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Skilled Investigator
Has anyone had an experience that makes them think reincarnation might be a valid concept?

I can't say that I believe in this one way or the other. But I have had a few quirky, fleeting impressions.

First, whenever I see a country field (particularly with an old-style mansion on it), when the sun strikes a certain way, I feel myself momentarily transported to another time and place. It's almost as if I'm just on the verge of remembering something, but then can't.

As a child, I had these recurring dreams about being stabbed in my lower back... Finally, one day recently, I was dozing a bit while staring up at some tree limbs against a sunny sky. I could almost remember being a Confederate soldier dying out in the woods.

Confabulation. Gibberish. Maybe. I don't know.

Then I watched a PBS documentary about the Minoans. I've always had a certain fear of tidal waves... The show made a profound impression on me (like I had a personal connection with the subject).

Nothing. Nonsense. Maybe. I don't know.
 
Thanks for your story, interesting! I too have had some similar 'memories' of things that I may have experienced or been 'before'. But...Idk what to think of 'em.

And...not that you asked or anything, but if I may....

I believed in reincarnation for years (still do...kinda).
But now, (at this time) my thoughts on that have changed. MUCH more complex now.

Right now, I'm of the belief that we as personalities, (and that which makes us different from each other, imho) doesn't survive death of the body (and personality of that body)..then jump into another one. (I kinda WANT this belief back, tho!).

I think that part diffuses, YET...I DO still believe that us as consciousness sans personalities still survive... and THAT is what picks up new bodies/lives and wears a new personality.

Sorry to go so philosophical on everyone...:redface: :rolleyes:
 
I think that part diffuses, YET...I DO still believe that us as consciousness sans personalities still survive... and THAT is what picks up new bodies/lives and wears a new personality.

Actually -- what I think you're saying here -- I find very interesting. And it fits with what I've discovered in a completely different area.

My wife introduced me to Chinese astrology. Now, Chinese astrology is very different from Western astrology. Western astrology attempts to be predictive of fate and fortune. But Chinese astrology, based on animals and materials, forecasts personality types.

Basically, it says that if you're born at a certain time, you will have these personality characteristics. I don't think they're saying that the stars and planets create this phenomenon, just that it is cyclical and will repeat again and again just as the clock of the heavens moves around and around.

At first, it seems like a completely whacky idea. But the more I test it with people I know -- including myself -- the more I find it to be correct. It's like -- when you're born -- some sort of BIOS is booted up (which becomes your basic personality).

So, presumably, if reincarnation were true, each time you are reborn (at a different time), you would have a different basic personality.
 
I know you asked for peronal data. I think your experiences, and the way you express them, are rather typical. I'm not being critical at all; it's just that you are not alone. My sister-in-law insists she was killed with an arrow and has an aversion to anything remotely similar. For myself, I seem to have a strong reaction to WW II, in particular Pearl Harbor. Given the date of my birth, I have this sneaking suspicion, but that's really as far as I can take it. This stuff is so anecdotal and personal that all you are left with is innuendo.

However, there has been some interesting research done especially with children who remember past lives. Dr. Ian Stevenson wrote an interesting book called 'Twenty cases Suggestive of Reincarnation" that studied children's tales of past lives. His bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stevenson. The book is still available: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0813908728/?tag=rockoids-20.

The typical case is that a kid dies at a young age and is reincarnated the next village over. He can tell a great many details about his previous life. Since the children are so young, the liklihood that they are telling a tall tale is very unlikely.

One case on Youtube is about a kid named Cameron in Scotland. Watch the five part series and see what you think: .

I actually think Bixyboo is correct and that normally your own personality usually does not reincarnate, but I suspect sometimes the process screws up and you are left with these compelling cases. The eastern traditions such as Buddhism and those in India are much more accepting of this than western culture. But even the Christians insist Christ is coming again. What is that if not reincarnation?

Like everything else on the fringe of science, there is a ton of junk out there and mixed within, a few jewels.
 
