Mary, yes, publish more! This is an interesting topic, and certainly one that I don’t know much about. I like how you take a balanced approach, for example by posting that link to the article criticizing Stevenson, which I’m off to read now.

This is a fascinating subject. I wasn’t really sure I believed in reincarnation until I had a very vivid dream as a teenager. That dream is very, very special to me, and I believe that it may have been memories of a previous life. I wish that I could’ve remembered as much as the girl in the story, but I don’t remember anything that specific.

When a friend of mine recently passed away, I made a conscious decision to adopt reincarnation into my belief system. Such a beautiful, vibrant soul surely must be recycled.

Mary,

I’m a Hindu. Naturally, I believe in reincarnation. I also believe that there is a natural progression of our soul through reincarnation. The more spiritual the soul, it seeks womb or a mother with higher spirituality. It’s sort of how radio works.

Shilpan

I am a Christian, so there are two options on life after death. 1) Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (Romans 8, 10), and spend eternity in Heaven 2) Spend eternity on Hell. You make the choice.

Many blessings to all,

Art Gonzalez
Check my Squidoo Lens at: Quantum Knights

Personally, I believe in the existence of reincarnation. If the value of life is beyond measure, then it makes good sense that humanity would have a go at it more than once. That being said, this is just my personal belief. No proof on the matter.

So interesting – I have read many, many books about past lives and I do believe in reincarnation without having any personal experiences to share in that area. Mary, I think your down-to-earthness is more about your personality and way of relating stories rather than the topic you choose. You could write about little green men and still seem quite down to earth. So to speak.

Your ego may die. By that I mean, your personal life-story does end. But awareness itself never ends. It is eternal. Never starts and never ends. A mind cannot think “I don’t exist.” Therefore, if it exists now it always has existed and forever will. Not necessarily in this universe but in some form.

I know my beliefs are pretty out there but it’s logical to me.

The Universe reuses or recycles EVERYTHING. From leaves to bodies to stars…..nothing is left unused. If leaves become dirt which in turn become grass which bears grain which becomes bread for people to eat, then why would something as valuable and precious as a soul be used only once? It seems to me a soul is so ever much more important and useful than a leaf, yet many religions blow off reincarnation as a myth. I think they may do this to shelter their own frail belief system based on fear. If you know you will live again and again, then you have nothing to truly fear. And fear is the motivating factor in some religions(see Art Gonzalez’s post for illustration of this type of belief). Reincarnation simply makes sense in the grand scheme of things.

@ Mary Jaksch: I meant in particular, human life. I think what distinguishes human life from animal life is the ability to choose. It seems to me, that animal life and its conduct is based mostly on instinct (if not all). Instinct is what drives an animals behavior. Human beings on the contrary, can rise above their instincts. Humans can choose to do what they know is right and best even if it’s not what they feel like at the time! That’s the beauty of a human being.

Yeah, I think you understand sort of what I’m talking about. Have you heard of Eckhart Tolle? He’s all about dissolving the ego while you’re still alive. If you really look hard at yourself you’ll realize that you are only the awareness of this present moment, not your life story.

Which means we arent separate from the vast mind you are talking about. I’m curious. What are your beliefs on this subject?

Hello Mary,

My Wife and I have one Son. He is now 31. When he was maybe 2 (I can’t recall his exact age), we were hiking in a park here in British Columbia.

The trail we were on was surrounded by dry grasses and Ponderosa Pines. My Wife and myself were busy taking photos.

When we looked back to where our Son was playing, we saw that he was building what looked like the start of a camp fire. Curious, we watched from a distance.

Bear in mind that we did not have TV at that time, and that we had not yet taken him on a camping trip, nor did we describe to him anything about building a camp fire.

Well, on a closer look, we found that he built this starting with some hair lichen and birch bark (good fuels for fire starting), followed by twigs placed across each other so as to allow for good air flow for the fire. On the twigs, he placed larger pieces of wood. He was totally engrossed in this.

