Past Life.....Do you consider?

[imaz]

Well, according to Jungian psychological theory there exists a collective subconscious. Perhaps these phenomena are in some way connected to this...

[Natasha]

why not ask shirley macLaine instead? 

the laws of karma and reincarnation are man made and wretched.  if you travel to places in the world where people truly believe, you will find the true nature of it and how it holds people in its grip.  thanks to lack of education and with the help of men like deepak chopra, westerners have a very watered down idea of it.

see there are many problems with the salvation-by works doctrine of reincarnation. first, there are many practical problems. for example:

1. 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?

the way i see it..It's just a matter of "faith" that is unprovable, kind of like proving "Jesus' existence" or "resurrection", "santa", "the cookie monster" or "the tooth faerie". so as there's no scientific evidence, except anecdotal, for reincarnation of the "soul" there is little reason to believe in it. and i don't. however the biogeochemical cycle is scientifically true. when i die i'll become part of the sulfur cycle. that's the meaning of "to be made flesh again" that i go by. personally.

[Zelane]

I remember reading years ago about children that remember things they didnt had a way to know. And also they had stigma associated with their possible past life injuries.

In any case, im not sure I want to find out about my past life if there was one.

[Osiris]

I've had many past lives, will have many more. The ball just keeps on a'rollin.

[Hypatia]

I dunno. Sometimes I wonder if some of my more weirder hang ups and phobias are from a past life. However, I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of having a past I don't know about.

Then I think about my fear of motion
Which I never could explain
Some other fool across the ocean years ago
Must have crashed his little airplane
--Indigo Girls, "Galileo"

Did we hide in the Dark Ages from a vengeful God above
Were our names too unfamiliar to ever speak of love
Did I cling to every moment with you, every parting glance
An accidental touch, did we ever take the chance
For more?
I know I've loved you before
--Melissa Etheridge, "I've Loved You Before"

I honestly don't know, and I'm skeptical of all such claims (even though I'm a huge Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge fan). I am a theist (the opposite of atheist) and I pray a lot, but when it comes to the afterlife I'm just a big ol' agnostic.

My girlfriend Starr and I listen to Melissa singing "I've Loved You Before" and imagine we could have been lovers in a past life as we cling to every moment with each other. It's so deeply romantic... but who really knows...

[Mina_Frostfall]

no. there's no evidence to suggest it.  in fact, the human desire to believe in reincarnation seems to be another aspect of the desire for there to be something more or something more meaningful than a human life. we were all marie antoinette in a past life, and we'll all be dancing with "jesus" (unless we're a member of a religion that forbids dancing) in the hereafter.

just because people like the idea doesn't make it true. indeed, often liking an idea means you should approach it with extra scrutiny.

You act like reincarnation is most certainly a good thing. In many (if not most) belief systems with reincarnation as a tenet, Reincarnation is a bad thing. You don't want it. It's a horrible and terrifying thing. Do those people believe it because they like it? I don't think so.
Even if you try and argue that it's gives meaning... Does it have a meaning? Not necessarily. Such a "system" could just be "how things are". It could just be the way the universe happens to work. It doesn't have to have an inherent meaning. Reincarnation adds no meaning in and of itself. In fact, it only raises further issues of meaning. Such issues are dealt with by attaching things too it like Karmic associations or that it is a mechanism by which were are imprisoned in the physical world. Without those explanations reincarnation is at best a novelty, at worst an example of a meaningless universe. I don't think it's fair to say that people only believe in it because they want to. Maybe some people, but it's not so simple.

[Hildy]

Which is one of the prime reasons I don't believe in it.

The concept of original sin and that paying for what one did in a past life is really distasteful... Thank God we have none of that in Islam

I'm a Christian Scientist, and unlike most Christian religions, we don't believe in original sin, either, since we are convinced that God is Love. 

[Lisbeth]

Of course classic theories about reincarnation would say that the reason your life sucks now is that you are paying for the damage you did before.

I guess that doesn't say anything will be good in my next life either. I was rather hoping this would be it.

[barbie]

Here at another thread, I also mentioned my past lives: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,22314.msg170939.html#msg170939

And Ian Stevenson:

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/11/18/28847.html

"Moreover, the author also pointed out the four unique characteristics of children who can remember their previous lives and the special phenomena that frequently accompany the birthmark and congenital defects. Some phenomena are regarded as common sense by reincarnation researchers, yet are regarded as unsolvable mysteries by modern scientists. These include phobias, strange habits, transsexual inclination, irrational loves or hates, as well as a child's unique behavior during play. "

http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/hive/Reincarn.htm

Barbie~~

[Vexing]

No, I do not.