 18th century France. So there is my obsession with Gladiator and Les Miserables!

Anyway, your thoughts would be appreciated

Angel x

I must confess that I think it's absolutly ridiculous. Not only is it hard to believe, it's also equally useless. You don't recall any previous life's, nor do you get to experience a future life. It doesn't matter - at all. I'm very open minded and hopefull towards every possibility of a consious afterlife, but not to the idea of living many lifes without gaining from it, learning from it, having a higher goal in it and on top of that not even experiencing it.

I understand that many people believe in this, and say they learned from previous lifes. You don't get addicted to drugs now, because you've had bad experiences with it in another life? Or this time you don't have unsafe sex, because you died of AIDS in ancient Canada? And many more variations could be added, but the point is, I think that's ridiculous. You learn to deal with problems int life through your education, experience, what your parents thought you and most importantly: common sense.

Eventhough I'm very skeptic on this subject, I don't dissmiss it at all. The existence of it, doesn't affect the point I just made. In no way, shape or form can I see the purpose of previous and future lifes when you don't experience them, remember them or consiously learn from them. I would be greatly dissapointed if this was the afterlife we live or lifes for.

I do not believe in reincarnation. The bible says that it is appointed ONCE for a man to die, then the judgement. I think that the idea of a past life comes from demons who have been around since forever and have seen many lives come and go, give you the past life idea from someone else who lived and died before. They recount that persons life and present it to you as if it were your own. I know there are UM'ers that agree with this, but few. I usually say at this point, let the hate begin, but I don't care right now and I answered the question asked. This is my firm opinion which I am entitled to.

But did the bible also say that death equals life

There are demons that try to make people see 'past lives' as some great emperor...but there is also good pure memories that are not fake

Being a Catholic I assumed that there was only a heaven, hell and 'limbo'. Until I opened my eyes and realized that you are still very much 'alive' when you are dead because death really does equal life. You might be in a different place, but you can still be confused when you are dead. If you believe in the bible so literally it also said that "I shall come again". How is that not reincarnation?

I think you take it all to literally, for being reincarnated you can still have your previous thoughts with you, others thoughts as well, if God is in all of us he would be living again again and again...the limitless of reincarnations themselves. You are surely entitled to your opinions, in which I respect...just giving you a possible other view point to peer out, your choice.

Good luck

I like the way you think ! I do believe in past lives, because I fully think Karma exists I follow it and see it happen for many around me that call it bad luck. I know the subject can be disscused on and on and in depth I just wanted to say nice post and I never thought of the idea of being reborn into a past before, like you mention being reborn into Ancient Greece...cool thoughts!!

the five chakras outside the body connect us to these other selves ( imo, or rather what i have learned, 12 chakras in total, not including the ones in the hands and feet )
once i read one "good book" i had to read more to get a more full perspective.

I have to say your vision of past lives/reincarnation is refreshing. It reminds me of the theory of parallel universes (which if one was so inclined to believe in past lives and the linearity of time) which in turn makes me think of our souls perhaps being inter-dimensional beings (which is a bit off topic so I will stop!) I'm not sure however about past lives influencing the current yous likes and dislikes, as I would think they would be more specific than 2 movie obsessions (yes I know one is a musical, but the same applies to it as well).

Personally I want to believe I have a past life, if only because a Guardian of mine "told" me (apparently though if I ever learn about what I did during that time, I will go insane) But since there really is no viable proof, I am just left with that dangerous wanting feeling.

I think when we reach the afterlife we can chose to come back if we wish.

I do think I have had atleast two maybe three past lives.

A little boy killed by a bear, after eating bakon in 18 something.

A civil war soilder (their was a pblic reading of a soilder's diary, I knew what the first line was).

Some person from the far future on a strange looking spacecraft that from what I remember tore itself apart with some sort of faulty FrameDragg Drive device.

we need time to get in with it but if it comesback suddenly we may feel confuse
for me i choose not to know coz i may know everything that is not finished...

