Do you believe in reincarnation? Sometimes I do - sometimes I doubt it.

I've had entirely too many unexplainable things happen to discount reincarnation. These have happened throughout my life and are too numerous to list. I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church, and as a teenager realized something in that doctrine/dogma was missing for me. I began to study other religions in the hopes of finding the missing part. When I learned of reincarnation it just seemed to click for me. Being well past the "Hellfire and Brimstone" sermons, it was logical a loving Creator would allow us to try again, if we didn't get our mission accomplished, or learn our lesson, the first time. It may well be that our souls have more than one mission to accomplish, more than one lesson to learn which may not be possible in just one life.

In my early 30's I attended my first Pow-Wow, and added another unexplainable experience to my growing list. Everything clicked into place in my heart and brain that night. I truly found my missing part. As I began to study my and my Mother's heritage, culture, and spirituality, the sense of "This Is It," grew even stronger.

Individualism is such a huge part of Native American spirituality, and was so liberating for me. I am allowed to include different and unique beliefs to my spiritually. Our beliefs are definitely molded and influenced by our life experiences. It seems completely illogical to deny a personal experience which is so thoroughly indicative of reincarnation, because it does not "fit" into the doctrine or beliefs of an organized religion's teachings. I consider a religion's doctrine/dogma to be a compilation of others' interpretation of sacred texts. Over the years, things have been both added and removed, but were always influenced by the life experiences, and possibly ulterior motives, of those doing the amending.

My problem is I haven't walked in their "moccasins," I wasn't privy to their heart, and may not share in their goals. While I may understand the logic they applied in establishing their doctrine or dogma, that doesn't negate the logic I apply to my life experiences.

Reincarnation is comforting in a way. To me, it exemplifies the sacred circle of Native American tradition, as well as, the concept of a loving Creator. My second chance may not come in this life, but I will get it, and if I'm not paying attention and learning my lessons, I may have to do several repeats. Life is precious and wonderful, but I still do my best in paying attention and learning my lessons, as to me it makes this life more useful. If, when I cross over, I find the concept of reincarnation to be merely the rationalization of a human brain, I will probably be dissapointed. But until then, it is one of those infinite possibilites I accept.

Very well said, Icp. Thank you for sharing. I feel very much the same, for I, too, have had far too many experiences of past lives to not believe in reincarnation.

I absolutely believe in reincarnation. There are just too many variables for there not to be.

I remember when I was younger (like 8) I'd question my mom every Sunday about what they were teaching us in church. I said it just doesn't seem possible, there has to be more to it than people going to hell or some place that's not Heaven because they didn't sit in a church like we did. What about third world countries, war, or people who had an experinece that opened their reality and did not get the chance to pursue it or were too young to when they died?

I've had personal experiences where I'd get just lost in an era with enthusiasm and seemed to know etiquette, decor, recipes or dishes rather and would create them. There is also the dream factors where you have one of those "experiences" more so than a dream and it's vivid enough to go to a library and research fact you would not other wise have. it's particularily interesting when it has to do with so called lost civilizations, like Atlantis.

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Elleise
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Reba McIntyre recently came out and said she felt like she had been around before. I applaud her for being honest!!

I agree - my former supervisor is someone I have known before. I used to call her Audrey and I could not stop myself. My co-workers used to laugh. By the way, her real name is nowhere near "Audrey".

Years ago I was ill (my stomach), and a friend of mine recommended me to practice yoga. So I did, at first reluctantly, then I felt the benefits. This was the way I learned about reincarnation, and at that time everything seemed to click into place for my. There was - is - such a lot of logic in it.
With time doubts appeared: does reincarnation realy exist, or are we human beings just trying to comfort ourselves by saying there are more lives - not just one,and after this it's all over?

I was, and still I am, fascinated by hinduism.

What are the views of Hinuism on reincarnation?

I have dreams where I am actually a person in another time, but in the dream it feels current.

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Elleise
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My initial exposure to belief in reincarnation came from studying the Bhuddist faith. A dear friend of mine visited Tibet for college studies last year and was amazed at the similarities with Native American cultures the Tibetans discussed with her. She was surprised to see Tibetans wearing Native American T-shirts and asked about it.

