The Comedian spoke a profound truth. “Death is Natures way of saying thanks for playing, try again!”
Reincarnation is one view of the soul’s journey. There is validity to this idea. Now, which view of reincarnation I believe in is up to debate. There are two main concepts that appeal to me. The first is the basics that everyone is familiar with, the one soul journeying lifetimes to the grand prize of enlightenment. The second is the belief that upon our deaths our energy gets dumped back into the great pool of source. We can examine both from my point of view, my subjective grooviness. You can make up your own mind.
Traditional reincarnation, if you will, consists of a single soul striving over and over to reach liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Lessons are learned; karma is balanced again and again. Always one cohesive soul learning life lessons. As the spirit travels through its journey it becomes more enlightened. The more advanced, the more of the previous lifetimes are remembered. Once one has reached a high level, the memories and lessons of the previous lifetimes are retained. Spiritual teachers tap into all of these lifetimes to help us and them understand life.
Once you have learned all there is, or more probably, all your particular soul has chosen to learn, you get to break the bonds of this world. Now the soul gets a choice to move on or continue to play the game, but on their terms. When a particular spirit is so moved by compassion and love for those of us still caught in the throes of birthing pains again and again, it comes back to teach and heal. That’s where we get our bodhisattvas like Kwan Yin and the Dali Lama.
The second concept is the shaman’s idea of reincarnation. In this view, source is the origin of us all and it’s where we return upon death. The Toltec shamans call it the eagle. We live and strive and learn and then our spirit is devoured by source. There is an incentive in this view; you work harder at your studies and practices so that you may avoid the eventual disintegration back into source.
This view would explain why many of the past life experiences are so fragmented. We dissolve back into the pool. As a new soul is created, bits and pieces of a myriad of life experiences and vibrations come together to form a new being. The more enlightened we become the more the spirit starts to coalesce. Eventually the soul is able to gather the totality of ones self; we break the cycle.
The second argument has always appealed to me. It explains quite a few anomalies in the past life experiences that have been reported. A person could only remember those vibrations and memories that becomes part of the new being. A convenient excuse for the big holes or the small remembrances.
I have to say due to recent revelations and epiphanies, I am now more inclined to validate the first point of view. I think what you remember of your past lives, if that is part of your journey, are points you need to focus on. It can guide you to your Dharma, your purpose in life. The final transcendent goal is to reunite with source and stop coming back.
Rather than argue about it now, let’s have a chat after we’ve passed but before we spin the big karma wheel for our next walk on our beautiful Gaia. That’s one of the downsides of being an atheist, if they are right, they won’t get to say, “I told you so.”