I know what you mean by inter-dimensional...when I got to thinking about who I was as a person...I didn't see a person, but many different people/places/things (and no not as a personality disorder) but things about me from certain times, or my really really deseased family members, and other strangers...cominbined bits of energy from different times and places...though all together. It's not so easy to explain, but it's pretty amazing when you think about it all.

ah yes, now you are starting to break free of linear thinking ( not that it is bad, but in some concepts it can be very limiting )
putting it as our spirits are multidimensional beings is a very good way to put it.
we only need to be present in the moment ( so to speak ) to learn what we have to from this life. all other lives take care of themselves.

as a society we keep a perception of this life as being a physical experiance, bound by physical laws. ( in a liniar fashon )

but is not the idea of life consiousness?
being aware of ones self and ones suroundings?
is it not the mental reation of the consiousness to physical as well as mental occurances what change us and make us better people? ( or worse, if that is the direction of learning )
is not all change to people, a change in the consiouse perceptions they hold?

is not the quest for understanding the spirit of the self, a consiouse quest that may take us on physical paths?

so is the spirit bound by the physical laws? or is there more to it?

so if there is more to it ( beyond what we see in the physical realm ) then where does this take us?

imo i see the state of life and being alive like a lawn. ( let me explain )

when we look at a lawn we see many blades of grass, but in all reality there are fewer "plants" then blades of grass.
one shared root system for many blades, so a lawn with 10000 blades of grass is a total of 50 plants. each root sustaining 200 individual blades of grass.

how i have come to understand the "outer" chakras is like this root system ( but crossing dimensions so to speak )
each life that we are aware of is like a blade of grass above the ground, but all connected by an unseen root, and being a part of a larger bieng on the whole.
in this life for me at least, it is a part of my learning to connect with that higher larger part of the self that connects and sustains all other blades of grass ( metaphoricly speaking lol )
it is within all of us to see into other parts of ourselves ( other lives ) but to not get wrapped up in them, there is the hear and now to learn from.
and the lessons from the here and now that are unique to us all.

when you really stop and think about it, there are many things to learn from this point in history.
things that could not happen at any other time in history.
ie: the growth of technology and the effects that it has on us as we learn to deal with and intergrate this technology into our lives.
as well we have been able to explore the effects of past technology and the effects that it has already had on us and where we live.

i look at this point in history as a great awakening. we can see negative effects of technology, and we should learn from this and use it in a more responsable way.
right now we live in a disposable society, but is this what we want. we know now that we can create it.
so how do we use it responsibly?
once we figure this out, then technology will be in for a seriouse boom.

but i am getting way off topic here, i was just trying to point out that each point in history has its lessons that cannot be learned at other times. ( sorry )

i don't see that connecting with other selves as being bad in any way. but granted to become aware of all that another life is experiancing at the same time would be quite maddening ( and no one would believe you ) as in, one self being at work and the other having sex ( as an extreem example lol ) might be a little unerving ( especialy if it is an oposite sex self ( didn't need that visual did ya )
but you get where i am going with this. we need the root.
but don't need to be aware of it.

its all learning anyway.

I think you misunderstand me. Maybe oneself, as a human, does not learn anything. But your soul does not change, and your soul retains all hte information that you've gathered over the many lives that one has experienced. And once your soul has learned everything there is to know, it will then go into wherever heaven or Nirvana or whatever. Your conscious self does not realise, or does not completely realise at least, so it's not like you know everything in every life and it's not boring or repetitive. Anyways those are my thoughts, it didn't seem like you understood what i meant.

Plus, thanks for all your comments, its all very helpful and i really appreciaate your views!

Angel x

Yes.
My 'opinion' ~ that there is No Time in Spirit... so living a 1,000 years ago ~ in a specific culture/historic time period ~ is not really how I see it happening .... I feel lives happen all at once.