Whilte there, she emailed me a picture of her sitting in a group. I was amazed as one of the men could have passed for a cousin of mine. The physical similarities to Native Americans are quite striking. There are many spiritual similarities with Bhuddism as well. Kinda makes you wonder exactly what area in Asia we "Indians" actually migrated from.

Reincarnation is such an integral part of the Bhuddist belief system, yet it seems diminished, or no longer a part of Native American spirituality. My suspicion is this part may have been "rooted out" with the influx of Christianity. I've often thought what my choice would have been if presented the question become a Christian or Die.

Faced with this type of "Religious Conversion" I hope I would be strong enough to reply "It is a Good Day to Die."

With the things I've come to see and understand in this time, I would have no problem dying. It wouldn't be an end.

The "sound" of being Christian is just so appropo, but the actions, many and often times, behind it in general are just so contrary. To me, its the waking that is sleep. They'r just too afraid to afraid to say no to the stuff that doesn't make sense. There's an illusion you must abide by to go along w/the herds or feel as if you are the one that is unrealistic.

The most peace I've found is outside of mainstream. That's a place where left is left, right is right and where every breath of my energy actually finds/makes sense. Outside of this, you have the illusion out there as a whole, the person in front of you and the people associated with them that carry that illusion even farther. You cant but believe in reincarnation.

When I'm asleep but conscious, it seems there's a glimpse of where it is we go in between life and death - when we die, it's a place to me where we gain our ground enough to jump back into the pot.

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I wanted to learn more about the roots of yoga - so I "came across" hinduism.
There is a creator/creative force/god (only one - the so called gods are facets of this force which/who created and rules the universe) which/who is within and beyond everything it created - like god is the ocean, and all the things/being it created are "drops" of that ocean. So we all belong to that "ocean".
Our souls incarnate over and over again - until we have learned that we are not the body which dies, but the soul whose "house" (or "dress") the body is, and that this soul belongs to the ocean. That means: we have to learn that we (a) are soul, and (b) are - as soul - part of that "all embracing" soul ("ocean") which/who is god. As long as we identify with our body or our individual soul we have to be born again and again. As soon as we identify with the "whole", we are free from the circle of reincarnations. -- That's how I understood the concept of reincarnation in hinduisms.
I am also fascinated by the fact that there is only one creator (monothism), and the many gods are just facets of the creator. - Whereas the Christians say they are montheistic, believing in a trinity. To me god is god, the only one, and Jesus is his son. He is the same as god in the hinduistic sense (drop - ocean) - but god is the ocean, and Jesus is the drop (not a very big difference maybe, but I think you know what I mean).

The Guru of Paramahansa Yogananda have read the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" (very fascinating) or someone else said that it possible to incarnate on some astral planet when you make progress.
You can also reincarnate as an animal, they say.

I often wonder, in terms of reincarnation, whether people who have little coordination or use of their body or who have highly developed degrees of psychic abilities and maybe aren't as distracted by the usual things (material), aren't on their way out of having to reincarnate again.

There was a time I was so ungrounded, I felt dizzy a good deal of times. this sounds crazy, but little things would be defening. Things that didn't make sounds but almost had a degree of vibration - as in an inner ear could hear it.

They show something similar to it in the movie, "The Last Mimzy." I haven't seen the movie but when I tried to download it on netflicks it froze shortly after that scene. I told my husband, "That's almost exactly how it can get" when one of the young children was looking at a spider web and the noise from the spider walking within it an catching dinner was almost irritating.

I don't have that as much now. That was more in my late teens and early twenties. I've always wondered about it though.

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I've had similar experiences, especially with couples.

Whenever I'm talking to my husband's mother I catch myself saying things like, "Would your father know? Where's your dad?" etc. when referring to her husband. It doesn't even have to be someone I've known for a long time either. Sometimes I'll meet someone and say, "Is your son with you?" I can't tell you the kind of stares i get with that one, b/c it's usually out at dinner or a club.

Everyone just kind of stares like, "You bring your kid out this late at night?" Very smoothe


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