Being a bad person in past lives

[linen53]

sarek I think we can only see glimpses of past lives when we are more spiritually mature and can process the information sanely. It has given me a deeper understanding of myself and also I can process that information consciously in human form/mindset.
Belle, I agree, it's a good thread

[Belle]

Originally Posted by sarek

Perhaps this is why we normally can not see past lives. We have enough to deal with in one life, not to be burdened with what we did in other lives. I have been told I once was a banker, so there you have it.

Good and bad, in terms of spirituality means something entirely different than what it does in daily life. Good is that which enables one's being to grow, bad is that which hinders it.
Human notions of good and bad are often (if not always) subjective. To a cannibal, there is no moral reason not to eat another person.

There are very good points here and "bad" isn't necessarily bad - just experiencing something different.

But it's helpful to know people we have wronged in some way - I understand more fully.

What we did in a past life doesn't need to be 'bad' to become karma, it just needs to be something we're striving to understand. For example if we had a relationship which caused us pain because we had expectations- or something else which happened during a lifetime which we couldn't comprehend at the time, we come back to sort it out and to understand. I totally agree with Gemini that 'bad' depends on one's perspective- this too is part of understanding. It is only when you understand that you can let go.

[budhabee]

Originally Posted by sarek

Perhaps this is why we normally can not see past lives. We have enough to deal with in one life, not to be burdened with what we did in other lives. I have been told I once was a banker, so there you have it.

Good and bad, in terms of spirituality means something entirely different than what it does in daily life. Good is that which enables one's being to grow, bad is that which hinders it.
Human notions of good and bad are often (if not always) subjective. To a cannibal, there is no moral reason not to eat another person.

I agree, there are several things I have done in this lifetime and I can't get over my regret at having done them. So I'm unable to forgive myself and I think about them too much. Woe is me. But also I sure would never do them again. Guess that is how we learn.

[linen53]

My whole young adulthood was one massive cluster poop. But I learned a very wise saying long ago that has helped me forgive myself.

(Back then) l did the best that I could with the knowledge I had back then.

To judge myself by what I know now just isn't being fair to myself.

[Belle]

Also - I think sometimes our life missions in previous lives are to be "bad". I can't think of a better word. For example, I was called to kill someone in a previous life - they needed to know what it was like to be murdered, I needed to know what it was like to murder someone.

That's it in a very simplistic terminology.

I recently discovered the murder of me and my babies from a previous life, another thing I need to know what it is like.

All these things make us richer and seek to make us more compassionate and remove the finger of judgment.

[linen53]

I totally agree Belle. I have had some very dark incarnations too.

Everybody makes mistakes, that's just human nature.
Some people are to use their negative ways to teach others because some have to learn the hard way. It's all a positive learning experience in spirit though.

You'd be hard-pressed to convince me that everybody doesn't do bad things in every life that causes them to be someone's antagonist, though I guess it depends on what exactly you mean by "bad person". An argumentative drunk? A slanderer? A thief? A shady politician? A soldier in an unjust war? Someone who murdered out of fear and desperation? Someone who murdered out of delight? Justin Bieber's ancestors?

Labels of "bad" and "good" are too general and knee-jerk to be of real use. I've found many benefits to existing as a whole instead of shunning the "bad" in the hopes of preserving some kind of "goodness" status. You won't escape it, so why not seek to deter further sabotage through understanding?

I'm asocial, calculating, out of sync, and like to be disruptive, cause reactions, and cause change, and am torn down and distracted by my own mind if not careful. Those are aspects of my makeup that at best force self-reflection or fresh perspective and at worst a deep humility or familiarity with failure and consequence. Regardless of what they make me in the eyes of others, they're inseparable from all that's "good" in me and my callings, and in some cases they're the reason those things exist as they are in the first place.

If I was interested in and deeply affected by the emotions of others as a rule, then I'd be unable to function as a confessional for people I literally just met. I probably would beat myself up for the fact that my responsibility at work is to assist others in learning a skill and not to earn them anything or complete their work for them (I still sometimes do). The same force that can push people apart can also bring others together, or drive off danger. I would be unable to fill niche roles if I was the same as those who can't do them. Et cetera.

Of course we should feel bad about doing things that are harmful to others on some level. There's a world of difference between being concerned for your role and beating yourself up about not living up to some lofty ideal of moral and causation perfection, though. Shame is two things: an alert to conflicting values in your life, as in your actions and your ideals, and a form of social control. Sun rises, people live, people grow, plants grow. You can't stop it no matter how bad you are or what you do, but unbridled shame will control you by blowing its effect on everything from your own character to the lives of those around you wildly out of proportion.

That's where the control comes from - the fear of stepping a single toe out of line. Of tainting your precious record. Of your appearance in the eyes of others. Of losing your inclusion in The Group.

Life. What are you gonna do? Many things that are "good" for other people have poisoned and harmed me in the past, and will continue to as long as I live among society because I don't belong here and it saps me, restricts me, and alters me the same way the ocean would if I were walking on its floor. What's good and what's bad is always relative to some degree.

Somewhere out there is a bad person bemoaning all the times they've unwillingly helped others no matter how hard they try to make life worse for everyone around them. Someone should write a novel about it. I would read, but only on Kindle.

Shame comes from belief that society's labels of 'good' and 'bad' actually have some meaning. Things which are considered bad can sometimes cause us to understand things we would never have even thought of before- why should we feel shame for a tool that allows us to understand?

If your motive for helping others is to get praise or to get preferential treatment in the afterlife, or through 'duty' or guilt, don't bother. If you help them because it gives [b]you pleasure, do it- then it will work for everyone involved!