Do you believe in reincarnation?

Is it possible that you had a life before this one where you weren't a total loser?

I find the the whole idea to be rather scary myself. Part of me believes in it. I don't particularly want it to be a real thing.

I want to believe there's some kind of life after death. I know a family friend who's a spiritualist who says she and her daughter had a spiritual visitation when her partner was on his deathbed, and she believes it was the spirit of his father coming to be reunited with his son.

I hope it's true, and that the same will happen to me when that day comes for me. I hope it's as true of those who've been massacred by ISIS for no reason. That their spirit is out there and their devastated relatives will one day see them again.

Whether there comes a time when said spirits enter a new life with no memory of their last life, I don't know.

I suppose I wonder why I was born in this century at this time of human progress, and wonder if maybe it's true that it's simply down to the passage of time and that I've enjoyed other lives before this one, in more primitive times, and had to live those lives to reach this one.

Once you're dead, you're dead.

Consciousness is a manifestation of the physical mind.

If you don't believe me try talking to someone who's had a serious stroke or dementia.

Well doctor who took from Buddhism with the whole idea of regeneration essentially the new body being a mask to the identity inside I suppose it could be possible I sometimes feel I have had previous lives

I am slightly sceptical when people say they were famous people in a past life. How many people have claimed to be the reincarnation of Napoleon? No one ever says "I cleaned the toilets in ASDA in a previous life"

Yeah I don't believe I was a famous person in a previous life that's for sure

Nah.

The main reason I want to believe it is that I attended a secular and humanist funeral service, and it was the bleakest idea imaginable to me. That once the gift of life is gone, it's almost like it might as well have never existed, because the dead don't even remember ever being alive.

It never really offered me comfort, and I just don't know if I can think that way anymore.

Smash.

I lean towards No. But to quote a rather famous Vulcan... There are always possibilities.
Modern psychology tells us that the hope for life after death is merely a psychological crutch for the human ego that can't cope with the idea of its non-existence.
In some ways I think it's easier to just accept death as final, except that that position suggests that life is ultimately pointless; and a pointless existence suggests it's not worth trying to do anything with your life. In which case, what are we here for? Is it all just random chance?

Ronnie wrote:I lean towards No. But to quote a rather famous Vulcan... There are always possibilities.
Modern psychology tells us that the hope for life after death is merely a psychological crutch for the human ego that can't cope with the idea of its non-existence.
In some ways I think it's easier to just accept death as final, except that that position suggests that life is ultimately pointless; and a pointless existence suggests it's not worth trying to do anything with your life. In which case, what are we here for? Is it all just random chance?

It’s very much an existential rumination, yes. I think I lean towards no as well purely to be safe (speaking as someone who has little knowledge on the matter) although as you say, we can’t know for certain, and to be honest, I understand why one would prefer to believe as such. The concept of achieving little within a short and ultimately inconsequential life does not fill me with hope or courage, although perhaps it is best to relinquish the human ego and adopt a more mature perspective.

Concerning your “pointless existence” notion- people tend to overcome the often dissatisfying and disconcerting idea via systems of faith, religious or otherwise. Existentialist writers (Dostoyevsky, Sartre, Kierkegaard etc) tend to explore this all the time, and propose that we turn to the self as a means of becoming more at home with the concept of death. The Underground Man in “Notes from the Underground” renounces any faith or belief system due to seeing the many paradoxes and contradictions of his society, and thus decides to hide away and merely observe passively which furthers his descent into nihilism.

Faith and belief systems, overt or otherwise, tend to offer the comfort and introspection required to make the acceptance of death easier to bare. And this isn’t purely from a religious perspective (as someone who does not conform to any religion)- penned fictional works tend to offer such narratives that provide such forms of comfort, Doctor Who included (amongst so many other examples), allowing for both escapist enjoyment on a surface level and a sense of aspiration through hero archetypes amidst many other things.

So, yeah- I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation, but I absolutely see why someone would choose to.

If it is real I want to reincarnated in a universe where the Eighties lasts forever

Yes and no.

Yes, in the sense that I do think there is something about consciousness which exists beyond your basic 4-dimensional space-time.

No, in the sense that I think people tend to oversimplify the issue with ideas such as: your past lives were in the past your future lives will be in the future. And I don't think people really consider what they mean by "you" in the sentence "you will be reincarnated." I think the binary division between body/soul or mind/body is again drastically oversimplifying the issue. Contemplate the sentence "Why am I me?" for a while and you will drive yourself crazy trying to define "I" and "me."

And the 80s fucking rule.

Fendelman wrote:the 80s fucking rule.

Definitely. Easily the best decade ever.

I'd like to come back as a giraffe. That way I could have me head above the trees to see any supermodels taking nude helicopter lessons.

Or maybe Claudia Schiffer. She's organic after all.

I hope I don't come back as a businessman. How ironic would that be?

Ken Grubshaw wrote:I hope I don't come back as a businessman.  How ironic would that be?

How often do you DO THE BUSINESS?

Richie wrote:

Ken Grubshaw wrote:I hope I don't come back as a businessman.  How ironic would that be?

How often do you DO THE BUSINESS?

Mind your own business.