Finally we went up to him and I asked what he was doing. He said that he was going to start a fire. I asked him where he had learned to do that. His answer was, “from before.” I asked what he meant by that. He said, “you know–from before.” I said that I didn’t know. He then said, “you know, from the TIME before.”

Though I was beginning to understand what he was implying, I asked him what he meant by the “time before.” “Before what” I said.

His answer was: “You know–the time before I was born–that time”

The above account may sound a little weird, but I can attest that it is factual. There is absolutely no possibility that our Son had any previous knowledge of what he was doing.

We totally believe that what he said was true; that he had remembered that from — the time before.

There is no other explanation.

Cheers,
John

I’m at work and instead of focusing on the task at hand I am taking some time out to read this blog and comment.

Reincarnation. I do not know if we reincarnate. I have no knowledge of a past life. And I am not sure that I care one way or the other.

For me the focus is trying to live in the now. Looking at the past or dreaming of future lives, only feeds into my desire to be other than where I am.

I also wary of how beliefs such as reincarnation – and even life after death in heaven or wherever – can be used to control and manipulate us, by either making us believe we deserve the poor conditions or injustices we face now, or by making us believe that if we accept our lot here we will be delivered in the future to a glorious comfortable life.

Now, back to my tasks.

I know that tr I am wary about placing too much emphasis on

Mary, I find this subject absolutely fascinating, and I would love to hear more about your thoughts and experienes on this. There is a lot of evidence for reincarnation, to be sure, but I wonder how my consciousness could get inside another being in-utero, and be born again. It is a mystery to me.

I like to ponder on the fact that every part of us is as old as the universe, and that we will, in some form, still be around at the end of time.

For the “death rate is lower than the birth rate” argument : Imagine 2 worlds . On one world (ours for example) population is growing . On the other one , either something apocalyptic happen , or system starts reducing population to maintain itself . They could say , “birth rate is lower than the death rate , where did all those souls go ? ” Also , you were dead before you got born , so there is logical possibility to be born again (it already happened once)

– paste of my comment on SU

cheers

@Bane
I don’t think humans are the only beings in all of existence with souls. Is that what you believe?

Mary,

You asked if our Son remembers his previous life now that he is older. No he does not. It was only when he under 3 years of age.

What struck us most about that incident was the way he was talking about it; almost like we should have known what he was referring to. As if anyone would know that. It was nothing special to him to refer to that “other time.”

As he was growing up we went on many canoe trips into wilderness areas. I must say that he was a natural at being in the mountains. And maybe predictably, he had a particular fascination for the campfire

Hi Mary I am fascinated by these children that suddenly remember some place or event that happened in a past life. One thing to keep in mind is that young kids normally don’t lie and suddenly make up things like that. I only wonder why there isn’t more interest in the work of Ian Stevenson and others like him. What are we so afraid of that we might find out?

Erics last blog post..MTV reality show for graphic designers

Eric,

You asked “What are we so afraid of that we might find out?”

I think you have hit home with that question. It sums up why we don’t explore and embrace many aspects of reality. Life is manageable when the field of the possible is narrow. Society loses grip on it and fear rises when it expands.

I have seen this phenomenon in society in general, as well as in friends and family, all my life. Whenever I have tried to be truthful about certain experiences, I feel the walls go up.

Introducing concepts that shake people’s reality conception tends to raise a primal fear. It is as if their world will be overturned and they will fall off the edge if they accepted such concepts into their book of definitions of reality.

My own childhood was filled with experiences of an unusual, frightening, awe-inspiring, and often painful nature. It taught me never to limit my conception of the possible. At the same time though, growing up like that clearly showed me that what I have experienced would be very unsettling and fearful for most people to consider — and so they don’t.

The thing is, people are not just fearful of accepting disturbing facts, but any fact or reasonable theory that would cause them to reconsider their world view.

It’s easier for them that way, and I understand.

