Today..October 31, 2008...I took a look at one of the features found on my MSN internet page. It is taken from a NEWSWEEK article dated 3 November 2008 that discussed the subject of reincarnation and/or are you really seeing ghosts? The featured man of the piece is Walter Semkiw, who was once informed by a psychic that he is the reincarnation of a person who was very involved with the founding of our country, the USA. Although,it took awhile, Mr. Semkiw, actually Doctor Semkiw, eventually became convinced that he is indeed, or was indeed, the actual John Adams of historic importance. The information found on MSN page does not refute or verify that fact either way. What it does is go on to explain how scientists are now taking these hypotheses more seriously as they are able to look more closely into brain activity and mind functioning.
What if scientists can actually at some point prove reincarnation? How will that affect our cultures and society? Here is the thought that struck me. If reincarnation becomes reality, and is proven and accepted in the scientific and medical realm, they will accept as fact, that everyone has had past lives. (It always makes me wonder why those who claim past lives were always someone of noteriety, and usually someone of admiration...famous, for example. I never hear anyone claim to have been Al Capone or Atilla the Hun for example, or a servant or prisoner. Hmm...??) Here's my question: Having had other lives, is it not a sensible premise that one might have been a person of the opposite sex? Are men always reborn as male? Are women always reborn as female? So what happens if that gets mixed up? Once their spirit, or whatever they will call this lifeforce, is instilled in an unborn baby, is it locked in? Can it remove itself and leave the fetus before it's birthed and go to another choice? If not, what if a mistake is made and you get two in one body that can't seperate itself into another vessel, for example, and you have a gigantic mistake of nature in siamese twins? Suppose a male lifeforce accidently is pulled into a female child? Would it be aware of the "problem" before it is born and could a remedy be made at that point? Or is it possible that this male would be locked into a female body for the endurance of that particular lifetime? And who or what controls all this leaping around of lifeforces?
One more thing: If there is definitely reincarnation with human lifeforce, would this assure reincarnation for animal lifeforce? If so, is there some kind of dividing line somewhere at which point it happens for furry, four-legged animals but not for fish, for example? Why are there so many insects? Is that because they reincarnate so fast? I kind of doubt all this reincarnation theory. Personally, I believe there are other, better ways to explain life processes, but it's fun to think about 'what if.' What do you think? Any theories about all this stuff??
5 years ago
9 comments:
I think this is very interesting and "fun" to talk about (I hope that's okay- like not evil or something :).
I think that your premise or main question is going off the assumption that a life force has gender. It seems really strange to me, but I think there are people who believe that our spirit/soul/life force is genderless. That gender doesn't come into play UNTIL we enter the flesh/physical existence.
We believe it is much more a part of our identity and I think that's what makes it that much more important and complicated to us.
But, let's assume that a life force DOES have gender and if they COULD prove re-incarnation, it would explain a lot of things wouldn't it? I think that a lot of gay people truly feel that their spirit/soul/life force IS one gender but their body is something else. I think that's sad. What an unfair thing to deal with in life- being betrayed by your own body! This, I think, leads into questions of biology and hormones and how all that affects who we are. Phewf! Complicated stuff!
This is an interesting way of presenting a lot of issues and ideas. Thanks for your thoughts!
THANK YOU FOR YOURS.....I KIND OF FORGET PEOPLE DON'T ASSUME GENDER IS PRE-ASSIGNED, IF YOU WILL. IT'S STRANGE TO THINK OF JUST SUDDENLY EXISTING. THAT CAN'T BE TRUE.
I have been pondering this since first reading it, and I can't say that I am any closer to being able to write an intelligent comment. To me, reincarnation has always been a corruption of true doctrine. We do have different lives, if you consider the stages of our existence. I just wrote a little entry about my grandmother, whose life was divided into sections. Mine has been as well. I had 20 years with my parents, 20 years with my first husband, and now, 20 years with George. Being in this part makes that other part seem unreal, like it didn't quite happen. It could be a million years ago. I think I am a different person that I was earlier in my life.
