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Living with the knowledge of reincarnation

Tinkerman

Tinkerman

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I've been thinking of this question for sometime: what does reincarnation mean in practical ways? How do I take this knowledge and live in a skeptical culture, without being seen as deviant?

I see my struggles more in terms of applying the wonderful lessons I've learned about reincarnation and past lives. And I suppose the serious research (if it is fair to label other's thoughts and studies) has shown me truths, both spiritual and physical, that make reincarnation SO practical and logical. It just makes perfect sense. BUT, how does one stay on a path of "perfect" discovery. In other words how do you avoid the pitfalls of extremest, paranormal, cultist, and otherwise dubious philosophies and distractions? It seems reincarnation has many cousins, some legitimate and others wanna-be's. I do not believe there is any one defined path. I think it was designed or created that way... we are all given directions in a cosmic way. How do we know we're on target?

So basically, how do you live with the knowledge?

Blessings to you!

Tinkerman
 
How do you live with the knowledge?
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Now that is a good question that I'd not thought about. I do believe that there are many answers to that question & that we would have to approach from many perspectives. I look forward to seeing what answers we get. :thumbsup:
 
Hi Tinkerman,


Yes, a good question. I have been reading up a lot on Buddhism lately, specifically Mahayana Buddism (which is the school the Dalai Lama belongs to) and find it extremely congruent with my own experiences and insights into the whole process. I recommend 'Essential Teachings' by the Dalai Lama which gives a good basic outline of these beliefs and some recommended but simple practices.


There is no need for anything occult, or 'hippy dippy shake' to be included in a belief in reincarnation in my view. It is a matter of taste however, and people explore all sorts of paths.


When talking to people socially I just usually just don't mention it. It is usually not worth getting into the same long discussions about whether it is 'real' or not, and 'how do you know' and so on. Much better to talk to you guys about the implications and deeper meanings.

How do we know we're on target?
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We know, because things just feel right or wrong when we are on track or otherwise. If you don't 'know' it is time to take yourself off somewhere quietly and 'check in' with your higher self. It always knows. It is easy to get caught up and distracted by daily problems (samsara the Buddhists call it) and lose sight of the 'big picture'.


Practically, I just try to get on with it with the minimum amount of whining and try to take the rough with the smooth. I am thankful I have this strange ability as it makes things in my life more complicated sometimes, but also makes them make more sense (particularly in terms of relationships with others). I try to treat everyone with as much respect and kindness as possible, even if I am having a bad day. You never know who you may run into again after all! You never know what baggage other people might be carrying and why they might be popping up in your reality.


I try to view difficulties as a test of skill (or patience) rather than an imposition. I don't always succeed!
 
Hi Tman,


Good question...:thumbsup:


It wasn't an easy process for me, personally. In particular as in my case it became more than "knowledge", but a "certainty", and dealing with the world (and people) as we know it (them) and see it (them) took on a whole different perspective. The desire of sharing this knowledge/certainty almost reached a point of obsession. I am glad Deborah conducted me to this forum, where I was able to vent at least a little of what I have learned to be true... ;)
 
Most people you will find are not into past lives research, half of them are curious about reincarnation and the other half are just skeptics. If i can help the curious great, with the others i tend not to talk too much about it, they give me bad energy. Maybe they´re not prepared, so they can´t understand, but if we return to the cavern after seeing the light, our eyes will hurt.


About the different perspectives and approaches about reincarnation, i try to keep what works for me. Some people have "implanted" me weird ideas about reincarnation, that i believed for a moment, but while believing that or considering, i didn ´t make any progress with past lives, i didn ´t have memories, nor important thoughts, nor anything that could have made me grow so i take that as evidence to disregard the theory.The same happens to me when i´m following a false pl clue. So i consider i´m in the good path when i have memories regularly and important pl thoughts.
 
Some people have "implanted" me weird ideas about reincarnation, that i believed for a moment, but while believing that or considering, i didn´t make any progress with past lives, i didn´t have memories, nor important thoughts, nor anything that could have made me grow so i take that as evidence to disregard the theory.The same happens to me when i´m following a false pl clue. So i consider i´m in the good path when i have memories regularly and important pl thoughts.
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That's my approach too, Owl. My motto is "Truth is functionality" or, in simple English, "What works, works."


For example, someone once told me the "right" way to investigate past lives is to immediately go for what one fears most. I considered that approach, and realized that my greatest fear was a "what-if" situation: "What if every single life I've had was mediocre and pointless?" I realized that if I followed this feeling, I'd just keep on dredging up assorted mediocre experiences and, probably, could go down a rather empty track for a long time.


