reincarnation is a need. You can delay it as long as you wish but some problems will persist till you decide to face them in a new physical experience.

Lets put it this way.We are given a long rope with knots every 2 inchs apart.the knots mean past lives,and when we come to the end of our rope,then you will find out where you are going.heaven or hell.we will keep coming back here untill we get it right.George

Related to Doc's post below, when Robert Monroe made contact with his I-there (his third book), I get the impression the selves considered to be his past selves are selves that still existed in their own right, even as his current self existed.

A recent NDE I posted suggests the same. It is as if each self that incarnates is a composite of past incarnations that continue to exist as each new incarnation takes place.

I don't what's true, but I know this is true. Not all people who live in the physical plain today have manifested an inner yearning to know what spiritual truth is.  They'll just continue to believe whatever belief system they learned when they were young, or they won't concern themselves about it.

When it comes to people who are spiritually curious, often to the point of obsession,  it sure doesn't seem like it is simply a matter of how their current incarnational conditioning is effecting them. This factor seems much more compelling to me than answers sceptics aren't able to come up with.

Quote:

You wrote:
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"Treat others, as you wish to be treated yourself"

Joke: What if I'm a masochist.

And now to serious...

Like most of us, I have tried to be a good person and follow this golden rule - as in recently - but in the past I've not been the kindest person in the world. Of course I regret those things, but is that enough?

Besides, sometimes I feel that I'm in hell right now. As I remember every bad thing I have done to others.
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My guess is that our afterlives will be strongly influenced by our MEMORIES of our lives, that they will reflect our dominant basic feelings that we had in life (i.e. if you were a depressive in life, you will have a gloomy, depressing afterlife. If you were happy, you'll have a happy one.)
As far as the people you "mistreated" - I don't know, were you a thief or cheater? Or a bully perhaps (if you're 17, that's my guess as to what you're talking about.)
Assuming you were a bully then (just ASSUMING, mind you) - well, compared to your own "hellish feelings" that you speak of - I'd say your former victims are WAY worse off than you are, as they DESPISE themselves for not getting up the nerve to kick your face in. That is their "hell."
Did you enjoy tormenting them? Then perhaps your afterlife will be (partly, anyway) characterized by the feelings of pride, power, and happiness you felt when you worked weaker people over. (Maybe your "heaven", then, will be one where you get to push people around as much as you like.)
And the people you mistreated? Their "hell" after they die, will be one where they can't stop acting like cowards when faced with aggression, and they will spend eternity feeling like ineffectual weaklings, hiding like rats in holes, only coming out after dark, and hating the sound of their own voices. Why? Because subconsciously they FELT like cowards for NOT taking you on in life, no matter how they rationalized not standing up to you as "smart" or "good" or what have you.
Sound crazy? Well, maybe "Ultimate Reality" has WAY different "values" (if it can be said to have values at all!) than our culture does. Look at Nature - predatory behavior is REWARDED in Nature, among animals. So why not among humans? We're a part of Nature, too. (And what is bullying, theft, ect. but PREDATORY behavior after all?)

B-man

I'm not saying I'm a bad person if I think about it objectively. I have been mistreaten and I have mistreated, but not much at all, maybe not more than normal person (ordinary people aren't Jesuses, you know). Still enough for feeling bad for things that I have done. It feels like hell, and I hope I can forgive myself, if not in this life, then in another.

Kardec,

Thanks for the input.  Any topic can be boiled down simplistically or made complex.  However, reincarnation, while assumed is a complex issue.  I currently am Matthew.  My memories, fears and anxieties along with strengths are based on my earth/life experiences.  If there are 342 past life experiences loaded on top of this current one, I'm certainly not aware of it on any conscious level.  My identity, my soul is inextricably linked with this earth life right now, in the present time.  If you tell me that as a carpenter 100 years ago I built a cathedral, or committed a heinous crime, I would have no memory of it - truly.  If you then say, "ah but it is woven into your present karma, and part of why you are here," I would say - you can't have it both ways.

You see if our memories help define us, and in reincarnation you wipe memories clean, then you can only act on your current life, good decisions or bad.  Unless you go to a past life regression therapist such as Dave.  Few people do that. 

We live in the present with our lives, social situations and spirit interacting with others.  If we are here to "get it right," then that is what is important, not the idea of previous incarnations.  Other new age beliefs and religions feel we only go around once, and then may evolve in the spirit realms.  Some believe that there is no way to "get it right," or "get it wrong," that we are only here to experience and be alive.

So reincarnation can be a more complex issue than you give credit.  Before I  start analyzing my past life mistakes, I hope to make more sense out of my present and live as good a life in my present as I can.

Matthew

Hi I was told by this medium that you dont have to reincarnate ever if you dont want to .You can just stay in the spirit world .Its your own choice. God bless juditha.