Reincarnation

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Maybe the former inhabitants of Venus are running a car wash in a big crater on the dark side of the moon?

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Maybe THEY are...why? do you need your car washed?

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People can conjure up romantic and comforting notions about any number of things, but that doesn't make them true.

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What's "true"? can you define that for me? But please...in your own post labeled "Truth, as I see it."

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A philosophical question: when a person who ingests LSD speaks of the amazing things he saw when he was tripping...were they real?

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Do you mean a philosophical question like my original post? No need to respond--that was a rhetorical question, since the answer is so obvious.

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> Horatio

That doesn't really add any cogency to your argument.

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Who said I was trying to? Perhaps I was just suggesting that neither you nor I have the answers to what's beyond "reality's veil" as you put it. Perhaps I was just soliciting peoples' opinions. Perhaps I was just curious what other people thought on the subject and wasn't looking for an argument, as you so obviously and CONSTANTLY are.

That said, and since I was, in fact, looking for other peoples' opinions on the subject and now know yours, please do us all a favor and refrain from further posts on the subject, except in your own thread.

Thank you very much.

Doood, you don't own the threads, nor the lunar carwashs.> What's "true"?Are you actually Bill Clinton?I would not be so bold as to define the word "truth", but the the Random House Unabridged Dictionary's sixth definition is to the point:In reply to:an obvious or accepted factIdle speculation and fantasy is not the same thing as "truth", but we're all free to believe whatever we like.I spoke to someone who said that a close friend of his killed himself, after talking about his view of heaven -- a wonderful paradise. He had gotten that idea from a friend of his who had described the same scenario and killed himself. The guy who I spoke to still feels guilty about not having picked up the hint, since his friend had tried to kill himself twice before he succeeded.

I wonder what it means to get reincarneted to or from a tree...or a yeast cell...or a virus...or a mitochondrionWell if you're Buddist then it means you wern't very good in your past life

So the billions [a guess] of trees were bad people, along with the zillions of bacteria? Or are some of them frog souls, politician souls, and telemarketer souls?

I'm not sure why it's considered such a great deal to be a human. I'd rather be a sea otter.

[Info on Buddhism]

Yea, I was wondering about that. Why is it so great to be reincarnated as a person. And do they have a hyrachy of animals like, the person reincarnated as a horse was better in their past life then the person reincarnated as a dolphin or an eagle or a naked mole rat.why would some of them be frog souls? Is it because frogs are bad or because these are the souls of particularly evil frogs?

Angel can turn you into a newt.

Evil weasels become time-share telemarketers. Nasty amoebas become Amway salespeople.

Ahhhhh, so that's how it all works?I feel so enlightened Maybe I want to be a hedgehog. There so fun and kinda spikey and cute with a really stupid name, and they always drown in swimming pools...yea, I wanna come back as a hedgehog

reincarnation = reincarcerationThe goal is parinirvana (ending the cycle). The continual birth/death cycle is not a good thing.

Wooo, interesting. Thank you.I thought that the point was to try and be good so you can come back as really cool stuff.hehe

in a past life, I was reincarnated as a stud! It kinda sucked spending 10 years on the back tire of a 72 Nova in Yellowknife.

alas, i must say that i hold no faith in "reincataiton" or Heaven and hell for that matter, I do believe, and find it most comforting to believe, that this is it, theres no white light at the end. theres nothing

She DID turn me into a newt........But....I got bettuh.....Dooood....say what you want, just don't be argumentative simply because you can. I know I started this thread as a theological question and that often breeds an argument, but my focus was in making people THINK about what they believe, not to just respond based on rote dogma learned young, or from purely emotional experience.

How is that comforting?

Disagreement doesn't imply hostility, but your reply to me was rather sarcastic, wasn't it?> not to just respond based on rote dogma learned young, or from purely emotional experience."There's no evidence to support that claim" is "rote dogma"? The claims in favor are based on what besides emotion and wishful thinking?The problem is that some people's idea of fair and balanced means giving equal time to all points of view, no matter how kooky. There are hour-long programs on supernatural occurances, where people trying to present rational explanations can hardly get a foot in the door. It's just not as much fun as magical thinking.There was a program tonight on the National Geographic channel about the Chupacabra. People were literally hostile when presented with a rational explanation. They'd rather believe that a creature came from outer space to attack their chickens.So, some people beleive they were once Cleopatra, and others want to see the evidence. And then there's the question of a "soul", which is at the center of the reincarnation idea...> ... comforting ...This is at the root of most supernatural belief, including religious belief, and including personality cults.

well if i were to think that way, id be comforted in the thought that i wasnt going to hell or heaven simply non existence

I don't find cesing to exist a comforting thought. I always kinda thort of life, or your "soul" in terms of that conservation of energy thing, "engery can not be destroyed or created but transfered from one form to another" or what ever it says. you can't just, not exist. And I don't belive in heaven/hell so I'm good with my own way of thinking.
I guess thats a good thing about religion isn't it? bring people comfort and such so they're not scared shitless to die. I don't think I am scared about it, death seems very calm to me. I think it's more of a fear of the unknown that drives people to make religions that say things about heaven or a good after life for comfort...
ok I'll shut up now :grin:

Dammit, i was meant to turn you on, not into a newt taps wand wonder if this thing is broken or somat.........wanders off to find a frog

conservation of energy thing, "engery can not be destroyed or created but transfered from one form to another"That applies to the physical world. When people are talking about "energy" in spirituality, they're not talking about the same thing, although sometimes they think they are.When your car dies, where does its soul go?

its comforting to believe that this is not simply a test.

If life were a test we'd all fail.