posted October 19, 2009 06:02 AM         

I was telling my friend about some Ancient Egyptian (Hermetic) theology I was reading lately, and he says it sounds a lot like certain Buddhist stuff he's read. According to the Egyptian stuff, souls are herded into incarnation and are very sorry to be born. They are all waiting on line, lamenting their fates. Supposedly, the soul's characteristics are eclipsed, and the soul appears to take on the characteristics of whatever gods were present at the time of birth (according to the influences of the planets and zodiac signs). This, however, seems to contradict another part of the text, where souls are supposedly paired with bodies that suit them; sluggish souls with sluggish bodies, intelligent souls with intelligent brains, etc. So I'm not sure what the official position is there. Confusing.

Anyway, there are plenty of theories out there, and I'm just wondering what makes somebody (who was not brought up to believe it) choose to believe in one of these theories or claims over another.

posted October 19, 2009 06:32 AM         

There is also a scripture saying the God knows us before we are born.

In saying this, I don't know as I haven't got enough information to delve deeply. But a church member friend of mine, believed that we choose our parents.

posted October 19, 2009 06:49 AM         

Or helps makes sense of a seemingly random universe that can seem unfair.

Pick to suit.

posted October 19, 2009 09:06 AM         

quote:

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In the story, each individual soul is part of a larger "Soul Group", which shares the mission of helping the evolution of the cosmos. At times, a soul from a given Group incarnates itself, choosing the conditions of its life according to its needs, while the other souls observe. Each soul creates a reality around itself, which later brings consequences upon it. These consequences take the form of life and afterlife, which vary according to the person's choices.

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posted October 19, 2009 02:52 PM         

Its amazing to me that people can just pick something because it sounds nice and makes them feel good, and not based on any actual evidence or argument. I think, if that is what happens (and it does appear to be the case), it must be happening on a very subconscious level. And people who make choices that way tend to get hostile when their beliefs are questioned. Perhaps it doesnt matter so much what the truth is, and maybe its a good thing for people to have something that comforts them (even if it is a lie), but, for myself, I can't help looking for the truth. I prefer to think that I could confront an inconvenient truth and adapt myself to it, rather than choose to believe a comforting lie that's already adapted to my present stage of development. You?

Yin,

That doesnt necessarily sound comforting, although it does, at least, indicate a kind of order. If I understand correctly, it seems to suggest that the souls who accompany us in our incarnations (relatives, friends, etc.) may not be members of our true soul group, but that our true soul group may be disincarnate, keeping us company in clandestine ways. Perhaps we are brought together with other souls in this life, not because of anything we share in common with them, but because of our differences, which challenge us to acquire the lessons and experiences we lack. You know I've always felt like a changeling, too.

kat,

posted October 19, 2009 06:07 PM         

I do wonder about some things in reincarnation.
I mention about these things in the past.

how long ago did people believe in reincarnation and what places?

Did the ancient Mesopotamians believe in reincarnation. The Babylonians,Sumerians,and Assyrians. What did they believe in? Did the Egyptians believe in reincarnation?

Reincarnation is a widespread belief in India,but some people believe that the reincarnation concept was created in India to create caste systems which tended to keep the Untouchables(Dalits) oppressed and down. Many Dalits are suffering in India to this very day. That's why Dalit Freedom Network was born. BTW this is nothing political. It's sociological. Sociology and politics aren't the same.

any ways a prominent Dalit,Dr. Velu Annamalai, who was the first Dalit to get an engineering degree, said that Hinduism is sanctified racism. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4735E232A822C06C&search_query=untouchables+blacks

I live in Sacramento,California which has 14 percent black population.

I noticed that not even 1 percent of the people that showed up for the Brian L. Weiss pastlife regression workshop were black.

The interfaith unity church that I attend is like that too.

I notice the same thing when I attend healing arts/psychic fairs.

are blacks much less prone to embrace New Age,New Thought ideas compared to whites?

I think that is the case.

