I love the analogy of comparing this whole thing to a college campus, and each lifetime is like taking a class. You get to choose your major. You get to choose what classes you take and when. I get to choose how many credits you take in a semester, and you choose how much effort you put in. You decide when to work and when to play. Yes, you have advisors there to hold your hand, and help you when need be. But they don't make your decisions for you. They are simply there to help you make the most informed decisions possible. Basically, everybody's on their own path, proceeding at their own pace, and have their own reasons for why they've made the choices that they've made.
Is there such thing as graduating? In a way, I hope not. Once we've reached the end, then what? Personally, living happily ever after sounds boring to me. I love vacations, but I don't want them to last forever. Staying at a five-star resort sounds great...for a while. Eventually I'm gonna be ready to get back home, and get down to business.
Nightrain1 said:
The concept of knowing everything whenever we return "home" to our spiritual origins, and being happy with that still seems to beg the question for me. This is not to say that I don't agree with any of the above observations, because I do. But, the idea of continuing to learn and teach in the afterlife sort of contradicts the theory that we already know everything there is to know while we're there. If we know everything, what would be the point of learning?
When I think of the idea that we seem to have this higher level of understanding when we are in spirit form, I makes me think of two things. One, if we are living this life with an amnesic block, and that vail is lifted once we return to the spiritual realm, I'm sure we would have a much greater understanding once we remember everything, and can compare notes, so to speak. I think it makes sense to have amnesia while we're in this life. If we didn't, it'd kinda be like taking a test with all the answers to the questions in front of you. What would be the point?
Second, perhaps the understanding we have in spirit, and what we do in flesh is like learning a skill of trade. Let's say you're learning to play golf. You may have a good understanding for the game and what you are supposed to do from reading a book and watching it on TV. But that is only going to get you so far. Eventually you have to get out on the course, and start swinging the clubs yourself. No matter how much you understand about it, there's no substitute for getting out and doing it. Also, speaking from experience, once you get out in live action, it's amazing how much you can forget and fail to do in the heat of the moment. You look back on it later, and think of the mistakes you made. You wonder how could have been so blind and careless, and swear you're not going to make that same mistake again the next time.
Well, that's been my experience anyway. I can't speak for anyone else. : angel
The question of individuality also sneaks into the discussion, when one considers that the bulk of our learning experience on Earth is spent getting used to our identities; only to have those identities lost or transformed in the afterlife. On the other hand, if we do retain and build our personalities throughout our existence, doesn't that make us more unique and set apart from each other?
My feelings on this that we are an accumulation of all our past life experiences, but at the same time, there is an underlying essence to who you are. You are
you. In the past lives that I have remembered, I always felt like
me. There may have been different dynamics to my personality that were amplified from one life to the next, but were all me in some way.
I'm still uncomfortable with what seems to be a boring and unchallenged existence on the other side.
Perhaps, like fiziwig stated, that's the whole point of reincarnating. It relieves us of boredom, and provides us with a challenge.