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Future lives

PhilipLaos

PhilipLaos

New Member
The Dalai Lama, and other Tibetan Tulkus (reincarnated lamas) and high-ranking Rinpoches (spiritual teachers) are said to be able choose the location and family in which to be reincarnated.

I wonder if any here expect to be able to choose the location and family into which they will enter in their next rebirth. Or if anyone has any other thoughts/comments regarding future lives.

This is an extract from: Tulkus: Masters of Reincarnation (Sorry, but the website is unavailable)

Through one's practice of the Buddhist path wisdom increases and the forces of ignorance are transcended and one acquires an ever-increasing control over the wheel of rebirth. This will eventually lead to the power that enables one to take birth not out of the compulsive force of karma but in accordance with one's conscious aspiration and altruistic concern to benefit the world. Such a being is known as a bodhisattva and is characterized by the ability to enter the world at will in order to guide those ready to be trained.

The spiritual technology whereby controlled rebirth could be achieved as a social institution was never fully developed by the Indians however; this did not occur until Buddhism reached Tibet where it cross-fertilized with the great Himalayan mystics of Central Asia. These currents together produced the institution of the tulku, or officially recognized reincarnate lama. Tibetans came to cherish this phenomenon as one of their greatest achievements, with great amounts of energy and resources poured into its production of "reincarnate lamas".
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Philip
 
I fully expect to choose my next life, as I'm pretty sure many people on the forum, do. I hope, however, that my soul is more sensible between lives. I was just thinking about my next life, and I would like to be a 1940's style "torch" singer - wearing a slinky black dress, and draped over a piano. Think Jessica Rabbit, only human, not "toon"!
 
Hope it works out for you as you describe, BriarRose.


At my time of life (I'm 62), I'm more interested in future lives than past lives. It would be a great comfort to me, but more importantly - to my kids, if we could believe that my death would be just one more cross over.


I don't expect to be able to choose my next life, and would be happy to accept a placement based on my actions in this life. However, I would be very content if I could believe, with some degree of certainty, and pass that on to my kids, that my upcoming death will not be a final end.


Philip
 
I think it won't be "final", Philip. I'm sorry for sounding facetious, but I was actually sitting on my sofa, musing about this subject when your post came up. I will probably have to come back as a "singing nun" instead of a femme fatale, as divine retribution. : angel: I am just your age, and I think about the future also. I think we all choose a "life plan", and we are often overly ambitious as to what lessons we plan to learn. I look at my current life and wonder what I could have been thinking! I would like a little more fun in my life next time, and not so much "serious". It's just my opinion, but in my heart I know that the soul is immortal. The universe wastes nothing, so why would it waste the energy that makes up a soul? I have personal experiences validating it's survival. For myself, I would like a little rest before I attempt this again, but I know I will have to. Blessings to you and your family.
 
I often catch myself saying, "In my next life I will do this or not do that." The choices are dependent upon what is causing me chaos at the time, LOL.


Maybe I should keep a list handy ;)
 
Hi Philip,


It is my personal belief that, along with our spirit guides, we have at least some partial input towards who we come back as. You might wonder why anybody in their right mind would choose to come back as, let's say, a severely disabled person, or a starving child in Africa? But as physical human beings, I think we are limited to seeing just a very small part of the big picture. When you come to the end of your life, and pass over to the 'other side', I think your soul's 'progression' is then revealed to you like a huge and incomplete jigsaw puzzle, and it is then up to you and your guides to decide which piece of the puzzle you are going to put in place next. That piece can be an easy or a difficult life, long or short, it could be a life that will serve your own purpose, or a life to teach a lesson which may be beneficial to a member of your soul family. I don't believe that you are simply 'assigned' any old random life.


Some people say that if reincarnation is true, then they can't bear the thought of not seeing their loved ones again. But I think when the time comes, and that huge puzzle is revealed to you, then you will make the right decision - for you. After all, how do you know that there are not loved ones from previous lives already on the other side, waiting to be reunited with you? Each lifetime is a new adventure, often to be shared with souls that you already know from the past. It's only natural that as a physical being, you are totally focused on this life, and the people you love who are around you in the 'here and now'.
 
I think I must have had some input into this life, as I'm only a twenty minute drive away from the place I believe I lived in my previous life. Too much of a coincidence otherwise!


I'm not sure I believe in a mapped-out plan of the future though, I believe in fate and free will. I think some people have tragic lives, not because they're learning a lesson, but because things have a way of not going to plan. I think we enter the world with what we hope will be the best chance of learning/achieving what we want, but once we're here things can go awry. What a pessimist I am! That's what comes of being a non-religious person struggling desperately with spirituality! I truly hope to have my mind changed on the matter at some point though, it would be lovely! ;)
 
I tend to think we are drawn towards our new lives based on our thoughts and feelings from the previous life. I don't think life planning happens, after death you are drawn towards new life through a combination of thoughts, feelings, emotions etc, to a new life that mirrors those. However, due to this strength of emotion, we will be most likely drawn towards those people/souls/places that are familiar to us, so the chances of being reunited with our families, at least in their own new incarnations, is very high.


Of course, I'm sure a certain amount of choice can occur on a personal level. Many children remember choosing their parents for example, and the Dalai Lama is said to be able to choose where his new reincarnation will be.
 
I don't know, I have the impression that though I've spent lives with my loved ones in this life, most of them aren't souls I'm particularly close with. It's like choosing classes from a list for school; you have your top picks and then the others that you aren't particularly crazy about but still are interested in. Most of the souls I'm around are those classes.


And my life isn't all that similar to my previous ones (that's what my intuition tells me anyway). I think that'd defeat the point of reincarnation to just have one similar experience after another...
 
