Does anyone else here believe we only live once?

[Rastus]

Another brainwashed one.  Let me set the record straight.  The emporer Constatines wife re-wrote the bible from "everlasting re-incarnation" to "everlasting life", since what good is heaven if you keep coming back?  Purely political reasons, and example of power politics.

Do I believe in re-incarnation?  But of course.  And not the way you don't.  I'm here now for a purpose, and life is about learning the purpose and lesson.  I also believe in "higher-selves", the "me" that chose to send this part of "me" back for another round of flesh.

Life is never dull!

[jilola]

We have always lived forever. The form we choose varies.
If you do't wish to (p)reincarnate (possibly again) then don't. You have the con, so to speak.

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Jaclyn]

Nope I don't believe in reincarnation almost as strongly as I dont believe in evolution.

[ASMRfruit]

Am I brainwashed simply because I don't want to believe in reincarnation? With all due respect, I am not brainwashed, nor do I subscribe to organized religion, as I detest beaurocracy in religion, and I also believe that not everyone who denies reincarnation is JudeoChristian, or "brainwashed."

I'm still curious as to wether or not people have had astral experiences that deny reincarnation, or support the "higher doctrine" that we only have one eternal life, and that only God incarnates to create new souls?

I apologize if I sounded offended, it's just that in the past, some  reincarnationists have practically bullied me into believing in reincarnation.

[daem0n]

sa you are brainwashed by them, it only worked the other way round [8D], seriously, if you don't look into yourself, you will always be scared
one thing: according to your thinking, if you screw up in this life, you're screwed up forever, why bother with believing anyway, words are nothing compared to reality, and only you can experience it for yourself

[Blackstream]

FRUIT?  WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S HOLY?

How in the heck did we fellow asmrians manage to run into each other out in the middle of cyberspace nowhere :p

What's up man :p

[Mystic Cloud]

I believe in reincarnation but I'm pretty sure it is more optional
than mandatory. Besides some NDEs have told that they have
been welcomed there almost as heroes and Great Adventurers just
because they have lived here. [|)]

Edit note:

When you die you'll have your ego remove which means that you will
not be you but you will still be you. Since you are not you, many
of the earthly assumptions and structures are trashed. (Just look
into your subconscious to see how many PURE junk behavior programs
there are). [)]

[LogoRat]

This world is like playing a roleplaying game.

You start a new character by your own choice, skills etc.
Through out life you gain wisdom and skills etc.

All these things you learn you also learn behind the game.
When that character have died, you have the choice todo whatever you want, some choose to do another experience here, and yes they start a new character..but behind the game you have all your stored knowledge of every experience you have ever done.

You still have your personality when you die.

The thing that makes this personality different from the one you have behind the screen is that you run it through a brain.
All kinds of emotions and data that has been setup with filters etc.
Its a learning environment aswell as a gaming place.

Some might be here just for pleasure, some for learning things like playing an instrument, master martial arts, having sex till u burst, beeing a good businessman.. there are all kinds of things.

When you die you loose that role, but you have the choice if you want to to play that again...if you want to.

Why some people dont know anything about previous lives is because that would ruin the learning, game of beeing here.
Now, there are people that know about previous lives and have sertain skills that would not be possible to have without studying it for like 500years.

Now, there are many worlds to explore besides the physical, and some choose to learn or play more here, and some dont.. its all about what you want to do.

Now, this is how i see it, take it just as a viewpoint..not as actual fact, but keep in mind that it might be worth thinking about.

We exist forever, death is just a change.

[SomeBloke]

I don't think that is necessarily what Christianity teaches.
Lot's of the original teachings never made it into the bible, but there are plenty of references to reincarnation and karma.
Do a search for reincarnation and bible - here is just one link:
http://www.shareintl.org/archives/AgelessWisdom/aw_jmreincarn.htm

There is some interesting stuff in the file library about afterlife theories - 'A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife' and 'Creating the Value of Life'

quote:I also ask because, quite frankly, reincarnation is a traumatic and fearful possibility to me. I am terrified of loosing my identity and memories and starting from scratch and ignorance in this world of suffering over and over forever.

I wish I could say something to allay your fears... I don't think you have to start entirely from scratch - for instance if you pursue a spiritual discipline now, perhaps in your next life the karmic factors will dictate that you are born in circumstances where you can continue it and build upon it.

