Okay Another Religious Issue~~ About Buddhism And Reincarnation

To quote you..."I have my own beliefs and ideas, but the only thing I know with 100% certainty is that I don't know anything with 100% certainty.."
Isn't that the truth..LOL..that is why then it ticks me off when you have people come along and say something with one hundred percent certainly...I'll be the first to admit that I don't know everything as a certainly and am trying to learn and understand more..and it's like the more I know, the more I realize I DON'T know...hheee

Mmm...well as far as similar ideas cropping up at different areas especially ones that are "top secret"...now we could get into the idea of the "collective consciousness" concept..another "deep issue"..LOL--have you ever read or heard about the Akashic records...this runs along the same line of thought that all is a Cosmic or collective consciousness...like the universe's super computer system..which can explain all the knowledge of everything is stored there and we can tap into in

Thanks, I figured there was a name for it, I had just never heard it. Dad and I used to talk about it but we never spoke of it to others because we figured they would think we were nuts or he would get fired. Dad passed 20 years ago and I have not talked to anyone about it just continued to observe it.

This is a fascinating idea, Adoniah, thank you for shareing.

I dont know what I can add, but I just wanted to tell you it is appreciated. I'll file this tidbit away and maybe someday I can revisit it in another intellectual conversation and pick it apart a bit more.

I am sorry to hear about your father, I will bet he was an interesting fellow.

Best regards,
Tee

Well lets face it, once you start talking about things on a more "metaphysical" level most will think we're ready for the looney bin. Thankfully I seem to attract people who are on the same wavelength as me--unless of course we're all a tad batty...hehee

I am intrigued, Adoniah, by your theory. It is as if the human race, as a whole, is being fed knowledge for its development. In other words, we cannot make any advance until we have another vital piece of the jigsaw. It suggests that, though we may think we are in control, we are not really.

I used to have a construction set called Meccano when I was a child. It was very ingeniously sold. The full set was, of course, prohibitively expensive, so one was able to 'upgrade' the basic set 1 to set 2 with an add-on (1a) followed (the next Christmas) by 2a and so on. You knew that you needed set 5 (shall we say) in order to build a tower crane but you couldn't do so until next Christmas or birthday.

I have often wondered why the Greeks and Romans never invented paper and printing. All of the technology was available to them but it just never came together. The need for the technology was certainly there: they were literate and organised andsent information from one place to another. They did make books - or rather scrolls, which were laboriously hand-written by slaves and distributed to those who wanted them. They used stamps to impress letters on pottery and coins and they knew about engraving on metal and taking impressions from it but the idea of printing on paper from movable type apparently never occurred to them. Why? Gutenberg is credited with the invention of printing but, in fact, several people at about the same time had the same idea quite independently.

There have actually been people who have been regressed by hypnosis...not only going back throughout their life and childhood but beyond to other lifetimes...one author, of whose books I've read a few, by the name of Joan Grant has written a series of books...based on her past lives. Then of course is the case of Bridy Murphy..supposedly was able to describe vividly one of her past lives...then there's the past psychic Edgar Cayce who also was able to describe other people's past lives while he was in a trance like state...

Ow it is all too spooky for me Pye.
I do not know that I would like to come back as someone else.

I never was too keen on the idea of past life regression..yes, I'm curious on one hand, on the other..I mean what if I discover in a past life I was an evil villan...or a Marquis deSade type..LOL
They do say that a good indication of at least what time in history you might have lived at is by what periods of history you love now...like me..ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece,the medieval period, renaissance, early America, Civil War period...and even Viking history...yeesh what a combo

Oh No I am in trouble. The only history that I was ever interested in was the cowboys and Indians.

Hehehe..and who do you see yourself more..the cowboy or the Indian??

Hopefully one of the cowboys who don't get stuck with an arrow.

MMMmmm....by the way..I'm part Native American...hehehe

You just make sure you keep those little pointed arrows to yourself then.Hehehehe

It is possible, during a deep Reiki session to regress to former beings, if not actual lives, if you have a good Master and competant assistants. You can go back to the primordial ooze.

Yes I believe we do come back many times and each time to maybe learn some lesson...I personally believe I'm a very old soul that's been around the block a few times...LOL

Pye I think you hit the bullseye with that coming back to learn lessons idea.

Me too Pye. But I am either too stupid or stubborn to learn the lesson because I feel like I have been coming back again and again.

Question.How is it that you were baptized Catholic but confirmed Protestant, if you don't mind me asking?

