Would you come back again (reincarnation)?

[partlycloudy]

I'm talking about reincarnation. It would be a horrible curse. I'm in pain 24/7 due to back problems in addition to Crohn's and a neurological problem. I also suffer from PTSD and anxiety relating to childhood issues.

I watched the movie "Frida" about the painter Frida Kahlo. She was in terrible pain and health for most of her life. I didn't expect for her life to resonate with me to such an extent. A short time before her death she wrote in her diary the following:

I hope the exit is joyful....and I hope never to return.

I never want to live life again. No thanks. I have a lot of blessings I'm truly thankful for but I wouldn't go through this suffering again for anything.

Just in case it sounds like it, I'm not suicidal. Just somber and having one of my "tired of it all" phases.

 

[Dexky]

Since we're talking hypotheticals anyway...if you could choose to come back as something other than human, what would you choose? I think a large(top of the food chain) bird or a dolphin or whale.

 

[Nytefyre]

I hope the exit is joyful....and I hope never to return.

Sounds great to me!

(great movie, btw!)

If I had to come back as another animal, it would be a snow leopard or some other type of big cat!

EDIT: Took out the big picture

 

[MADiMarc]

If I could come back as my dog (and only my dog) I would do it in a heart beat. I pampered my two so well they major overshot life expectancy & were healthy and active right until the end.

However, if I have already lived a former life and I am paying for the sins of that life, I must have been the whore of Babylon or a hooker working both sides of the canal in Venice!.

Michele

 

[David in Seattle]

There is a somewhat fringe theory in cosmology known as "Eternal Recurrence" which states that, following the Big Bang, the universe will expand to a certain point, then collapse back upon itself (the "Big Crunch"), after which there will be another expansion, in which all time will repeat itself exactly. The theory is that this continues in a perpetual, never ending cycle.

Philosophers such as Nietzsche have posited similar notions, quoting him:

"This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything immeasurably small or great in your life must return to you-all in the same succession and sequence-even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned over and over, and you with it, a grain of dust."

There's also the concept that if matter is finite, and time infinite, there is no escaping a scenario in which all matter is reconfigured exactly as it is now at some point, once again with an exact repetition of all events which have occurred previously.

Pretty terrifying, if you ask me.

 

[AndiGirl]

Only if I could come back again as a woman with a great body that's Crohns free. LOL!

 

[Dexky]

@David, I've heard that big crunch theory also. It presumes that while it has taken an estimated 6 billion yrs. for the universe to expand to it's current size at the speed of light (I think), the crunch will happen in an instant!! This bounce theory was proposed to me by a friend to answer a query I have about first cause...but there still has to have been a first big bang. All that cosmic dust had to have a beginning...at least that's what I believe.

On the other hand, maybe it's like that movie "The Fly", and the reason you are sick this go round is because some little piece of that cosmic dust got into your cosmic dust!! Kind of like, hey you got peanut butter in my chocolate!! Except, it's ******...not delicious!! Maybe next time, you'll get reconfigured correctly. You're really not a genius David, you just got lucky this time and got some of my brains...next time around, I get to be smarter than you! Fat chance!!

 

[Guest]

i'll try to get the garbled thoughts in my head that this thread has created, into some kind of legible type...lol

ok - IF this life was my troubled one, and the next would be trouble-free.. then yes, i'd like to come back, as me, and live the life i thought i was going to have..

but if it's true that reincarnation brings everything the same around and around, time and time again, for that soul.. then no thanks. i'd rather sink into oblivion.

if we come back as animals... i'd like to be a domestic cat. they don't have money worries, all they need to think about is food, being warm, catching birds, and being cuddled. that'll do me just fine

 

[MADiMarc]

Oh David how terrifying is right! I had read that theory before but put it out of my mind very quickly. I will continue as the ostrich of the group!

