With that said, if you like the topic even a little bit, come share a few lightbulb moments with me.
My first category of inquiry is regarding remembering past lives. You have so many people claiming they were Napoleon, Caesar or Alexander the Great- making the entire idea of reincarnation look like a joke which really sucks. However, what I find more problematic than that is that no one really talks about past lives as animals or plants. What is more, I have yet to hear someone remember a past life where they were a dinosaur or an alien being from a different planet. Seriously, what kind of cosmic joke would it be that some souls would always be reborn as humans and others as single cell organisms? Or, is there a reason why you as someone who is human cannot remember being a bacteria? Would it cause some sort of psychosis because it is such a radically different life form? Or, we have a memory of such past lives but cannot identify it because we cannot internalize what it is like to live as bacteria.
My second category of inquiry is about the concept of the immortal soul that keeps reincarnating. If the entire existence reincarnates in cycles- including the entire universe- then why do we think that the immortal soul that keeps reincarnating is not just another higher level incarnation of something else? Why do we believe there are only two layers to this thing? Also, have you ever wondered why so many people think you tend to reincarnate quickly? If the immortal soul that reincarnates is legit, I like to think it does not count time the same way we do. Also, it may not feel any urgency to reincarnate too quickly like one incarnation after another. Maybe it just does one life and then waits until the entire universe reincarnates or something. Or, maybe it waits a few thousand years or just a few days.
My third category of inquiry is about the nature of good and evil assuming reincarnation is legit. It could mean that, while as humans we ideally should have a moral compass strive towards good, better and best for ourselves and those around us, the souls that reincarnate seem to be looking to create all life and experience every imaginable experience there is- from wealth and happiness and peace to murder, torture, abortion, birth defects, illness, pandemics, untold suffering... If so, will everything we as humans identify as bad and evil ever disappear through our work, effort and progress? Or, will life always be bad for someone? After all, every single thing you do is bad for someone or some thing out there. Is this by design far above the pay grade of us as a species?
My fourth category of inquiry is what would happen if we ever got total and complete proof that reincarnation resists. Not even completely understand everything about it- just proof it is real. Would people be readier to end their own lives? Would people live less responsibly? Would good people become even better and bad people even worse? Would we be more reckless or would we cherish life and want to make it way better for everyone so everyone does better next time they reincarnate as humans? Would we live more in the moment or plan multi-generational projects? Would we burn the planet to the ground or would we plant trees, the shadow of which we would never live to enjoy? Finally, would this knowledge consume us to the point that life would become nothing more than a giant death cult until we decide we must bury this knowledge so we become free from it and live in blissful ignorance again? Powerful questions for sure.
There it is, dearest readers- an inquiry as old as human philosophical thought. What are your thoughts on it? Do you have any interesting stories to share on the topic? Share if you like and I hope you have a good weak and a great weekend! :*