I discussed this with a black female friend of mine,and she agreed with me. She's into New Age,New Thought ideas.

I wonder if it was the black part of me that factored into my embracing New Age,New Thought ideas at later age of almost 28 because of my cynicism in regards to race relations here in USA, experiencing racism as a "black" I think that also factored into my not being able to believe in Christianity.

I think that multiethnic heritage factored me into being open and exploring other religions,philosophies too.

posted October 19, 2009 09:54 PM         

But along the lines of what SunChild said, my son told me stories of his past life when he was just able to put sentences together.

He told me, "remember that time when you were my Mommy before, and we wived in Calithrornya, and we died cause we got shaked up too hard?"

Yeah, that one threw me. He also said he picked me to be his Mom. I asked him, "why did you pick me?" and he said, "because you were nice and you had pretty hair."

posted October 19, 2009 10:29 PM         

I'm beginning to believe embracing New Age knowledge is something to do with tuning into vibration. If someone is distracted/abused/participating in worldy challenges (sins?) then they won't, as easily, tune into the true vibration, that is, the power of the Universe.

posted October 19, 2009 11:09 PM         

quote:

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He also said he picked me to be his Mom. I asked him, "why did you pick me?" and he said, "because you were nice and you had pretty hair."

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This is interesting, Gypsee, and right on topic. It sounds as if the choice was not made according to any higher spiritual vantage point accorded to the disincarnated soul. He just thought you were nice and liked your hair. Still, one wonders if he must have attained to a rare degree of clarity in order to choose you for your kindness. But there are so many questions. Why would someone choose an unkind mother? Out of some blindness, lack of soul development, or, perhaps, in some cases, in order to endure it and become strong, and/or to help the mother learn to be kinder. I recall a Buddhist teaching that says we see people having sex and we are born to the couple that attracts us, somehow. That might "explain" the pretty hair comment.

Lots to wonder about. Thanks.

posted October 20, 2009 04:12 PM         

quote:

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why would i share?

---

Evidently, you wouldn't.

But the people who do share
usually do it because they care
about truth and want to promote it.

quote:

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and why would i put evidence forward?

---

Evidently, you wouldn't.

But the people who do put evidence forward
generally do it because they don't expect
their words to be accepted without reason.

posted October 21, 2009 04:09 AM         

VERY short & sweet, by the time I was 15, I came to falsely believe that I couldn't stay with Granny (well technically, I was forbidden by the courts, but I didn't yet realize that they didn't actually give a damn if I obeyed their edicts or not as long as no one made an issue of it) and in an increasingly intolerable sitch that was dawning into true horror. So I left, running away from home under a false name and altered appearance at 16.

Within a couple of weeks (certainly no more than 3), I made it to an area in the far northern part of California (I mean REAL Northern California close to Oregon rather than the Bay Area, at least until it actually secedes to become Jefferson) where I hopped house to house with stoners, deadheads, and the like where my presence wasn't questioned. But I eventually trusted the wrong person which was traumatic and after I escaped, I wanted to get out of the area before the one who imprisoned me realized I was gone, because I'd be a major loose end.

The obvious course was to head south because that's where the nearest town was, the way the most traffic went, and my original plan had been to make it to Los Angeles anyway, and who wants to head north when homeless and winter approaching? But realizing my captor would realize this, I headed North, because surprise & the unexpected have repeatedly served me well. My goal--a reasonable one as long as I was able to thumb a ride--was to make it to Oregon by sundown. (No, I couldn't go to the police or the hospital because they'd send me back to what I'd run away from in the first place, which was worse than rape & murder--and yes, I know what I say when I say that).

I caught a ride but that ended in a small town a few miles south of the Oregon border. Because it was late, I decided to go the beach looking for a beach party in hopes of catching a ride, or at least a place to stay for the night. But the beaches were quiet. Luckily, a scary-looking guy found me and brought his aunt over to meet me who gave me a place and a temporary shelter became a living arrangement and my entire life changed. (She, btw, also first introduced me to Linda Goodman's books. She's visited this site before, too, though I don't think she ever posted here, and she only rarely surfs the net.)

