Tackling a Popular New Age Belief

reply to post by mneisme


Trust me, I know about the third eye. Mushrooms blasted mine wide open one night when I was camping and someone gave me some - one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. When I shut my eyes, I thought I saw the light of God. It's a shame my memories of it are as hazy as they are.

If our innate interests / talents come from past lives, then I must have had a past life as a composer, because I've been singing and writing music since I can remember, and sometimes when I have a brief moment of inspiration, I could swear I've heard the tune I'm writing before down to the last harmony, but when I play it for more experienced musicians who would definitely know if it were unintentionally plagiarized without question, they come to the conclusion that it was indeed completely original. Those are also always my best ones. Perhaps this relates to the phenomenon??

To me, the sad thing about this topic is that no serious scientist has spent real time investigating the validity or possible causes of this phenomenon, and any who does risks being labeled a 'pseudo-scientist.' Things like this definitely warrant real-world investigation, and it doesn't seem like they're getting much.

Hello smokingsinger and welcome
maybe this might help explain the bigger picture of life death ..past and future

on the greater grander scale
All memories belong to all consciousness
The mass consciousness of all thought… past and future

Time and space is the illusion that separates the past from the future
and it is I…(self awareness ) that creates this illusion of time and space
(the experience of life )

past life or lives ...is simply a tuning in to the records of all time . the one mass consciousness
(all lives are my lives) all lives are your lives
so when ever I tune in ..I simply pick up a signal of that past/future individual life and called it my own
(because in a "sense" it is mine ) sense being the key word here ...
as it is my senses that make this reality real...

Psychic's also tune into the records , that is how they are able to predict your future by recognizing and following your individual signature ..(because it all ready is) ..everything is happening now

One could say my life has all ready been and gone ….when out of the illusion of myself
For I no longer exist within this reality ……when I am no longer aware of myself… being in it

Imagination is the key …if I can imagine it …then it all ready exists ….somewhere
Maybe in the future or the past or one of the many other dimensions
“In my house there are many mansions”

The individual self signature seems to work and can be followed while it is anchored or is being accessed from this level of reality ...( still working on the how )

why did I not create a good life for myself before I was born ....

well as far as I can see I did ....because in my experience

life is all about the way in which I look at it ..all life simply is ..
with out self judgement... neither good nor bad

reply to post by Michael Cecil


Well, you spoke of having a real experience outside of this lifetime as you first experienced it, so I took a bit of a leap and assumed it was some kind of OBE-type experience (meaning you were not in this body in this lifetime as you experienced it). Are you saying it felt as though you were in two lifetimes at once and could literally sense everything on both sides?

Also, I wasn't suggesting someone else might remember from exactly your point of view - what I was getting at was this: If you knew someone from a past life in this lifetime, would the two of you be able to compare past life details and come up with consistent and specific parallells from both your frame of reference and theirs (like where / when you met, who else you both knew, experiences you shared - details about things you would both have sensed in a similar manner)?

reply to post by smokinsinger

First off, how can one possibly be aware of this when our 5 senses are human-body-specific, and it is exceedingly unlikely that memories from the spirit realm would translate well into our 5 senses?

There is a 6th sense – “Etheric Body” or “Soul” that is specifically designed to be the interface between the physical and the etheric plane (Spirit World). This connection occurs in the Pineal Gland. Through the Pineal Gland data from both the physical and spiritual are transferred. This is a digital connection. Ever seen 11:11; 10:10 etc. a lot on digital clocks?

Second, if this were absolutely true, wouldn't most of us here have looked down upon the world as it is today and planned out a life in which we deliver the world from suffering and the tyranny and that currently rules it? Surely the grand conspiracy we are all so fond of discussing on this forum doesn't extend into the spirit realms. If it does, we're all definitely screwed.

You perceive the world purely from a “physical” sense. In Spirit, there is no right or wrong, light or dark, good or bad. There just “IS”. Each of us will choose a life that best helps us reach spiritual perfection so we can assimilate that knowledge back to the Source (God). The Source is learning about itself, so to do so it projected parts of its own consciousness outward. Do you know what the back of your head looks like without looking in a mirror? No – you need someone to tell you – to describe it to you. But on each day it grows, changes colour, gets shaggy, gets trimmed etc. so each day you would need a new update. That is why we are here – sending back updates of new experiences. The Source does not deal in the concept or duality of 3rd dimensional reality – good / bad.

