What is REINCARNATION really anyway??

[MegaManiac]

The way I see it is the term reincarnation is open to interpretation. We have our classic definition of reincarnation; the process of “being born again” as another living organism.

What if our energy coalesses into another object of mass when we die? Is this a form of reincarnation? E=MC2 baby.

Are there other forms of reincarnation so to speak?

MNM

[InfiniteNow]

It's an unproven conjecture found at the heart of several religious belief systems and is used to leverage and control the behavior of large masses of people via the implicit threat of the posthumous consequence.

[MegaManiac]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

It's an unproven conjecture found at the heart of several religious belief systems and is used to leverage and control the behavior of large masses of people via the implicit threat of the posthumous consequence.

My question still stands. You provided me with GOOD definition, but does anyone believe in reincarnation outside the definition of rebirth as an organism. Or does the universe naturally recycle our energy, like it does our bodies?

MNM

[Boerseun]

Reincarnation is rubbish.

This is how it works:

1) You die.

2) You will make a reappearance, however. But as nourishment for worms, maggots, plants, parasites, basically all the wee beasties that constantly turn the soil and process the dead.

3) They will eventually turn your body into bodies for themselves.

4) They will, eventually, be killed and eaten by other animals.

5) Eventually their remains will be taken up by plants.

6) This plant will then be eaten by another human.

7) GOTO 1)

[jedaisoul]

Originally Posted by MegaManiac

The way I see it is the term reincarnation is open to interpretation. We have our classic definition of reincarnation; the process of “being born again” as another living organism...

Are there other forms of reincarnation so to speak?

One point of view is expressed by Boerseun above. However, if you attribute existence to the spirit, then it may be possible that it survives the death of the individual. So there could be a form of reincarnation in the recycling of the spirit, just as the body is recycled.

However, I would suggest that the mind is a function of the brain, and that dies with the body. So it is reasonable to expect that the mind dies with the body as well. So, if it exists, whatever this "spirit" is, it isn't your conscious self. But it is another form of reincarnation, and that is what you asked for.

[HydrogenBond]

Reincarnation is the ancient version of genetic theory, but with an extra feature that genetic theory has yet to bring to awareness. What is recycled after death are the genetics that are passed forward to the children. So when you die, one is more less or less, reborn as one's genes move forward to the future through generations.

The concept of Karma and reincarnation, where reincarnation will be dependant on what one has done in this life can be understood with an example. Say one smokes too much. This may cause genetic damage. The next generation may get this damage, passing it forward.

The idea of coming back as a lower life form can also be understood with an example. Say you were born into a family of 100 pound weaklings. Instead of accepting that fate, one goes to the gym and gains a lot of muscle mass to become 220 pounds of ripped muscle. Since genetics may not become altered very much in one lifetime, the genes passed forward will still be those of the 100 pound weakling family. As such, one will may come back as a fly, or the genes passed forward will appear to regress.

The randomness of reincarnation, where one can come back as anything is analogous to the genetic mutation possibilities that can occur on top of the normal forward motion of genes from one generation to another.

There is also one last possibility. After all reincarnation, the chain is finally broken, where reincarnation ends. What this suggests is mind over matter, where the mind is stronger than genetics. Or the mind is having an impact on the genetics thereby superseding reincarnation. The genetics evolve within the individual, instead of needing to pass forward to be able to evolve. The genetic theory has demonstrated all of the above except the last. I would guess that eventually genetic theory will evolve. For now genetic theory is stuck within the old fashion reincarnation loop.

If you look at the Eastern philosophies from which reincarnation came, their path of enlightenment required detachment from the illusions of reality, as they put it. In other words, they would cut off exterior sensory data and all the social subjectivity that this could induce, to collect interior data. If their hunches were correct, tapping into the high areas of the brain is what they felt would allow the individual the power to alter genetics. The exterior data collection is what animals do, so they assumed one had to go by a path that the animals are not able to go, to be able to supersede genetics. If one looks at the mystic that can stop his heart this requires one be able to move their consciousness to part of the brain, very few can reach. It takes a lot of inward focus or meditation. If one is looking outward a babe in a bikini will cause the heart to start racing again, due to a sensory type induction that is partially culturally conditioned and partially instinctive.