And she became a mother figure to me. To this day, I send her the mother's day card. She feels I'm her daughter, the child she never had, and I really feel like she IS my mom, the one I would've chosen. Through very unlikely (and sometimes traumatic) circumstances, the impossibility of us finding each other and forming that bond became possible and then a reality.

And the interesting thing to me? She made a conscious choice to never have children long ago because life seemed far too cruel to her. So if I WAS meant to be her child, then I couldn't have been born from her. But given the incredible amount of circumstances that came into play, I did end up living with her and we're still in touch and we still visit one another from time to time. And I wonder...was so much of what happened just to get us together, because we were MEANT to be together, despite her successful resolve to never give birth?

posted October 21, 2009 04:11 AM         

quote:

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of course he is going to explain it in terms that fit his present-day age and mentality.

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Yes, kat, absolutely essential point. Also one which maybe should be considered by those adults who have experienced some past life recall? Everything goes through the filter.

posted October 21, 2009 05:02 AM         

I met a colleague a year ago and helped her out. Then luckily, she returned and I worked with her once again. We clicked and I really admired her attitude at work. She went back to her home country and in the meantime, I didn't realise she had done something really nice for me, that turned up today!!!

The unbelievable irony is, that it supports and strengthens an issue I'm dealing with tomorrow!!

Isn't that empowering?! A person turns up at the right time to offer a hand that changes your life!!!!

posted October 21, 2009 10:17 AM         

petition to start a dervish forum wherein we may all gather around the lindaland hearth, while dervish regales us with a detailed history of her past exploits and adventures!

posted October 21, 2009 11:35 AM         

Meanwhile,
back on topic:

Katatonic,

This is fascinating:
http://www.spiritualregression.org/

"'Life Between Lives' is a way of describing the state in the afterlife between incarnations. Dr Michael Newton first discovered the state when regressing a client who had expressed her loneliness in this life and wanted to have answers as to why she felt this way. Michael gave a simple command in hypnosis and the client unexpectedly connected with her memories of life as a soul.

This was a surprising turn of events and as his client began to see what was going on around her (in the memory she had connected with) she was able to distinguish her soul friends and family who were waiting for her in the spirit world. She was able, with Dr Newton's help, to find out why she was having a lonely existance on earth - her soul friends were not with her during this incarnation. It transpired that this decision was planned by her (and her guide) to help her learn how to become more independent and learn to cope with earth's challenges without the support of her soul companions.

This experience lead Dr Newton to undertake extensive research into the life between lives. He soon realized that deep within we carry the memories of our lives as souls, the life between lives, but that accessing these memories would require a deep level of trance and great technical expertise on the part of the hypnotherapist that could only be achieved with a high level of skill, an extensively developed technique and the use of key hypnotic processes.

Dr Newton regressed over 7000 clients to the life between lives state during his career and has written three bestselling books which have given the public an understanding of the spirit world never before seen in print. The great strength of the books is that they are based on the experiences of many, many individuals, from all walks of life and so provide a model of the spirit world which has real authority."

posted October 21, 2009 02:45 PM         

but we may have had several lives with supportive parents and decide to experience that lack of support, or addition of abuse, to give us a better perspective, to make us stronger, to practice unconditional love...i don't know.

i do know that my mother and my little sister consider my father's temper to have been abusive, but i never experienced it that way. that HE was emotionally/verbally abused by HIS crazy mother is a fact. he had a terribly short fuse and when he went off it was always longer than it needed to be for the message he was trying to relate. but for some reason though the sheer volume would make me turn off to a degree, i never took it personally. and later when i was old enough and he had gained a little self-knowledge re his demons, he explained his outbursts in a way that made me realize it was HIMSELF he was upset with and his great love for us was trying to protect us from his own previous failings...