So, I tried doing the opposite: "What is my greatest hope and dream?" Bingo. That got results.


Another thing I have seen is what some people call the "Gold Standard" of past life recall, which is basically to recall as many mundane, concrete details as possible which can be verified with historical references, like what your shoe buckles looked like and so forth. I tried this for a while, got little bits and pieces and found it exceptionally boring.


Then, one day, I tried the exact opposite. I tuned in to what I sensed was deepest and most meaningful -- the inner feelings, personal experiences, motivations, and underlying life patterns. Again -- paydirt. The material began to flow in a rich, poetic tone, I was able to tap deeply into the memories, and, even more, I gained knowledge of personal patterns that is very useful to me in my present life.


The moral of all this? There is no "one size fits all" method. What works for someone else may be completely unsuited for you. Experimentation will lead you to the unique approach that suits you.
 
Hi Tman,

So basically, how do you live with the knowledge?
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For me it is not about embracing an idea, a concept or a belief system. It isn't about faith, or cultural standards. For me, it is about embracing the totality of who I am, why I am and understanding others at a deeper level than who they are now.


Some of the most important things in life are the things unseen. Compassion, love, peace, joy, and surrender. By surrender I mean allowing for change to happen and allowing for God's Light to illuminate my path. It is also important to me to share with others the love and compassion I have been blessed to know in my life.


My past life experiences however, can never be fully explained or known by others.


Bottom line: There is nothing to defend regarding reincarnation, nothing to prove. It is a blessing and a part of life. It just IS. :D
 
Deborah said:
Bottom line: There is nothing to defend regarding reincarnation, nothing to prove. It is a blessing and a part of life. It just IS. :D
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I personally feel that there is something to prove. I wonder why the vast majority of people in the world today believe in some form of afterlife, whether it be that we all go to either heaven or hell etc., but at the same time, most people refuse to believe in reincarnation, they ridicule the idea, they even fear it? So why is it perfectly acceptable to go to heaven when we die, but to come back as a different person is out of the question? Why?


If reincarnation just is, then why are people so opposed to the idea? I never used to believe or disbelieve in reincarnation, I never really gave it that much thought, I certainly didn't oppose it. But now, since my regression and everything i've remembered since, for me personally, reincarnation is as natural as being born, or dying, it makes the circle of life complete.


But now I feel the need to prove it to people who don't believe (and nearly everybody i've discussed it with doesn't believe) because I want it to change their view of life and death in the same way as it has changed mine, hence the search for validation. I would feel more comfortable talking about my experiences with physical proof to back it up. I need to prove nothing to myself, but trying to share my experiences with others without some form of proof seems to be futile, and this knowledge that I live with is something that I want my family, friends etc. to be aware of and live with too... ;)
 
Hi Chris,

I personally feel that there is something to prove.
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How exactly would you do it? Let's take another premise; one that is not visible but surely felt by many. If you told me you love your mother and I said - prove it. Could you? Carl Sagan used that as an example a few times. ;)


One more question -

most people refuse to believe in reincarnation
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What most people are you referring too? It seems to me that many cultures already believe and a good percentage of Western culture also embraces it. Is this just your feeling on the subject or are you basing it on academic research?
I have found that changes happen one person at a time. You cannot change others; they have to want to change. : angel
 
For me it is not a choice, or a decision, or a faith based thing, I just remember 'stuff' and always have. I only talk about it with a few select people in any detail though. Of those people, most of them are polite, but a bit skeptical. They know me, that I am not a raving lunatic and am a sincere person, so they mostly just agree to 'take my word for it' when I tell them about my experiences (but they still have doubts I am sure).


The only real way for people to be utterly convinced is if they have an experience of their own. It is not a very common thing to have detailed conscious memories, but most people have a range of 'funny feelings' about people they have met and had an instant attraction or aversion, or places or cultures which give them 'deja vu'. If I couch it in those terms most people can relate to it.


If more people believed that they have more than one life to work things out (not just one chance to 'get it right') and if they knew for a fact that they will be back to reap what they sow in this life with their relationships, good or bad actions and so on, I think society would function better, but we are still some way off that happening.
 
The problem is not so much a lack of scientific proof (Ian Stevenson did a lot to provide it); it is a certain world-view that prevails among many scientists today that reality consists precisely of what can be explained by our current scientific beliefs.


