Just wondered.
I do. But I know that the morg teaches against it.

I believe in the possibility of it and I like the idea of it, but have no strong opinions about it.

I also like to allow that you might not be reincarnated back to this planet necessarily. NO IDEA about that either, of course, but it makes for a more interesting set of possibilities and makes it more fun to fantasize about it.

Yes I do. In fact it is well documented with a lot of kids giving past life information. If you think about it...what is the best way to learn and grow? With experience..that comes with multiples of lives. Also, I am pretty sure Joseph smith actually believed in reincarnation. Look it up :)

Yes, I do. I don't wish to discuss the reasons why, but suffice to say, I came to this conclusion after a good deal of study and meditation. I don't like to say "I BELIEVE in reincarnation" as it's too religious sounding for my liking. I prefer to state that "I ACCEPT the general concept of reincarnation" and leave it at that.

I, of course, could be very wrong, but it helps me understand this screwy world of ours and gives me some hope for a better future. So far, I haven't found anything more logical. I could never accept the Jesus myth and if this is all there is, what a super bummer!

If reincarnation exists, I would think that everyone who is currently a reincarnated being would have the advantage of being able to draw on past life experiences and wouldn't do stupid things like joining a cult.

If not, what's the point? Going around again and again and making the same dumbass mistakes?

That would suck.

Well, the whole idea of reincarnation is that we don't go "around again and again...making the same dumbass mistakes"!

Eternal progression to higher evolved individuals is the ultimate objective. Mormonism has a similar goal, but teaches that it mainly takes place in the hereafter after a single earth life. Two widely accepted versions of reincarnation (The Rosicrucians and Spiritism) embrace the concept of improvement over a succession of lifetimes on different planets under varying circumstances.

After learning that the LDS church's claims are not backed up by facts, I've have decided to only accept claims that do have evidence.

Reincarnation is not only unproven, it is unprovable. That is exactly the kind of thing that charlatans gravitate towards.

No thanks.

I did in my last life, but not in this one. No.

Damnit Bagley! Beat me to it again!

:-)

considering that the world population continues to grow, no.

That's assuming that all earthly reincarnations had their previous life on earth which is not an accepted view. Many of those presently on earth could well have had their previous life somewhere else which would certainly account for population growth.

Templar Wrote:
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> That's assuming...

Well, sure, if you're just going to make stuff up, then of course it makes sense...:)

You're assuming that "rebirth" must happen immediately after death. Instead, if you allow for an indefinite amount of time, this isn't really a problem for reincarnation.

I gave up "believing" in things, and started reaching conclusions based on facts and evidence.

There are no facts about reincarnation, and no evidence showing there's any such thing, nor any mechanism by which any such thing could occur. And no, reincarnation is not "well documented" as someone claimed above.

If believing in something for which there is no evidence makes you happy, go right ahead. Believing fairy tales doesn't make me happy.

There actually is evidence of reincarnation[1]. The evidence is anecdotal and controversial, and you may not find it convincing, but it is evidence still.

[1] Check out Ian Stevenson's work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stevenson.

What on earth did I do to have to come back as a Lamanite thus time?!

Especially when I have it rubbed in my face that I was Rumsford B. Cabot, of the Boston Cabots, two lives ago. What a sweet gig that was!

General Patton did . Described it well . The problem I see is that the population numbers don't add up . Where were several billion people just a couple of hundred years ago ? Floating in limbo ?

Well it does make more sense than going to a place where secret passwords and handshakes are required to advance.

The problem for me is that it implies the existence of a part of me which survives after the death of my body, something of which I'm not convinced.

Guess we'll all find out when it's too late to matter.

I have no problem with the idea of reincarnation. Like others, I don't use the word "believe." According to the Mormon PoS (Plan of Salvation, although piece of shit would also work) we lived before we came to earth, we're here as a test, and whether or not we pass the test determines where we spend eternity.

So I'm here on earth as a gay male. And yes, according to Mormonism I failed the test and am an apostate. But why did I get such a specific test? Does that mean I'd automatically pass the test with flying colors if I was a woman living in poverty in Africa? A disabled hindu? A lesbian eskimo? An Arabic clan chief?