It is my belief that I chose my current life among two others which would place me in this current timeframe and with similar possibilities and opportunities. The view I got was of a "blueprint" which was somehow three dimensional and the potential events and locations could become enlarged or amplified before me in order to better understand or get a clearer view of what I was going to face. The joy and happiness I had while reviewing this "lifeplan" with those souls I was to engage with on earth was beyond anything I have every experienced while incarnate.


It is further my understanding that the plan is the desired script, though it is subject to our free will, or improvisation, during the actual performance...and that the possible alterations to the plan due to free will, may also have been considered.


I note that once a fear of physical death is removed, the next stumbling block is fear of forever losing those we love while incarnate. My feeling about that is that those we love, live and interact the most are souls with whom we've been forever...leaving them behind in this life simply means we await them on the other side...we are greeted by those who predeceased us and we'll greet the others upon their passing...and we never lose them...ever. My current wife has played many roles with me, as have both my daughter and son...my mother, father and sister are both constantly in my lives along with various relatives, friends and co-workers, and I meet more all the time.


As to the thread topic, I have had views of a future lifetime in which my ex-fiance in this lifetime will be my daughter next time in an earth which we would not now recognize. I get a real sense of natural surroundings, with some level of advanced (from our perpsective) technology, and a major focus on the interplay between people...the stress and strain of "earning a living" was not a consideration.
 
And my life isn't all that similar to my previous ones (that's what my intuition tells me anyway). I think that'd defeat the point of reincarnation to just have one similar experience after another...
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The way I see it, who and where we reincarnate is a combination of choice and some kind of Natural Law based on thoughts, feelings and emotion. In your case, you have chosen/been drawn to the souls you are currently incarnate with, even though they may not be souls you are particularly close to. I wouldn't describe my last three lives as 'similar' (a businessman, a soldier and a hippie), but something about the situation of the family before birth obviously drew me to those lives, consciously or not. Then, after birth the endless variety of events on Earth will cause each life to be unique and different, with different and unique experiences. As for there being a 'point' to reincarnation, I'm still not sure. Until something comes up to change my mind, I take a very 'naturalistic' view of reincarnation, that its a natural process that just happens, like gravity, or breathing, a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. But that is just my opinion based on my experiences ;)
 
I like your point of view, Helz belz, that the whole process is just a part of the natural order of the universe. In my own case, I feel that I chose to be with certain individuals to work off Karmic obligation. I had a strong sense of needing to fulfill certain obligations, even as a teenager. I would prefer that there be conscious volition in the lives we choose, but it may work as you say - we are moths drawn to the "flame of life". Reincarnation could prove to be the fulfillment of an instinct, like survival of the physical body. The soul survives because it must.
 
helz_belz said:
The way I see it, who and where we reincarnate is a combination of choice and some kind of Natural Law based on thoughts, feelings and emotion. In your case, you have chosen/been drawn to the souls you are currently incarnate with, even though they may not be souls you are particularly close to. I wouldn't describe my last three lives as 'similar' (a businessman, a soldier and a hippie), but something about the situation of the family before birth obviously drew me to those lives, consciously or not. Then, after birth the endless variety of events on Earth will cause each life to be unique and different, with different and unique experiences. As for there being a 'point' to reincarnation, I'm still not sure. Until something comes up to change my mind, I take a very 'naturalistic' view of reincarnation, that its a natural process that just happens, like gravity, or breathing, a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. But that is just my opinion based on my experiences ;)
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Hmm, that's an interesting theory. Certainly gives me something to think about!
 
cloud potato said:
What if it's already chosen? I believe to have memories of a life not yet lived.
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Hi just curious do you have these memories of your own life too, scenes from the future ? my friend use to have that especially when we were younger and many, many came true
 
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PhilipLaos said:
The Dalai Lama, and other Tibetan Tulkus (reincarnated lamas) and high-ranking Rinpoches (spiritual teachers) are said to be able choose the location and family in which to be reincarnated.

I wonder if any here expect to be able to choose the location and family into which they will enter in their next rebirth. Or if anyone has any other thoughts/comments regarding future lives.

This is an extract from: Tulkus: Masters of Reincarnation (Sorry, but the website is unavailable)


Philip
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PhilipLaos,

Once soul has translated the physical world and lives out it's heaven life on the astral and mental planes/dimensions it then sheds the mental body and will reside now on the soul/causal plane. This is the sixth dimension of reality which is above linear time as we understand it as human beings. The soul plane is actually our true home as it is a place of pure spirit above, time, space, matter and duality. There are other higher god worlds beyond the soul plane up to the 12th dimension which is where god itself resides. But it's on the soul plane where we decide to reincarnate back into the lower worlds of duality, time and space. For it is here where all possible realities, and all possible outs comes are experienced and viewed as a singularity.

If the soul is evolved enough it can take part in it's planning of its future life. However if it is not yet evolved enough there are others be it guides, spiritual teachers, or other avatars there to help plan out the details of the future lifetime in the lower worlds. Most souls at this stage of spiritual evolution are not yet conscious or aware of this dimension of reality yet. Which is why most human beings are only aware of the lower or upper mental plane which is where most world wide religions have their heaven. However before soul incarnates it must touch and have a glimpse of the soul/causal plane before incarnation. As the soul evolves it becomes more consciously aware of the causal plane and its stay there becomes longer. You can google causal plane for more detail explanation of this process.

So we all experience this even if we don't remember it on the physical. However the soul on some level does remember this feeling and state of being which is why it yearns to return home.

Hope this helps some.

Peace and love

P.
 
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