ok, I was born into a western christian family, but certian things have come to light. I have travelled all throughout asia, and one thing stands in my mind more than others, reincarnation. my main question is, my little brother when he was young talked alot about "when I was big" as in I was an adult once upon a time. why is it that young people talk about these experiences when they are not born into an eastern family. the things my brother talked about at that young age were incredibly detailed, and unbelievable. do any of you believe in reincarnation? and do you believe the tibetan book of the dead is a real guide to death? just to back this up, my brother talked about incredibly graphic experiences, and talked about them in so much detail that it was unbellievable. and spoke of cities near us, and things which he could not have possibly known, namely neighborhoods in minneapolis when he had never been there. what is this all about?

Either there's some divine inspiration going on, your brother is an incredible genius, or he really was incarnated. Take your pick I guess. I'll be reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead this summer, already picked up a copy. Any suggestions?

This is definately the most appealing idea of an afterlife to me. The idea of each lifetime as a time for self-improvement and self-learning really appeals to me. And the idea of being with those close to you forever is nice too.

For me, reincarnation is a simple fact of life, as I recall numerous past lives. For a seminal work on the subject, check out The Search for Bridey Murphy.

(BTW, reincarnation is sometimes a subject for SotD, but since reincarnation might have part of Christian dogma except for Theodora--wife of the Emporer Constantin, who convened the council of Nicea--it's kind of a long story-- I think the topic is appropriate here.)

[1]Do any of you believe in reincarnation? [2] do you believe the tibetan book of the dead is a real guide to death?

1. Yes.

2. Yes. Because of the way they live. If one didn't have the experience as them then no, it wouldn't be an effective guide to death.

Maybe your brother is a savant (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/savant)?

I have believed in reincarnation since I was very young. When I was very young, I thought what would happen if I died, the thing that made the most sense was "waking up" as someone else.

Purely out of interest, is there a possibility that your brother, being young, got confused over his tenses and meant "when i am big", rather than "when i was". Or did the content of what he said rule this out?

I believe in a reincarnation like continuation of experiences, but not necessarily that 'you' continue on.

What defines you as you? What makes you <insert-name-here>? You are a line of events, a continuation of experiences. Right? Well, some would call that the ego, and argue that the true self is the underlying awareness of the progression.

Reality goes through cycles, cycles of charges, seasons, days, life and death, perhaps this reflects something deeper. What we call consciousness goes through a routine cycle of awake, dreaming, deep sleep. We even think differently during during different periods and go thorough cycles during waking consciousness.

Again, we can define you, consciousness, as a chain of events, a progression of moments. But these moments, your consciousness, seems to be tied to the physical as well. When the physical ends, it is reasonable to assume the 'human mind' attached to it dies too. But what about the underlying awareness? The 'I'?

We can separate 'you' into the physical chain of events, the experiences which make up the ego, and the consciousness, the underlying awareness of that chain. We can say that the material things are composed of of molecules and atoms and itty-bitty things, and that consciousness is composed of moments.

Material things come into being by the progression, the change or flow of the subatomic particles before them. In nature, things die and the particles that created them create something else. Another continuous cycle.

Moments of consciousness come into being based on the progression, change of flow of the moments before them. For what reason should this end with the material part of 'you', with your ego? Why should it not be another continuous cycle?

Maybe he is an indigo child (http://www.indigochild.com/)?
You should teach him about psi balls (http://www.psipog.net/cat-psiballs.html) and energy workings and see how his mind expands upon these concepts.

Maybe he is an indigo child (http://www.indigochild.com/)?
You should teach him about psi balls (http://www.psipog.net/cat-psiballs.html) and energy workings and see how his mind expands upon these concepts.

Teach him about psi balls? If what the OP says is true, I don't think the OP is in any position to be this child's spiritual teacher...though sometimes, that must be the case until a more suitable teacher is found.

Why should it not be another continuous cycle?

Why should it be another continuous cycle?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occams_razor

Teach him about psi balls? If what the OP says is true, I don't think the OP is in any position to be this child's spiritual teacher...though sometimes, that must be the case until a more suitable teacher is found.

I was just saying that he should let him know about the ideas, not teach him, but open up a path.

Ok, a while has passed since I started this thread I know, but I asked my brother if he was just mistaking his tenses as a child. (forgive my spelling and grammar, it has been a while since I wrote english). He didn't even hesitate, he told me a story about going to a place a while away from this house, where he lived, and I went there, the layout of the house was disturbingly like he said (I am not making this shit up). my brother has never ever been to this house! it was incredible. I don't care if anybody here believes me, but the stuff he told me makes me an instant believer in reincarnation. I don't know what happened which allowed him to remember vague, details of a previous life, but I believe it!

I know I just posted, but I just want to say, I will not try to be his teacher, I will put him in touch with a few people I know of. I told him a few things which I think, but he casts me off, thinks I am full of shit. I hope he can find a teacher, and understand these things. he scared the hell out of me at first, vases in old cupboards in an abandoned house far away I mean it is crazy!

For me, reincarnation is a simple fact of life, as I recall numerous past lives. For a seminal work on the subject, check out The Search for Bridey Murphy.

(BTW, reincarnation is sometimes a subject for SotD, but since reincarnation might have part of Christian dogma except for Theodora--wife of the Emporer Constantin, who convened the council of Nicea--it's kind of a long story-- I think the topic is appropriate here.)

Do you question whether these are just 'false memories'? A false memory can easily be planted into the brain and people will feel as though it really happened because it's the same as all their real memories. If you haven't heard of this phenomenon, google it. I imagine it's rather probable in your line of work, which maybe requires you to see these sorts of things (like hte past lives of clients) in your mind

EDIT: The vast majority of people cannot remember their past lives. Now I thought the purpose of reincarnation was so that we could climb up the spiritual ladder, learn from our mistakes, become more virtous people etc.

how can we do that and learn from our mistakes if the norm is people not at all recalling their past lives?

Why should it be another continuous cycle?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occams_razor

If we're going to go that route, we should not make any assumptions at all. You cannot assume there really are any cycles, that there really ever was a beginning of 'you' or that there will be an end, all you really know is that you are. Even all your thoughts, your ideas and reflections seem to be based on things which seem real, but can only actually be assumed to be real. All thats left is the underlying awareness I was speaking about. Theres no reason to assume anything about anything, about beginnings or endings, all you are left with is this 'oneness' that is your existence if you go that route.

And if we do decide to make assumptions and believe experiences are real, then we can see how if another person is real, then they would have that same 'oneness' deep within them as well. That you can move up though the different dimensions of complexity that create reality up to the oneness of all, and see how its completely equal to the 'oneness' within every 'point' which contributes to all. This oneness of all is God, it is within all as well, it is 'soul', the observer which exists beneath the 'human mind', it is all things.