In this life the 'soul' has 'attention' on this 'personality' ('like' a flashlight having its beam of light on a chair or what-have-you in a dark room). Some people can tap into the other lives when deep in meditation ~ expanding the consciousness to 'include' their 'other experiences' (lifetimes). Also, I believe that we have 'Soul' contracts... deciding when we will be born, to who, who we will marry, our occupations, diseases, etc .and our exit points.

WE ARE HERE to 'EXPERIENCE' ~ HOW can ONE life time give us ALL THAT IS!

I believe reincarnation is as feasable as any other afterlife belief, and makes sense in many ways. There are many good books that study the concepts in depth from the different backgrounds...If it makes you happy, makes sense, and brings you comfort, then it is probably the right idea for you.

Over the years I have seen several of these threads come and go. Generally they are pretty easy going as most people arent offended by the idea of reincarnation.

Every once in a while a hardcore christian will speak about how wrong it is, how ridiculus, nonsensical and pointless reincarnation is...I always think to myself that it is amazing how perspective works; to a christian, reincarnation may be the silliest idea in the world...meanwhile they pray to a invisible being that lives in the sky that they can never meet their entire life, yet devote themselves mind, body and spirit(and cash), some speak in tongues, all of them believe in the invisible gods son, who as it happens to be is actually godlike himself...kinda...in a way...depending on who you ask...who gets sacrificed...for his father...well himself...for the idea of sin...which incidentally was part of the package deal when the magical being created the universe and everything in it...yet somehow we are still not off the hook even with the sacrifice...hmmm...so I have to keep coming back to the church...kind of like the biggest Amway deal of all time...

...but then again I enjoy walking into burning buildings, so really...my judgement...ehhh.

I like that most always compare to trees, but you used the one 'weed' that humans think is amazing ha-ha grass...except those that are allergic . But yes I see your point and it all is interconnected, so other pieces can be held in place...keeping us here....and there.

i cant comprehend this un-individualism...it is hard to take it coz i cant feel it

what?

Rebirth and/or reincarnation is part and parcel of Buddhism, some of whose members seem proud of the fact that their faith is a "religion of reason." The Buddha's teachings were said to help "end the ceaseless cycle of rebirth", so apparently rebirth was considered a bad thing to the Buddha. Whether this means a belief in rebirth is bad, or rebirth itself is bad would probably be open to interpretation. But if Buddhism was truly a "religion of reason", then I suppose the former would apply. (The belief in rebirth, that is.)

I don't want to be reborn.

Why restrict it to Buddhism? When Jesus asked John the Baptist who the people thought he was, the reply was that they believed Jesus to be Elias returned. That certainly suggests a belief in reincarnation during the time of Christ.

Yes, and that reminds me. I haven't seen anything about the matter recently, but early Christians did believe in reincarnation/rebirth until the 1st or 2nd council of Constantinople. It seems they preferred the early Christians to believe that priests could pray the departed souls into heaven.

There may be a link on this somewhere by now.

PS. There is a link. I think it was written by a Hindu, but they also believe in reincarnation like Buddhists. (And like Buddhism, they're not hostile to other faiths.) The writer says 2nd council of Constantinople was when the decision to exclude rebirth/reincarnation was made:

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0703/73.html

You are absolutely right. Even if past life really exists, it's practically useless because you don't remember a jack squat about it. And it doesn't seem to affect your current life at all.

I remember reading a teaching of a Chinese Buddhist who summarized the matter pretty well IMO:

"If you want to know about past lives, know that your present life is the result of it. If you want to know about your future life, know that this will be the result of your present life."

Buddhists believe strongly in the principle of "karma," which is basically "What goes around comes around."

hahahahaha you are so funny...it doesn't 'mean squat' nor 'affect your current LIFE AT ALL"....if that were the case there would be no such thing, but they do or obviously people wouldn't be talking about them...now if people are thinking they are queens/kings of somewhere...obviously it's not their 'past life' but something trying to put ideas into their head....their are different 'subtypes' and it's not just one definition for a past life, as with almost any other word in the dictionary

I agree. I went off once on something similar:
link to post

I still think this way for the most part.
Also turns out I used the word "mundane".

