reincarnation

You're probably in for another long-winded explanation here. I don't really know how I'm going to approach this, but I'll figure something out! So many aspects to cover...

I suppose I should, first, explain that most pagans believe in the concept of reincarnation to some degree. Most believe that our souls are not here just to occupy one body for one lifetime and then move on to a higher realm. Most believe that our souls leave our current bodies once they pass on and then will move on to inhabit a new body- born into the body of an infant, and will then live another lifetime- however long or short that might be- as a different person. There are varying degrees of this belief- some believe reincarnation is a never-ending cycle, some believe we choose how many times our souls will be reincarnated, some believe we only jump from body to body until we achieve a spiritual "higher awareness" of some type. There are a lot of different ideas.

I no longer believe in any of them. It seems to me that we are all here for a purpose, each for a different reason, and we inhabit one body for a lifetime- however long or short- and then pass on to a higher realm. I don't agree that we jump from body to body and learn different "life lessons" to further our "spiritual awareness" and then one day are "worthy" of seeing whatever higher realm exists. I believe each soul has a destination here in this physical realm, and that each soul is here to attempt to achieve that goal in the period of time they are given in this one lifetime. Many who believe in reincarnation also believe that we are all here to fulfull a specific purpose as well, but my belief is that our souls are here for a purpose of one lifetime- not that our souls have hundreds or thousands of new responsibilities to fulfull with each new body.

Some pagans ask me, well, what if we don't achieve whatever purpose we are here to fulfill in this one lifetime? My response is, how do you know what your purpose really is? Your idea of your purpose in this life may be very different than what the universe has for you. Do you honestly know what your ultimate life purpose is?
Another question is always, "What about those who die so young, what could their life purposes really be?" Like I said before, how can we honestly know? A child who dies just minutes after birth may have been born to show his mother or father how precious life truly is or how we are all capable of loving a person who is only in our lives for a brief instant. A baby born to a mother addicted to drugs may be here briefly to show her how she is destroying herself, and also how she is capable of destroying others with her actions. We may say, well what a cruel thing, to be here for only a brief time to teach someone else a life lesson by dying. Who are we to decide what is a cruel existence and what is not?

There is another side to this belief- are we willing to learn from the lives of others? If someone's purpose here is to teach you that procrastination can cause you to fail at certain life goals, will you recognize that and learn from that person? Just because we don't recognize the lesson someone else was born to show us, does that mean their life was somehow a waste? No! WE are to blame for our choice not to learn from others. Life does not become invalid when others do not choose to learn from us. If we are not being responsible with our fragile lives, are not living the best way we think we can, then there is no one to blame for that other than ourselves.

Another question I get is, "Are we all, then, just here to benefit other's lives?" Well, no, of course not. We are here to also enjoy life, enjoy the relationships we build, enjoy both the physical and spiritual pleasures life offers, etc. Some of us are here to learn, grow, and share with others for a long lifetime. But some of us are not here long at all. Why? I'll get into that later.

There is still another common question- "How could this be the only life we live? We are much more advanced beings, that wouldn't be fair to have only one shot at life in this world." Why is that not fair? We aren't able to be fulfilled spiritually in just one physical lifetime? This one physical life we live is not legitimate enough for us to be satisfied with it? And how can all people keep life sacred and honestly live to their full potential if we will just get another shot next time around? Most pagans say, "Oh, I can, I'm a good person!" Well, good for you, but everyone is not capable of handling that. How would you be living your life if you learned that this was the only physical life you would ever have? Would you be living with the same attitude, make the same choices, etc? Do you think that life would become more sacred to you if you learnd we are not given body after body to inhabit? Of course it would, it's only natural to proceed with life according to your beliefs!

I find so many pagans believing that we are so limitless and that having only one physical life places limits on our abilities. But, would having just one physical life really be considered a limit? I don't think it is at all. I think that having one physical life is one aspect of our being that suggests that we are not limited. After living this one life, our souls are free to be rewarded in a higher realm, free to see the vast expanses of the universe, free to interact with others who have passed on, and possibly interact with the physically living as well. Saying that we are to jump from physical body to physical body is a seriously intense limit to be placed on us!
Another, not so serious problem I have with reincarnation is: we are supposedly learning all these life lessons in each lifetime, so why do we start over each time as infants with no knowledge? Why are we not able to apply all these life lessons to our new lives and become "better" or "more advanced" individuals? Are we just using up all this time on earth so that we have millions of stories to tell the other souls when we reach our higher spiritual destination? Some pagans tell me that we don't use those life lessons while here in the physical realm- we use them when we pass on to the higher realm. Okay! Sorry, I don't think that I need to live a thousand times over in order to be worthy of seeing a higher realm and achieving a higher existence.

If we are to be in a horrible accident and become paralyzed, or die at a young age, or become mentally unstable, etc, can we say that is a worthy existence? How can we actually say it is not? That type of existence may seem cruel to us, but we cannot know the reason why we are to experience such things. Each instance has a purpose- whether it's here in this realm or in the next. To me, seeing negativity in the world is not reason to create ideas that we will live more than one physical life. Limiting ourselves to this realm is not an idea I would want a part of my existence.

If I'm wrong, I'll deal with it! If I continue to be placed in physical bodies and live in this realm time after time after time, I'm sure my soul will survive. I used to believe strongly in reincarnation. But in light of the discoveries I've had the pleasure of making in the past several years, I no longer have faith in the concept.