Well my mother was Catholic....have no idea why I wasn't baptized Methodist as that was what my father' s side of the family was and usually in a "mixed" marriage with two people of different religions one is usually baptized the father's religion.
as for why I was confirmed Protestant....yeesh long story....I think it was simply my mother was kind of fed up with the Catholic religion. She got treated pretty lousy because she got divorced and I don't know if it's still like that now, but back then (in the 1950s) a Catholic just didn't get divorced...there was no such thing...they would call it an "annulment" but then that would have meant that the marriage hadn't been consummated and I would have been considered uh, a b*stard or some such dumb thing...Like I said I just think it was purely cause my mom was fed up with Catholicism and the only churches near us in the neighborhood were Protestant ones--so started attending one..St. James Episcopal

Oh in case you're wondering..my folks did get divorced but through a "civil" divorce thing...

Oh, I see. Thank you for explaining it.Being Catholic is hard to be. I am so glad I am not Catholic.But because I couldn't be Catholic, I really respect the ones who can.I hope your mom found a religion that she could feel comfortable with, if she wanted one.

That's funny ..like you I believed in reincarnation even before I actually knew what the heck it meant--As a kid I constantly used to get asked, why I did believe in it and never had a really good answer why..not until oddly enough I learned physics---That one law stuck out.."Matter or energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it only changes form" It was one of those ah hah moments....so like that law our soul cannot be created nor destroyed, but changes form..the physical being

Wow! I had never thought of it like that before...not much into physics LOL. But that's a really great point!

Hello fellow old soul:)
Yes and with each incarnation we "hopefully" will learn a new lesson...From a purely scientific standpoint since when you think of it everything in the universe is"recyclable" it would make more sense for our souls to be recycled again--otherwise it just seems like a waste of energy..

Indeed, I like that "a recycled soul."

I understand...of course I disagree with you...hehhe
You see I can also explain why I believe in reincarnation..and I've mentioned this elsewhere here. From a scientific viewpoint reincarnation makes sense. One of the laws of physics is, "Matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed it only changes form." Now translate that..the soul cannot be created nor destroyed, it only changes form (the physical body). The universe is a recyclable entity..nothing is wasted..a star system explodes into a super nova and in time will recreate into another star system after a time...
at least that's my "logic" LOL

Thank you...everything you said here is what I thought and gathered from my reading up on Buddhism, that's why it struck me so odd that, that person would say that only a person who attained buddhahood could reincarnate...just didn't make sense to me

Hmm, as I understand it barehugs, most are a little confusing on Buddha's teachings (not surprising though, every teaching seem to have that problem.)

When Buddha was about to ascend, he told his followers not to worship him. Instead, if they were to show devote, show it to the path of enlightenment.

Those in the know bow before his statue not to worship him, but to pay homage to what he represents, the path of enlightenment.

As for the gold leaves wasted on cold and lifeless statues, it is just people corrupting his teachings for profit. A problem found in a lot of other religions and believes.

Hope this helps renew your interest!:)

Bare, once again your veiws have been refeshing and comforting. I too find it disheartening that all religions seel to go the way of materialism. The one relgion that has never (in my opinion) done that is paganism... the worst we get is hollywood spin offs profitting some writter who couldnt call the corners of their athme depended on it.*shrug*

I can understand and sense your disappointment perhaps with buddhism then when you saw money being spent for fancy statues and so forth, but that doesn't sound any worse than all the gold say in the Vatican does it? In one way or another I think almost all religions are guilty of profiting over the poorer people.
I'm glad you have such a positive outlook about life in general and of course reincarnation. It's nice to know we can come back and learn more lessons about life if we haven't learned them in this one

I had to laugh what you said II2aTee...yes, unfortunately screenwriters for movies seem to dwell on the stereotypical imagery of what most people think of in terms of witchcraft ...the sinister evil side that most have associated with it..but then evil sells..who is going to rush out to see a movie about "nice" witches. The movie the Craft wasn't too too bad..but it also succumbed to the darker side...a much lighter movie..Practical Magic which I do happen to love I thought was good, not the world's greatest but closer I think to pagan/wiccan principle.

I found Buddhism and Catholicism very similiar. Sorry I didn't make this plain.

LOL--oh yes you make perfect sense to me
Yes. I kind of figured that this person was just being an arrogant a$$, just like there are people that have the opinion of course because of their religion only they will go to heaven while the rest of us are doomed to hell..my hell is sure going to be crowded then..LOL