I came across the picture of John Wilkes Booth , the infamous assasin of President Lincoln when I was going through a book on the Civil War in my college years and it was my younger sister Tarana who pointed it out to me : " This guy looks like you dead on ! Wow ! " Needless to say , she proceeded to proclaim her finding to every soul that came to our house the next two weeks and in the process , much to my consternation , might have jeopardised my secret advances on some of her friends ! But, when I first saw the picture , I was floored - it was as if I was looking at myself ! To be a look alike with a famous assasin is not very appealing , but over the years I took it in stride and made a laugh about it . When I was in Seattle , I found this photo studio where you can wear all these civil war era clothes and take a picture - and since I had a moustache then , I took a picture posed the same as the picture on top ! I tried unsuccessfully to find that picture to post on the blog but couldn't find it , and held up the posting of the blog for a while . Anyways , so whenever I hear about ReIncarnation , this picture comes to mind - but trust me , I neither have any memories of performing in a theatre nor do I have memories lying in a barn during the last moments of my previous life !
ReIncarnation is very debatable, and very romantisized . And, above all , not proven. All religions have touched on reincarnation in some form , but it is profound in Hindu and Budhist religions , and completely abhored in Islam. Budhism believes in Samsara or endless cycle of ReIncarnations , until the soul reaches the purest form of Enlightenment or Nirvana . In ancient Egypt , the bodies were enbalmed so that they can make the journey to the after-life along with the soul and they believed in Resurrection . Ancient Greek phlosophy also dwelled in ReIncarnation - Plato , Socrates and Pythagoras believed in it and Pythagoras even used to give details of his previous life experiences during his teachings . " At the end of my life ," Socrates said , " I am confident that there truly is such a thing as living again , and that the living spring from the dead ." Although Jewish faith does not believe in ReIncarnation , The Kabala , the ancient teaching of the Jewish faith is full of stories on ReIncarnation more than a thousand years old . Native American teachings are firmly rooted in the belief , and The Rosicrucian Fellowship also believes in this phenomenon . The Sufis also believe in the rebirth of the soul to achieve eternal greatness . In other words , every ancient religion has touched on it , or based its spiritual progression based on its existence .
In Tibet , the mystical belief is the current Dalai Lama is the 14th Incarnate - and the way the Wise one is chosen is through dreams and signs of high priests . The current Chinese authorities issued a warning few months back that there will be no ReIncarnation without their approval - in other words , they will have a direct hand in determining the next Dalai Lama !
And yet , there is no concrete proof of it . The closest modern day believers have come to point out was Edgar Cacye - who would go on a trance and describe people's future , their health problems and their past . He even , supposedly , could tell what their past lives were ! Here is a ABC PrimeTime piece on an amazing kid who vividly remembers how he was shot down during WWII - this piece was actually fascinating -
Part 1 :
And how about this BBC documentary ?
Well, however astonishing these recounts are , and however romantic it may seem , reincarnation as a science is hard to accept . I do not dispel the believers , they might be on to something that science cannot yet prove - but there are mysteries of life we have not unlocked yet . Life and Death and the Universe still fascinates us , and we do not have all the answers . But have you ever thought that if there is a after-life what would you do ? For me , after all the woman-problems I had in one lifetime , I wonder how many more problems would I run into ? Wouldn't you want to meet all the previous-life people that were your friends ? Worse , what if you run into one of your Ex-es ? Religions where ReIncarnation is a cornerstone , believe this happens so the soul keeps purifying itself - how many ReIncarnation washes would it take for my soul to come out clean ? I really don't want to lighten up a serious topic - but as I was browsing I came across this website : http://www.thereincarnationstation.com/ where after you answer some very thought-provoking questions you will find out what form you will take in your next life !! And so I filled it out , and it turns out I will be back as a " horse " along with a lucky 20% who will reincarnate in this animal form !
Well, a stud is always a stud , I suppose !
http://www.allaboutspirituality.org/Reincarnation.htm
http://www.edgarcayce.org/Reincarnation
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