I do have recurring "scenes." Many of them are violent and very unpleasant. I won't make the leap into saying they are from past lives. I suspect some memories may be passed genetically, and I have somehow accessed memories of ancestors. One particularly unpleasant "memory" involves being shot in the back of the head while running up a hill and laying for hours before I finally die. I have a hunch that DNA may have a "record/playback" function.
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When I was in college I was doing a project on Henry V and I had what I could only describe as a "vision" (trite and woo-woo as that sounds). Unlike imagination this seemed more like a presentation, something for me to sit there and watch: It's a battlefield, possibly Agincourt. I'm a squire. I'm handing a shield to my knight. An arrow lands square in the middle of my back. Dead.

Coincidence? Fantasy? Maybe. It's said however that we often carry the marks of previous lives into the next ones and damned if I didn't have a big-ass mole right in that spot...
 
One case on Youtube is about a kid named Cameron in Scotland. Watch the five part series and see what you think

I suppose it's like the abduction scenario. This would be easy to have fun with and try to poke holes in it...except for those nagging impressions of my own. Because of my own quasi-experiences, I dunno.

I end up relating to the kid.
 
I was told by a palm reader about a past life, or two. She described my dad to a 't' and my relationship with him, and all along I am trying not to give out clues.

I have 'known' one or two places as I got near them; have had a recurring memory of being in a garden in the 40's or thereabouts, complete with the style of the day. and back in my mind somewhere is this absolute confusion that no matter how convinced I am that I can jitterbug to the big band sound, I come up with two left feet... and feel like something is terribly wrong :D

but I have had some very strange memories/episodes in my life that tell me I have been around the block a few times ;)

and I don't see how the dna idea could be feasible, as I don't see an answer for all the times people have had memories of lives that had no genetic connection to their current one?
 
The video looks at the case of an 11-year-old boy who has had startling memories from the WWII era - and gave specific details to a war hero's surviving family.


 
Reincarnation has always struck me as a messy concept (what's the mechanism that determines whether a new-born gets a returning soul or a new one, or are new souls displaced by revenants? - (nasty)).

Still, facts on the ground are facts on the ground.
However, I do think it is possible to remember things which happened to somebody else - just as I believe spontaneous telepathy occurs much more often that people assume (we just don't have a reliable way to distinguish between our own thoughts and those of another).

If memory is in some way non-localised (another of my pet thoughts) there could be circumstances in which someone could "tune-in" to the memories of another, particularly if they're of a traumatic nature (that might even be a group survival mechanism, the way trees release "alarm" chemicals into the soil when they're under attack).
 
If memory is in some way non-localised (another of my pet thoughts) there could be circumstances in which someone could "tune-in" to the memories of another, particularly if they're of a traumatic nature (that might even be a group survival mechanism, the way trees release "alarm" chemicals into the soil when they're under attack).
My dog knew what a rattle-snake was the first time she saw one.
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If memory is in some way non-localised (another of my pet thoughts) there could be circumstances in which someone could "tune-in" to the memories of another, particularly if they're of a traumatic nature (that might even be a group survival mechanism, the way trees release "alarm" chemicals into the soil when they're under attack).

Yes, I think this is another valid theory -- and it may even be a sort of Unified Paranormal Field Theory. I mean, it sort of ties together ghost-sightings and remote viewing...

A traumatic event might send out psychic ripples that can be sensed in various ways. Some of us might tap into them by thinking they are our own recollections. Others, under other circumstances, might see apparitions. While in some cases, people can spin their psychic dials and pick up impressions at will (that they don't mistake for their own memories).

I'd like to look into these cases of children remembering past lives more. First, I'd want to completely rule out the possibility that the parents aren't feeding them this dilusion to create a sort of circus act. Then, if what the children are claiming can truly be researched and found to be historically accurate (and they had no other way of getting that information), then I think that would rule out the possibility of some strange brain dysfunction.
 
.
However, I do think it is possible to remember things which happened to somebody else

Excellent point and an issue that has been mis-used. I remember reading about a person who proclaimed she had regressed to a life in Egypt where she described herself as haughty and finally realized she had been a cat. What an extrapolation! Assuming for the sake of the argument that she had managed to see the world from a cat's vantage, that in no way 'proves' or even suggests reincarnation. More noise, less signal.
 
