Do you believe in reincarnation?

Question

tell me more about it

Answer 1

im not sure, id like to, it sounds interesting. it'd be something id have to learn more about as well to fully believe it. however if you get a chance to look up a story, Audrey Rose. this girl had flashbacks of a past life (says its a true story) very interesting, there is a movie out about it too.

Answer 2

I don't think that reincarnation can be proven or dis-proven. It certainly does not mean coming back as a squirrel or any other animal. I can't imagine taking all of the lessons a human soul has learned in one lifetime and transferring that into a lower life form...really, c'mon! There is something much bigger and complex out there than we are and human beings that believe that we represent the "end of the line" is pretty arrogant to say the least. Take a good look around you, do you really think that this is all an accident? We have a subconscious, does that die when our bodies die? The subconscious is not like flesh and bone, it is not a tangible thing we can touch. There are many questions about reincarnation that remain mysteries. Why would we come back with the memory of a past life, what purpose would that serve? How do you know if we would come back to this form of life, there may be others. What happens to us after our physical bodies die is a mystery, but the understanding that our lives are not to be wasted for a reason is achievable. For all of the others who have responded to this question in a moronic or negative way, there is one sure way to find out about reincarnation...go for it! You may also want to study the theory of Karma, it goes hand in hand with reincarnation.

I do not claim any religious status; religion is man-made, very dogmatic and man clutches onto religion like a crutch. The fact is we are all here for a purpose, our course is set. This is the learning ground and most of us are still in kindergarten. Think about this...do you think that all of the lessons we have learned or not learned in this lifetime be it negative or positive are to end when we die? What do we do with the knowledge and understanding?

Answer 3

Reincarnation.

Definition: The belief that one is reborn in one or more successive existences, which may be human or animal. Usually it is an intangible “soul” that is believed to be reborn in another body. Not a Bible teaching.

Does a strange feeling of being familiar with entirely new acquaintances and places prove reincarnation to be a fact?

Have you ever mistaken one man or woman who is alive for another who is also now living? Many have had that experience. Why? Because some people have similar mannerisms or may even look almost identical. So the feeling that you know a person even though you never met him before really does not prove that you were acquainted with him in a former life, does it?
Why might a house or a town seem familiar to you if you have never been there before? Is it because you lived there during a former life? Many houses are built according to similar designs. Furniture used in cities far apart may be produced from similar patterns. And is it not true that the scenery in some widely separated places looks very much alike? So, without resorting to reincarnation, your feeling of familiarity is quite understandable.

Do recollections of life at another time in another place, as drawn out under hypnosis, prove reincarnation?

Under hypnosis much information stored in the brain can be drawn out. Hypnotists tap the subconscious memory. But how did those memories get there? Perhaps you read a book, saw a motion picture, or learned about certain people on television. If you put yourself in the place of the people about whom you were learning, it might have made a vivid impression, almost as if the experience were your own. What you actually did may have been so long ago that you have forgotten it, but under hypnosis the experience may be recalled as if you were remembering “another life.” Yet, if that were true, would not everyone have such memories? But not everyone does. It is noteworthy that an increasing number of state supreme courts in the United States do not accept hypnotically induced testimony. In 1980 the Minnesota Supreme Court declared that “the best expert testimony indicates that no expert can determine whether memory retrieved by hypnosis, or any part of that memory, is truth, falsehood, or confabulation—a filling of gaps with fantasy. Such results are not scientifically reliable as accurate.” (State v. Mack, 292 N.W.2d 764) The influence of suggestions made by the hypnotist to the one hypnotized is a factor in this unreliability.

Does the Bible contain evidence of belief in reincarnation?

Eccl. 3:19: “There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies.” (As in the case of humans, nothing survives at the death of an animal. There is nothing that can experience rebirth in another body.)

Eccl. 9:10: “All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.” (It is not into another body but into Sheol, the common grave of mankind, that the dead go.)

How much of a difference is there between reincarnation and the hope held out in the Bible?

Reincarnation: According to this belief, when a person dies, the soul, the “real self,” passes on to a better existence if the individual has lived a good and proper life, but possibly to existence as an animal if his record has been more bad than good. Each rebirth, it is believed, brings the individual back into this same system of things, where he will face further suffering and eventual death. The cycles of rebirth are viewed as virtually endless. Is such a future really what awaits you? Some believe that the only way of escape is by extinguishing all desire for things pleasing to the senses. To what do they escape? To what some describe as unconscious life.