Anything else is "background noise" or "static" --- not worth thinking about. Any evidence of paranormal phenomena (or anything not explainable by current technology, including most religion and philosophy) must be conscious fraud or self-delusion.


The worst culprits are biologists since they spend so much time studying the mechanical details of life. In a discussion I attended, one biologist angrily declared that "there is no morality, there are only phased neural firing patterns in the hypocamus as a result of evolutionary pressures".


This is scientific fundamentalism, similar to religious fundamentalism.
 
Hi to all of you,

So why is it perfectly acceptable to go to heaven when we die, but to come back as a different person is out of the question? Why?
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In my view, this is true to "Western culture" because of the influence of the Christian religions, which thoroughly deny reincarnation, but not so with the "Eastern cultures" that accept it naturally. There is also the obvious influence of "science", which so far has not been able to find "proof" of the existence of spirituality or a "spiritual realm" and therefore denies it (though I believe it is coming closer now with the advent of quantum physics - at least they now know there is another realm of which they still know very little).


I can relate to how you feel, Chris, and the only and best way I have found to change people's views is through "coherent argumentation". I came to this forum because, since I had my own personal "evidence" of the reality of reincarnation and began to study about it and investigate it, I was filled with the urge that others should also know about such a fantastic and wonderful reality as well (and this has often been VERY difficult for me and has even had consequences on my own personal life). It is mainly for this reason that I have been here for all these years, attempting to share what I have found to be true... :thumbsup: :) : angel
 
Lately I've been thinking a lot about this and I have found it to be troubling that I'm not able explain reincarnation in non-spiritual terms.


It's not the urge to convince others about past lives as a fact, but a scientific urge in myself to explain it. I know reincarnation happens, there's no doubt in my mind. My problem is how it happens and so far I haven't come across an answer that satisfied my need to know.


You can say that I'm maladjusted ;) I've learned the scientific approach to a problem at university (although I'm not trained in natural science) and it has begun to bug me that I don't understand reincarnation in non-spiritual terms.


I don't mean that I want a mathematical equation that shows me what happens - I wouldn't understand that anyway:rolleyes: - but I miss a serious, academic discussion on the aspects of reincarnation (if anyone knows the title please let me know :) ).


I was so disappointed when Brian Weiss adressed the question of where the souls come from and his answer was that there are more dimensions and levels of consciousness where souls exists (2002:65). I don't mean to insult anyone, but that is not good enough. Where does he have that knowledge from? How does he know about several dimensions or have the proof (or even evidence) that souls exist there (or here for that sake?). From a purely academic viewpoint that answer is horrendous! (my personal opinion)


I don't mean to critisize Dr. Weiss - I do find his regression method helpful and I don't doubt his qualities as a regressionist however I critisize how he handles the 'logistics', so to speak, of reincarnation being the academically trained person he is.


And it is those 'logistics' that I miss an answer to. I look to the psychologists, psychiatrists and perhaps even brain researchers for a discussion (not necessarily the answer) regarding reincarnation. We know it happens, but how?


;)
 
Hi Sunniva,

We know it happens, but how?
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Well, that's the "million-dollar-question", isn't it? :rolleyes: ;)


From my own personal experience with spirituality and spiritual entities throughout the years, I also "know" that it is a reality. It has been personally proven to me MANY times. And yes, it does seem that the answer is that it is a "dimensional" issue. However, if there is interaction between the "spiritual realm" and the "physical realm", how do the two connect?


In Spiritism, there is the concept of the "Universal Cosmic Fluid", from which ALL things originate, both spiritual and physical. With the discoveries of the Quantum Field and the Planck Scale, my guess is that the answer lies therein. My own judgement is that "consciousness" remains "entangled" even after the death of the physical body. This "consciousness" or "soul" or "true self" retains a spiritual body in the spiritual realm which is, by force of the influence of this "consciousness", similar in shape and size to the physical body of the last incarnation. It consists of a form of "matter" that is too subtle to be detected by our eyes or senses or even any currently known instrument. To our eyes, it would seem "cloud-like" and ethereal, but according to reports it appears quite physical when we are also in "spiritual form".


The fact that this still cannot be proven, and according to what I have learned it will still be many years before "science" is capable of comprehending it, does not mean that this is not the way it is... :thumbsup:
 
Wow, so many great posts in this thread makes me feel very inadequate with mine... :o ...but I'll try to answer your questions Deborah:

Deborah said:
If you told me you love your mother and I said - prove it. Could you?
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Good question, I could take a lie detector test in front of you..:laugh:...but seriously I can see where you're coming from. Love itself isn't a physical thing so there's no way it can be fully proved.