I don't know, I would not say it is impossible. Life after death could be going to heaven or being born again and again and again. I have had weird dreams that you wonder where they come from, it is always people that I know in the dreams and they are glad to see me and me them, but when I wake up I can't see their faces. Maybe, the old tempoal lobe playing tricks on me, too much electricity to burn off--but it is possible we all have lived before. I read a few years ago a woman living here in the US when hypnotized could speak German, while she didn't actually know a word in German.

Who knows?

best regards.
seax

Im unsure.

I was once told by a psychic i was a famous actress in one past life and an artist in another but i dont know if believe it.

And what am i in this life? A single parent who likes to cross stitch. Id have thought if id have been famous in past life id have done a little more with this lifetime, unless my souls a little tired of all that.

I agree that lots ofpeople say that they were famous people in past lives, and i think a lot of people are making it up. But, if reincarnation is possible, then someone must have been Freddie Mercury or Marie Antoinette or someone!!

Angel x

I belive in past lives, and yes, I have my reasons for thinking this way. I also have a theory on why everything is the way it is. It's very simple. Everything starts out simple and becomes more complex as time passes. I have never found anything that this rule doesn't apply to. With past lives you could think about it this way. Cycles, each building upon the other, and as for why a person can't remmber that past life or lives in thier entirty, well, just think about it. In each life you would have had a different personality, if you could remember completly, with great clarity, this might cause you great problelms. It would be like having MPD (Multiple, Personality, Disorder). Hmm, now that is something to think about, isn't it?

No, I can see your point, I've been to a few people, especially some pyschologists and they've all said I have an extreme memory. Meaning that I can remember exact conversations from when I was two, to what I was wearing on each specific day, to exact emotions attached to them, to where the layout of a certain swing was and if I was facing north east and so forth. There is a problem with that, it sounds 'cool'...but it really isn't. Since you remember everything you can have emotional issues, because you don't forget one single detail especially if someone was cruel to you. I don't get 'flashblacks' that some people get from PDSD. I merely just remember everything 'situational', to where I can put it in photographic/videographic scene hence why I remember more about where or what I was talking about rather than writing. I have this inability to 'ignore' memories like I lot of people, this causes trouble with me thinking constantly to where it's built up to chronic insomnia...cause you can't shut off your mind

The plus side is that you never forget and always able to hold on to good memories, you are always able to think deeper into life itself, rather than everything seeming just pointless. I am betting you people with more memory are going to be spirtual (maybe not a bible goer or god praiser) but certainly have some deep root of spirtuality because you think so much you have to make time to clear your mind...it's like a task.

I can see what you are saying about remembering alllllllllllll your past lives, it's very bothersome, and in most respects down right dreadful, because you do have multliple personalities, as if you are discerning okay this is what I did x amount of years ago, this is what I do now and how each one has affected you, in what people you've met or seen (including places) how you've stuck with some of it, to even what foods you still like

Problem with keeping memories is you amount this database, not just about yourself, but practically everything but yourself. A whole datasheet of what 33290483 thousand people emotional feel, what their life is like, their high points...I mean how annoying is it when you remember what color popscicle you were eating.

Ex. I was 4 years old eating a purple pop, with my sister and brother, my brother had a orange, and my sis had a red her favorite, we were in highchairs outside and I was in the middle, my brother took my pacifier (I called it passie) from me and I got made, cause I'd been a sucker for the rubber cause I actually like how it smelled rather than tasted. Anywho, we were eating them and I was 2/3 about to were you can read the joke at the bottom...only to where I could read "What wa....

Then my mother at the time orange hair, got us out of the seats and I ran down to drive in the little red car, with the yellow roof (maybe some of you remember) I was in OsKosh overalls..since those were popular back then

I mean basically I could go on and on about something so vaguely pointless, it can get this annoying as you can see..and it's more annoying because I have to get the minute details about each story...and I have to go back and repeat the parts where I screwed up simple things like the shirt wasn't blue, no it was more of an aqua


Geshh when you remember everything you become a wreck, I mean mentally having to keep up with all of those years, not to mention negativity of people...it can get stressful

I mean sometimes I think thank gooodness for Alzhiemers because after living that long I can see why you might need an 'eraser'!