Don’t know whether I answered anything there at all, or just talked around it

John Rocheleaus last blog post..Customer Relationship Management = Job Satisfaction

@ Jenna Smith

I like your logic Jenna, that everything physical is recycled so why not the soul (is our soul non-physical or is it energy?). That way of looking at things has not occurred to me b4. The soul, as part of the matrix of life would surely merely re-enter the pool on physical death. Is it ever a discrete entity though? Did it ever leave the pool? Has it full access to the combined knowing of all life at any time? In a physical sense are we each diamonds on the net of Indra, but on an energetic level are there perhaps no diamonds just one huge net, not unlike how Odo, in Deep Space 9 (for Science Fiction fans) must experience becoming one with the molten sea of his people, the Founders.

I have a very practical outlook on life and do like to see a few fairly solid leads indicating something to be true before I am willing to meet the possibility half way and throw in a bit of faith myself, so the jury is still out on reincarnation.

To me, it has always felt rather irrelevant to the way I lead my life in this lifetime, so I haven’t tended to dwell on it too much. Karma, in the sense of cause and effect seems a more relevant focus, as I see that what I do affects people, plants, animals and the planet all in this lifetime (and beyond) and really thats enough to be going on with!

I have a couple of Tibetan Buddhist friends for whom reincarnation is a given, and more latterly this certainty has given me reason to ponder. Given my respect for their tradition and the results that I see of their focused spiritual path, I am prodded more and more to consider the possibility of reincarnation.

So… now there is anecdotal evidence, the recyclable nature of everything and the fervent belief of a tradition I respect. I’m getting close to that point where I can throw in a bit of faith me thinks!

…however, I still don’t see that it is important in the sense of how we live and experience our lives now. For me it has curiosity value only.

I am happy in my uncertainty regarding life after death in the literal sense. When I consider the idea of little deaths, dying to attachments, then certainly there is life afterwards, a much enhanced life even.
Despite a certain ambivalence as to the facts of life after death, I have woven an idea of reincarnation into my thinking that I find inspiring. Here it is… when I die I’ll be born again at the start of my life, back in 1973, and re live the whole thing with all its joys and sorrows and in between bits, over and over again… BLEAK EH?! (-:
SO when I am caught in anxiety, this idea of reccurrence can be like a splash of cold water. I have a chance to diminish my suffering as I live to be kind to my future self.. Maurice Nichol writes beautifully about reccurrence and eternity in his book LIVING TIME.
Gassho.

The way I see it our soul is energy, a concept like prana or ki – chi – qi. Our soul is a separate entity but we are all parts of something bigger. When we grow spiritually we get access to knowledge from prior lives and also from the combined knowledge of others.

John Rocheleau tells an amazing story about his son and memories from past life. I do not think his son has forgotten as he got older, it is just that those past life memories are stored away.

There is a book titled ‘You Are a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience’. I have not read the book but the phrase itself makes sense to me.
Namaste

Bengt – btwendels last blog post..The Power of Your Other Hand

@ Mary
Around 5 years of age is when the grownup world tells us what is real and what is not. We adapt to the outside world in order to fit in.

I do not think memories from past life get overlaid by memories from current life, they are still there but harder to recall.
Namaste

Bengts last blog post..The Power of Your Other Hand

@Mary
The lessons about what is ‘real’ and what is not limit our thinking and feeling. But those lessons can be unlearned. That does open up to many kinds of ’strange’ experiences.

Bengts last blog post..The Power of Your Other Hand

My take on this matter is, I guess, kind of based in my scientific education, drawn out with my spiritual feeling and rather excitable imagination, and held at arms length again by my critical post-catholic scepticism… That is, I have a picture in mind that I think I can describe in some depth, however I won’t hold myself to it because I guess I can’t give any real evidence for it, nor do I feel it necessary to prove or disprove…