If I may add something to my previous post about what I thought about personalities surviving death....

There are some holes to that theory I'm still working out....

Like:

How would you explain ghosts, then? (assuming this maybe a genuine phenomena, and I've not completely ruled them out at this point). They
seem to have 'personalities' (of their previous body apparently).

So...how would one explain that, then?

Well: I've got one answer: That perhaps there are two 'stages' to death.

The first is that the soul is still the same personality it was while in the body as soon as it exits. And perhaps that is the stage where certain events may occur (life-events being reviewed, 'visiting' loved ones to say goodbye, etc..), and in THIS stage there you'd have your 'ghosts'. Perhaps there's a way to 'stay' in this phase or some get 'stuck' in it?

The second stage is (at this time what I believe, anyway) is where you'd enter another phase and your personality then diffuses and you are simply consciousness.

Once you're into THAT stage, I don't think it's even possible to enter into/be born into another body as a distinct 'body personality' (aka: reincarnation-with-the-intact-personality sense)....idk tho...still thinking on all this.

Btw, in case any of you might be wondering...my post/beliefs in this are not based from what I used to be involved in.

Bixyboo
 
OK, here's a possible scenario. I'm not claiming this is Truth or that I even believe it. It's not even good enough for a theory, but it's a story. Maybe it's fiction; maybe it is not.

You die. What's left of you would normally go to the next plane. Most do. Once in awhile you still have a very vested interest for remaining on the earth plane, so you stick around as a 'spirit/ghost'. Your vested interest might be a traumatic event, such as being killed in warfare, so you feel robbed of your earthly existence. It may be a loved one you do not wish to leave, or it may be you just don't want to leave your stock portfolio. If you look at the instances of ghosts, there is normally some sort of emotional tie to keep them around. In some instances, the death may have been so quick that the person doesn't really realize they are dead.

In any case you can't interact with the rest of us. Your physical body is gone and though you can navigate around just fine, including through walls, it ultimately is going to get kind of boring. So you decide to investigate what is next, perhaps with help, and you leave.

In the next plane you reunite with people who have gone before you and rejoin your 'family' who, you find out, were all in this together. By 'family' I don't mean Mom & Dad, but a larger family of similarly inclined beings. Knowledge hidden from you is now regained and you realize you decided you wanted an earth life, you more or less planned its general outlines, and you agreed to 'forget' what you were really about for the duration of your earthly existence. So you undergo this 'life review' thing and see where you screwed up and where you did well and you realize some of your screw-ups were actually pre-planned and weren't so much screw-ups as set-ups. In fact, your whole life was a set-up. You played your own avatar in the multi-player second life reality show. It was a game you agreed to play.

The thing is, you'll see what you believe. If you're of a particular religious persuasion, you'll be 'met by Jesus' and hang out with the Christian dead who feel vindicated because, after all, they just survived death and are now in Heaven. If you're Islamic, perhaps you'll see your 72 virgins or Allah. Or maybe you will be met by Buddha. If you don't believe in any of that stuff, well, your higher self is going to have to sit down with you and explain that all this time, you were wrong. I would love to be a fly on the wall when Randi dies. On the other hand, understand that he is also playing a part while here.

Now, your family is going to exert some considerable pressure on you to do this all over again. You may be happy to do so, or you may resist, but your family has a vested interest in you doing so because the group advances as a whole. If you resist, then they ultimately say good bye and leave you to find a family more suited to your pace of advancement.

Maybe you can get away with dropping out of the game, maybe not. In any case, if you do continue to play, you (which now includes your higher self) will begin to put together a new personality with traits appropriate to the task at hand, and send it (not you) back down as a new avatar to continue to play. So maybe you can take solace that you, specifically, won’t have to do this again, but you will still be involved in the game by running your own avatars.

