reincarnation?

Question

If you were a bad person could you turn good in your next life?

Answer 1

Sorry. No second chance, and no second life.

Answer 2

Well I come form a Hindu family and I find the religion to be extremely philosophical and interesting and beautiful, but since I doubt the existence of god, I can't call myself a Hindu, I'm an agnostic, but I do like to read up on Hindu philosophy and I don't believe in a soul but it's interesting that Hindus believe that god is a source of light, which is very different from the human representations in Abrahamic religions, we know that energy is recycled throught the universe because it can neither be created nor destroyed, so if anything holds true to reincarnation, it's just the cycling of energy, but if you're religious and believe the concept of Hinduism where everyone has a part of that light of god within them, then reincarnation would be a recycling of that light from animal to animal to plant to anything living

it's all interesting to think about philosophically and because I'm an agnostic, I usely act like an atheist but the thought of god not really being god but just something that science can also dsitinguish as an aspect of the universe or time or anything is very interesting and a possibility, more likely than god being of a human form and judging and hating and watching our every move

Answer 3

There are many problems with the salvation-by works doctrine of reincarnation. First, there are many practical problems. For example:
1. We must ask, why does one get punished for something he or she cannot remember having done in a previous life?
2. If the purpose of karma is to rid humanity of its selfish desires, then why hasn't there been a noticeable improvement in human nature after all the millennia of reincarnations?
3. If reincarnation and the law of karma are so beneficial on a practical level, then how do advocates of this doctrine explain the immense and ever-worsening social and economic problems - including widespread poverty, starvation, disease, and horrible suffering - in India, where reincarnation has been systematically taught through out its history?
There are also many biblical problems with believing in reincarnation. For example, in 2 Corinthians 5:8 the apostle Paul states, "We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." At death, the, the Christian immediately goes into the presence of the Lord, not into another body. In keeping with this. Luke 16:19-31 tells us that unbelievers at death go to a place of suffering, not into another body.
Further, Hebrews 9:27 assures us that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." Each human being LIVES ONCE as a mortal on earth, DIES ONCE, and then FACES JUDGMENT. He does not have a second chance by reincarnating into another body.

Answer 4

Well, one of the purposes of reincarnation is to atone for the bad things you did in this life. I say that reincarnation is a chance for you to try on a point of view that you might not otherwise have, just to learn from the experience. There's a book, called Revelations (not the one in the bible), by Raven Black that shows a very interesting point of view about reincarnation. You should check it out, if only for entertainment value.

Answer 5

You could but the good news is that even if you did not there is always the next reincarnation and the next until you get it right.

Answer 6

much of the idea of reincarnation, is that you learn something in each life, so yes you could be a bad person in this life, and a saint in the next.

Answer 7

To be (good) or not to be (good), that is the question. And you have to make the choice for yourself. The concept of Karma when combined with reincarnation makes for very interesting discussion if you ask me. Now here is what I think based on my understanding of Karma and reincarnation.

Reincarnation is for the purpose of working off Karma (which, contrary to popular belief by us Westerners, does NOT come in good and bad varieties. Karma is just Karma, not good Karma nor bad Karma) The accumulation of actions, thoughts and other behaviors is what generates Karma. Doing more "good" behaviors mitigates Karma and committing "evil" acts generates more Karma. Think of Karma as a kite tail. The longer the kite tail the more difficult time the kite has flying, but if you shorten the kite tail, the kite flies higher and higher. Similarly with Karma, the more Karma you accumulate, the more time you have to spend mitigating it. Thus, it stands to reason that you cannot rid yourself of all your Karma in a single lifetime, therefore you will need more than one lifetime. (Though the Buddha teaches that one CAN mitigate all Karma in one lifetime if one becomes Enlightened, but that is an answer for another question) But the key here is that YOU are in control of how much Karma you generate. You are the one who decides if you want to call a person a son of a bi%*# or not. You are the one who decides if you want to pull the trigger of a gun you have pointed at someone's head. Karma only determines what situations you are exposed to, YOU determine how you act towards those situations. So all of this is to answer your question with a YES, you can be good in your next life, if you choose to be.

Answer 8

Th purpose of reincarnation - at least in the Jewish belief - is so that the neshoma may return to solve its yearning for Hashem, and to do mitzvot.

So, the answer would be yes, sort of. Getting that second (or four hunded and tenth) chance to be close to G-d is not a guarantee that you will; it is only a guarantee that you will want to. But you will still have a yetzer hora to fight that inclination to do good.

Answer 9

Yes. That's the whole idea. The thing is, you must pay for your evil acts sooner or later. So if you were bad last time around, you're going to have a tough life this time. That's okay, though. That's the kind of life that makes it easier to see the value of being good.

Answer 10

what next life? what makes you believe you will come back as something different. Do you know who Al Gore was in his past life? how about Hilliary? Bush? I have never meet anyone who has a past life... It's simply not true. Egyptians were really big believers of this, yet all I have ever seen is a dam good job of mummification, I have never seen any of them walking around, except for on Scooby Doo...

Answer 11

It does not matter if you were good or bad in your past life. Your environment and the choices you make determine what kind of person you will be.