One aspect of reincarnation I find especially intriguing is that all members of a family, even though they probably knew each other in numerous past lives, may not be working on the same lifetimes in this present life.
It would be simpler if everyone were working on the same lifetime. That way if, for example, they had all lived during the American civil war, they could all go to civil war reenactments together, collect civil war memorabalia, and watch movies about the civil war.
But, if, for example, the father is working on the the civil war lifetime and his son is working on an experience during the time of the pharaoh’s in ancient Egypt, you can see how the father could not understand his son and the son could be bored with the endless family excursions to civil war museums and battlegrounds.
It gets even more complicated in the area of human emotions if family member A is working on a previous lifetime in which the family member A was betrayed by family member B and family member B is working on a lifetime in which they both had a deep love relationship. Family member A will not be able to trust family member B and family member B will feel hurt because family member A is not reciprocating the love family member B feels for family member A.
These are the kinds of scenarios that make life interesting.
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More on the idea that progression through lifetimes is not linear: Just because a person is living a relatively easy experience in this lifetime, does not mean that in a previous life they made some choices they will have to balance in experiences their soul chooses in a future incarnation. This present lifetime may be a life of rest for them.
I think it is very important to realize that a difficult experience in the present lifetime does not mark a person as lower or worse than a person having an relatively easy experience in the present life.
It might be that the person undertaking the difficult life has chosen to tackle some deep issues, for example, some of the very difficult situations undertaken by, for example, Joan of Arc or Saint Francis of Assisi. Furthermore, they may have taken on an easy resting life before the one in which they tackled the difficult issues.
As always, it is best not to judge or to compare ourselves with others.
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Today, I have been thinking about reincarnation. As I understand it, our progression through different lifetimes is not linear–that you keep getting better and better with everylifetime–the idea that in a previous life you were a worse person and are working on getting better. This would mean that a person living a very difficult experience in this life must be at a lower level than a person living an easy life.
However, in the Edgar Cayce psychic readings, he says that in this present lifetime, we are often working on a number of lifetimes. Usually, as our life progresses, we work through issues in one lifetime then another, some of which were more difficult than another.
Because I have remembered a number of my own past lives, I know that our progression from one life to another is not in a linear manner. Sometimes, if we have made some regretful choices in a certain life, we may take a number of incarnations to prepare us to deal with the mistakes we made in that lifetime.
Therefore, just because a person is living a relatively easy life in this present lifetime, it does not mean that they will not have a future incarnation in which that have many issues to face and deal with.
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Some interesting comparisons between Buddhist, Hindu, New Age and Pagan ideas on reincarnation.
Continue readingReincarnation, literally “to be made flesh again”, as a doctrine or mystical belief, holds the notion that some essential part of a living being (or in some variations, only human beings) can survive death in some form, with its integrity partly or wholly retained, to be reborn in a new body. This part is often referred to as the Spirit or Soul, the ‘Higher or True Self’, ‘Divine Spark’, ‘I’.
In such beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, based upon past integrated experience and new acquired experiences, but some part of the being remains constantly present throughout these successive lives as well. It is usually believed that there is interaction between predeterminism of certain experiences, or lessons intended to happen during the physical life, and the free-will action of the individual as they live that life.
This doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions such as Yoga, Vaishnavism and Shaivism (from Hinduism), and also Jainism and Sikhism. It was common belief among the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans[citation needed]. Many modern Pagans also believe in reincarnation as do some New Age movements, along with followers of Spiritism, practitioners of certain African traditions, and students of esoteric philosophies. The Buddhist concept of Rebirth although often referred to as reincarnation differs significantly from the Vedic based traditions and New Age movements in that the “self” (or soul) does not reincarnate (see below).
This is a great article referring to many passages on reincarnation in the Bible and ancient orthodox Jewish writings. The article also says that the resurrection as “the end of death” originally referred to the end of reincarnation:
Reincarnation-also known as the transmigration of souls-is not some exotic idea of non-Christian mysticism. In ancient orthodox Jewish and Christian writings, as well as the Holy Scriptures, we can find reincarnation as a fully developed belief, although today it is commonly ignored.
ATMA JYOTI ASHRAM – May a Christian Believe in Reincarnation?
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An article in the August 20 / August 27, 2007 issue of Newsweek Magazine refers to a 2005 Gallup Poll finding that 20% of all U.S. adults believe in Reincarnation.
Furthermore, it says that a recent survey by a Christian nonprofit research company has revealed that a surprising 25% of U.S. Christians believe in reincarnation and that 10% of born-again Christians find reincarnation their preferred end-of-life scenario.