Some will not like this set-up at all. It's tantamount to having a bag placed over your head hiding knowledge you already have and told to go back down and 'do good.' I'm sympathetic to this position, but maybe that's because I do not think I have done well. I’m reminded of the Star Wars movie where Luke finally finds out Darth Vader is his father. Vader tells him, ‘You know it is true. You feel it in your bones.’ Well, I feel this is the general idea of what happens, with lots of missing specifics. I feel it in my bones.

And the UFO Guys™? They’ve already figured this out. Their science advanced them to the point that they can travel between these planes with relative ease. For them, religion and science have merged. They feel superior to us, of course, but that’s only because they have superior technology. We feel superior to the New Guinea Highlander, too, and even if we are egalitarian in nature, still see him as ignorant. But if the truth be known, his IQ may be superior to ours. If he had grown up in an aristocratic British household, he would have done well at Eton and Oxford. We are fond of suggesting ‘they’ are so far advanced that we are like ants compared to them. Don’t you believe it. Ants don’t do quantum mechanics. Never shortchange your own intelligence or mock yourself as inferior.

In any case, the UFO Guys™ have apparently taken on some shepherding roll here as they interfere with our lives. They'll be there, waving at us from the sidelines. I’m thinking they are more like the guy who says, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I don’t want their stinking help, and I intend to fight them every step of the way.
 
In any case, the UFO Guys™ have apparently taken on some shepherding roll here as they interfere with our lives. hey'll be there, waving at us from the sidelines. I’m thinking they are more like the guy who says, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I don’t want their stinking help, and I intend to fight them every step of the way.
I hereby Declare this vessel of flesh I inhabit Sovereign Territory.
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OK, here's a possible scenario. I'm not claiming this is Truth or that I even believe it. It's not even good enough for a theory, but it's a story. Maybe it's fiction; maybe it is not.

You die. What's left of you would normally go to the next plane. Most do. Once in awhile you still have a very vested interest for remaining on the earth plane, so you stick around as a 'spirit/ghost'. Your vested interest might be a traumatic event, such as being killed in warfare, so you feel robbed of your earthly existence. It may be a loved one you do not wish to leave, or it may be you just don't want to leave your stock portfolio. If you look at the instances of ghosts, there is normally some sort of emotional tie to keep them around. In some instances, the death may have been so quick that the person doesn't really realize they are dead.

(OK, so far, I'm with ya on all the above..)

In any case you can't interact with the rest of us.

(...except perhaps some can... whether accidentally or purposely, and therein lie those rare but possible 'hauntings' in one form or another)

Your physical body is gone and though you can navigate around just fine, including through walls, it ultimately is going to get kind of boring.

So you decide to investigate what is next, perhaps with help, and you leave.

In the next plane you reunite with people who have gone before you and rejoin your 'family' who, you find out, were all in this together.

By 'family' I don't mean Mom & Dad,

(actually, I struggle with this and WANT to believe/look forward to seeing my loved ones again...or should I say beloved
personalities again. And who knows, maybe it will happen to me..because I WANT it to..and at this time, I think what happens after your death is whatever you want/believe)


.....but a larger family of similarly-inclined beings.

Knowledge hidden from you is now regained (agree with this) and you realize you decided you wanted an earth life, you more or less planned its general outlines, and you agreed to 'forget' what you were really about for the duration of your earthly existence.

(Agree. I liken it to an IV Tube and IV Bag (at this time). When we are in our bodies and have our coagulated personalities, we have pinched shut the IV Tube from the bag, so that we can 'play the game without knowing' kinda thing. I believe that the IV Bag is ourselves AS 'Our Higher Self'. And our Higher Self is who helps us in life, kinda thing.)


So you undergo this 'life review' thing and see where you screwed up and where you did well and you realize some of your screw-ups were actually pre-planned and weren't so much screw-ups as set-ups. In fact, your whole life was a set-up. You played your own avatar in the multi-player second life reality show. It was a game you agreed to play.