Well I feel like sharing that picture anyway I think it resonates with what Di says about the net of Indra being diamondless actually. When I studied electromagnetics in university, I discovered my own particular take on understanding the whole physics dichotomy of classical vs quantum physics – e.g. the question is light made of particles or waves? The way I began to see it, light, just as electricity, can be seen as a field of energy, where the direction of that energy flow goes from higher potential to lower potentials, just as gravity pulls us from higher distances to smaller distances from the centre of the earth. When we look at an electric field and focus our attention, we begin to see what we call electrons, small particles moving with the flow of the field carrying charge – the basic premise of the theory of electrical current. But these electrons – or photons of light – are just that – points in the field where we can focus our attention. In this way it seems a little nicer to grasp that light can be made of waves and particles at the same time, as the waves are describing the field in terms of its journey while the particles are describing the field in terms of where we are looking…

So, if anyone is still with me, thats kind of how I see it with us too. Its as if the universe were a blanket woven of one pure substance. the blanket is unimaginably enormous (and shouldnt be imagined in more than 3 dimensions ), and has millions of little vibrating bumps and lumps in it. these bumps and lumps make up the things that we think of as “particles” – you, me, mountains, atoms, anything that we can discern as an object in its own right, can be viewed as a bump or conglomerate of bumps in the blanket. We can look at these bumps, and we can give them names, and its all good and useful but ultimately you know, if someone was to stretch the blanket by its ends those bumps and lumps would disappear, but the blanket would remain whole and undamaged for the loss. Ultimately, you and I and anything else may be just vibrating points of the universe’s field of energy, upon whom attention is able to be focused by ourselves and others.

All of this being the background to my ideas of reincarnation. We die, and become unseeable again – the bump in the blanket smoothes out a little, perhaps merges into other lumps around it. New lumps appear in the blanket all the time, so if a new lump appears in the blanket that overlaps some of the same position of a previous bump, wouldn’t it share some of the characteristics and memories – vibrational momentum – of that previous bump? Or be recognised (think Dalai Lamas) by other insightful bumps who focused their attention on the same spot on the blanket, despite losing the previous bump’s shape previously? Hope I haven’t overabused my blanket metaphor My point being, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘blanket’, and “my” memories which might be passed on to some other being after I die belong to the blanket and not at all to this particular bump in space and time… I think I’m saying that even if there were reincarnation, I still can’t see it as something personal!

If you believe whole-heartedly in something, then you have no reason to justify or substantiate your belief. It is only when fear, doubt and other negative vibes begin to influence your mind that you are no longer content to simply believe something as true. Now, if you sense that life is about peeling the layers of what you thought was truth in order to reveal what lies underneath, well, then you experience a memorable process of self-discovery.

I believe in past lives. I’ve “seen” quite a number of them myself in my meditation and during lucid dreaming. How do I know if it is true? Firstly, it is an inner knowing. Secondly, I also have the benefit of having a psychic friend, who confirmed every single one that I’ve come to know. In the end, it is not the past life per se but the wisdom that unfolds which is key to my living a fuller life!

Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Maps last blog post..How To Calm Down From Unresolved Anger Quickly

Mete’s comment (#43) dovetails beautifully in something that I wanted to add to this conversation. I know I’m coming late to the party but here goes…

For years, I’ve kicked around whether or not I believe in reincarnation. Many books have been read and I’ve given it lots of thought. Usually, I come down on the “pro” side but some days I feel skeptical and don’t want to be “duped”. Also, I come down on the “con” side when my inquisitive child-self gets hyperactive and wants to know answers that our not-fully-developed brains can’t grasp. Like… Do only humans reincarnate? Can you go from a dog (for example) to a human? (Why not?) What about an ape? Can you go from a plant to a dog? (Why not?) At what point do you *have* your first soul-experience? At this point in human evolution, ARE there any “new” souls being born? If so, where do they come from?

All of that aside, my question is “Do you think that multiple reincarnated souls can make up a single human experience?” Especially when they have overlapping bumps/lumps! And if they *do* overlap, does that create a “new” soul/energy?

