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Lovea

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Hello,

there is something about other people's past life memories that often causes doubt in me even though I actually think that we all have live many times before. But why is it that most people only seem to remeber past lives in which they have been the same race and lived in a time/country that is well known through media and books and somehow "meaningful" in world history etc. I mean from time to time people will remember a life "somewhere in africa" (not even the specific country) as a hunter or warrior or something with slavery, which mirrors exactly the media representation of this area and/or commons historical knowledge even though there have been ancient kingdoms there. the same with asia or even south america or countries like kyrgyztan.
Usually people remember past lives from flapper time, civil war etc in us, medivial times in europe, ancient rome or greece, i.e. times that are well known to us. even the not so "impressive" historical periods remembered usually took place somewhere in europe. It just seems strange to me that most people have been white in most of the past lives (as i said sometimes people remember one or two non-european lives) and in the western hemisphere.Who then live all the other lives? If you are supposed to experience soul growth wouldn't you probably choose diverse life experiences and live the struggle of different ethnic groups and cultures? I mean would you not at least be a black american or a native or jewish if you would choose to always stay in the US/Europe for example.
 
Hi Lovea,


Good point. Here's my take. I think it may have to do with perspective. The context presented with more familiar historical periods/cultures may make it easier to recall past lives. I have recollections of being different ethnicities, but, as you say, many of mine are linked to more European/Caucasian memories ( I am White, this time around.)


I think if we don't have the contextual clues, it may make it harder to recognize images we get in dreams or meditations, and we may dismiss them or just not perceive them as a past life. If you look at some of the research done, where people in India recall past lives, much of what we see in these accounts, is they have memories of past lives within the same ethnicity, as well.


But, I certainly don't have the only answer on that. :)
 
Hello Lovea, Welcome to the forum; thank you for joining us!


You've raised an interesting point. It might seem on the surface that the memories here are oriented as you say, but I think if you dig deeper you'll find the lives you are asking about. Over the ten plus years I've been here I've read many accounts, and it seems to me the diversity is there, but it cycles on the open forum. And as Bethc says, it has a lot to do with the context and perspective.


I read most of the memories here too, and yes, we all have that litter of skepticism. It's good to have that. You should read and interpret the things here not as fact, but as fodder for your own discernment; you decide, you discern what speaks to you, you take from each post that what makes sense... to you. It is all about learning on your soul's journey through this time, this life.


After reading your post it made me do an inventory of the memories I have. The most complete memory, and the one that brought me here so many years ago, was of my great grandfather. A simple farmer, a pioneer on the prairie, who left his native country to escape the wars and poverty... his tragedy was love and death. It was so powerful it followed him into this lifetime... me. The other memories are only snippets... a healer/holy-man in Mediterranean area; a Hopewell shaman/holy-man in the area currently known as Ohio; a 16th century monk; and a black man somewhere in the southern hemisphere.


One thing I've come to understand is that past lives are often very cruel and difficult to remember. Someone asked once "why don't we remember all of our lives?" Well, its quite simple... most often there was great suffering, horrible wars, torture, and hideous deaths. Forgetfulness is a blessing! My life as my great grandfather was beautiful, until he lost his wife and two children all within two weeks. When I listen to the recording made by the regression therapist I don't recognize the man talking. The agony in his voice is quite disturbing. But it shows the pain. I'm left in this life to learn more about it and where my soul needs to go to grow from it. I think the others are much more difficult, and I'm not sure I want to know more. The tragedies are real. AND, the lessons are the whole purpose!


Yes, it seems sometimes the stories are grandiose and unbelievable... and yes, some people perhaps create worlds and stories, but who knows what role it plays in their own journey-of-soul; we can take from them what we want... or simply move on to the next. You can listen to the intuition in your head that disbelieves... it is okay.


I've rambled enough. Blessings on your journey, and thank you for finding us.


Tman
 
my memories tend to be in the same areas,


I am pretty sure this is because I show up back with my friends and at least my community


and that we all have been reincarnating in groups that we like for a long time
 
Thank your for answers.


@ BethC "The context presented with more familiar historical periods/cultures may make it easier to recall past lives." mmh seems strange to me. especially considering that a lot of people remember many "european" lives. one after another. so when should these other non-western lives have taken place? also most people remember specifically western europe (not east or north) which is also odd.


@Tinkerman So you think a reason a lot of people don't remember lives from other areas of the world could be that they were cruel? because a lot of remembered "western" lives where too...


Just to make it clear I am not skeptic about reincarnation itself. I guess this whole ethnicity topic is especially important to me due to my own experiences and so I think about it more I guess.


@spacecase0 I know we usually reincarnate with the same people but it wouldn't matter where we do this. I mean you could reincarnate with them in every place as long as you are together right?
 
In regards to your comments about tinkermans post..


I think that you may also have to consider that most people only remember their very recent lives, as they also tend to have the most impact on their current lives.


If someone seems to have experienced several lives in similar locations, that's only a small sliver of a much bigger picture that is only known to that person, or their higher selves or soul at least.


