Reincarnation

[Aeris]

Does anyone here believe in reincarnation? That would be my most dreaded fear; after achieving peace in death, being thrown right back on this planet to live another life and never know that we're caught in a never-ending loop. It sounds sadistic. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the subject. (also, how many [large]religions believe in reincarnation?)

[Acriku]

Reincarnation in the Hindu belief is rediculous. No evidence, just another explanation to pile on top of the millions of other explanations of things that have no evidence to support it. It places an extreme, and rather odd, heirarchy of value one can achieve, like the cow being the highest, and a cockroach being very low.

The more general reincarnation, with no according 'karma' or 'darma', still does not have evidence to support it, but atleast isn't so extreme. It's just a dead-end really, no way to produce it in controlled environments, no way to track the "soul."

[Digital Guerrilla]

Just how would you prove reincarnation in the first place?

[Acriku]

Playing the angel's advocate: Ah Sand, but how could you disprove it? You can't. Since you cannot, it is true.

[Gobalopper]

Well supposedly you can undergo hypnosis and "channel" other people from your past lives. But I could just as easily explain that as being possessed by a demon. :)

[Digital Guerrilla]

Actually I ment to say disprove.

[Acriku]

Well it's hard to tell whether or not that person is lying about what they are talking about, and being a good actor, or not. Also, many hypnoregressionists use techniques like implanting seeds of the story in your mind and letting your imagination believe it's real and make it up with what the 'therapist' is saying. The mind is a very cryptic structure, and function, and it's very interesting to learn about.

[Digital Guerrilla]

The Eastern concept of reincarnation is different than what modern Western New Age Thinkers would have you believe. The Eastern concept of reincarnation says there cannot be any personal element that could wander from one life to the next.

[Acriku]

So what is the Eastern reincarnation all about? It seems to be that 'souls' do not go from one body to another according to what you said.

[SurlyPIG]

I don't believe it but I've heard wierder.

[IxianMace]

Does anyone here believe in reincarnation? That would be my most dreaded fear; after achieving peace in death, being thrown right back on this planet to live another life and never know that we're caught in a never-ending loop. It sounds sadistic. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the subject.

I'm indifferent when it comes to reincarnation.

[zamboe]

I don't believe in reincarnation.

I believe in resurrection.

[Digital Guerrilla]

According to the Upanishads and Vedanta philosophy, the entity that reincarnates is the impersonal self (atman). Atman lacks any personal element, reason for which the use of the reflexive pronoun "self" is not quite right. Atman can be defined only through negating any personal attributes. Although it constitutes the existential substrata of man

[Navaros]

reincarnation is one of the dumbest things i've ever heard

anyone who believes in that probably is mentally under-developed (ie: has the brain of a child or what not)

[SurlyPIG]

Some things never change...

Nav, the correct thing to say is "I don't believe in reincarnation" not "I don't believe in reincarnation and anyone that does is retarded"

[Digital Guerrilla]

Well you see Nav is still paying the price of his past lives what a vicious cycle avidya-karma-samsara is let Nav stand as an example.

[TMA_1]

yup sandwraith you gave one of the best explanations of reincarnation I have ever heard.lol Im amazed actulaly, righteous man. :)

Why is reincarnation silly? I wasent just an eastern philosophy. Almost every culture in the world has some offshoot religion that believes in it. even jewish believers during the time of christ. Many believed that christ was the reincarnation of Elijah. Even Gnostics believe it and they claim to be christian (though they are completely different.lol)

It isnt silly, if it was then why did so many cultures believe it and hold it so dear? Some of the wisest men ever in history believed it. they werent foolish. They may be mistaken, and I dont believe in reincarnation at all, but that doesnt mean I am going to be a jerk about it.

[Acriku]

Why is reincarnation silly? I wasent just an eastern philosophy. Almost every culture in the world has some offshoot religion that believes in it. even jewish believers during the time of christ. Many believed that christ was the reincarnation of Elijah. Even Gnostics believe it and they claim to be christian (though they are completely different.lol)

It doesn't matter even if 100% of everybody else believes in it, I still think it[Hindu reincarnation] is rediculous.

It isnt silly, if it was then why did so many cultures believe it and hold it so dear? Some of the wisest men ever in history believed it. they werent foolish. They may be mistaken, and I dont believe in reincarnation at all, but that doesnt mean I am going to be a jerk about it.

Am I suppose to believe in it because groups of people believe in it? No. That has nothing to do with the validity of it. And neither does wise men believing in it. Einstein was wise in his areas, but would probably suck at politics, for example. Appeal to authority is a bad tactic TMA, and doesn't improve nor hurt the validity of it. I am not a jerk, I see something as rediculous and I tell the maker of this post that. I'm not going to go pc on everybody. Remember I said Hindu reincarnation, so don't say I think that for every form of reincarnation out there. There is just no evidence to support it, so there is no reason to believe in it.

Why don't you believe in it TMA? Many cultures seem to believe in it, wise men believed in it as well - Plato, Pythagoras, even Salvador Dali. Surely because they are wise, they know what they are believing to be true?

You see, that argument is fruitless, has no merit. Appeal to authority also is fruitless. Many scientists are extremely smart in their field, but still believe in the Judeo-Christian god because the two are separate issues, where one may be fluent in one and retaining the other.

[TMA_1]

I generally trust a group of people who know what they are talking about compared to you man.lol

[Acriku]

Well that's sad, there can never be progress if you are like that.

[ordos45]

Acriku, you keep referring to reincarnation as a Hindu belief, but not others. Now, there are about a billion Hindus on Earth (Think India, Hindu country, over one billion people). But despite sheer numbers, their specific views on reincarnation are not the only ones.

As for myself, I do not believe in reincarnation.

[Egeides]

Many here said reincarnation was "ridiculous" and stuff like that. Be careful, I don't know lot of people who would prove more easily reincarnation either... This belief is generally based on an entire religious beliefs (like believing in reincarnation is based on thw whole christianity).

No?...

[Digital Guerrilla]

Reincarnation is not only a part of Hinduism but also Buddhism and Taoism that I know of concerning other religions. Mainstream Judaism, Christianity and Islam all reject reincarnation but each has mystic sects that believe in reincarnation. The mystic sect of Judaism is called Kabbalah, the mystic sect of Islam is called Sufi.

[Acriku]

Ordos45, I addressed the more general form of reincarnation in my first post...

[Warlord Ripskar]

Tsh, tsh. Acriku, remember you stated that you don't think that it is impossible for deities or an afterlife to exist. This is the difference between Atheism and Agnosticism, it may not seem logical, but logic doesn't always work. Try considering that what is described could indeed be true.