Additionally, I like Mete’s analogy of the blanket. Many years ago I decided that “god” for me was the sum of all consciousness and energy of the universe combined (at the same “time”.) Everything. Our thoughts. The rays of the sun. Our electromagnetic Energy. Gravity. Wind. Mass. etc. That’s meant a lot to me over the years.

Wow, how did I circle around to defining god/religion?? It made sense in my head. I think I’ll stop while I’m behind.

Great blog. I’ll subscribe to the rss feed.

Everything is on its way to somewhere!!!
Death is only a small part of this giant thing we call life. Remember; whatever happens here on earth with you goes with you no matter where you go (Geographically)after we pass on into the new relm of life. And no matter what happens with your experiences here on Earth, you will live with eternal peace forever and ever. Nothing that you’ve done here on Earth – Good or Bad, life is only a learning experience, and some fun. In the BIG picture, nothing is your own fault. People are aloud to make mistakes, provided that you try not to fall over the same missfortunes all the time is to be the wiser of an outcome of your plight in the next life. Nothing is realy your fault. Were all in this big world together – mainly to do two basic things – and those are to take care of other people when needed, and to take care of yourself. It will all turn just fine in the end. And that is that in your plight of lifes’ itinorary, you will turn out to be just fine. You’ll be in Good Hands. Its not your fault. You dont have to do the best you can, just do what you can within reason. Don’t worry. It will all be OK

[...] Goodlife Zen has a post about Is there Life After Death? [...]

Mary,
I am only 21 years old, and whether it’s right or wrong to think about death a lot at my age matters not, I suppose. What’s been haunting me for the longest time is the idea that there may be no afterlife. I come from a family that is entirely Christian, but I am not. I am like you…agnostic and no selected beliefs that influence my life. I wish someone could understand the fear in my mind at the thought of not living past this life. It literally strikes depression in my heart. I want to be able to have some sort of afterlife, even if that means being punished for my sins (referring to Art’s comment before). I want to know that I will go on, that I will live, because frankly…I LOVE LIVING. I suppose none of us can truly say he or she knows where we go when we die, but this blog has inspired me to see all of the different beliefs congregated into one place. I was extremely inspired by your acceptance of death (not that we can’t accept it), but your lack of fear. I want to be able to not fear death, but the truth is, it is my biggest fear…and one I think about on a regular basis, even at my age at 21…I hope someday that I can have a positive outlook on death like you someday…for my happiness’ sake. Thanks for writing this blog.

–Jake

reincarnation couldn’t be possible unless there are other planets with life. What happens when this planet comes to it’s end and everyone dies. Does reincarnation stop there? If it does then it never existed. Reincarnation means we die and than are reborn in someone else’s body. If there are no bodies to support us then what?

@Jake

I feel like I’m in the same boat as you, in a way. I’m 22 myself and recently married, and literally in the past month I’ve thought more about death than I think I ever have in my life. It’s probably because, at the verge of starting a new family, with a wife I love more than life itself, I’ve found a happiness that I never, ever want to loss, even in death. So the thought of death, and the possibility of no afterlife, has been weighing heavily on me lately. I, too, feel a bit silly, worrying about this stuff when I’m so young, but I don’t think that makes our worries any less real.

But about six years ago, I had an experience that, to me, proves the existence of SOMETHING beyond human out there. I was in a horrible accident, flipped the van I was driving several times and came to a rest upside down. I blacked out, and when I came to I was hanging upside down from my seatbelt in the drivers seat. I started to freak out and thrash around when–I was in shock–when someone walked up to the driver’s side door. All I could see were their shoes (I remember them clearly–they were nice shoes, loafers). Whoever it was just stood there, didn’t try to look in at me or reach in and get me or anything. Just stood there. Then, the person just said, in a man’s voice: “Calm down. Take a deep breath, calm down, and get yourself out of there.”

I remember that clearly, and the sense of calm just washing over me–washing away my panic–is probably what I remember most. It was almost physical, like water running over my body.

Anyway, I managed to disengage the seatbelt and fell out of the chair onto the roof of the van. I blacked out again, and next thing I knew I was wandering along the side of the highway next to the crashed car.