There are also many valid reasons why a soul would remain in one area for several lives. Given the seemingly infinite number of lives we are given, the soul will move on if and when it wants to.
 
I think we tend to remember lives that are most revelant to whatever issues we are dealing with in this life. One of the clearest past life for me was in 18th dynasty Egypt, about 3,000 years ago, much clearer than the WWII life. I sometimes wonder if WWII is too close for comfort....
 
I remember a life as a black woman in Africa. I was a Chief's daughter.


I remember some white lives also.


I sense some Native American lives, and a couple of Mayan lives before the white man came.
 
I think this thread is based in what is largely a faulty premiss. While it is true that some breadth of experience in terms of different cultures is useful, it certainly does not appear to be the ultimate goal of reincarnation. We could learn a lot of this kind of thing by studying anthropology, history, humanities and world culture in general during any particular lifetime. Knowledge does not appear to be the goal of reincarnation. As far as I can tell, all that can be known will be known at higher levels.


We seem to be doing this (reincarnating) in order to "grow" in terms of other characteristics, characteristics we carry with us from life-to-life (unlike most culturally based knowledge). I.e., it does not seem that knowledge is important as much as things like compassion, honesty, wisdom, courage, and a variety of other character traits we build over time. There certainly seem to be skill sets that carry over, but otherwise the emphasis seems to be on the refinement of character.


I don't believe that there is very much in this line that can't be had by "staying" in any particular culture. You will have to look hard and far to find any culture where one cannot struggle and develop all of the character traits named above. Whether it is India, the huge swath of Islamic cultures, the far East, or "the West" you will find opportunities to be compassionate as an oppressed grouping or as a more privileged grouping. You will likewise have access to all the character building possibilities and opportunities that life can offer.


So, we can get what we need by largely staying put, but why not move around more anyway? Some do more of this, and there seems to be an individual component involved. However, pedagogically, I think it is probably because it is easier for souls to focus on the character lessons they need to be learning if they are not struggling with adapting to different cultures as well. From a teaching and learning standpoint, distractions that do not add to what is being taught are usually a nuisance rather than an advantage.


So, I would expect some individual variations between souls in frequency of multi-cultural PLs, and some variations in terms of each soul's PLs, but overall I am not surprised to find a degree of cultural constancy in terms of PLs. Getting acculturated (especially in terms of multiple cultures) appears to be very secondary when compared to the focus on developing virtures, depth, wisdom and character.


Cordially,


S&S
 
Welcome Lovea,


I think each individual is unique. In one case a cultures beliefs may have something to do with life times. For example: I purchased a book titled Amerindian Rebirth - Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit. The book has many anthropologists that have contributed to the research. It was edited by Antonia Mills who is appointed in the Department of Psychiatric Medicine and the Anthropology Department at the University of Virginia. And by Richard Slobodin -professor Emeritus of Anthropology, McMaster University.


The book is focused on reincarnation and the concepts of self identity, kinship, religion, cosmology, resiliency, and change among native North American peoples from the time of contact until the present day.


The case studies show a wide variety of belief's around reincarnation. Like same clan re-birth and next life identification of specific individuals. Male and female life times - and the inclusion of white people who were identified as being reborn Indians the next life. It's fascinating and especially the circumstances surrounding lifetime to lifetime.


Most of them believe that rebirth happens within one year and that identifying marks such as birth marks - or marks given a dying person can help with the identification process.
 
my mom has past life memories of being a native american, (now she is white)


she has spent most of her life less than 1/4 mile from a past native village


even now she loves this area like no one else I have ever seen


I don't think death could get her to go somewhere else
 
But why is it that most people only seem to remember past lives in which they have been the same race and lived in a time/country that is well known through media and books and somehow "meaningful" in world history etc.
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I think it's interesting how many different types of patterns show up for people. It's very individual. Some do seem to remember a continuity of culture, and others like myself have lives all over the globe.


I'm wondering what counts as unknown. It seems no matter where you look someone has studied it and those studies show up in media.


Are there people who remember cultures that aren't studied or even known? Yes. But since it's rather hard to tell anyone where you lived and what your culture was when there isn't even a framework to put it in, communication is limited to generalizations. It's easier to share a memory that already has context.


For example, an Inca chaski might be somewhat studied these days, but if I hadn't learned about the Inca as a child I doubt I'd have known the right terms to describe the connection to running along high mountain trails carrying messages. Even knowing exactly how it feels to enter their tunnels (even though they're too dangerous to enter in modern days) becomes more relevant to my memories because I know the tunnels exist, so I don't question or hide the memories as much as I might otherwise.


I am able to tell the story of a life more easily because I know the current research, which confirms my memories (at least those that are related).


Another of my lives is much more difficult to communicate. I understand it happened in Asia somewhere, but it's virtually impossible to know which country/area or if it even exists today. The fact that she was called a reincarnated goddess was too "out there" for me, until people pointed out it does happen in some cultures. I'm finding the process of research murky, in part because I don't even know which country's history to study, but also because many ancient religions got absorbed and I think she was combining more than one belief system, herself.