I believe its certainly feasable but no real substantial evidence exists to corroborate it as far as i know it does however make some "sense" if you assume that your soul subconciously remembers these past lives and somehow applies them in your decision making it would be a useful function death would also be usefull as older minds are far more hidebound old wisdom needs young ideals as young ideals needs old wisdom. if it turned out to be the case i wouldnt be shocked but im not going to put any eggs in this basket because ive never had any actual experience i could relate to a past life however if i try it and i experience something maybe then il give it some serious thaught

This concept of being able to reincarnate into the past and the future, I think, is quite plausible. The soul exists outside of what we know as time, so there is absolute continuity, and in all likelihood, no such thing as death, death merely is a passing through a doorway into another realm. A transition. I also believe that with the aid of our guides; we do in fact choose when we will incarnate again, and where. We also choose a basic outline for events that will unfold in the incarnation to stimulate soul growth. I suppose a soul could choose to go into the past or the future, or even more likely, as someone else mentioned, we could be living several lives at once...the soul dividing itself.

Good thread.

Yes, well for the most part I believe we choose; however not all the time, it's being able to not control everything that allows the mind to be at peace sometimes

Although, i've just had a thought, lol. If you are able to choose when you can come back and where, that means your soul knows everything about all the times and can choose its favourite. So is your soul kind of omniscient? At least with seeing the past present and future, or is your soul apart from time and can just look down onto it, almost like someone looking at a map, and just chooses one? Maybe that's quite confusing...

Angel x

its not really that confusing ( kind of hard to grasp )
but thinking of it in such a physical manner ie: looking at a map dosn't help to clear anything.
it is kind of looking at somthing 4 dimensionaly.
lets take your coffee table for example.
when you look at it in the three dimensional world, you see it in one state.
as it appears to you now.
but try to imagine looking at it in a 4 dimensional world.
where you see it as being new, worn, and old and rickety at the same time.
when viewed in astral plain, this is how it appers.
although in the astral it is kind of opaque, you can see through it but not clearly.
like a shower window ( sorta )
on other plains, all kinds of things look like this ( disorientating at first ) but it is a part of grasping what we really are.

not stuck in one place, yet not scatterd across the universe either.

as for when you chose to come back? it has more to do with what that time has to offer, and those present in that time.

hehe i dont basically express my self that clearly so it your duty to study what is done and written....

I would agree with that. To me, yes, the soul is essentially omniscient. Dying is to me, mirrored by what Plato says, that the physical body is, at least in a sense, the prison for the soul. When you leave this plane; your soul will be aware of everything.....past lives, purposes of same.....you name it, we know all of it. It is our conscious minds that are unable to grasp any of this. The descent into matter at all is merely for a growth experience on this plane. When it is finished, with the help of your spirit guides, you will undergo a review of lessons learned from this life. Did you make the right choices or the wrong ones? Will you need to incarnate again to undo karma from this or other lives? Your soul knows what it must do even though you.you...do not. But this perception of your self here, this personality you have, at death, will be gone. That may be a frightening thought to some; but you are much greater than this personality, in reality it will be the equivalent of taking off a dirty t-shirt.

Good topic. I'm rather torn on reincarnation/past lives. On the one hand, I don't believe in them, merely because I've had a near death experience of my own where I experienced the outside of Heaven and then because it wasn't my "time to go", I was sent back to my earthly body and realm. But, then? On the other hand? I do believe in reincarnation because I have experienced memories of past places and lives. For example, I literally break down and weep whenever I see a picture, whether it be a still shot or on the television/videos of Avalon. I've never been to Avalon, but, when I see it I have a great emotional attachment to it to the point of weeping. I also have a strong emotional attachment to Ireland and I've never been there either. It all looks so familiar to me whenever I see these two places. I also have memories of being a dancer in the Medieval era.