Third, for those who claim to have memories of past lives and the time in between, how do you know for certain that you don't just have a really vivid imagination and are tapping into your own creative source?

How do you know your childhood memories are not really implants and none of it happened? But on another note, if people are able to repress memories (in the case of trauma) isn’t it natural to be able to recall memory? Memory of past lives / between lives is not physical memory held in the cerebral cortex anyway. It is data that is transferred via the Pineal Gland. Once you learn how to open this pipeline you can begin to control what you see and hear much like browsing the web. You mainly look at stuff you want to, but occasionally you see stuff that you don’t really like. It’s all part of the journey.

Finally, for the sake of knowledge, does anyone know exactly where and when this particular belief related to reincarnation came about?

That is simple – research when humans (or Hominids) started to bury their dead and include flowers and tools and things. By placing worldly objects in the grave meant they believed that person would need them in the next world. Here is a tip, is predates ancient Egypt by millennia!

reply to post by xsheep


So in your experience, can anyone learn to tune into these records with deep, disciplined meditation, or do you have to be a psychic? It seems worth a try if every average person can do it. I would go read a book on the subject instead of asking, but I am aware of some well known frauds in the world of psychics, so I am therefore unsure what material on the subject is truly genuine and what is just out to sell. Does anyone have any suggestions?

“In my house there are many mansions”

This is an interesting interpretation of scripture you have here (I believe it was actually "In my Father's house..." though some have argued that whenever Christ spoke of his father, he really meant something more like his higher self, not the Church's idea of 'God'). I never made that connection from those particular words to the idea that all lives are part of one consciousness - I have always interpreted this as meaning that God had many glorious places in Heaven set up for all the righteous people who lived good peaceful lives, paid their taxes, went to church, and believed in Jesus - kind of the reward side of the church's manipulation as opposed to the punishment side (being thrown into the lake of eternal fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, that sort of metaphor which is far over-literalized by Christians).

Also, if reality is really only an illusion, it's a damn good one, and one that has a LOT of people fooled.

Originally posted by smokinsinger
reply to post by Michael Cecil

Are you saying it felt as though you were in two lifetimes at once and could literally sense everything on both sides?

No.

I am saying what I said: it is as if the very neurology of that previous life is imposed on the neurology in present time. In other words, if you did something in that life, the neurology of performing that action is imprinted upon your current nervous system. Directly. No intervening time or thought. Instantly.

Also, I wasn't suggesting someone else might remember from exactly your point of view - what I was getting at was this: If you knew someone from a past life in this lifetime, would the two of you be able to compare past life details and come up with consistent and specific parallells from both your frame of reference and theirs (like where / when you met, who else you both knew, experiences you shared - details about things you would both have sensed in a similar manner)?

But all of this constitutes a fundamental distraction by the consciousness of the 'thinker' from the fundamental reality here: That such memories clearly convey evidence of the incomprehensibility of the Power and Control of the Creator over His creation...

In the Light of which all considerations of the 'thinker' return to utter insignificance.

Mi cha el

Originally posted by Michael Cecil
That such memories clearly convey evidence of the incomprehensibility of the Power and Control of the Creator over His creation...

In the Light of which all considerations of the 'thinker' return to utter insignificance.

You make it sound so bad...I suppose it is...depends on your perspective after all, and what you have 'divined' as your purpose. Mine told me to keep bucking the system, and that came straight from my Creator too. But then my creator's a 'She'. And your's and mine perhaps don't get on.

reply to post by WorldObserver

Through the Pineal Gland data from both the physical and spiritual are transferred.

Has anyone experimented on this without the use of drugs and achieved a lasting result? Besides death (obviously), how might one cause the pineal gland to become active and thereby see into the spirit realm?

You perceive the world purely from a “physical” sense. In Spirit, there is no right or wrong, light or dark, good or bad. There just “IS”. Each of us will choose a life that best helps us reach spiritual perfection so we can assimilate that knowledge back to the Source (God).

It is very difficult to wrap my head (or my heart) around the idea that those who take lives as though they are nothing are working on achieving spiritual perfection. According to New Age principles, isn't the source supposed to be infinite love and light? If so, where does all this hate and negativity come from, and doesn't it by nature oppose everything that the source is?

How do you know your childhood memories are not really implants and none of it happened?