When it comes to popular past life locations, ancient Japan is more socially relevant these days. Even there, my memories involve rituals and points of culture that aren't found outside of scholarly hardcovers.


And that's not even bringing up my lives in the Mediterranean /Irish /Celtic /who-knows-what-random-mountain-tribe ... etc. As you can see, I didn't exactly stay in one country, continent, or even within a certain skin color or religion.


Of course, this might explain why I am so determined to be multi-cultural in this life. Who knows? For me the continuity of my memories is in the sorts of relationships I had and the core group of people who show up in multiple lives with me.


As S&S said, I believe we incarnate to grow in character, and (IMO) possibly to develop relationships.


From what I can see, relationships might be one of the most consistent points of commonality among reincarnation beliefs/memories, even above personal development (though they are essentially two strands of the same thread).
 
@seaandsky


I now that we are supposed to grow in character.I was not talking about learning other cultures. I was talking about experiencing life from another perspective. One that is not priviliged like the white european identity. Maybe it is hard to understand if you never experienced it. Right now I live in a western european country in a very racist area with a white majority but I am visibly "only" half european. My childhood has been really hard and I suffer everyday. I even detached from my body sometimes. I sometimes think about dying because it is so hard and no matter where I go I will never really have a home. I feel like the nationality I have but I don't belong. I know that I will continue to face discrimination in my life until I die because I will always be a (devalued) minority if I stay in Europe or the western hemisphere in general.


I am planning on leaving this country here, hopefully soon, because I can not take it anymore. I often asked myself why I choose this life and I think I would have never grown as much and be as reflected and open at this young age without having this particular identity. Because I experience being an outsider, being hated and unwanted, being rejected and not belonging and thus often rejecting my body, because of these overwhelming feelings of isolation and loneliness and being unworthy/less because of all this I think about so much. It was a big impetus for me to find to spirituality and trying to never judge others just by their looks/social group and see the world in a very different way than people who always could feel natural about themselves, take being "me" for granted.And I think if you never experience this particular kind of life you may not be able to understand (maybe that is why you misunderstood my question). I don't think always being part of the priviliged white identity can give you this insight.


Apart from the racial identity I of course additionally have other personal struggles which you also have...So why would I in this life and other souls always choose a discriminated identity in every life again additionally to their personal struggles they also would have? Because that is what they would have to do that as somebody needs to be in those bodies if others are always white and european.


Also in addition I do think culture influences your character growth, some cultures for example are closer to spirituality or provide certain kinds of struggles that may be important for you in a particular life. I mean it is just my opinion but I doubt that only being part of one kind of culture all the time can give you this growth. Also many souls in developing countries for example will never have the possibilities that people have here because they have to fight for survival everyday. They can not meditate or write in pastlife forums. So if they are always reincarnated in this area again they will never be able to do that and I think a big part of my growth is and was not only my minority identity but also my opportunity to go to therapy, get educated, to go to healers and learn about spirituality and do workshops or write in this forum here. Without english lessons i could not even do that.


I think it is oversimplified to just say it is about character growth like this is not connected to where you live and in what social position you are. If it was just about character development why would you always switch genders and social class? Because you have to experience these social identities and the distinctive perspectives and struggles and experiences and happiness and pain and eventually possibilites of growth they can provide.
 
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"I think it is probably because it is easier for souls to focus on the character lessons they need to be learning if they are not struggling with adapting to different cultures as well"


Also this statement does not make any sense to me. I don't think we reincarnate being already socialized. That would in my opinion go against the purpose and nature of reincarnation. A soul is not cultured in any sense. It is not bound to norms or wordly constructs and so if it comes back to earth why would it be more familiar with one culture than the other?


I think maybe you think culture/skin colour does not matter for soul growth because you don't have any struggles with it?


@ mere dreamer "From what I can see, relationships might be one of the most consistent points of commonality among reincarnation beliefs/memories, even above personal development (though they are essentially two strands of the same thread). " Well i think what I said in this post also connects to that. Imagine my complicated relationship with people/society because I am different and many reject me. I even feel isolated from my own family because some ignorant comments they made and because they are "normal" here,they do not understand me.I think power relationships in society exist for a reason. They exist so you can experience being powerful and being powerless. Why would there be racial segregation for a long time and you are always on the privileged side?Why would there be a rich part of the world that exploits the others and causes them to be poor if you only experience the rich or the poor part? That seems not only unlogic but also odd don't you think? Why would the world then be economically and socially unfair and racist in the first place?
 