If there is a purpose to life, and that purpose is to experience the human condition, it makes sense for me to keep coming back to experience all the human conditions, not just the white middle class American gay ex-mormon experience.

So yes, IF there's a God/higher power/supreme being/creator/sky daddy/Goddess, and IF we continue to exist after our deaths, and IF there's a purpose to all of this - I can accept reincarnation. It just makes more sense. And I also have to say I don't spend much time at all worrying about this. After going through hell as a gay Mormon I no longer put much, if any, effort into religion. To me it's an interesting thought experiment and not much more.

There is a small offshoot group that purports to practice original (pre-WOW) Mormonism as taught and practiced by Joseph Smith.

Included in this belief system is the doctrine of "lives," or in other words that an individual is reincarnated in each dispensation. Joseph Smith, for example, was reincarnated in the 1950's, although he has since passed away. Jesus was reincarnated around the same time, they believe, and lives among us today.

When my daughter was very young, she claimed to be my mother (deceased). She said many things she should not have known and frequently talked about taking care of me as a child. She was actually one of the case studies in a study done by Dr Jim Tucker at the U of VA regarding children with past life memories. He wrote a very fascinating book about his work entitled, "Life before Life."

His work is quite intriguing. After discussing the many cases of children with past life memories with Dr Tucker, I find it difficult to come up with another explanation for their experiences. But I certainly don't know enough about how the universe works to say definitively that the children are actually having true past life memories.

So I certainly find the idea of reincarnation plausible. I find it fascinating to think that my daughter may have also been my mother. My mother promised me before she died that she would hand pick the best children for me (she came through on that promise, btw). Perhaps she decided that there was nobody better than herself.

If you're interested in reincartaion, I recommend Dr Tucker's book.

I believe in it. When I studied world religions in high school and college, I came to realize that this is a commonly held belief for much of our planet.

One thing to consider and it's merely my dumbass theory so you needn't post how stupid you think I am.

One principle of reincarnation is that we are not always reborn as the same sex. Every so many lifetimes we switch sex for better growth. I have spoken with several gays who have told me that although they were born with a male body, they have always felt "female" inside, but they are unable to fully explain it. Could this be the result of changing sex between lifetimes?

What if someone were to have eight to ten lifetimes as a female and then suddenly find themself in a male body the next go around? Personally, I can see how they likely would still feel female under such circumstances.

I full realize that I'm likely full of shit on this, but, so far, I have yet to find another explanation that makes more sense to me.

...but a long-standing esoteric view. Here's an interesting summary of the topic of reincarnation. Scroll down to "Sex Change."
http://www.kktanhp.com/reincarnation_htm.htm

Quoting your excellent source: "Almost certainly this is due to the result of a sex change. After being a female for several lives, the individual decides to change into a male in the next life. The body changes into a male, but the mind still remains a female, and this incomplete transfer renders the individual a homosexual."

Thanks very much for this "heads up". I really had no idea that some others also consider this a likely possibility. I love it when fellow posters aid us in our search as you have done, rather than putting us down when they happen to disagree.

Thanks again, Richard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2015 06:36PM by Templar.

Yes...

I grew up within a reincarnation culture (Hindu/Vedanta)...

...and Judaism, so far as it DOES reflect on what might happen after death (which is not considered a important topic in Judaism, and receives little time or thought by most Jews), has a reincarnation component (commonly known as "gilgul," a long-existing belief which, at least in legend, dates "from Eden").

Although this is a true statement, it is more than a bit misleading, because most Jews think very little about what happens after death---it is just not a topic of much Jewish interest.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2015 07:19PM by Tevai.

I've wondered about it but don't know for sure (like, who does?)

I've met people who I've felt a strong connection to and had a sense of deja vu that we'd known each other in a previous lifetime.

Two of them happened to be the loves of my life. The second of them I even dreamt about the night before we met that we were on our third honeymoon. Then we met for real less than 24 hours later - both of us volunteers for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It was my first meeting, and he was on the board of directors, and got up to announce the guest speaker that evening.

