This is part of my process to explain why I feel my view of the Actor as the Higher Self makes sense to me. It is merely offered as an alternative to many of the other criticisms of reincarnation. Just putting it out there. Comments are Welcome.

As a disclaimer I should point out that I have been for many years diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, which in spite of the view of some on this board, is NOT a mental illness. It is a behavioral disorder. If you don't know the difference I strongly suggest you look it up before making an uninformed conclusion, unless you prefer a close minded approach to enlightenment.

On reincarnation. The Actor (Higher Self)perhaps experiences reincarnation, the character does not as that would be ridiculous and therefore the new character cannot comment very precisely on events from a past life. It would all be sketchy and difficult to discern. Or there is no reincarnation, but if the higher self is the Actor, as I believe, then the idea of no reincarnation is as ridiculous as the belief that the flesh and blood character can understand a past life with any certainty. You see, the bigger picture will always be bigger than the character can comprehend, just as Heathcliff has no knowledge of a world beyond what is created by Emily Bronte, so the characters you and I play as flesh and blood upon the stage (planet) keep us contained from seeing the big picture.

Is seeing the big picture important to spiritual growth? Is spiritual growth important to advancement within the bigger system? I have no answer, only the feelings I get from experiencing as I do. As an Actor of flesh and blood here I have no fear of delving into the mechanics of “Good and Evil” characters for I know that I am ultimately in control of their actions. I know I am acting even though the character certainly may not know this. But a character with free will would be very dangerous on this stage (planet) to say the least. It is quite the experiment. I don’t know what the Actor/Higher Self learns from this experiment and it’s really none of my business. The life of my character (Beau) is breathed through my Actor Self. To act is to do. Ultimately I am a doer. I take action, but as a character I can choose not to take action, but for the Actor Self not taking action IS an action.

If a director is necessary to create and deploy this plot-line then I will find out how well I’ve done at achieving the goals of the Actor/Self in due time. Otherwise I am the director of my story and I will evaluate from a higher perspective at some point. I imagine my progress will be based on how well my character met the obligations given to it by the Actor/Self, than it will be based on how well I played along with those who would distract me from our goals.

Yours,
Beau

Dave, I assume you asking me this as it would come from a worldly perspective and I would have to say that I am always conscious that I am Beau when playing, say Hamlet, but if I did not KNOW that I am Beau it would be quite dangerous wouldn't it? My characters still have my conscience and obviously my consciousness but their decision space is limited to the script and my abilities to convey those characters. The character of flesh and blood (Beau) is the higher self of the character Hamlet. Beau's higher self has the same opportunities. Hamlet is not aware of Beau but in a small sense. Hamlet is aware that he lives and breathes and reacts with other characters in the small world of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He ponders many of the ideas that Beau ponders, but Hamlet's conclusion is limited by the decision space of the playwright, the actor, and the director. Just as a flesh and blood character is limited by the decision space they are confronted with until they acknowledge a higher source of understanding.

And to answer the actual question I would say that knowing I am an actor enhances my ability to get into the character because it increases the decision space and gives greater depth and meaning to the "fictitious" character, but that character is only able to draw on what information Beau (as actor) supplies him with.

What if our DNA contains memories from all of our ancestors?

That would explain the "deja-vu" phenomena.  It would also explain why we have certain talents and fears that cannot be traced to our own childhood or upbringing.

It would also explain what we think of as  reincarnation.  It's not actually past lives of our own that we are recalling, it's really the lives of all those who preceded us.

Just a thought as I unwind from a couple hours on the tennis court. 

R

Once again, Beau...this line of thought resonates amazingly clearly.

As for the dna, while it is primarily genetic encoding, its infusion by the soul would give it the encoded soul information as there is no genetic connections between souls...

Very odd...I typed that last sentence without realizing what I was writing.  I was thinking about shakespearean players and Beau's wonderfully written metaphor and the next paragraph on dna came out.  I do not know anything about genetics or dna, and precious little about souls and reincarnation!  Anyway, hope it helps.

There is no such thing as new soals.All soals were created at the created at the same time.as jesus says,before you were placed in the wome,I knew you. Old soals are soals that come back more often.

Along with my fear that death ends all consciousness is this whole other "what if"

What if I am like a clone and the real "spirit" me is watching it all and when the clone/body me dies that's it for this body me and consciousness and the spirit me lives on but it's not the same... you know? lol.

Yeah along those same lines of information we proccess.. earlier I was on the computer reading the forum hoping for more replies to my post that would make me feel better and my wife was sitting on the couch going "blah blah blah, blah blah blah. blah blah blah blah blah blah. Then later she was asking me what she wanted to get at walmart cause she couldn't remember what she said and she was freaking out about how she couldn't remember. I sat there a moment and thought about each thing it could be and bam there it was. I was able to remember what she said even though I was really REALLY not paying attention. Apparently everything she said to me is stored up there in my head, all I have to do is focus and pull it out.

Of course, this is based on if reincarnation is not a choice. If it is a choice, then I can get down with that. I can accept that my prior conscious knew of what I do not find acceptable now and was okay with it. Perhaps because maybe it knew it would do good things and redeem any other transgressions and now the "it" is me and we've agreed we're going to continue doing good things in this life and at death I will not return to this Earth but explore the others. Unless the afterlife gets boring and reincarnating is the only real escape from it. But from what I have read of Bruce's take on the afterlife, Victor Zammit's, and what has been conveyed to psychics and mediums...the Afterlife is a place you definitely will not want to leave once you're settled in.