I guess I chose the wrong word in my previous post, I know I could never prove reincarnation exists because if I could I would probably be made a saint. I feel the need to gather evidence (not proof), in order to present it to the people around me who I love, to help them to believe.


Take a friend of mine for example, the only person I have ever told about my past life experiences outside of this forum. As I told her about my regression, and my memories of living before, I could see her eyes glaze over and I could tell she didn't believe a word that I was saying, although she was trying to look interested. And when I told her that I was a female in my previous life, she openly laughed in my face and asked me if that meant that I was homosexual in this life.


I told her all of this straight after my regression, so I had no evidence to back up my claim, just my belief, and people don't want to hear your beliefs, they want to see evidence, or even better...proof.


So that's where my need to find evidence came from. I researched on the internet, I was lucky enough to find validation (for me personally) and when I presented the evidence to my friend then (and ever since) she has come round to the idea that maybe there is something in what i'm trying to tell her.

Deborah said:
One more question - What most people are you referring too? It seems to me that many cultures already believe and a good percentage of Western culture also embraces it. Is this just your feeling on the subject or are you basing it on academic research?
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This is my feeling on the subject. I've tried to converse with various people about reincarnation, I never talk about my personal experiences, but I will bring up the subject in conversation, and in my personal experience, a very large percentage of those people dismiss the idea, laugh it off, some even display signs of hostility towards it, as if i'm trying to preach to them. In my opinion, if I was in a room with 50 people, my guess is I would be able to count the number of those who are open to the idea of reincarnation....on one hand, and that's based on my feelings... ;)
 
A most fascinating thread. Good to see so much like-mindedness on this subject.


The most practical benefit of experiencing memories/flashbacks from 'past lives' is having less worry about death.


I feel I am personally living an afterlife, and a pretty good one it is too, an improvement over what's gone before. This is, of course, no guarantee that there'll be another one, but it does improve the odds!


As a result, I'm an optimist who does believe that Life has purpose - continual spiritual improvement towards God-ness.


I find myself between traditional religionists for whom God is Jesus-shaped and rationalists for whom there's no god, no afterlife and essentially, no purpose.
 
Hi again Chris,

But now I feel the need to prove it to people who don't believe (and nearly everybody i've discussed it with doesn't believe) because I want it to change their view of life and death in the same way as it has changed mine, hence the search for validation.
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Have you ever wondered just how many people have been influenced by this Forum??? :thumbsup: ;) I mean, it has to start from somewhere, don't you think?
 
That is true, but we will never 'convince' people who are skeptics if our arguments revolves around religion and/or talk of other dimensions. At least that's my opinion. And it doesn't necessarily mean that these are people who would never believe in reincarnation anyway. Afterall, we are leaving it up to you the scientists to prove whether there is life on other planets, they don't just leave it up to us to disprove them.


And just to be a pain ;) but 'love' is in my opinion not such a good example, because although the concept 'love' is metaphysical, then the consequences can be measured in the activity of the brain and hormones. :tongue:
 
Charles Stuart said:
Have you ever wondered just how many people have been influenced by this Forum??? :thumbsup: ;)
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Hi Charles,


Not enough people obviously. People who come to the forum (with the exception of one or two) already have open minds and questions about reincarnation.


Maybe the general public opinion is different in your country, or in the States or anywhere else, but here, reincarnation seems to be a very "taboo" subject that gets far too little exposure.


Whenever there is a rare occasion of reincarnation cropping up in a tv documentary or in a magazine article, it's nearly always "lumped in" with topics such as the occult, UFO's, the Loch Ness Monster etc., It's no wonder that many people dismiss the idea of reincarnation as fantasy, or find it scary, I admit that I found it all too scary when I was a lot younger, I thought reincarnation was some bizarre phenomenon that only happened to a handful of people, and that was because I read far too many cheap "throwaway" books on the paranormal...: angel;)


When I began to consider that maybe my own experiences could be past-life related, it scared the heck out of me, but I was open minded enough to look for answers, of which I found many here in the forum, and now, to me, reincarnation is the most natural thing in life alongside birth and death. But in my opinion, too many people won't go to the same lengths that I did, and i'm sure that the vast majority of people have past life related "feelings" that they simply dismiss as imagination because they cannot explain them, they'd rather dismiss than consider the possibility of reincarnation, otherwise our membership numbers would surely be in the millions rather than the thousands?