I find this a welcome surprise because I didn’t expect born-again Christians to believe in reincarnation. New Age Christians or non-denominational worshipers–Yes–but not born-agains.
Carol Chapman
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Today I had lunch with a delightful lady I met when I spoke in Richmond, Virginia. The Cayce people in Richmond have a wonderful group that sponsors a speaker once a month on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 5 at the Bel Air Library. Afterwards, those who want to, go out for dinner with the speaker at a nearby restaurant. If you want more information about their events, contact someone at the Regional Outreach section of http://www.edgarcayce.org.
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We got on the topic of Karma and the rough things that come up in people’s lives. I said that sometimes when a person is going through a tough time, they wonder what have I done wrong to deserve this? Other people, who may not have as many difficulties in this lifetime, may think they are somehow better than the person with the problems.
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However, we both remembered that in Cayce’s psychic readings he said that everyone has had many lifetimes in which they “lost†or made wrong decisions, took the easy path, used people, etc. But, we don’t necessarily take on a lifetime of compensation immediately after that lifetime.
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We may coast for a few lifetimes. We may, in fact, take a vacation from working on our soul’s purposes and take on an incarnation in which everything is simple and easy. Then, when we’re ready, we take on a lifetime of challenges to give us the opportunity to strengthen our spiritual mettle. Of course, we may not take the challenge and instead spend our opportunities in self-pity or anger and resentment.
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I remembered something I’d read about Mother Theresa. Evidently, she had been touring a leper colony with a visitor. When the visitor saw the diseased bodies of the lepers, the visitor asked something like, “Why do they have to go through this? Why have we been let off so easily?â€
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Mother Theresa replied that the reason we didn’t have to endure such hardship was because we were not strong enough.
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I like that.
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Wishing you a wonderful day.
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Carol Chapman
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© 2007 Carol Chapman
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Here’s a story a young woman told me:
She fell madly in love with this young man. He fell in love with her. They were a beautiful young couple. She was sure it would last forever.
However, a number of months after their relationship began she had a dream in which she was dressed like and had the hairdo of a woman in the 1940s and was waving good-bye to her fiance as he went to war. He left on a train from a station in Europe. However, after a year or so, she took up with another young man since the first one had not yet returned from the war. When the first young man returned from the front, he felt broken hearted that she had not waited for him.
In this present lifetime, the young couple are Americans. However, in this life, a number of months after she had the dream, it was the young man who left the young woman breaking her heart.
Is this just retribution? karma? An eye-for-an-eye? Is this how we perfect ourselves from lifetime to lifetime? Is this paying back every mistake we have made, every hurt we have caused? Is this the law of: Sow and ye shall reap?
By the way, as you may have noticed, in past life dreams the people are often dressed in the clothes and have the hairstyles of people in a bygone era. Also, there is usually a strong emotionally component to the dream.
© 2007 Carole A. ChapmanÂ
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It gets really complicated when the other person is working on one lifetime and you’re working on another. In that case, if, say the other person is working on a time when he or she was your loving parent, you have the case where one person adores the other person but feels hurt because of being treated poorly, while the other person is angry and expects recompense.
In the end, the real relationship is with Spirit within. If both people do their best to love, forgive, and be of service, the dilemma is solved. The one who feels hurt knows that love in itself is enough because loving is an expression of the soul and the one who is angry learns that resentment hurts them more than the other person. The angry person will feel better if they concentrate on everything they can be grateful for in their life. The loving person will feel better if they expect less in return.
Of course, this is not easy. I realize this is very simplistic, but it is meant to be a simple example of the intricacies of relationships due to the influence of past lives.
© 2007 Carole A. ChapmanÂ
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You may feel attracted to someone because you have known them before. However, your experience with them in a previous lifetime may not have been pleasant.
 It’s the same when you see someone and you know you’ve met them before but you’re not sure where or when. However, because you know they’re someone familiar, you may smile at them or even say, “Haven’t I met you before?” and want to get to know them better.
Then, you realize, this is the person who dented the fender of my car in the parking lot and drove away.
Oh, yes, you remember them. In fact, you remember them very well. You’re angry with them. And, you expect them to apologize for what they’ve done to you and pay for the repair of your fender.
 But, they refuse. Now, you hate them.
It can be like that with a person you’ve known before. You feel attracted. However, as you get to know the person better, the full interaction of your previous relationship starts to become apparent.
You don’t have to remember the past life. It’s there in your subconscious.
© 2007 Carole A. ChapmanÂ
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