Hi Lovea,


I'm not sure, in most respects, that you have understood what I said. To reiterate: All cultures provide the opportunity to be the underdog or the top dog, to be male or female, rich or poor, the dominant race/religion or minority race/religion, part of the in group or part of the out group. There is nowhere without some degree of poverty, prejudice, and injustice. I don't need to go anywhere else to have a lifetime where I will experience all of the challenges that are possible in life, including these. Many people on this board, whether in the West or not have experienced lives of deprivation and prejudice, some may have been during a PL elsewhere, but most did not need to be born elsewhere to experience these things. Your last PL may have been a privileged one in the West, your present one may not be as privileged. You are, whether this is true or not, an example of what I am talking about, as you have discussed the burdens this has placed on you and how you have grown as a result. Yes, it is true that in the West there may be better hospitals, better health, less prejudice, better educational opportunities, and etc. But there are ample opportunities to grow from the kind of difficult life and burden here as well as elsewhere. There are likewise plenty of opportunity to be "top dog" in other cultures and struggle against the temptation to look down on and persecute others. If anything, the lines are even more strongly drawn and the consequences even harsher elsewhere. (For example, being a minority religionist anywhere in the Islamic world is a recipe for levels of discrimination and mistreatment that would be almost unheard of in the West--Daesh being only one recent example). Wherever we are, and whatever state we find ourselves in, we are required to show character and compassion. Many take on heavy burdens in this area--you may have done this yourself, but I see the signs of your soul growth as a result. All I can say is hang in there! I'm not where I can give you a pat on the back and buy you a beer, but I admire your fortitude just like I admire that of some others who have seemingly taken on an especially burdensome life. Ken has faced the burden of crippling injuries in this lifetime, and believes that this was a choice he made before he came. You may likewise have made the choice to come into the circumstances you now experience. Most here seem to believe that. This does not remove anyone's duty to treat you fairly and lovingly, nor does it justify prejudice and mistreatment. I have only one putative PL, and very little memory there, but I suspect I have also had my share of PLs as the "outsider" (whether in the West or elsewhere I cannot say). If not, my time will come. I think everyone has to go through that type of experience, possibly more than once. Godspeed and good luck! It sounds like you have gone through some tough times, but though the people on this board may not be placed to do more than cheer you on, we are doing that!


Cordially,


S&S
 
Lovea,


I left out one aspect of your response--whether there is a benefit to cross-cultural reincarnation in some other respect than the possibility of having certain life experiences. But I find the topic to be one I have a hard time figuring out.


Hmm. If we can carry forward some degree of acculturation (which I think we can), we are less burdened by staying in a culture where we do not have to struggle with acculturation. OTOH, maybe struggling with acculturation is a burden that has to be met during a particular PL, though that would not necessarily be a burden necessary in every lifetime, i.e., the exception rather than the rule.


OTOH (again), if we don't carry forward some degree of acculturation, how are we benefited from being acculturated to different cultures? Any acculturation received is lost between lifetimes. The only exception might be the particular type of spiritual growth provided by a spiritual tradition or religion practiced in a particular culture, but that's a toughie I'm going to leave to others to discuss.


Cordially,


S&S
 
I think you will find that there are many in this forum who have experienced both sides of the conflicts you presented here. I was slave and free, poor and rich, abused and admired in my lives, and those are just the lives I remember. There are many ways to suffer isolation and destruction of relationships, I think.


What I have learned is that I can create meaningful relationships no matter what my status may be in society. Oddly enough your questions just made me realize how central that element was to most of my lives.


When I was referring to relationships, this opportunity to create the best relationships under the worst conditions is what I meant. I suppose power struggles are technically relationships, too. OMG


I can see you are deeply wounded right now, and your questions circle around the sense of disconnection and rejection you describe so clearly.


I don't have the problems you have, but I was actively kicked out of an entire community (where all of my local friends were) that I had participated in for 15 years. (in this life) I was directly told not to return or associate with anyone, especially my friends, until I was willing to comply with their expectations, because they didn't like my choice to protect myself from the agonizingly abusive consequences of their beliefs. (I left my ex for abuse and cheating after staying with him for years based on their expectations.)


It was the best thing they could have done for me. Finally away from people who couldn't accept me because of their own flawed thinking, I had room in my life to find the people who could love me as I am.


I hope you do move on to a place of acceptance where you no longer find your skin to be an obstacle to positive relationships.


People are so blind and fearful in their darkness that they have no idea how many wounds they cause in their struggle to prove they can see. I'm sorry you were caught in the middle of all that. I'm glad you know you are more than they see you to be.


You will find that everyone has a unique story. There is no single path to balance and understanding. I believe we suffer until we learn how to heal the cause of that suffering in ourselves, and potentially to teach others how also.


In one of my lives I was murdered by my father, who I was attempting to prevent from cheating on my mother. In this life I married that same soul and learned that it is extremely unhealthy to tie myself to controlling the improvement of someone who has no desire to grow.


I learned not to manipulate for the sake of love by staying in an abusive relationship for years and seeing that no matter how nice I tried to be it was still inevitably manipulation to get him to be kind in return. Because I had the strong contrast of being manipulated in much more direct form by him, it was a painful realization to see I had created a mutual relationship based on control, even as the victim of his cruelty.


The only way to end the cycle was to no longer be available as his victim. It wasn't to make him be kind (as I had hoped he could) so we could be comfortable together.


Whatever intentions we may have, the wish to change others isn't good for us or them. Just like I couldn't control his false beliefs about love, you can't control the cultural influences that are affecting you right now. Let them have their blindness. As you say, it's very possible they will experience the other side of their behavior next time.