Well, to give an example using a strange experience I had, I can call home and say "Hey mom, do you remember that time when I was 6 years old and I woke up one morning from a dream swearing that God had told me Grandpa was going to pass away, and later that day he did (actually happened, proven, two very credible witnesses, no doubt about it, and I can't for the life of me explain it)." But I can't exactly say "Hey mom, do you remember that time 20,000 years ago when we all lived in Atlantis, studied magic, and watched anti-gravity-vehicle-NASCAR on Sundays??" I see what you're saying about the pineal gland, but how does one differentiate between the sort of pineal gland activity that might produce a verifiable past life memory and a powerful episode of intuitive imagination? Could it be that some people are remembering or sensing things from the lives of others who passed on before them even though they never actually experienced these lives themselves?

Originally posted by smokinsinger
Well, to give an example using a strange experience I had, I can call home and say "Hey mom, do you remember that time when I was 6 years old and I woke up one morning from a dream swearing that God had told me Grandpa was going to pass away, and later that day he did (actually happened, proven, two very credible witnesses, no doubt about it, and I can't for the life of me explain it)."

You don't need to explain it because it was witnessed and therefore you're assured of your own sanity. Children are more adept at speaking about the details (or depending on your perception, the information that is available in the 'dreamworld') of their dreams. Over time that willingness to communicate something that others may perceive as 'odd' is shrouded by inhibition. Who wants to be the kid who sees dead people after all? Same principle. Plus, as humans, we seek to conform, and therefore if we cannot find external verification of the 'anomaly' we will talk ourselves out of it.

reply to post by seeyounexttuesday


Willingness to communicate or not, I have never had another prophetic dream of any sort whatsoever since then that I am aware of. I don't even remember the details of that one, except I think I was shown my grandparents' house from the road right next to their mailbox.

Originally posted by smokinsinger
OK, this is my first thread - this idea is somewhere between philosophy and religion, so if this is in the wrong place, sorry. In my experience, the line between the two can be awfully blurry at times.

I have become aware in the past few years of a popular New Age belief that between incarnations, we plan out our future life down to the last moment. Here are my questions.

First off, how can one possibly be aware of this when our 5 senses are human-body-specific, and it is exceedingly unlikely that memories from the spirit realm would translate well into our 5 senses?

Suppose the soul is like a supercomputer and can be programmed but in order for the programming to become active it needs to compile and that's why we're here, just waiting for it to finish compiling. Maybe we need to be here experiencing something real (no matter the situation or theme) for our soul to become real.

Whatever we do here is mundane and trivial compared to whatever our soul will become, yet we still need a persona, a little person with 5 senses that will experience the grand soul once it's life ends on earth. In order for that little person not to screw up things it's memory is temporarily blocked and as a diversion there's a 6th sense which is multifunctional and can show memories in a way the human mind can grasp the essence of the communication.

Second, if this were absolutely true, wouldn't most of us here have looked down upon the world as it is today and planned out a life in which we deliver the world from suffering and the tyranny and that currently rules it? Surely the grand conspiracy we are all so fond of discussing on this forum doesn't extend into the spirit realms. If it does, we're all definitely screwed.

Would you not want 100% absolute security for your soul? Hence all the lessons this planet can offer on how to secure it, by testing it's defenses and to prevent getting in harm's way. It's a big place out there, wouldn't want to go out there and leave Earth's warm cozy nest unaware of the possible dangers in this existence.

Finally, for the sake of knowledge, does anyone know exactly where and when this particular belief related to reincarnation came about?

One of the oldest religions of the world, hinduism describes the soul which means people started talking about the subject maybe 6000 years ago (or 4500 according to western nay sayers).

reply to post by xsheep


You hit the nail on the head right here...

past life or lives ...is simply a tuning in to the records of all time . the one mass consciousness (all lives are my lives) all lives are your lives

What one is able to tap into in the 'all consciousness' is what the 'true self of Spirit' allows one to see, being it will benefit them or that it is what they desire as experiencing being a 'self'.

One can surely think or claim what they are allowed to see or experience as 'their own' and they may feel that the experience is specifically related/connected to them personally. What is personal to them is that they can learn from the experience they are allowed to 'tap into'.

We need to be careful to claim anything individually, for this only keeps us in the grandeur of being a 'self/saint' in our own right and such things can keep us from moving further in the development of self for the 'all'.

