Is Reincarnation Nihilistic?

[Aquila King]

Growing up in a strictly Christian household, I don't have a lot of experience in dealing with past lives and reincarnation. This may be me speaking from past experience, but I honestly don't like the idea of reincarnation. :( of course, it doesn't matter whether I like it or not, what matters is whether or not it's true.

So moving on to my main point, I guess I'm wondering if reincarnation means the me that exists today will essentially be completely gone and will only exist in memory. Will I basically be replaced with a completely unique personality? How much of me lives on in the next person? And how much of my past selves survive in me? I've heard some people say that essentially the only thing that makes us similar to our past lives is that we have the same consciousness, but that everything else is totally different. How is that different from just straight up atheism? I might as well be eternally annihilated when I die if that's the case. And what about past loved ones? Will they still be the people I loved or somebody completely different?

I'm sorry. There's just so much I don't understand about the whole thing... :(

[Snow Goose]

I don't claim to know what reincarnation is, no one really knows, I think a lot of people just repeat others conclusions on what they think it is and describe it as if it is fact.

Why not look at reincarnation stories and draw your own conclusions, here is an article to get you started http://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspi...n-stories/amp/

[desert rat]

Different belief systems have slightly differrent ideas on it . My belief is that we have a soul that lives on through many different lives . Some as human , some as other forms of life . Early on that soul remembers the other lives , but to avoid confusion , forgets the other lives . Different systems have different ideas on why we reincarnate .

p.s. Dr. John Rogers take on the sub.
http://www.aznewage.info/reincarnation.html

[Mystery]

In my view, every lifetime is just a chapter of the soul's greater story. Life is simply a classroom. We're here to gain wisdom and experience, and to learn life lessons, by exploring the human condition in all different walks of life. In the afterlife, we remember our past lives, and see how the knowledge we gained in the past has informed our current worldviews.

I think reincarnation is a blessing. It's seeing the world with new eyes again, having a fresh start, and letting go of the burdens and sorrows of the past. Without it, old grudges and prejudices would be carried over from lifetime to lifetime, and really prevent any growth. Our past lives are a part of us, just like our childhood is a part of us. Nothing is lost.

[Tobi]

Well, the basic theory of it is that at the death of the physical body we enter (or return) to our more complete Self, instead of the ego-based entity we have chosen to have an experience inside.

I do know that we enter into a more complete state of being after leaving the physical body behind to break down naturally.

However I don't know from personal experience (in my state here, yet anyway) the full understanding of reincarnation, so what I say about it is based on theory and what has been said by others about it. I do have some slight personal intuitive sense about it....but that is all.

Once we are in that more whole state (in the next World) and enter a completely different perspective, then in 'time' we can choose if and when we feel we need more experience in a dense body -to inhabit one for a while in a physical state.

I DON'T feel this is compulsory, but do feel that maybe some Souls may have a strong desire to do so and be pushed along a bit by their strong desire. It is a very desire-sensitive environment.
I wonder if that accounts for some saying they felt somehow pushed to return to incarnation?
Anyway, we shall see for more certain when we get there! I don't actually worry much about it right now.

[markings]

Originally Posted by Aquila King

So moving on to my main point, I guess I'm wondering if reincarnation means the me that exists today will essentially be completely gone and will only exist in memory. Will I basically be replaced with a completely unique personality? How much of me lives on in the next person? And how much of my past selves survive in me? I've heard some people say that essentially the only thing that makes us similar to our past lives is that we have the same consciousness, but that everything else is totally different. How is that different from just straight up atheism? I might as well be eternally annihilated when I die if that's the case. And what about past loved ones? Will they still be the people I loved or somebody completely different?

I'm sorry. There's just so much I don't understand about the whole thing... :(

Do not confuse reincarnation, essentially transmigration of a soul, with the Buddhist idea of rebirth. Your description is closer to the latter.

Reincarnation is simple, your soul moves from one life/body to the next. What that includes is anyone's guess as we have never observed a soul.

In rebirth nothing moves on except your energies. These may be feelings, actions, physical legacies like trusts, inheritance, charitable contributions, thoughts and ideas which you may leave behind in e.g. this forum. Such things, mainly the energetic content in them, may be picked up by other people and if they become part of their make-up one could say that (part of) you was reborn.

[baro-san]

I think about soul's incarnations in physical in similar terms as dreams are for us. You can become lucid in this life as you can become lucid in a dream.

Also, for those very attached to their current physical: you aren't the same one you were when you were a kid, or a teen, or a youth, or the one you were last year, or even the one of a few moments ago. The further back in time you look at yourself, the more evident is that you aren't that person anymore. So don't be too scared of not being anymore the one you think you are now ... In each period of your life you had (most likely) people close and dear to you; some of them are completely gone, others are transformed in different persons than those you knew then.