If there is anything good in them, if they value or respect anything about you, then find that and keep it as the central element in your relationships, because you have the power to choose the good even when they do not.


For the rest of what you need that they can't give you, you can make space in your life by moving on, and find others who value you as they don't know how. In this life, at least, you have the freedom to make that choice.
 
@SeaandSky i understood very well but i have a different opinion.just because i disagree with you does not mean i am not capable of understanding you. " If anything, the lines are even more strongly drawn and the consequences even harsher elsewhere." no that is a judgment you make. whether it is worse to be killed or persecuted or live in fear and be mentally tortured everyday. also people here get killed to because of their skin color or religion.and especially the past has been even more cruel. and we are talking about past lives. You did not consider some of my points in your answer, for example why is the world so economically unfair then? The world is connected and not just separate societies. How are you sure that souls in poor countries have the same chance of growth? That is hypothesis without any proof and goes against the facts that I named.I think it is hard to judge the possibilities and hardships of other lives from your own position and you should consider that...maybe this is why I choose this life. To understand that.And to understand that my point of view is not enough to judge the situation of others. I don't want to convince anyone of anything but this is just how I see it.as I said I think the world is constructed like it is for a reason. There is a reason for the diversities of culture or why humans went to different parts of the world and did not stay in africa.even if they left because they just needed more space for more souls than why change appearance and culture? Why build unfair structures globally and on the level of the individual society through slavery, colonialisation,neocolonialisation,apartheid? As I said why would any soul continue to choose to be part of a less privileged poor society or group? Especially if they can as you claimed grow otherwise in nice Europe.also because you mentioned we can be on the bottom in the same culture: rarely someone describes having a nonprivileged identity in European culture like being I don't know gypsie or homosexual or something like that. Being poor for example is not comparable to that. As I said being black American (and not just once) could have been perfect example while staying in western culture.if some people talk about a life as a minority most people claim that they were native American. maybe because it is deemed as interesting/good in spiritual dimensions? but actually they were less natives than black people in America. So statistically that seems odd. I don't think you can always(or most of the time) be on the nice side of an unfair world system and grow all the way because you have relationship struggles (which other groups additionally have) and I explained why I don't think that that makes sense...
 
Firstly, the issue with reincarnation is that it's not really possible to understand or generalize someone else's experience or path in life as we lack the context and history of that particular person or soul.


Secondly, the concept of wealth and in having more of it as being "better" is largely a Western concept. For many peoples around the world, stability in the forms of food, shelter, water and family are more than enough and no one has any right to to tell them they aren't happy; in fact many of them believe that they are.


And thirdly, it has been my experience in the last five years or so here, that hardly anyone comes onto the forum saying that they were a rich white person (or something similar). More often than not, you'll find poor country folks from America, poor destitute colonist, people who lived in all sorts of villages across Europe from the Roman times to being killed in WWII bombing raids, Roman slaves, Holocaust victims etc.


And I suppose fourthly and bringing this full circle, you don't really know what's going on behind closed doors, even for those supposedly better lives.


So if we were going to attempt to answer your question "why would anyone want to be reincarnated poor?" I would posit that it's equally valid to also ask "why would anyone want to be born rich"? Sadly, unless that person in question was in front of us, we have no way of answering that question.


To attempt to answer some of your other questions, the world is largely run by young souls who want to capitalize on power, in one form or another. A large majority of souls are in the middle age groups and they are both trying to develop themselves and grow with their soul groups.


As for other races and other things, we're all made different for a reason. If we were all the same, we would never experience anything new nor grow. Sadly, without pain and suffering, we would not know happiness or that material wealth does not bring it either. I've always said money makes things easier, but not better.


But anyway, the key to growth and pure human love and understanding is that in everyone being different, we're all having the same experience, just differently. And those differences should be reveled in, not feared.


One thing to read is the books by Michael Newton. They're interesting because they invistigate how humankind (and life on this planet) has been prodded and nudged along; that may provide some insight into the questions you're having.


If you're not happy now, I would focus my energies on how you could improve your situation currently.The great leveler of us all is that at some point, we have to make something of ourselves; we have to decide who and what we are and where we are going with it. Asking why can only help us to a point, but all roads should lead to us action; without it, there's no forward movement, only stagnation.


I don't know what resources are available to you in your country or personally, but I would look into any mental health resources if you have them, as a start. There are plenty of tips here as for past life regression and discovering your past lives. Both approaches are equally valid and can provide you with insight into yourself, because as I said, only you are qualified to speak for you.


It's a tough and challenging road, but the rewards are well worth it. It's as easy as simply deciding to undertake the journey and everything will eventually fall into place. And it sounds like you have.. wine**
 
Lovea,


You seem to think that I am talking down to you. Please don't believe this. I consider you to be highly intelligent, but to some degree I have difficulty in understanding what questions you are trying to answer. This difficulty on my part arises because your posts operate at several different levels simultaneously. Consequently, perhaps, I have trouble trying to sort it all out. In this regard you may need to know that I am probably old enough to be your grandfather, and cut an old man some slack.