So, if reincarnation exists, what do people take with them? I remember an old tv show, Quantum Leap, where he ended up in people's bodies until he leaped again. He was himself in someone else's skin. There was just a movie on the other night, Meg Ryan, and I don't know the name of it, but at her wedding she saw an old man and he asked to kiss the bride, and at that moment they changed places, and she was in his old body, and he in hers. That's different from reincarnation, actually becoming something or someone new.
Do you read Stephenie Meyer? Her novel, The Host, is about an alien inhabiting a human body. Sometimes the human disappears, and sometimes the alien co-exists with the human, inside the one body. It is an interesting look at things. The alien is inserted into the body at the beginning of the story. Reminded me of a spirit gaining an earthly body. The particular alien in this story had lived many lives on many different planets, taking forms different each time. But she was still herself, in each lifetime, just within a different form, and limited to the physical attributes of that form. It was a good story.
Well, I didn't have much to say about reincarnation, but the idea of gender as related to it is an interesting one! Puts an entirely different spin on things.
I'm really enjoying this comment.I like your idea of life being devided into sections. It's true, When I look back at photographs of myself or Steve, I think that just isn't me/him. I was a totally different person then and so was he. Our cells have all been replaced numerous times. And our lives have been in different segments.
I remember the Quantum Leap shows. Our little group was sure to see it every week. Actually, this earthlife is the one that is out of the ordinary. So maybe it's no wonder some people can think up reincarnation as fact. I haven't read Stephanie Meyer, but I've heard she's good. It sounds like the book is an interesting parallel to what we believe. Your comments are great...I'm always hoping to find you here. You give what you say such thought....much more than I do mine. I just start typing at midnight and let it all loose, sometimes just so all of you will keep 'talking' to me.... DON'T LEAVE ME...I'M LONELY...just kidding.
Well, if you're lonely, you won't mind another comment. It's not midnight, but I'm at work and sometimes I just start typing too...
I think Judie is probably right about it being a corruption of true doctrine. But I don't think we are being "evil" by considering it. Sometimes you figure out what you really know or believe by considering outlandish things... or am I thinking wrong?
Anyway, I think what I started out to say, we've talked about before. What if people remembering a past/different life are really connecting to experiences we had pre-earth. Maybe we were helping someone or watching ancestors or soemthing. Not doctrinal, but interesting to consider?
There's a name for that -- deja vu.
It's French, and is about that feeling of having done something before, or been someplace before. Do you ever think you could have dreamed it, like maybe a prophecy of what was going to happen?
Flashbacks.
I don't know... I've experienced deja-vu as a very real and odd feeling that I've done this before. This other topic, re-incarnation... well, I guess I've never believed in or experienced so what am I talking about? :) But I've thought of it more as a connection to things previously... like not me in the flesh and this life, but something that's come from before. For example, I have before felt some sort of connection to the south and slavery. Some pictures (never been there myself) or writings or even music seem to resonate with me. It's not like I've been there done that, a concrete thing like deja-vu has been. It's more like a dream or an experience or familiarity, something more a part of me. Hm... not sure I'm making sense.
What is deja-vu anyway? My hubby said it's God's way of telling you you're in the right place- I liked that. But sometimes it's quite overwhelming and almost frustrating.
Yes, it's like "almost remembering" something, a place, or even an ambience for me. It's almost a haunting. I have this 'vision' of being outside on a gray, rainy day looking past tall trees, over a field or lawn towards a house. I'm outdoors here. Sometimes I think I want very much to get to that house that seems so far away. But the thing is, it seems so familiar, like a memory. Books and movies taking place in place in old England affect me the same way at times. I think I'm actually remembering the places. Perhaps the authors are just really good at description...haha. Deja vu happens rarely for me except in this way.
Post a Comment