The first person to reach the scene of my accident arrived less than a minute after I regained consciousness. I was still in shock, so I immediately started screaming at the poor guy, asking him where “He” went. The guy was horribly confused and just tried to tell me that there wasn’t anyone else there.

In the shock and trauma of all that happened, I’ve forgotten a lot of what happened in that accident, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget whatever it was that helped me out of that van.

It just seems natural to me that there’s something else out there. Sure, we don’t have any physical evidence of it–and we may never–but was there any evidence of subatomic particles before they discovered them? And think of the things that science has proven exist, but which we cannot touch, see, explain or even begin to understand (just look up Dark Matter or multiverse light particle experiments). Think of how little we know about how our own brains work.

Even though I worry–and its terrible to worry about this kind of thing, it really weighs on you, like you said, it depresses you–it just seems natural to me that there’s just some essence of life that exists after death, that goes on. And personally, the more I examine my own life, the more I find solid personal reasons to believe that a benevolent being is out there, looking after us.

I feel like this post is forever long, but I also feel like this last bit is relevant: a few days after the accident, we went to look at what remained of the van I crashed.

The roof of the van had been warped in the crash, and it came down to a sharp funnel that reached halfway down the front of the driver’s seat.

I walked away from that crash with a few scratches on the back of my hand.

In another article you’ve said that life is a dot not a path…
Then I assumed that there is nothing before or after…
now, in this article you say that there is life after death…confuse….
there is only oneway thought
or reincarnation or life’s a dot…
both can not living together

I’d rather believe that life is a dot….
nothing before neither after….even life

cheers

@ricardo

I like this question! For me, these two issues are completely separate.

Life as a “dot” is not an answer to the questions of the universe, rather its a practice to live my life more fully in the present moment. Whether we look at life as a path to follow to the end, or a present-moment dot, it’s undeniable that both the dot and the path are valid viewpoints of reality – the dot can be seen in the present moment, and the path can be seen in the fact that when you go to bed on a tuesday it is dark, and then you wake up on a wednesday and it’s light outside (normally!).

Asking the question of whether there is reincarnation or after-lives is simply curiously asking questions about the ultimate nature of life when seen as a path. And seeing life as a dot is a way to experience the colours and smells and sights of life more vividly, as they are there to be experienced!

Well, just my two cents!

my husband past away a month ago, is feel so empty miss him a lot.

I think reincarnation IS HELL and that Jesus is the savior who entered this reality to explain it and offer the escape to eternal perfect life. The Lie is that this life is THE life, when it is merely just a tree (of the knowledge of good and evil) in a vast and wonderous garden.

@Jake

I had to choke back tears when I read your comment. I can completely relate to everything you wrote. The fear of no afterlife is very scary and depressing. I think the exact thing as well, I love living! It seems that everyone in my life has some form of belief system or faith that keeps them going on without fearing what might or might not be there. I wish I had this, but no matter who I talk to or what I hear, I still have this intense fear that as a result causes panic attacks for me. I’m 25 with a beautiful 5 year old daughter and a loving partner. I’m in college right now, with so much more to look forward to. But, I get physically ill when I think of not being here anymore, or even existing in some way after the body dies.

I really do hope there is an afterlife. It’s torturous to go about my days then have a thought of not existing anymore. I feel lost in a sense, and ask myself often, what am I going to tell my child when she asks those questions about how we got here and such. Maybe this sounds irrational to some people, but it’s very real to me. I suppose I’m just seeking answers that I wont get until my time is up.

nothing chance still so pain inside i lost my bestfriend and wonderful man

There is no reincarnation. Only the Judgment by the Lord…

Hi
This thread has really helped me out, I was extremely scared of what happens when I die, I didnt sleep properly for ages, but when I read this, im starting to believe there is an after-life, or reincarnation.

I guess if there is a reincarnation system, every time you get reincarnated, your memories will be whiped out, but apparently some people can still remember.