In my dream we were standing at an airport terminal waiting for our plane, and he was looking down at me (I was a third person watching him and me in the dream,) when he told me "This is our third honeymoon," in a deep bass voice. I'd never seen him, met him, or heard of him before the following night when I went to my first ever volunteer meeting and there he was. When he announced the guest speaker I was completely blown away because his voice was even identical to that of the man in my dream. And so was his glistening blond hair, angular features, and all around good looks. He was the same man I'd dreamt about just the night before.

He died about two years later, unexpectedly. He died less than one year after my "first" love died, also unexpectedly.

The third person I knew we'd known each other before this life, was from high school. We were best friends @ Ogden High, until we both moved away to California to finish high school.

She died too, at age 48 from breast cancer. I've dreamt she came for me to take me with her on an adventure - but I declined her offer - because where she was going I'm not ready to go yet. :-)

After the love of my life died but before I knew he was gone, I dreamt we were married in heaven. It took me some time to figure out why I'd dream about him before we met, that we were on our third honeymoon. *Unless* it meant it was our third beginning and we've lived at least in two other lifetimes where we've known and loved each other.

He was a senior scientist for Westinghouse Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, aka nuclear scientist.

I was very young when he died, and my life sort of stopped. But I went on living anyway, got married twice, both times to the wrong men. And believe that God intends for me to be with him in the eternities. So perhaps love is eternal, and I'm proof there is more than this life based on my insights.

Do I want to believe in reincarnation? No, not really. I'd rather live on a continuum where memory spans eternity, and not parceled for a lifetime at a time kind of existence. Maybe some of us are older spirits than others? Or we're all old spirits with very short memories because we aren't allowed to remember our past lives, or even know what comes after other than we transition from one realm to the next and the great unknown.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2015 06:43PM by amyjo.

Back in 1963 when I was in grade 10 I had a teacher who had done missionary work in India and learned more than I needed to about that nation, Hinduism, the caste system, sacred cows and reincarnation. Thought it was weird then. Still do.

Ron Burr

The Hindu version of reincarnation (which is really the transmigration of souls) is much different from what is commonly accepted in the West.

Where I finished high school in Palo Alto, my roommates and I met an Indian researcher/doctor who took an interest in us, and we swore that man was psychic.

He could literally read our minds. It frightened us how keen his psychic abilities were, without his even trying.

He worked for the Red Cross.

He would pop up in strange places where we weren't even expecting him, like he was expecting us.

It sort of creeped us out. He was into the Hinduism thing the whole nine yards.

I have been very interested in this topic after my step mom and friend died last year. It was a difficult loss and I wanted to understand where her soul had gone. I don't believe the energy that animates our bodies ceases to exist. I read from another poster, spiritist,about the book 'journey of souls'. I am completely open to the fact this could be total b.s. Due to the fact I left the biggest b.s. Church recently. However, it calmed my heart to imagine my loved one going through this experience. It also made more sense to me than any religion ever has. I am a believer in reincarnation. Whether it is fact or not can never be known, but I find it beautiful on many levels.

I will be reincarnated as a rhinoceros.

"Almost 27% of people will be reincarnated as a higher form of life than you.

You're not perfect, but you've lead a better life than most. With a few changes now, your next life could be even better."

Not really. I wish it was true that our lives continue but there's really no substantial proof.

I believe after reading dozens upon dozens of NDS stories that there is sufficient evidence to support it.

One of my recently read books titled "Journey of Souls" has some good stories of people who didn't have to go through an NDE however were able to experience a life review among other things which they were able to describe in detail. Much of it supporting reincarnation.

Do I believe in it?

I feel it makes more sense than you are here once then go to heaven/hell.

After all, if there really is a loving God, reincarnation makes more sense to me. If God is looking at giving us an experience to grow spiritually, I think it would take more than one shot at it to get a well rounded education.

But that's my opinion :D

The pre-existence doctrine is about predetermining life conditions based on prior pre-life decisions and capabilities.