The thing is, you'll see what you believe. If you're of a particular religious persuasion, you'll be 'met by Jesus' and hang out with the Christian dead who feel vindicated because, after all, they just survived death and are now in Heaven. If you're Islamic, perhaps you'll see your 72 virgins or Allah. Or maybe you will be met by Buddha.

(Perfect! I tend to think/believe this!).

If you don't believe in any of that stuff, well, your higher self is going to have to sit down with you and explain that all this time, you were wrong.

(....Please.....elaborate.....)


I would love to be a fly on the wall when Randi dies. On the other hand, understand that he is also playing a part while here.

Now, your family is going to exert some considerable pressure on you to do this all over again.

(I don't know about this, in my opinion, I think they'll be no pressure to do or not do anything).


You may be happy to do so, or you may resist, but your family has a vested interest in you doing so because the group advances as a whole. If you resist, then they ultimately say good bye and leave you to find a family more suited to your pace of advancement.

(I don't know about this, either).

Maybe you can get away with dropping out of the game, maybe not. In any case, if you do continue to play, you (which now includes your higher self)

(I say you ARE your Higher Self, and that there are no 'lessons' to 'get' or 'learn' or anything...it's all just....existences, experiences, no right or wrong)

will begin to put together a new personality with traits appropriate to the task at hand, and send it (not you) back down as a new avatar to continue to play.
So maybe you can take solace that you, specifically, won’t have to do this again, but you will still be involved in the game by running your own avatars.

Some will not like this set-up at all. It's tantamount to having a bag placed over your head hiding knowledge you already have and told to go back down and 'do good.' I'm sympathetic to this position, but maybe that's because I do not think I have done well. I’m reminded of the Star Wars movie where Luke finally finds out Darth Vader is his father. Vader tells him, ‘You know it is true. You feel it in your bones.’ Well, I feel this is the general idea of what happens, with lots of missing specifics. I feel it in my bones.

(Great analogy!)

And the UFO Guys™? They’ve already figured this out. Their science advanced them to the point that they can travel between these planes with relative ease. For them, religion and science have merged. They feel superior to us, of course, but that’s only because they have superior technology. We feel superior to the New Guinea Highlander, too, and even if we are egalitarian in nature, still see him as ignorant. But if the truth be known, his IQ may be superior to ours. If he had grown up in an aristocratic British household, he would have done well at Eton and Oxford. We are fond of suggesting ‘they’ are so far advanced that we are like ants compared to them. Don’t you believe it. Ants don’t do quantum mechanics. Never shortchange your own intelligence or mock yourself as inferior.

(If by 'UFO Guys' you are referring to 'non-human sentient entities', I think they're in the same boat we are all in and go through the same death experience, except that they chose to be in a non-human game/existence...don't know if they have any distinct and varying personalities to speak of tho...)

In any case, the UFO Guys™ have apparently taken on some shepherding roll here as they interfere with our lives.

(Perhaps so)


They'll be there, waving at us from the sidelines. I’m thinking they are more like the guy who says, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I don’t want their stinking help, and I intend to fight them every step of the way.

(lol.)
..................................................................................................


A very well-thought-out and well-written post, thank you, Schuyler! :)

It's fun to theorize about stuff like this, 'cause there's really no way to 'prove' a finite answer (imho).

And in the end...we are ALL 'right' I suppose...
(in the case I've stated, in that 'whatever happens is whatever you believe' kinda thing).

Hoping I don't step on too many toes here, but...I (at this time) do not think that there is any finite 'place' like 'Heaven' or 'Hell'. I don't think that doing 'good' vs doing 'evil' will necessarily 'place' you differently
(after you die, that is).

Regarding Reincarnation and Past Lives: I think we've been ALL personalities and done ALL things (or are in process of doing so? Idk..still processing
thoughts on this one).

It's all like a game...like a video game as Schuyler's put it. There's no right or wrong, only consequences of one's actions, that's it.
 
Sovereignty is meaningless if it's unrecognized. It's like a kid tying a towel around his neck and declaring himself "Superman".

You are absolutely right, but every revolution in history started out being unrecognized. Someone on here has a sig line from Ghandi that says (I think I'm close) "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
 
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