I already made a post about karma and reincarnation err... and mice over in 'spiritual development' earlier, so I won't ramble on.
Let's face it, none of us knows for sure what happens when we die.

[Naiad780]

quote:Originally posted by ASMRfruit

...we only live once (as opposed to reincarnation); that we only have one life here in the physical world, and after death, it's eternal development and growth in the astral and higher realms beyond with no reincarnation or loss of one's identity or memories

Yes, that's what I believe, although I accept the possibility of reincarnation.  If I ever got personal evidence of reincarnation, I might change my mind.  I try to stay open-minded, but I do have my own belief which is pretty much as you described although there's no Judeo-Christian overtones to it.

[daem0n]

i doubt that you can lean much in the astral after death, since so many of us choosed to reincarnate here, and you have everything there
it seems that if don't learn our lessons here, we just come again, most of people don't even have a choice but must reincarnate in order to develop further

[ASMRfruit]

I appreciate all your replies, but may I politely ask that we get this thread back on topic with the question of wether or not anyone has had astral experiences that deny reincarnation? ^^;

I don't mean to be rude or anything, I'm just still curious as to wether or not evidence garnered from the astral goes both ways (meaning we can't know for sure wether there is reincarnation or no), or overwhelmingly pro-reincarnation, or overwhelmingly anti-reincarnation. []

[Naiad780]

Oh, I think some of us misunderstood you.  You are asking if anyone has had specific astral experiences that confirm or deny reincarnation, not what we believe personally?

If that's the question, then no.  No astral experiences about reincarnation here.

[AntiGravity]

Hmm, thats what I used to believe way back when I was pretty closed minded. I was taught (and thought) that we live once, die and acend to heaven where we live with God forever. Now as I began trying to find truth for myself, I figured out that if that was the meaning of life, then that really sucks and we should just all kill ourselves []. Then, around the time OBE and astral travel things were introduced to my mind, the concept of reincarnation popped up as a pretty logical answer. That got me and my mom into a neat conversation about how animals know 'instinctively' why to stay off roads and other things. So now in the present, I really think we live 'forever' in that we die and reincarnate into something/one else.
Theres my two cents, take care everybody!

[LogoRat]

I think of death like i would exit earth and see it from the moon or some other planet.
And i look down on earth and reflect what i have been doing over there.

I might go there again, maybe on the other side of earth(some other timeperiod) or i jump down at the same location.
Or i dont go there again, maybe some other time..or not at all.
Maybe i want todo other things than beeing human.

If i would think of earth like they did in history when they thought the earth was flat and that you could fall of the edge, then i would sertanly feel that there is only one physical life.
But i dont.

[pod3]

Strict reincarnationists would ask more questions if they considered that unbound demons are capable of transferring the memories of past hosts. Personally, if I saw thoughts which weren't previously associated with my body, and identified with a strange person, I would wonder who was trying to tell me what, and I would not accept answers so easily.

[Krevency]

Fruit, I'm here in your defense.

I do, personally, believe in reincarnation, because it makes sense to me and doesn't frighten me.  If it scared me I might think differently.

I don't think it's right, though, for people to just come on with the argument of, "Reincarnation is this..." or "This is how reincarnation works..."

Nobody has all the facts, and even if people had astral experiences for/against it, the whole astral thing is very subjective.  Someone who needs to believe in it might get evidence for it, and vice-versa.

Basically, believe what makes you comfortable in this case.  If you're not hurting anyone with it, (and, therefore, not gathering negative karma from it) then it doesn't really matter if it's true or not.  []

hope this is helpful

[WalkerInTheWoods]

I have had no experience which leads me to conclude either way. To me it is irrelevant. What does it matter if we reincarnate here or not? What will be will be. The only thing that is certain is my existence right now, so it seems more constructive to concentrate on now than to worry about the future. What does worrying accomplish? Stop worrying about the destination and enjoy the journey.

[Rob Chap]

i dnt believe in reincarnation eever

[Krevency]

quote:The only thing that is certain is my existence right now, so it seems more constructive to concentrate on now than to worry about the future. What does worrying accomplish?

I totally go for that.