Who has incarnated into every single life? The Holy Spirit. So who is really the 'individual of each experience'? The Holy Spirit.

Experiences can hold us back in the way that we can get caught up in the 'self' having experiences and this can give us a 'saintly' mind set, keeping us thinking there is something special about us from others.

The intellectual mind, personalities, and ego...can also cloud the true message of Spirit. All experiences have a message. Our fears and desires can cloud the message or benefit of the experience too.

The Spirit will let us fill desires of self and will offer us experiences that can benefit us in knowing there is much more then just this life here. But many things will block the purpose and benefit of the experience for what it really is.

Alot of experiences use images that are already in our unconsciousness from some information in our current life. The Spirit can use such images like 'people, angels, aliens, ect' to 'bring forth a message or a desire' (we are creators, so our desires of experiences our fulfilled). Then our 'personal consciousness' can add creativity to the image that comes forth as well. I find it no coincidence that people 2000 years ago were receiving most of their messages through the avenue of the image of an angel....but today with all the hoop la about aliens...many are receiving messages through the images of aliens. I think that is where the 'personal consciousness' comes in, influencing the experience in ways that the person will find comfortable or acceptable. If its Jesus the person is comfortable with, then likely it is a Jesus image or mind complex that the message will come forth.

Just adding my own thoughts to things you spoke of.

reply to post by smokinsinger

Also, if reality is really only an illusion, it's a damn good one, and one that has a LOT of people fooled.

The illusion is that you are a 'self' separated from other selves. We are all really, one true self, in a experience. There is only ONE true Spirit.

The illusion has purpose. That purpose is not to fool but to renew and purify the Spirit of life. Its constantly processing, expressing. Image you as a 'be-ing' and not 'ex-press-ing' yourself. We are made in this image of 'being...expressing'...and as we are 'being.....we constantly process, sift, weigh and measure things.

We are all a part of a 'one true self'. The Earth, the Sun, everything that holds life, is a part of this Spirit 'processing' through its own expressions of 'being'.

Originally posted by smokinsinger
I have become aware in the past few years of a popular New Age belief that between incarnations, we plan out our future life down to the last moment.

My 2 cents, not much, on this, if you want to get to the truth of any and every issue, there are always caveats. There may be truth to this statement and it still work out in an entirely unexpected way.

First off, how can one possibly be aware of this when our 5 senses are human-body-specific, and it is exceedingly unlikely that memories from the spirit realm would translate well into our 5 senses?

For me, when I recall memories, they don't really engage my senses fully, if at all. Now there are really 8 or more bodily senses recognized by science currently, including a sense of balance maintained inside your ears to differentiate "up" from "down," and some others we usually take for granted, but I think what goes on inside your head is really a full sensory organ in its own right, and we just take it for granted too. Even our logic and reasoning can be thought of/seen as more "evolved" senses if you think about it.

Think of the concept of a "soul," let's just call it a blank, featureless state of pure existence. Think of it as the medium upon which your thoughts manifest. Your senses also tie in to it and are automatically reported to it, no different than your thoughts are automatically reported to it. And even many/most of our thoughts are nothing but automatic responses in the first place...

Second, if this were absolutely true, wouldn't most of us here have looked down upon the world as it is today and planned out a life in which we deliver the world from suffering and the tyranny and that currently rules it?

Someone might argue that if we really had any choices in life while incarnated, we would choose to accomplish the same things, but since no one has, then none of us must really have any choices in life. But still at least appear to make choices don't we? Maybe when we plan our lives, we're planning around other lives that have already been set into motion beforehand. I've always thought of this process like approaching a Gordian knot and finding space to weave one more thread through it, of our own contribution.

Surely the grand conspiracy we are all so fond of discussing on this forum doesn't extend into the spirit realms. If it does, we're all definitely screwed.

A lot of world philosophies tackle this subject. It doesn't have to be a matter of everything either being all good or all bad.

reply to post by bsbray11

Think of the concept of a "soul," let's just call it a blank, featureless state of pure existence. Think of it as the medium upon which your thoughts manifest.

There have been experiments which suggest that the brain acts more as a reciever or antenna built to receive an outside signal than a computer as was previously thought. Perhaps our souls are some kind of extradimensional waveform the brain picks up and amplifies (hence all this talk I hear of raising one's spiritual vibration)...