It is also my opinion that we haven't learned all there is to learn about D.N.A. either and we could very well be inheritors of our ancestor's memories and we could be experiencing their memories whenever we think we're experiencing a "de ja vu". I don't know. It's just a thought, just an opinion.

I encourage people to check out Dr. Ian Stevenson's work. He died a few years ago, but he was a very respected professional in his field, and he is the first person who has researched reincarnation claims around the world. He has investigated past life memory claims from children, then would go about cross-verifying their claims through medical records etc. His work is fascinating, and is continued by his successor, Jim Tucker. These guys try to take the most scientific approach possible to these claims, and they are quite shocking and very difficult to explain away. The research is out there, you just have to look for it.

I would also recommend checking out Carol Bowman- she does past life research as well and shares her findings in several of her books. It never hurts to be open minded. When you start reading these accounts and the amazing details that these children know, it then starts to sound more and more plausible.

interesting ,

first i thouht progress is always forwards, and not backwards. so as the soul is continually unfolding , why then go back to a period in history when the body would b of 'rougher' material. surely the soul will need ever more refined bodies. to keep up with its unfoldment. but then again there were perhaps periods when maybe they were more advanced than today eg the atlanteans, so why not maybe get a more refined body in that period... interesting . an i suppose with the illusion of time .... who knows... not me thats for sure..

someone spoke earlier about reincarnation not being in the bible, but thats not the case, there is plenty if you desire to look fo it.

some examples:

not everyone who lives by the sword dies by the sword (not in this life)

another -someone asked why the man was born blind -did he or his father sin to cause this ? they asked jesus. as they knew the man was born blind , he could have only sinned in a prevous life.(if he was the reason and not his parent)


----------------------------------------------------
our conscience is proof of previous lives , telling us not to make the same mistakes again, ,,if only we would listen.
as is our talents . as is our inclinations for a foreign language , our interest in a certain time in history an our desire to visit a certain country(again)..

there is no such thing as love at first sight- we have met and been friends so many times before, thats why the feelings are so strong ..

Yeah it does seem like everything moves forward. I'm torn as to whether I think the soul can move backward or not. Ultimately, I'd probably say no. And yeah it is implied in the Bible. What about Elijah and John the Baptist. Jesus says they are one and the same. The idea of eternal punishment better helped get the citizens in line when they were establishing authority over the roman empire. Rom'es conversion was as much, if not more so, for political reasons than spiritual.

I have heard this theory that we could be born in to any time past or present , I like this Idea , it would explain why some are drawn to, say ETs or cryptos and any thing else mainstream society deems quirky maybe we in some past or future life know these things to be facts and its just natural we are drawn to these things whatever they are were drawn to.... just a thought, so as far as past and future lives ...my answer is yes

OK, if you say so...lol

I've wanted to believe in past lives but I guess maybe if they exist I never had one. I just don't ever get any feelings really of the old days or no memories or anything like that. I think I had one ONE TIME but it was probobly just a thought and me wishfully thinking it was a past life glimpse and it more than likely wasn't. All it was - was a vision of a big old house in the victorian times...nothing more nothing less so it was probobly nothing.

Same here LostInThought,though if I DID have a past life then I might have been an anchient egyptian! I always loved that Era for some reason.

That's probably not the case, my friend. In all likelihood you have lived numerous past lives. You do not remember because we are NOT SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER. Is not the present life hard enough? Why would we want to learn of past misdeeds to further our guilt, or to revisit past glories to puff up our vanity? Its reasons like that why you don't remember; it would be more of a hinderance to remember than a benefit. People who remember their past lives only do so for specific reasons. The Lamas of Buddhism, for example, remember their past lives because they incarnate solely to serve others.

I remember reading about this one reincarnation story about this woman who had memories of Ireland all her life, even down to a certain town. She finally had past life regression done; and she became aware of this past life in which she was raising 5 children alone, as her husband had died. She herself died suddenly, and as a result all of her children were orphaned. This family had totally lost connection since the death of their mother. By this time they were all old. But she went to Ireland, and ultimately ended up reuninting her entire family after decades of seperation. THAT is a reason why you would remember. For a specific karmic purpose. Nothing more.