Anyway, thanks

I’m assuming Art Gonzalez is HIspanic/ Latino. I am as well but I DO believe in reincarnation unlike him.

I wrote a great editorial I’d like to share with you all. I wrote this while I was a graduate student here in San Antonio, Texas. I am 29 years of age and live near downtown San Antonio.

May, 2004
Learning from religious fanaticism can prevent future atrocities – Logos

As we reflect back upon history, one thing remains clear regardless of one’s religious affiliation or no affiliation: More people have died in the name of God than any other way throughout history.
Indeed, for hundreds of years, religious elites and common people have used their own religious interpretation (and passed down interpretation) to oppress based on gender, sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity. We have come to know of the atrocities that were all tied to religion such as the Holocaust, African-American enslavement, and the persecution of Jews.
In his book, “Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness,” James A. Haught chronicles a thousand years of religious hate ranging from the witch hunts, to the numerous crusades, to the Holy Inquisition, to the religious anti-Semitic influence that later fueled the Holocaust. Haught says, “Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of the coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites.” Furthermore, theologian Richard Rubenstein wrote that the Nazis “did not invent a new villain…they took over the 2,000-year-old Christian tradition of the Jew as a villain. The roots of the death camps must be sought in the mythic structure of Christianity.”
We have also seen throughout history how numerous religious leaders and common people have pointed to specific passages in the Bible that have been used to validate slavery. One insightful book, “Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery,” by Stephen R. Haynes, further shows how just “one” biblical passage fueled anti-African-American sentiment over the course of hundreds of years. The biblical passage, “A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren,” reads Noah’s curse on Ham. Ham is later identified as the ancestor of black Africans, and this particular biblical passage is just one that has been used historically to justify African-American slavery. Also many Christian clergymen throughout history were pro-slavery. Historian Larry Hise says in his book, “Pro Slavery,” that ministers “wrote almost half of all defenses of slavery published in America.” He also lists more than 250 religious men who used the Bible to prove white people were entitled to own black people.
Similarly, Hitler and other anti-Semitic leaders throughout history have used biblical passages to validate the persecution of Jews. Here is just one passage that fueled anti-Semitism: “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16).
In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II issued a historical pardon at St. Peter’s Basilica regarding the Catholic Church’s prime role in the persecution of Jews for the past 1,000 years. In addition, they also released a document that named (and officially validated) other multiple “sins” on their part including the Holocaust, Inquisition, Crusades and other religious acts.
Not surprisingly, comparable negative sentiment that existed hundreds of years ago against African-Americans and Jews, fixated on non-heterosexuals around 50 years ago during its national peak. True, much progress has been made for gay and bisexual rights. But even today, when discussing bisexuality and heterosexuality, some people are quick to (just as in history) point to biblical passages that condemn anyone who is not heterosexual.
Earlier this year we witnessed a progressive change in history as gay and bisexual men and women fought back against hegemonic norms and married in San Francisco. With the right time to pass, it will not be long when equal marriage rights under the law will be given to non-heterosexuals; similar to the way segregation was outlawed and ruled unconstitutional in the 1960s despite such opposition.
Still, some do not consider gay and bisexual rights a “civil rights” issue. However, Coretta Scott King, wife of the late Martin Luther King Jr., disagrees with them. In 1998, on the 30th anniversary of her husband’s assassination she commented: “I still hear people say that I should… stick to the issue of racial justice, but I hasten to remind them Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ ” I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother-and-sisterhood for lesbian and gay (and bisexual) people.”
Clearly, religion has also been used against women throughout history, which has solidly set the foundation for our dominating patriarchal world. One such biblical passage has been used to prohibit women from being ministers: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak.” (I Corinthians I 4:34). Many believe this biblical passage and others like it fueled misogynistic beliefs at the time, which viewed women as merely second-class citizens. Not long after, The Women’s Suffrage Movement was a prime example of how women fought against the male-dominated world. Finally with the passage of the 19th Amendment, women got their long-deserved right to vote.
Yes, it is true more people have died in the name of God throughout our history than any other way. So it behooves us today to not forget our history, for we may be doomed to repeat it. As we have seen through hundreds of years, indeed it has been repeated. I know I will never identify myself as a Catholic or with any other religion that is not in line with my life-changing (progressive) and liberal beliefs. However, I do believe in God very much and always will; there is a higher Creator, and I believe that our higher Creator would want us to most definitely learn from our horrid history, so that we will never repeat it again. The time is now for us to continue to fight for civil rights in all aspects. The work is never done!

