Greetings,

During the inter-life we apparently get to plan out what development we seek in our next incarnation, right?  Say that something negative happened in a previous life that I didn't deal with very well. So now I carry fear of it happening again, And I want to overcome my previous weak faith that I will survive. ---Maybe I think I have to go through the experience again to have the opportunity to prove I can without the fear and lack of faith. So I ask for :P the same experience and I still don't like it at all and so add Anger to the Fear and Lack of faith that originally resulted!!  See what's happening? I'm going downward instead of up!

What if planning such lessons during the inter-life is all wrong? Maybe we're supposed to figure out that we are given a fresh new start each time. Maybe it's an ego-attachment to the importance of our previous erors that makes us get tangled up in long range effects? Maybe if we truly believed that Love is all-powerful we'd disconnect from our past errors. I guess that would mean we'd forgive ourselves.-- Heh, I didn't see that coming.
Well I'm going to post this anyway---
How do you think we should, or must, treat our past spiritual inadequacies?

Bets

Bets-

Michael Newton, in his two books, gets into extensive detail on planning for our next lives.  Journey and Destiny are both good reads.

Of course, if he is correct and nobody reincarnates without careful planning to be sure they don't repeat the same mistakes and to ensure that they bring sufficient energy to overcome any obstacles, one has to wonder about serial killers.  In such cases, you almost have to conclude that screw-ups happened somewhere along the line.

That's just another reason to wish that Bruce would perfect his phone system to the afterlife.

Another profound question!!  :) Both ACIM and Buddhism seem to say that we can transcend the whole dog and pony show that is the cycle of life, rebirth and death pretty much as you suggest Bets - that if I've got it right that it's precisely our belief in the reality of a self, the circumstances it finds itself within and the things it needs to do (karma) that keeps us going around.

This is another way of describing enlightenment - the seeing of the emptiness of self and of all form/realities. Realisation of the 'view'.

This is going to be controversial on this site, but it's also the reason why excessive focus on fiddling about with the afterlife is probably a diversion from the true task which is the achievement of this view - it perhaps causes us to invest more belief in the reality of what is essentially a (collective) mind made mirage or dream when the real game is to come to see through the whole edifice (see the comment on the role of meditation in this in the other thread)

This is why Buddhism regards the psychic and other abilities that often manifest with the beginnings of progress as a side show and a diversion - they act as bait with the result that we can more easily get drawn into this sort of stuff.....

Unfortunately ,we do indeed repeat and repeat the same old programs until we finally get it. The key is awareness, to focus on our journey whole heartedly and take note where there is a pattern.

When you reach a point where you just cant stand ,what ever the lesson is anymore, its then that you will change , you will take a stand and say no more!. The guides know this fact and be it difficult to believe, or we can even view the lessons as cruel, but this is how we learn.

The process of our learning leads to the final tests and those test are one, to open your heart two, to sacrifice for  another  so they may learn through your love and three to forgive. That it , it may seem simple it may seen unfair but this is what we agreed to and the three test above are our only way out of here.

balance wrote on Nov 1^st, 2007 at 9:49pm:

Unfortunately ,we do indeed repeat and repeat the same old programs until we finally get it. The key is awareness, to focus on our journey whole heartedly and take note where there is a pattern. When you reach a point where you just cant stand ,what ever the lesson is anymore, its then that you will change , you will take a stand and say no more!. The guides know this fact and be it difficult to believe, or we can even view the lessons as cruel, but this is how we learn. The process of our learning leads to the final tests and those test are one, to open your heart two, to sacrifice for  another  so they may learn through your love and three to forgive. That it , it may seem simple it may seen unfair but this is what we agreed to and the three test above are our only way out of here.

 As one born under Capricorn Sun closely square Pluto ruler of the 4th, and with certain other indications, i cannot agree more with the above.  Life is one long process of breaking to bend, and eventually completely bending the knees to the only true and real reality within/without. Deep and hard challenges without, can potentially strengthen the Spirit within.

 Happy bending, and for most, necessary breaking.  May life break only the ego, and you not break wind around others.  

Quote:

one has to wonder about serial killers.  In such cases, you almost have to conclude that screw-ups happened somewhere along the line.

hmm not necessarily... i fail to see how a serial killers' failures in life are any more serious than that of many peoples'.  there are tons and tons of people who abuse their children etc.  it is not the ONLY thing in their life - it's just part of their life.  and i guess without the ability to do terrible things, we'd be lacking in free will...  a serial killers' lesson could be to learn empathy from what they did to other people, or to overcome urges to do it in the first place.  terrible things will always happen on earth, that's for certain.  i think the only way to avoid terrible things is to avoid earth altogether.