Anyway, at one level you seem to be asking why all souls don't choose to be born in privilege in whatever group they are in, or to be born as part of a more privileged geocultural group elsewhere--such as the "West". Some possible answers have been put forth, but they don't seem to satisfy you. However, I know of no cosmic immigration laws that prevent someone from moving in different lives between different geocultural groups and groupings. It just seems to be a fact that reincarnation normatively takes place repeatedly within a particular geocultural group/setting. Ian Stevenson's research in India shows the same thing, most born there have multiple past lives in India as part of the cultural groupings within that area. When we look for a reason why this is so, all we can conclude is that a lot of movement between geocultural groupings just doesn't seem to be that important to issues involved in soul development. It doesn't mean that some isn't important, just that it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.


At another level you seem to be disappointed that this board is (1) not more multicultural and/or (2) that there are not more multicultural PLs reported.


On the first point (1), this is a board in English and therefore it will be culturally self-limited to some degree by this fact alone to people that speak English fairly well, are interested in the issues on the board, and that have ready access to the internet. In many respects, this cuts out most of the world's population, but this can't be helped. However, aside from those basic facts, I have to say that no one on the board that I know of makes much of an issue of their ethnicity. I don't know and don't care unless it is somehow relevant to something they want to say and they decide to bring it up. We are all just souls in transit.


On the second point (2), you seem to be unhappy that some types of minority lives are more reported on the board than others. I haven't made a poll, but there are people on the board with PLs from all types of minority groupings--not just American Indians. But once again, not all people remember all lives. Some--like me--only have inklings about one or a few, and by no means have anything that definite about most.


At still another level you seem incensed about the basic inequalities in the world and particularly seem to blame Western culture as the perpetrator or creator of such inequalities. In this regard you seem especially unhappy because the previously discussed continuity of reincarnation within geocultural groupings allows those who are part of this particular "Western" geocultural grouping to continue to enjoy the best of things life-after-life ad infinitum. However, this is not true either, and the position of the West atop the current geocultural and political heap is only one more transitory facet of an ongoing story. Where is Imperial Rome or the Ottoman Empire? Nothing of this type lasts indefinitely. This too shall pass as the wheel turns.


I do not know how others think, but I think the history of the world is managed and directed, not unerringly but with final certainty, towards a goal just like our souls are being guided towards a similar goal. In both cases I hope and believe that this goal is one that will satisfy any dreams you may have of love, justice and truth, but there is no way that I can prove that this is true to you.


Cordially,


S&S
 
"at another level you seem to be disappointed that this board is (1) not more multicultural and/or (2) that there are not more multicultural PLs reported." I am not disappointed. It is just something I recognized and questioned.


"On the second point (2), you seem to be unhappy that some types of minority lives are more reported on the board than others." I am not unhappy. It is again just something that stood out for me and I explained why it seemed weird to me.


"At still another level you seem incensed about the basic inequalities in the world and particularly seem to blame Western culture as the perpetrator or creator of such inequalities." I am not blaming. The west was and is the creator of most global inequalities. This by the way has nothing to do with western culture in my opinion.


"...and the position of the West atop the current geocultural and political heap is only one more transitory facet of an ongoing story." You are right about that I guess.


In the end I was just questioning the fact that a lot of people claim to have lived in mostly one area of the world and seem to have memories of cultures that are well-known and/or memories that correspond to how that culture is portrayed in media and books. And you are right the answers didn't satisfy me and I think it is probably not a question that can be answered in that sense. There are certain ways of seeing this and I do understand what you were telling me and maybe you are right but maybe you are not. Really knowing what a past life memory is and what not is also really hard I guess. I personally don't trust the pictures I see when I do a regression. Because as long as there aren't specific informations coming up instead of some blurry landscapes it could be just a construction of my mind made up of knowledge, desire and what not.
 
Lovea,


You raise a very pertinent issue: the problem of false memories.


This is an issue that is not only recognized on the board, but tends to be a "fly in the ointment" for some. The creativity of the mind in spinning false memories is a well-known phenomenon. This issue not only creates uncertainty for many, but tends to drive further investigation in "objective" sources by most in order to understand and/or validate "memories" obtained. Thus, you will find many threads where people are seeking to track down and validate details related to particular epochs that they "remembered" or even the specific identity of the person or situation remembered.


OTOH, some are very certain of the validity of their memories. This seems to be especially true of those who spontaneously "remember" past lives, and often have done so since childhood. For myself, I have to wonder whether one is merely "tapping into" sources of information that store the subjective experiences of humankind, such as the famous or infamous "Akashic Records" of occult fame, or some type of records stored in the "Universal Unconscious" posited by Jung. Such records might be indistinguishable from individual memories when experienced, so this is another possible source of uncertainty.


In any case, if you are looking for certainties you may have come to the wrong place. Like most here I consider reincarnation to be the most probable explanation of a variety of phenomenon--something that did not come easily to me and does not come easily to many. Am I certain of any of this--No. However, it is my working hypothesis, and it seems to have many things that recommend it both logically and experimentally. Plus, I find that it has many things that recommend it to me on a personal and spiritual level. For you it may be different.


