silas
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"Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak."
Posts: 19
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Post by silas on Oct 5, 2007 20:35:01 GMT -5
Reincarnation is an interesting theory of life after death, but I have some questions.
If my soul was in someone else who died, and will be in someone else again after I die, then why do we need more than one soul for everyone throughout history? Do they wear out or something?
Are souls temporally constrained, that the person I am a reincarnation of had to be before me, and the person who is a reincarnation of me has to be after?
Might I not be reincarnated in my next life as Buddha himself, then go on to attain nirvana? Might not anyone reading this be me, only 200 incarnations ago?
Perhaps I'm the very first incarnation, and I'll do something terrible and be reincarnated as a bug 9 million years ago, then that bug will do something wonderfully noble and heroic, and be reincarnated as a dog 10 years from now, and so forth until every living thing in all of history, in all the universe, is accounted for by my soul, and last to Buddha who achieved nirvana and wasn't reincarnated anymore.
I suppose in this case I shouldn't call it my soul, as it would've been passed around like a sleeper in a crackhouse. I should say our soul. But if it's not my soul, why should I give a rats ass what happens to it? The soul in me may carry on, but I will die. What difference does it make to me if the soul goes on to be a bug 9 million years ago, or Buddha himself? I'll be dead.
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Post by dockirk on Oct 5, 2007 20:45:55 GMT -5
Wow - that was bizzare. Here's how a smart reincarnationist might answer: Firstly, there is no such thing as time, so concepts such as "before" and "after" have no meaning, really. So you don't reincarnate in "order."
There is only one soul unltimately and yes we all share it.
You are equating "personality" with "soul," and they are not the same thing. You "forget" your past lives when you reincarnate - sort of a self- protection device sort of analguous to not being able to remember your infant years. But you still believe that you were you even as an infant, right? Same with past lives. There will come a time when it will serve you to remember your past lives - probably after death.
One more point - the universe is about forward evolution, so there is no such thing as reincarnating as a lower (i.e. less conscious) life form. Everyone moves "up," but some faster than others based on the choices they make.
Hope this helps!
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silas
Noob
"Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak."
Posts: 19
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Post by silas on Oct 5, 2007 21:20:21 GMT -5
And here is how I respond to the theoretical smart reincarnationist:
If we only have one soul between all of us, does that mean only one person ever needs to reach nirvana?
Furthermore I am not equating soul with personality. My whole point was that there is no reason for my personality to care about my soul, as it does my personality no good. My personality dies with my body. (As I understand it, based upon Reincarnation)
This implies to me that reincarnation is a philosophy(theology?) without a need for morality. After all so long as someone reaches nirvana, my soul will too because we share a soul.
Furthermore, if we don't reincarnate in "order" and if before and after have no meaning, what do you mean when you say that "Everyone moves "up," but some faster than others based on the choices they make." Isn't 'faster' a reference requiring time? Isn't 'up' meaningless unless we were lower before?
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Post by dockirk on Oct 6, 2007 19:15:44 GMT -5
Good points.
By "up" I meant increase in level of consciousness. That is the point of the "game."
We do (IMO) retain our personalities, its just that we don't remember them until we are in the "dead" state (there really is no death, just change).
Re: "only one person reaches nirvana.." We are already in Nirvana (in a sense), or at least the non-physical part of us is. We incarnate to accelerate our growth in consciousness. Have you noticed that some people inherently understand the cosmos better than others, even at a young age? This is what "Consciousness" is. It cannot be taught, it can only be grown.
Re: morality: Woah! Yes we do have a basis for morality - a very good one! It is our own growth. Yes, you can choose to behave "badly" or "stupidly" in life, but that will only slow your growth. Why would you want to do that? People do that only out of ignorance - they think nothing matters, but they are wrong.
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silas
Noob
"Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak."
Posts: 19
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Post by silas on Oct 8, 2007 9:36:32 GMT -5
Once again, I reply that increase implies temporal movement.
If one is to increase in consciousness, one needs to have been at a lower state of consciousness before, and a higher state of consciousness afterward.
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If our soul does retain our personality, than I withdraw what I said about morality.
But if we all have the same soul, which personality does it retain?
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Post by dockirk on Oct 8, 2007 17:45:45 GMT -5
O.K. - I think you are playing with semantics a bit on the time thing. So to put it in "non-temporal" terms. Everything is actually happening at once. Time is an illusion. Everyone you have ever been and ever will be are all happening in the Now. You are currently experiencing one "self" in Time. But every possible you and every possible decision as well as the consequences of those decision are all happening NOW. So, if you time traveled, you would not only have to choose "when," but "which" reality to experience. Wheew!!
As to the one soul. The universal soul ("God" some would say) is in everyone. It is like the air in a house, individuated by different rooms. The air is the same but seems different in different places in the house.
This is why not harming other is the basis of morality and ethics in every religion. It exppreses our subconscious knowing that all of us are connect. If I hurt someone, then I am hurting myself.
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