“…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement” – Hebrews 9:27

I’m inclined not to believe in reincarnation, or any other form of life after death in which the individual soul lives on. In the end, it seems simply a way to get around, rather than overcome, our fear of death. Nonetheless, I kind of like the idea, and may change my mind about it. What I’m more interested in, though, is making life meaningful before death, and reincarnation is a useful metaphor for the ways in which we die and are reborn again and again within our lives.

YogaforCynicss last blog post..Not Saying Anything

I died seven years ago at home after an illness. While on the other side, I was flying over the hills where I went to school. A young child with open arms appeared to me crying. Then, my former girlfriend came to my house with her daughter holding her hand as they approached my front gate. I was brought back to life by my brother calling my name and these visions kept me from further flying over the hills. I was then revived and went to the hospital.
Seven years later I contacted my former girlfriend who told me that week of November that year I died she lost her baby. She then got pregnant again with a daughter. Although I never met her daughter I described her in detail. I saw this child before she was even born while on the other side. I am still amazed!

Hello Mary,

Like you, I practice Zen in the Diamond Sangha, and like you I have recently received a Doctorate in Psychology (Psy D.). Currently I am not practicing as a therapist and have not become licensed yet, although I did therapy for a year and a half. After working for the State of California for over 18 years, can someone say “career change?” Anyway, at first I can’t help but have compassion for all of these beings and their responses. You must know it took me awhile (a few days, with interruptions) to read them all.

When it comes to reincarnation: I do not buy into it. I really like Mete’s explanation about the blanket in #43 (above). But when it comes to having a soul, I do not agree. Aren’t there any Buddhists out there? By the way, I was brought up Christian, Open Bible, and Presbyterian. Buddhist do not believe in a soul (anatta – no self). Although in high school they used to call me soul brother. Buddhism denies the existence of an undying or eternal soul. No soul or insubstantiality or emptiness. In my own experience I have found this to be so.

How could anything pass over? Any aggregate, trait or bit of character, from one life to the next? My experience of it is more like “Vast emptiness, nothing holly,” attributed to Bodhidharma, in reply to questions from, and in personal attendance before the emperor of China. By the way, if you find something holly, I might be interested in it. Show it to me.

Or Hui Neng; “In essence there is really nothing, on what can dust gather? I hope you don’t mind if I chop that one up for convenience.

Emptiness does not have aggregates, traits or bits of individual, separate character.

Of course we left it open, but watch what you accept.

In one of my experiences from the practice of zazen meditation I remember walking by a funeral. The experience for me was “don’t they know, there is nothing to grieve for? But then as a therapist I also know that grieving is a natural process that nurtures us and makes us more able to be more feeling as a person.

Since you are writing about death, here is one that has come to me; I haven’t shared it in writing before:

In a closet, a shirt fell from a hanger (like Dogen’s body and mind falling away).
Let it all fall away.
Looking up at the hanger, as if looking back at life,
Don’t get hung up there…

Then in the end, all of these insights are impermanent, falling away, falling away; or to write them down and share them with you.

Gassho,

O. B. Ray

12) Drive all Blames into One. (Suffering has no other cause than Ego Clinging)

Belief in reincarnation is the ultimate in ego clinging. “Kids say the darnedest things”, and if speculating on all this is fun – go ahead.

Pat Quinns last blog post..1.d.) First, learn the preliminaries (4 of 4 parts)