[RJA]

ASMRFruit,

I read the link you posted and it was interesting.  I personally lean toward no reincarnation, but rather some avenue for continued spiritual growth after physical death here.  The article you linked to made a good point about the numbers - there are so many people living today (6 billion) that we couldn't have all had multiple past lives.  In theory one could argue that there are many different planets, dimensions, etc. we could have reincarnated from or to, but that seems like stretching it to cling to a theory.  

I personally have not experienced past lives, but can understand those who have being "convinced" that they had lived before.  However, the article also made mention of the "Holographic Universe" book which (I read it a while ago) was a bit cheesy and unscientific, but did make the point about the possibility of us experiencing other lives/memories stored, holographically in the fabric of the universe.  

Likewise Carl Jung theorizes the "collective unconscious" which is akin to the psychological equivalent of the Akashic records concept.  So in theory, if others' live events are stored somewhere we could access and experience snippets of them and thus come away with the impression that they were actually lives that we had actually lived.

No one seems to have responded to your question about having received any indication during AP that denies reincarnation, but I tend to think astral / psychic experiences are highly subjective and wouldn't typically trust someone elses experience to contain universal truth.  If you read the many accounts out here some affirm Gods, angels, aliens, and everything else which leads me to believe that any type of astral experience, religious vision, etc. is a combination of someone dipping into the cosmic energy of the universe and interpreting it through their own unique lens.

Interesting question, though.  And like I said I'm undecided but lean toward some other explanation.

[Krevency]

quote:The article you linked to made a good point about the numbers - there are so many people living today (6 billion) that we couldn't have all had multiple past lives. In theory one could argue that there are many different planets, dimensions, etc. we could have reincarnated from or to, but that seems like stretching it to cling to a theory

I've never heard of the statistic before, but it seems to make a lot of mathematical sense.

However, the way many people think of the whole situation, "past" life would be the wrong word for it.  The general belief in these subjects is that time is just a human construct.  Therefore, one version of the past lives theory states that some of your past lives could have taken place in the future, or even in the present.  As in, there could be another human walking around somewhere (maybe New Mexico!) with your soul, and you may be one of his/her past lives.  This makes sense to me, and makes the question of number of past people compared to present people obsolete.

I'm not saying I think this is necessarily the way it is, but expect to hear that in any arguments you get in on the matter.

quote:the article also made mention of the "Holographic Universe" book which (I read it a while ago) was a bit cheesy and unscientific

I agree with you on the Holographic Universe book.  There are a lot of startling phenomena there, but the author approaches it with too much dedication to the idea.  It is biased and unscientific.

[astralpwka]

Out of curiosity, how would astral projecting confirm or deny reincarnation? Would it involve somebody out-of-body trying to reincarnate, or trying to get locked into a heaven? []

[ASMRfruit]

Has anyone else here on the forums, especially those who have had out of body or other astral experiences, concluded that, like the JudeoChristian religions teach, we only live once (as opposed to reincarnation); that we only have one life here in the physical world, and after death, it's eternal development and growth in the astral and higher realms beyond with no reincarnation or loss of one's identity or memories (as opposed to reincarnation where you supposedly loose all memories and begin a new identity upon each birth)?

The reason why I ask this question is that I am curious as to wether or not people who have had astral experiences invariably believe in reincarnation, or if there are some astral experiencers who conclude from their experiences that each of us only gets one shot at life in the physical.

I personally do not believe in reincarnation, or at least I hope that it isn't true, and I believe that past life memories are when we channel the souls of those who have gone before us. This page is a good explanation:

http://www.egogahan.com/Spiritual%20Issues/rein.html

I also ask because, quite frankly, reincarnation is a traumatic and fearful possibility to me. I am terrified of loosing my identity and memories and starting from scratch and ignorance in this world of suffering over and over forever.  It would be comforting to know if some of you who have had good, solid astral experiences have concluded from your experiences that there is no reincarnation. I guess you could say that reincarnation is as bad to me as the notion of an eternal hell is to a reincarnationist.

I intend no offense to those who view reincarnation as a good thing, as you may see good in it that I don't. But I would ask those who are reincarnationists that you please respect my hope in eternal life and my fear of reincarnation.

[pod_3]

The need for more prudence is implied if you only have once to get it right!