You may appreciate the research of Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Here is a link to an archive where you can search any topic including Karma & Reincarnation, Steiner's core mission
I turn fifty this year, and your story and mine are very similar. Grew up in an evangelical home, went to a Christian university (Oral Roberts University), and checked the boxes until I couldn’t anymore about 15 years ago. I was always a bit of a mystic even as a kid, and had my first OBE when I was 14, which blew the sides out of the box for me. Reincarnation always made sense to me, even as a teenager reading the very scripture passage you mention. I’m glad you’re sharing your experiences here and that I’ve recently come across your writing.
Hey, Kevin! Thanks for sharing your story through your own writing. I find that so many individuals are sort of wandering in a spiritual wilderness unsure of whether it's safe to embrace a new path free of the rigidity of what they grew up with. Substacks like yours are more important than ever. Happy early 50th and have a great week!
That’s well said, and I agree. People suspect they have to step off the path of their upbringing, but they’ve been told the stakes are too high. Best to stay put. Pascal’s Wager and all that. I’m grateful for your work and that we both live in a time when we can share our experiences with strangers who are kindred spirits, too.
I’m also becoming a believer…and “liver” of this. In terms of how confidence in reincarnation can be useful today, I try to think I am in Earth School each day. In other words, why wait for the life review? We can examine each present moment, and our reactions and choices in the now, and make many improvements before this time is up.
I appreciate your writing and I can feel your intentions to make sense of your journey and illuminate the paths for others. Love and respect to you. Something wonderful is going to happen.
Lovely piece, I was actually quite moved by this as it triggered feelings of love for my family. I wonder, do you have any examples of Christian mystics that believed in the reality of reincarnation?
Hi. Yes, Jim Marion is a great place to start. From there, if you want to see a very powerful Christian mystic in action check out The Magus of Strovolos by Markides for a profile of Daskalos.
I am a Vedanta/shakta tantra student and just wanted to say that yes indeed, we have a very limited understanding of karma in the west. it is part of a whole worldview that is very different to the mechanistic, atomised one that we are the inheritors of and as a result it is routinely flattened/misinterpreted.
I like the idea of reincarnation but the problem I have with it is the idea That it erases your individuality. How could I be me and yet forget everything that made me into the person I am today. Seems like death to me.
I've come to think of our present time and our inability to remember previous lives as a veil, a temporary forgetting. But that doesn't mean we don't bring plenty of stuff into this life from previous lives. Many mystics have shared that we should pay attention to those areas of life where we have deep interest, or where perhaps we have natural talent. These are often clues to not only who we've been before, but also where we might be going.
Have you had a chance to check out the UVA research yet? Or any of the Michael Newton research? Those who've seen the other side often report that this is the place of illusion.
Thanks Bodhi, I have read a bit and I’m interested if it’s reincarnation or we share some kind of universal/genetic consciousness. But I suppose if we do share a consciousness then that would make reincarnation even more possible. I do think a lot about resurrection in the Christian sense and that seems to make sense to me as far as firing up the connections in our brain to make us whole again.
I've come to believe the Divine plan is an infinite game (although this current round may not always be fun or feel like a game) and so I'm guessing we're barely scratching the surface of what can be known. We may not have the capacity to understand, just as my dog doesn't understand why I have to leave the house to pay his mortgage.
I have a friend who's really into the quantum and genetics side of the question from a mystical perspective, and he talks about some of what you're saying, although I can't always keep up with his mind.
Appreciate these heartfelt reflections. I’ll second what Hazel said about Steiner! Might be something there to help you continue deepening this journey.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
You may appreciate the research of Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Here is a link to an archive where you can search any topic including Karma & Reincarnation, Steiner's core mission
https://rsarchive.org/
I turn fifty this year, and your story and mine are very similar. Grew up in an evangelical home, went to a Christian university (Oral Roberts University), and checked the boxes until I couldn’t anymore about 15 years ago. I was always a bit of a mystic even as a kid, and had my first OBE when I was 14, which blew the sides out of the box for me. Reincarnation always made sense to me, even as a teenager reading the very scripture passage you mention. I’m glad you’re sharing your experiences here and that I’ve recently come across your writing.
Hey, Kevin! Thanks for sharing your story through your own writing. I find that so many individuals are sort of wandering in a spiritual wilderness unsure of whether it's safe to embrace a new path free of the rigidity of what they grew up with. Substacks like yours are more important than ever. Happy early 50th and have a great week!
That’s well said, and I agree. People suspect they have to step off the path of their upbringing, but they’ve been told the stakes are too high. Best to stay put. Pascal’s Wager and all that. I’m grateful for your work and that we both live in a time when we can share our experiences with strangers who are kindred spirits, too.
I’m also becoming a believer…and “liver” of this. In terms of how confidence in reincarnation can be useful today, I try to think I am in Earth School each day. In other words, why wait for the life review? We can examine each present moment, and our reactions and choices in the now, and make many improvements before this time is up.
Yet another essential (and hope-inducing) read. Many, many thanks.
I appreciate your writing and I can feel your intentions to make sense of your journey and illuminate the paths for others. Love and respect to you. Something wonderful is going to happen.
Lovely piece, I was actually quite moved by this as it triggered feelings of love for my family. I wonder, do you have any examples of Christian mystics that believed in the reality of reincarnation?
Hi. Yes, Jim Marion is a great place to start. From there, if you want to see a very powerful Christian mystic in action check out The Magus of Strovolos by Markides for a profile of Daskalos.
I am a Vedanta/shakta tantra student and just wanted to say that yes indeed, we have a very limited understanding of karma in the west. it is part of a whole worldview that is very different to the mechanistic, atomised one that we are the inheritors of and as a result it is routinely flattened/misinterpreted.
I like the idea of reincarnation but the problem I have with it is the idea That it erases your individuality. How could I be me and yet forget everything that made me into the person I am today. Seems like death to me.
I've come to think of our present time and our inability to remember previous lives as a veil, a temporary forgetting. But that doesn't mean we don't bring plenty of stuff into this life from previous lives. Many mystics have shared that we should pay attention to those areas of life where we have deep interest, or where perhaps we have natural talent. These are often clues to not only who we've been before, but also where we might be going.
Have you had a chance to check out the UVA research yet? Or any of the Michael Newton research? Those who've seen the other side often report that this is the place of illusion.
Thanks Bodhi, I have read a bit and I’m interested if it’s reincarnation or we share some kind of universal/genetic consciousness. But I suppose if we do share a consciousness then that would make reincarnation even more possible. I do think a lot about resurrection in the Christian sense and that seems to make sense to me as far as firing up the connections in our brain to make us whole again.
Thanks, Paul. And it might be "all of the above."
I've come to believe the Divine plan is an infinite game (although this current round may not always be fun or feel like a game) and so I'm guessing we're barely scratching the surface of what can be known. We may not have the capacity to understand, just as my dog doesn't understand why I have to leave the house to pay his mortgage.
I have a friend who's really into the quantum and genetics side of the question from a mystical perspective, and he talks about some of what you're saying, although I can't always keep up with his mind.
Fantastic article, greatly appreciate your writing and thoughts!
I needed to read this! Thanks you so much
Please find an Illuminated Understanding of Death & Reincarnation via these references:
Something delightful to begin with
http://beezone.com/current/welcomesisterdeath.html
A unique Understanding of Reincarnation
http://www.easydeathbook.com/reincarnation.asp
Multiple statements
http://www.adidaupclose.org/death_and_dying/index.html
Appreciate these heartfelt reflections. I’ll second what Hazel said about Steiner! Might be something there to help you continue deepening this journey.