Reincarnation and rebirth - part 1 of X \ stacker news ~ideasfromtheedge

1039 sats \ 25 comments \ @ways_wilderness 29 Jun ideasfromtheedge

It is my contention that rebirth or reincarnation is a natural phenomenon that has been a central part of most cultures and tradition, but this fact has for some reason been hidden and attacked for quite a while.

Most of the East has a live and healthy relationship with this to this day, and likewise a lot of people are sharing their own experiences online, there are many Facebook groups with very compelling stories that often checks out when investigated.

Modern research and cases

Ian Stevenson is the best known of the modern researchers, he has documented thousands of cases that often include birth marks from wounds in previous lives, and if I recall correctly also some cases where a reincarnated child points out his own murderer!

The Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia which he founded in 1967 is still operating, with the reincarnation research led by Jim. B. Tucker M.D.

There are many interviews out there with both of them, here is a recent one: Jim Tucker || The Science of Reincarnation

There are some great, old recordings of a statistician who set up to disprove reincarnation, but all she accomplished was proving it using her tools, I do hope I remember her name soon...

One of the really popular stories the past years has been that of James Leininger

Another one that is very convincing is the story of Jeffrey Keene. His reaction when visiting a Civil War battlefield matched historical event, and also he was able to control a horse at the highest level the first time he ever sat on one :-)

A very recent thing is of course 9/11, there are many cases, this one is the most widely known one.

The Tibetan system

The culture that has the most comprehensive framework for dealing with reincarnation is Tibetan buddhism, within a few kilometers of where I write this in Kathmandu there should be several, maybe a dozen or more Tibetans that are regarded as more or less conscious reincarnations of previous masters.

Having met many of these through the years I have no doubt myself that this is possible, there are so many other abilities that people on this level have.

Here is one interesting documentary on this.

Alexander Berzin has a very good summary of this here

Actually it is not too hard he claims, the problem is to find someone who finds it worthwhile to find your next incarnation! ;-)

The material out there is virtually endless, and it does follow very clear patterns. Its late here, so this will be it for now, will try to continue later!

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42 sats \ 4 replies \ @SatsMate 29 Jun

Thanks for the doc. I'll give it a watch. :)

I sometimes feel like I've lived a life before this, Its hard to explain.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @ways_wilderness OP 29 Jun

Yeah, often its kind the same as meeting someone you've known waaay back then, you still intuitively know that you know that person, even if everything has changed in the meantime...

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @cristaiji 29 Jun

Yes I’ve had this experience with some people. Convinced I’ve known them before.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @ways_wilderness OP 30 Jun

In my experience part of that is that both see no real need in digging into it all too much, its kinda part of the package :-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cristaiji 30 Jun

There’s some weird energy between me and one of my friends. I suspect I’ve known her before tbh.

31 sats \ 3 replies \ @cristaiji 29 Jun

Great post thanks for this. 🙏

Even when I was young and largely atheist in my perspective I suspected that reincarnation might be a thing. It was intuitive I think.

As I’ve grown older and gotten to know myself I feel more and more how I was in past lives. Those really deep traits that I have only recently become conscious of I suspect are from past incarnations. Or at least that makes sense to me intuitively.

I’m a black sheep in my family and very different from both my immediate and extended family. I often reflect on the deeper reasons for this and what genetics and ‘genetic memory’ might mean from a spiritual perspective. It’s a trip!

42 sats \ 2 replies \ @ways_wilderness OP 29 Jun

Yeah, this is what I'll keep banging the drum for the rest of this life, these things are natural, intuitive and real :-)

The past 8 years I've had a lot of things coming up, its kinda like film reels that my inner eye sees when awake, also once I did not agree with the architecture in a temple at all haha, 4-5 details matched 3 years at the end of the 1700s.

Will get around to that later!

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @cristaiji 29 Jun

I’ve heard from lots of people that they have snippets of memories that have come to them over the years. It’s fascinating.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @ways_wilderness OP 29 Jun

Yes this is very common, and now that things are less dogmatic and controlled I think more people have a healthy relationship with this. They key is to both not disregard or get stressed about it nor to get hung up on it too much..

If you get that balance right more might come up, and it will serve a purpose in this lifetime :-)

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @jakoyoh629 29 Jun

I don't believe in reincarnation and rebirth. I think these stories only serve to comfort the human mind, those who feel the need for it.

32 sats \ 1 reply \ @ways_wilderness OP 29 Jun

First of all this is not about belief or not, it is about knowledge and experience.

Second its far from a comforting concept, on the contrary it should terrify most people that what they do now can and will have repercussions through endless lifetimes in the future...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @jakoyoh629 29 Jun

I believe in experiences and knowledge. However, I don't agree with some of the explanations for these experiences. These topics are closely linked to religion, and we know that there are many different religions.

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @chaoticalHeavy 29 Jun

I have heard that reincarnation is a trick to get us to come back here.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @cristaiji 29 Jun

Yeah I’ve heard that too. The mystic Gigi Young has some things to say about that.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @ways_wilderness OP 30 Jun

Unknown to me thus far... Might check her out later

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @chaoticalHeavy 30 Jun

Gigi Young

I see she is doing psychic development classes. I don't see the reincarnation angle though.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cristaiji 30 Jun

She does long form lectures many of which are on you tube as well as some nice documentary series on a number of spiritual topics. She often touches on reincarnation in her talks.

30 sats \ 1 reply \ @cristaiji 30 Jun

Gigi Young’s latest snippet from one of her longer form lectures.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @chaoticalHeavy 30 Jun

This is good up until the very end. She's assuming the harvested spirit is going to be resurrected (planted) even though the spirit could stay in the presence of the higher spirits.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @MiddleWay 29 Jun

and they can have hard forks:

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ways_wilderness OP 30 Jun

And mergers as well!

https://tricycle.org/article/karmapas-work-together/

Actually its claimed that highly realized lamas can have thousands of emanations, and sometimes several recognized reincarnations.

There are also cases where several masters reincarnated in one body as a merger, a collaboration to bring things forward!

The whole, basic concepts of mind and consciouness is just very flexible in these traditions :-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MiddleWay 30 Jun

I was sarcastic. If there is no self and all is one, why even focus on individual development and tracking?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @MiddleWay 29 Jun

If the goal of a master is to reincarnate in a position to maximally help others, why is he being brought back to the monastery? That makes no sense to me. Monasteries are frozen in time, all they do is pray and meditate. Who are the monks helping there? Better let him become a great scientist, or a doctor, or a president... I believe a buddha should live incognito among laypeople, helping the civilization to evolve more harmoniously.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @ways_wilderness OP 29 Jun

So scientists, doctors and presidents did good things in 2020? Including creating the whole crisis in the first place?

Monasteries are the opposite of frozen in time, they are the center of the intact culture and universe. Traditionally in Tibet they had grain reserves among other things, also medical help is part of what they should offer.

If you see how incredibly resourceful, strong and independent the Tibetans were and still are after having to flee in millions with next to nothing then you get a better picture of what the monasteries and also even hermits have to offer: knowledge and training of the mind, which is key to most things in the first place!

As for staying incognito this probably happens a lot too :-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MiddleWay 29 Jun

Grain reserves are ok if we lived in the 16th century, but what knowledge can they offer today? The world evolves, life gets harder and harder for an average person, but this is just the nature's way to produce change. I would not want to live many boring lives as a lama. I understand the end goal as stopping the wheel of samsara. In fact, I think we are living through the end of times, I would really not like to be reborn here.