Certain things, however, LINGER from past lives. They carry over. Are you especially gifted at any sort of arts, or business........special talents of any kind? That is probably a carry over from a past life or lives. So would negative predispositions, like say, being an alcoholic. Even strange phobias may have to do with a past life.

We've all been here before. Its just not always our place to know.

I believe in past lives and none so ever helped me come to that conclusion more than my daughter. I had always considered but never thought either way until she was born. From the moment I looked at her I felt like she was familiar to me but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As she got a little older and could talk she began telling me things she could not have known about ancient Japanese culture and than confronted me one day and asked me if I remembered being Japanese with her before. I had a discussion with my neighbor and she said her daughter told her she used to be a boy before and was killed and her daughter was only 3 years old and they never talked about reincarnation in their house. This was the beginning for me in believing and it came to fruition after dreams and strange memories. One night I dreamt I was with the Dalai Lama and walking through this garden and I asked him if he recognized me but he looked bewildered and I handed him a flower from the garden with no stem and said "if I were to give you this flower would you than know me?" and he looked at me and said t the effect of "there you are friend but you are a woman?" well the next night I saw Barbara Walters interviewing him and the garden looked the same as it did in my dream and than my daughter walks in and saids "who is that mommy?" and I told her and she said she dreamt about him last night but he was younger and she told me that she was a monk and knocked on his door and he tried to take a necklace from the other monk claiming it was his. Now after researching this was indeed how the reincarnation of the dalai lama was found out, the monks knocked on his door and he claimed the necklace was his and it was from the last dalai lama she was even able to describe what the necklace looked like and was right. After all that I began to believe and as I sought the doors slowly opened.

So in short I certainly believe in past lives. I believe it is a means to learn and grow and eventually graduate. I personally believe from my own dreams, memories and so forth that I have lived many times before but I have only been able to pinpoint two actual time periods and cultures of my past lives and it was only from memories and dreams of historical things that happened that I was not preavy to at that time until I researched the dreams and memories I had and the events in them were historically and geographically correct and coincided.

What a cool concept to be able to be reincarnated within any time frame.
I have never thought of this before and it is very interesting, it would make for a great novel or movie.

That kind of hit a spot in me. See, my biggest and worst fear of all is underwater creatures, specifically sharks. People tell me that it is weird that that is my biggest fear because I don't live near any beaches or oceans of any kind. I'm in the middle of the United States. I'm 25 and I've only been to the beach once in my whole life when I was 9. Someone told me one time that maybe I died from being attacked by a shark or something in my past life. The fear I have is pretty strong. If I wake up from a dream where I am underwater or just in the middle of the ocean floating or something I will wake up crying. And when I watch movies like Jaws and stuff they scare me to peices!!! But yet I have this genuine interest in underwater life.

Interesting phobia. There's a chance that it could be something psychological here at work too, yet, this certainly fits a past life phobia scenario. The fact is we've probably all died in rather traumatic fashions before, and I think this is yet another reason why, typically, we are not supposed to distinctly remember previous incarnations. Lol if I had been eaten by a shark I certainly wouldn't want to remember graphic images of it!!

Very possibly from a past life, friend.

Actually I have a similar phobia to yours. Its really starnge. I LOVE the ocean; I want to be on the beach any time I can, and more specifically, I want to be on boats. I want to own a boat. Yet, when I first GET ON a boat, I become very nervous and agitated; I even had panic attacks a couple times. Its crazy because I love them. It takes me awhile to 'calm down'. Like, the first time I got on a boat for example, I was so excited, yes! I'm finally doing this.....but then the moment I set foot on it I had a panic attack. WTF? I think maybe I drowned in a past life. I like to swim too, but NOT UNDERWATER. I hate putting my head underwater. But I love being in water. Crazy.