Bible: According to the Bible, the soul is the complete person. Even though a person may have done bad things in the past, if he repents and changes his ways, Jehovah God will forgive him. (Psalms 103:12, 13.) When a person dies, nothing survives. Death is like a deep, dreamless sleep. There will be a resurrection of the dead. This is not a reincarnation but a bringing back to life of the same personality. (Acts 24:15) For most people, the resurrection will be to life on earth. It will take place after God brings the present wicked system to its end. Sickness, suffering, even the necessity to die, will become things of the past. (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 21:3, 4) Does such a hope sound like something about which you would like to learn more, to examine the reasons for confidence in it?

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 4

I believe we are here to perfect our soul for God. We reincarnate to continue doing so. I don't think many could do so in one lifetime. Animals are innocent and perfect and do not reincarnate. JMO

Check out the book, "Past Lives, Future Healing", it's a great explanation of why people have fears or illness for no apparent reason. The author is Sylvia Browne. From the 'Journey of the Soul' series, "Soul's Perfection" is also a goody! ((my fave actually))
*****I highly recommend these books!

Answer 5

Yes I believe reincarnation is true. I was born to the parents I have now to learn lessons I needed to learn in this lifetime. My experiences have been to learn these lessons too. I do not remember other past lives and think that is unimportant, what is important is the tasks I have to complete here and now. I will probably choose to have yet another life after this one. That's the way I feel right now.

Answer 6

absolutely. i believe that we chart out our lives before we even get here. the good, the bad, EVERYTHING. i think thats whats dejavu is...we are remembering the little part of our life that we planned. im not sure how i feel about reincarnation with animals, etc. but thats what i believe with humans. i think we keep doing it over and over until we get it right. until we figure out the true meaning of life and what its all about. you can almost tell with certain people that theyve had multiple lives. i also believe that reincarnation is an option and that we DONT HAVE to come back if we dont want to. i could go on and on......but its all just my opinion :)

Answer 7

No.

It's just another bit of magical woo-woo -- no basis for it.

I guess my biggest problem with reincarnation specifically is the conceptual question of what it is that has lived before and will live again -- what's 'self' in this view?

(BTW, re-deja vu -- there's been some interesting research done on this recently suggesting it's a mis-firing of the "recognition" part of the brain, that is, our brains falsely trigger the feeling of familiarity. Got this from newscientist.com -- a UK publication's website.)

Answer 8

While I'm not set on any particular beliefs, the idea that when organic life dies it takes the experience it has gained in life back to the planet which then uses it to create new life, that sounds quite appealing. But then that gives rise to the idea that the planet or a higher power shapes this flow of life...

Answer 9

Yes, apparently everyone's soul comes to Earth to learn certain lessons or accomplish something.

If you study astrology there is a placement called the "north node" it tells you what you're supposed to do with your life this time around, and the "south node" tells you what you did in past lives.

Answer 10

Reincarnation is an invention of the eastern religions, and denies the saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sovereign authority of Almighty God. It is, in a manner, a self-imposed prison sentence - a cycle of repeated lives in which we reap temporal (earthly) rewards or punishments based on what we have sowed during our previous lives. What really happens after death is spelled out in the New Testament, and it offers exciting hope!

Paul refers to the passing of a believer as a "sleep" as opposed to a death. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 says, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."

There are two slightly different interpretations on the matter. Some believe, based on the verses above, that the dead in Christ will immediately precede us at the trumpet call of Christ (the rapture). When talking about going immediately to our reward, people are partly right according to this interpretation. For the departed Christians, it will seem like an immediate move. They are, in a sense, asleep. Paul used this metaphor (of sleep) to reinforce that for a Christian, death is not an end. It is merely a temporary sleep until Christ calls them up to meet Him in the air, soon to be joined by those Christians who are alive at that time. Another interpretation, which is very similar, states that departed Christians do indeed go immediately to their reward. Then, at the trumpet call, they receive their imperishable bodies. To support this interpretation, proponents will point to the words of Jesus to the repentent criminal on the cross, "today, you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43, NIV). Regardless of which of these interpretations you find more credible, the hope therein is wonderful. We will be with Jesus in an instant after death, or what will seem like an instant.

How wonderful to know that those Christian friends and family who have passed away will be instantly (to them) in the presence of our Lord. How exciting to know that we will be reunited with them in that instance, liberated from our perishable bodies, and clothed in the imperishable righteousness bestowed upon us through the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope this answered your question.