Cordially,


S&S
 
Lovea said:
It just seems strange to me that most people have been white in most of the past lives (as i said sometimes people remember one or two non-european lives) and in the western hemisphere.Who then live all the other lives? If you are supposed to experience soul growth wouldn't you probably choose diverse life experiences and live the struggle of different ethnic groups and cultures? I mean would you not at least be a black american or a native or jewish if you would choose to always stay in the US/Europe for example.
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Hi, Lovea. I think the issue with your OP is just suppositions. I mean, the suppositions people generally do when talking about reincarnation, so you're totally right questioning this and those suppositions. As you say, "we are supposed to experience soul growth", but who can be so sure about this? No one is. People just have beliefs to explain their experiences, in general to go peacefully to bed every night, believing they have the answers to all questions. But the only truth is no one knows the purpose of reincarnation, no one knows how things work, why a soul chooses to be born in the same country or the same race life after life (some say we prefer what is familiar to us), IF they really choose, as I wouldn't be that sure either.


I don't think we "should" be living in different countries to see life from different perspectives, the world is just the place we human beings create, we come here for whatever reasons (or even randomly) and we may find ourselves in nicer parts or worse parts. I think that it doesn't matter if we choose or not, what matters is how you decide to react to those misfortunes.


Now, from my own experience, I can tell you that in the majority of lives I remember I was white (especially my most recent ones). But I also have a few African lives in which I was black (and also Arabian), and others where I was Asian (I've been mongol and Japanese). So, we can't draw conclusions when real, wide and accurate statistics haven't been done on adult people with past life memories.


Anyway, I get bored easily and I like change. Maybe most people don't want to change. Maybe that's the only reason that answers your question. "Spiritual growth" sounds great but maybe the truth is that everyone would go for an easy life, if they can avoid all kind of disgraces we find in our planet.
 
Hi Lovea


Welcome to the forum.


I have been a little busy lately, so missed this thread before.

...But why is it that most people only seem to remeber past lives in which they have been the same race and lived in a time/country that is well known through media and books and somehow "meaningful" in world history etc...
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I don't think this is actually the case. Perhaps those stories are the ones that get reported more? The 'sensational' ones? Most of the stories I have read here are of various obscure incidents, not really that historically significant, although of course, some people do get caught up in big events, like WWII and so on. There are actually stories on the forum from all countries in the world, all cultures and different places.


In general, people seem to stick around with the same 'soul group' from one life to the next, so since the majority of people on this board are from the USA, it's not a big surprise that there are quite a few most recent lives that were spent in the USA. But, that said, there is a wide variety of experiences described.

Lovea said:
In the end I was just questioning the fact that a lot of people claim to have lived in mostly one area of the world and seem to have memories of cultures that are well-known and/or memories that correspond to how that culture is portrayed in media and books. And you are right the answers didn't satisfy me and I think it is probably not a question that can be answered in that sense. There are certain ways of seeing this and I do understand what you were telling me and maybe you are right but maybe you are not. Really knowing what a past life memory is and what not is also really hard I guess. I personally don't trust the pictures I see when I do a regression. Because as long as there aren't specific informations coming up instead of some blurry landscapes it could be just a construction of my mind made up of knowledge, desire and what not.
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As to your own experiences, you are the best judge of the authenticity of those. Most people tend to say, and I agree with them, that a past life memory is fairly unmistakable. It is usually quite vivid and emotional and more detailed than most people can achieve just by using their powers of imagination.


However, beginners can often just have fairly blurry or vague impressions at first. It takes a bit of practice and a certain amount of 'surrender' to the process. The people who usually have the most trouble getting good past life memories with self-regression will often be very analytical and logical in their thinking. They will have trouble getting their mind to be quiet. The mind will often interject with unhelpful thoughts like 'this isn't working, how do I know I'm not just making this up, that can't be right...' etc. etc. I suspect this could be part of what you are experiencing.


People often have better results if they make sure they are in a relaxed state before they begin. It is no good doing this if you are stressed or in a hurry. By taking some time, at least half an hour or so, to just sit quietly and let their mind become still and focussed before an attempt, it will usually go a lot more smoothly. I like to use the metaphor of a lake that must become still before you can see below the surface clearly.
 
Lovea said:
...I don't think we reincarnate being already socialized. That would in my opinion go against the purpose and nature of reincarnation. A soul is not cultured in any sense. It is not bound to norms or wordly constructs and so if it comes back to earth why would it be more familiar with one culture than the other? ...
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We don't really know the answers to these big questions such as 'why are we here' or 'what is the meaning of life'. We have some information on these things from people who have remembered the 'between life' state, and talk about doing a 'life review' of the previous life, and doing a certain amount of planning for the next one (although this can vary).


The thing that most peoples' experiences seem to have in common is 'love'. Really, only love is real. It is the thing that makes people want to come back, so they can be with their soul group. It is the thing that most people remember more often from one life to the next. It is the glue that binds everything together.