This would explain the feeling of 'oneness,' everyone reports when on serious hallucinogens or while having a spiritual experience, because if we're all just different receivers of the same wave of consciousness, we are all essentially the same thing.

Originally posted by LeoVirgoThe illusion is that you are a 'self' separated from other selves. We are all really, one true self, in a experience. There is only ONE true Spirit. We are all a part of a 'one true self'.

I have heard this nonsense repeated over and over and over again, as if some kind of a "mantra" to demonstrate that one is "enlightened" (I don't happen to believe in any such thing as "enlightenment".)

The problem is that those who identify the "self" as an "illusion" can say nothing whatsoever about what the "reality" is.

The "self" is dualistic, whether you call it the "one true self" or any other kind of "self".

The word "self" necessarily implies a 'movement' of self-reflection; a 'movement' which creates both a "self" and a "not self". My "self" (your "not self") is over here and your "self" (my "not self") is over there.

If you want to talk about a third dimension of consciousness which it is possible to access--which is beyond both the 3-dimensional 'curved' space as well as time--that is one thing.

But the word "self" necessarily implies a 'spatiality' of consciousness which is extended in time by thought.

Mi cha el

reply to post by Michael Cecil


Its not that difficult in understanding...but many cant accept it yet.

You as a individual, are finite.

But you, are a part of what is infinite, always 'being'.

If any time we have our mind set that something 'cant be'....we cant see the possibilities even if they stand in front of our nose.

I would never call one enlightened, for there is always more to learn and understand. There can be moments of enlightenment, but all that is is understanding something you did not understand before. Are we not always learning new things through our life? The one that thinks they know it all...will be the fool surely.

reply to post by smokinsinger

This would explain the feeling of 'oneness,' everyone reports when on serious hallucinogens or while having a spiritual experience, because if we're all just different receivers of the same wave of consciousness, we are all essentially the same thing

To further this thought...

Image being the 'you' that you are without all the things that helped make you....like the Earth, the Sun, the Moon that effects the seasons, the solar system that influenced the Earth to be made, the galaxy that influenced the solar system....to the plants/animals/water that you consume....to all the people you ever had contact with our all the people of history that influences mankind or all the people that made materials you use or wrote stories you read or had a part of making movies you watch....

Imagine being 'you' the 'you' that you are....without all of those things. For 'us' to be...many other things have to 'be'. They all work together is a 'one purpose'/design.

When you see the grandness of it all together...people tend to then treat others differently, think before they do things, consider their influence to the Earth and other people.

We as a species wont be able to 'move mountains' until certain understandings come forth on a larger scale. As we fight for pride of being selves as in people/nations/cultures ect..we stand divided. As we can start to see that we are a part of a whole, we can start to respect that and work with it instead of against it.

There are 2 stories that I use for encouragement to understand the grandness of such understandings.

One is Jesus....not fighting for this life here and who chose to live for the life of Spirit. The other is Buddha who when he reached heaven, refused to receive glory without all the other people that were still learning/sifting.

We have to ask ourselves, what is a offering of 'self' really? Is it something that just refers to our choices towards others while on Earth...or is it beyond that, something deeper, something beyond our actions on Earth. Many of us think 'of course we live more for others'. But what are we hoping for after this life? Are we expecting rewards for the 'self'? Self glory? Self ascension? Who is going to worry about the others? How does one that is supposed to be the 'humble helper' go onto take 'rewards and glory' while others are in need?

Just things to think about on the lines of 'oneness'.

reply to post by LeoVirgo


Nice post. It gave me a warm fuzzy vibe.

What did Jesus say.. "If I were to seek only my own glory, then that would be no glory at all."

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by LeoVirgo

 

Nice post. It gave me a warm fuzzy vibe.

What did Jesus say.. "If I were to seek only my own glory, then that would be no glory at all."

We often think it was all on Jesus shoulders, that he was the one that had to not worry about self glory and be for the all. I think he showed us the way and we all have to find that same path. We all have the carry a cross of burden and Earthly things upon it, even the 'self' that we have pride of being. At least we have some that have shown us the way and can help us to find the strength to walk that path they set the light upon.

Thank goodness for those that have led the way in offerings of self for the 'whole'. Martin Luther King comes to mind as well in such walks.

Is not the idea of salvation for self or ascension for self...seeking glory for only a part of the whole?