Chris... ;)
 
The same thing happens here in Dk. Some years ago a tv station made a series of programmes where ordinary people (one per show) was regressed. Through the information which was obtained through the regression they travelled to the country in which the person had lived a past life and with the help of local historians and towns people they tried to verify and validate the informations.


Many of the shows were really spectacular and what we would call hardcore evidence. But still people would say that they cheated, that the person who was regressed was an actor etc. etc. which of course was untrue.


That is the general tendency. No matter how much evidence or how spectacular the casestudy is, the criticism concerns the credibility of the involved persons and that isn't very serious either.
 
how do you live with the knowledge?
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I can only nod to what Deborah said in post 7.


I live with the knowledge of reincarnation, but that doesn't mean I need to share my own PL memories with people who are not open for it or not interested in it.


I have that knowledge, and I think it has helped me a lot to understand people and situations much better. Because I have this viewpoint, I feel it also helps me to give advice to people/friends/family who come to me with their problems - because reincarnation gave me this broader view of events/situations/problems than they have. It is not necessary to express my belief/knowledge of reincarnation in order to help them. I believe,if they are interested, in due time, the possibility/fact of reincarnation - and certain issues spanning more than one lifetime - will reach their mind, be it slowly, or like a flash of lightning.


I think my personal task is first to show others how I benefit from that knowledge, and make them wonder - through my actions/advice etc - and make them want that knowledge also.


I think showing disbelievers/skeptics the result of what PL memories can do for you - in a positive way - is much more important than talking about the theory or about the memories themselves.


Eevee
 
That is true, but we will never 'convince' people who are skeptics if our arguments revolves around religion and/or talk of other dimensions. At least that's my opinion.
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I don't know, Sunniva, "science" has actually already managed to "mathematically calculate" the existence of 10 more dimensions. But you are right, I believe, in that this is not enough to "convince" (though I have given up on this - it is impossible to "convince" others of such matters without VERY long argumentations and explanations).


Hi Chris,


Well, I know the UK only too well... :D Here in Brazil, although predominantly Catholic (and therefore non-believers in reincarnation), we have had the advent of a man called Chico Xavier who, through mediumnic communications, was able to "convince" thousands... There is also a large segment of Kardecist Spiritists as well as the lines of African origin, which deal directly with spirituality through mediumnity, and of which I took part for many years.


What I can assure you, however, is that the process has already been set in motion, and the number of people who now understand the reality of reincarnation has been growing larger and larger worldwide. :thumbsup:
 
Yes, I think understanding is growing slowly but surely.


Since the great 'west meets east' movement in the 1960s when Europeans started exploring Indian mysticism and such (good old Beatles) and the high profile of HH The Dalai Lama since his exile and the associated increasing interest in Buddhism, I think understanding is slowly growing.


Dr Stevenson's and Helen Wambach's work, among others, will gradually begin to have more influence. There are many practitioners specializing in past life regression nowadays, compared even with 20 years ago. Many of them writing books about their work and giving talks, so that will gradually have an impact.


There are more movies and things dealing with the possibility than there once were too. At least people understand, more or less, the meaning of the term - even though people still make jokes about coming back as a cockroach and what not.


It will be a long time before the Christian Church and many staunchly materialistic scientists accept it, but bit by bit I think it is an idea which is gaining a bit more acceptance if you only look back, say, 50 years ago.
 
Tanguerra, on second thoughts, I also agree with you :)


The fact that a tv-show about reincarnation was broadcasted on Danish national television - and the fact that I was able to discuss it with people, which means that they actually watched it, must be a step forward, a growing interest and curiousity, which is good.


:)
 
Hi to all of you,


I remembered something Fiziwig once said here (shame he has stopped participating...). For those who don't know, Fiziwig is a scientist who made some very valuable contributions here, and once said something along the lines of: "I can't explain it, I can't understand it, but I know that it happened..." :) :thumbsup:


In Spiritism, it is said that the knowledge of reincarnation is "the opening of the 3rd seal" that is mentioned in the bible (the 1st being the messages of Moses, the 2nd of Jesus). It is also said that this would be an advent that would have no one "messiah" or "messenger", but would be the voice of millions...
 
This topic has consumed much of my "daydreaming" time for the past few months. Now that I know that the world is far more complex and mysterious and multi-dimensional than it seems... what does it mean? And why oh why are so many otherwise intelligent people refusing to even consider the evidence?