Sure, there are a lot of bad experiences in the world, and lots of trouble and difficulty everywhere. Everyone suffers on some level and being rich or privileged is no guarantee that you will have an easy life.


As to the soul not being 'cultured' or 'bound to worldly concepts' what makes you say that? We live many, many lives on this planet and all of our experiences add to the richness (or otherwise) of our souls. Why would our souls not be impacted by that?
 
From what I can recall, and what I've learned from history, "minority" and "race" seem to be a fairly new concept in much of the world. In ancient Rome, for example, when someone's ethnicity was referred to at all, it was identical to the person's specific nationality or place of origin. Cleopatra was called Egyptian, Hannibal was called Phoenician, and Jugurtha was called Numidian, with no apparent interest in the fact that all of them were African. Today people speculate on whether Cleopatra and Hannibal were black, white, or bi-racial. The Romans, who could have categorized them, either didn't have those categories or didn't see any point describing people in that way. Similarly, an ancient Egyptian artwork shows people of various ethnicities in a realistic fashion, without any apparent attempt to portray them in a particular light.


I don't know if people were unaware of the concept of race or if they simply attached little importance to the concept. I suggest that they could perfectly well see physical differences between different "races", but felt that those differences were superficial and amounted to nothing more than curly vs. straight hair, or dark vs. light skin. They would probably be quite bewildered by the present-day interest in such matters.
 
In this current life I belong to a culture in which reincarnation is an inherent part of our belief system - as children we are told stories of avatars of Gods who state that they will reappear in another avatar & then a devotee's wish will be fulfilled ( just an example from many such 'stories'). Reincarnation is also part of the daily 'language'. When someone recalls his/her past birth, it is met with wonder but with absolute faith in the concept. I stumbled on this forum just last month & have been reading the threads with great interest & also some bafflement - several persons have stated that "I belong to a religion/mindset etc where reincarnation memories or discussions are either dismissed, ignored, suppressed or forbidden". While I am aware that reincarnation was erased from the bible by an emperor (Constantine?), I did not realize the extent to which it is frowned upon in the west. In this context, when lovea asked why people on this forum seem to reincarnate only as white westerners, my responses are: It is a forum that is perhaps over represented by westerners who are relieved that there is a forum that validates their memories & offers coping strategies. In countries in which PL memories are not met with such resistance, perhaps people with PL receive such validation from family members, community etc. I don't know enough about western countries to know if any of them make the cut. My second response echoes that of earlier forum members. I do not believe that one needs to be born (over thousands of years) across several countries/cultures in order to 'grow'. Growth can occur in spite of the absence of this condition. plus who is to say that this condition does not exist? Most PLs are veiled because the baggage can become inordinately heavy. Perhaps only those PLs whose lessons have not yet been mastered, still linger as memories. Quite a bit of growth may have already occurred in earlier lives. It does no good in my opinion, to vilify the west for perpetuation of global inequalities. While it maybe historically accurate, many leaders of developed countries, have not displayed the acumen or will to redress this in the context of their specific countries. And one can be just as oppressed in a developed country as in a less developed one. Class distinctions & social status restrict opportunities in all countries, though the manner in which they play out can vary. Then why do people tend to remember more PLs in the same country, region (west or east), culture? Perhaps the lesson embedded in the PL memory is easier to remember when the 'noise' or exotic nature of the context of the PL is not a distraction.
 
Hello Capri,

a warm welcome to you.

Some things you say... yes. What has been learned in a past life already, we might not be able to remember. Because we would not learn anything new from remembering. And you can be oppressed in any country (or any time), also yes. "Class" and social status... one of the things that never change. How they are restricting. Many people dream of being rich or having an "important" position. But that's not freedom. I am far from that yet, but in my opinion true freedom would rather be to be independent from the inside. The less you need to be happy, the lower the influence others have on you. The other end, when you have to fight for survival all the time, would be equally limiting. No time for thought. No time to even try to find your own, personal path to your own, personal truth.

As for why it appears that most people would remember only lives in their "own" culture, I have pondered this myself already. Well, this is not always true. There are people who remember lives in a foreign culture. I am still waiting for someone who remembers a life in the Stone Age, though. Don't have any memories of the Stone Age myself. I just wonder... why does no one remember these times? I have faint memories of a tribal life. Can't even tell the continent or millennium. I was using a guided meditation, and when the voice asked about place and time, I got "The Philippines" and "1837". But that probably was wrong. Did not look Asian or only faintly modern at all. The brown-skinned, barely dressed people looked more like African or Meso-American if anything. The huts I saw... bamboo huts? Haven't seen anything that would exactly look like them. I was female, and I saw my six children. Never felt such happiness. Thankfully, the bad end was veiled. Men came. Saw my children die. Died myself. Couldn't see or feel it clearly. But definitely not 1837 AD. Anyway, seems to confirm that money or fame or career or other such hopelessly overrated issues of the western world do not make you happy, and that maybe you are even happier when you do not have to worry about social status and such.
 
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