[iamthat]

Aquila King raises two issues

Originally Posted by Aquila King

Growing up in a strictly Christian household, I don't have a lot of experience in dealing with past lives and reincarnation. This may be me speaking from past experience, but I honestly don't like the idea of reincarnation. (

For me growing up, the Christian idea that we have one life which results in us spending the rest of eternity in Heaven or Hell always seemed strange and very unfair. Why would the Christian God decide that one person has a life of ease and privilege while another person has a life of struggle and suffering? If we have one lifetime to determine our eternal future, then it seemed unfair that one person is born into a stable Christian family while someone else is born into a family of non-believers. And what about the countless millions who lived before Christ was born?

Discovering the philosophy of reincarnation and karma was a huge relief for me. Suddenly everything became balanced and fair, and we are all responsible for our circumstances.

Originally Posted by Aquila King

So moving on to my main point, I guess I'm wondering if reincarnation means the me that exists today will essentially be completely gone and will only exist in memory. Will I basically be replaced with a completely unique personality? How much of me lives on in the next person? And how much of my past selves survive in me? I've heard some people say that essentially the only thing that makes us similar to our past lives is that we have the same consciousness, but that everything else is totally different. How is that different from just straight up atheism? I might as well be eternally annihilated when I die if that's the case. And what about past loved ones? Will they still be the people I loved or somebody completely different? (

What is a human being? Esoteric philosophy states that we are consciousness (which some call the Soul) expressing itself through a personality. Personality temporarily survives the death of the physical body, experiencing life on the astral and mental planes, but then personality itself dies. Only consciousness remains, having absorbed the lessons learned in the life just finished. At some stage that consciousness chooses to incarnate into a new personality in a new body, to continue learning.

Esoteric philosophy also states that as Souls we belong to Soul groups which undergo learning together. So those we have loved in one lifetime may reappear in the next, but in different roles. We have all experienced meeting someone new and feeling an immediate connection with that person. There is somehow something very familiar about that person - this is recognition on a Soul level. So no connections are ever lost, they simply change.

This is very different from atheism. Atheism is a belief system that there is no Supreme Being or Divine Intelligence underlying creation. Reincarnation suggests that we are all participating in a Divine Plan which is centred around the evolution of consciousness.

So do not place so much importance on personality. That comes and goes. On the spiritual journey we begin to identify more with consciousness and less with personality. Eventually we realise that personality is just a set of mental and emotional patterns through which consciousness expresses itself. This consciousness is the real "me", which does not disappear and is never annihilated.

Peace.

[Journeyman Paul]

In my reclamation of access to 13 Earth-based "past lives" I have come to know several things that might be of interest here.

1. This version of Earth-based hominid that we call homo sapiens sapiens is one of many versions of four-dimensional vehicles spirit beings use as hosts for adventure, experience, and the achievement of goals.

2. This planet we call "Earth" is but one of an infinite number of contextual field choices in which to play.

3. Impressions of the experiences and memories we accumulate while occupying/using Earth-bound hosts are also accessible after we've left these bodies. Using the collective memory of the Akashic Library we can even go in and re-access the perspective and senses, emotions, and thoughts of other conscious beings. This is for education ourselves in empathy and alternative choosing.

4. If you can imagine it, it is quite likely that it is real ... somewhere.

I hope this information--based in personal experience--proves helpful and provocative.

Sincerely,
Drew Fisher

[William 辰]

Originally Posted by Aquila King

Growing up in a strictly Christian household, I don't have a lot of experience in dealing with past lives and reincarnation. This may be me speaking from past experience, but I honestly don't like the idea of reincarnation. :( of course, it doesn't matter whether I like it or not, what matters is whether or not it's true.

So moving on to my main point, I guess I'm wondering if reincarnation means the me that exists today will essentially be completely gone and will only exist in memory. Will I basically be replaced with a completely unique personality? How much of me lives on in the next person? And how much of my past selves survive in me? I've heard some people say that essentially the only thing that makes us similar to our past lives is that we have the same consciousness, but that everything else is totally different. How is that different from just straight up atheism? I might as well be eternally annihilated when I die if that's the case. And what about past loved ones? Will they still be the people I loved or somebody completely different?

I'm sorry. There's just so much I don't understand about the whole thing... :(

This topic is a lot more complicated than people realize. It is true at source our consciousness is connected, but at the same time there absolutely is the individual that is you. And that is possible because source (or heaven) isn't linear. Suffice it to say; a few days after you "die" you arrive at a place where all your loved ones are there to greet you. You will know everything you know now and a lot more. And after a while you'll prepare again to go to Earth, where you momentarily forget everything you knew at source. It has to be that way for the appropriateness of expansion and free choice.
The knowledge and abilities you have gained while on Earth however, will stay with you always.

You are part of God. You are perfect and can not die. You can only expand.