I think part of the problem with trying to explain these things in non-spiritual terms, can be traced back to language and culture. In the dominant Western paradigm, there are two mutually exclusive lenses through which to view the world: Science and Religion. The former is based on observation and measurement, while the latter is based on faith (belief even in the absence of evidence) and on unexplainable experience. This strict categorization means that anything that does not fit neatly into the Science box gets shunted into the Religion box, where it can be ignored/ridiculed.


Fortunately, there is a whole new crop of thinkers who are refusing to be confined by this artificial distinction and are charting a new course where science and spirituality are two sides of the same coin. For example, check out the website of Nobel-prize winning Cambridge physicist Brian Josephson. He really gets the skeptics agitated because his position within the hallowed Establishment makes it tougher for them to dismiss and ridicule him. I think his work, and that of other similar people working at the interface of science and mind, are the way of the future. :thumbsup:


http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/


Cheers,


Beth
 
Hi Beth,


Thanks for the link, though I must confess that the logics are WAAAY beyond me... :D

The former is based on observation and measurement, while the latter is based on faith (belief even in the absence of evidence) and on unexplainable experience.
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I watched a rather-boring-but-nevertheless-interesting video yesterday called "We are all one", in which a person being interviewed said the following: "Faith is the belief in something that we know is not true..." Of course I don't agree with this, but it did make me smile. :)

Fortunately, there is a whole new crop of thinkers who are refusing to be confined by this artificial distinction and are charting a new course where science and spirituality are two sides of the same coin.
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With this I can agree wholeheartedly... :thumbsup:
 
Hi Charles Stuart,


I tried to reply to your post but it looks like it didn't get on the board for some reason... so here's another try!


Yes, I too have trouble understanding quantum physics (although I do enjoy reading books on the topic written for laypersons). What I like about Dr. Josephson's work, and why I think it is indirectly relevant to reincarnation, is that he embraces the scientific study of paranormal phenomena and non-materialist theories of human consciousness. Most arch-skeptics reflexively dismiss this approach, preferring instead to embrace only the evidence that confirms their materialistic worldview and dismissing any conflicting evidence as based on fraud or wishful thinking. Dr. Josephson's work (and that of many other forward thinking physicists such as David Bohm and Brian Greene) charts a new course by going beyond the rigid dualism of science vs. spirit and recognizing that they may be two sides of the same coin. One of the major criticisms of reincarnation is that there is no known mechanism by which it could take place; this makes it easy for them to categorize it as a religious belief with no basis in reality. But as we know, there IS evidence of reincarnation. I think that eventually it will be recognized for what it is: a natural phenomenon. We aren't there yet, though, and it can be tough sometimes to bear this knowledge in a society that largely denies and marginalizes it.


I am reminded of Dr. Semmelweis, the 19th century physician who discovered that the incidence of maternal mortality following childbirth could be sharply reduced by having physicians wash their hands before assisting at a birth. This was before the discovery of germs, and apparently it was common practice to go straight from an autopsy to a birth without washing up. :eek: Dr Semmelweis did not know why handwashing was effective -- he theorized some kind of invisible particles might be transferred from the corpse to the mother -- but he couldn't prove it. Sadly, the medical establishment at the time was convinced that disease was caused by an imbalance of "humours" in the body. As a consequence, they ridiculed Dr Semmelweis' hand washing technique as nothing more than superstitious belief, noting particularly the lack of evidence of a physical means of disease transmission. (They probably also didn't want to admit that they were wrong). Dr Semmelweis eventually had a nervous breakdown and died in an insane asylum. Well, once germs were discovered, the good doctor was vindicated.


I think we are at a similar point with reincarnation -- we know it is true based on evidence, even though we cannot point to a measurable, defined mechanism by which it occurs. (Dr Stevenson proposed the term "psychophore" to denote that part of the individual that bears memories and experiences from one life to the next, perhaps to avoid the religious connotation of the word "soul.") Because reincarnation is a natural phenomenon, not merely a faith-based religious belief, I have no doubt that eventually science will be able to describe how it operates. But until then, we have to content ourselves with the knowledge that we are right! :laugh:


Beth
 
Thank you Beth, that was a wonderful and appropriate analogy. I agree 100%.


Charles: twice this week I thought about Fiziwig!!


Tman
 
Thanks Tinkerman!


One more point to add:


"The Semmelweis Reflex is the dismissing or rejecting out of hand any information, automatically, without thought, inspection, or experiment. The phrase stems from a number of people's personal experiences with the phenomenon, and denotes the reactions of anyone who engages in such behaviour." (wikipedia)


Sound familiar, anyone??? ;)


Beth
 
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