 

[Cookie]

Philosophers such as Nietzsche have posited similar notions, quoting him:

"This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything immeasurably small or great in your life must return to you-all in the same succession and sequence-even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned over and over, and you with it, a grain of dust."

Pretty terrifying, if you ask me.

His words are terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Somehow the thought of everything occurring exactly the same is comforting to me. Like it alleviates some of the pressure because it really plays into the idea of destiny. If your life is going to happen again and again, who's to say that it hasn't happened already. And if it will be the same every time, are you really in control of the decisions you make? It's not like the movie Ground Hog Day, where you get to change everything you did wrong the first time...

And I agree with you Dingbat, I'd come back as a house cat for sure. If anyone has read the book " The Art of Racing in the Rain" and buys into the idea that dogs come back as humans, then I think it is fitting that humans come back as cats. They are truly at the top of the chain!

 

[AZMOM]

I'm with you Partly Cloudy and my daughter is the one wiith the CD, not me. I love my life and am very blessed. But once is enough for me! I'm not sure what my purpose is some days other than to love these children, advocate like hell for my daughter until she's ready to advocate for herself and try to make the world around me a better place. If I accomplish any of that before I die (and I'm determined to), then I'm done!

So I'm with you.......I hope the exit is joyful....and I hope never to return.

And Mark, if we're talking hypotheticals, I like the dolphin plan. They are my favorite mammal! I want to go back to Hawaii and swim with them again!! Second in line would be an elephant and believe it or not, I know which herd in Africa I'd choose. I get to choose since we're hypothetically speaking!

J.

 

[glum chump]

Aaah, that Nietzshe...a nihilist philosopher who never let up!

As a Hindu, I've had reincarnation taught to me throughout my life..that my soul will transmigrate. I'm hoping though, that I might be getting closer to 'moksha', which means that my soul will not be reborn and I will have attained liberation. Given my current desire for a pair of boots and the nasty thoughts I was thinking about someone yesterday, I don't hold out much hope for liberation, though!

And then there's the theory of parallel universes---if a parallel universe exists, I hope I'm somewhere typing on my laptop sipping on a latte, eating popcorn and pizza. And that the ravages of illness don't show as acutely on my parallel universe face/body. And if multiple parallel universes exist, then I hope there's an 'evil' or more courageous me that's doing something about the person I was having nasty thoughts about . I personally prefer the parallel universe theory to reincarnation.

 

[JynxGirl]

I love the movie Frida. Not only is she one of my favorite painters, her life was so inspirational.
I always took her story as one where you can work through the pain to make something beautiful out of it, which is what she did.
That's why I paint and draw and write. It gives me something to do with my pain.
If I were to come back, I'd want to be human. There's so much good we can do with our lives, and I hope to be a person who brings about change.
*hugs* I"m sorry you're having a bad day.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I wouldn't come back. It sounds exhausting to live this life, then come back as something else and do it all over again. If you come back as a person, you have to go through puberty and high school and all that garbage and of course there's no guarantee you'll be healthy or happy. If you come back as an animal it'd probably be even worse, especially if you come back as a prey animal like a rabbit, or if you end up as something like a lab rat. Life would be short and unpleasant, I'd think. No thanks. When my time comes, just let me sleep.

 

[Pirate]

What would I like to come back as? Maybe a Greek God....... wait..... I think I'm already one. Maybe not, I'm of German decent. Was there any German Gods... cause I'm sure I'm one.
Seriously, if I wouldn't have Crohns, I'd want to come back as me and really be able to enjoy all the years I've had with my lovely wife. Without all the pain and worries that we have had to endure. I would love for her to be able to have all of me all the time. The me I really am.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

I'd come back and do everything exactly the same. (So far anyways.)
Yeah, it's hard sometimes, but I'd do it all over again. Crap my pants in public, ass surgery, everything. Even my miscarriage (worst week of my life) made me what I am today. I'd want nothing to change.

Well, maybe I'd want more kitty cats. My husband does not want more than one and I'd love a bunch.

 

[tiloah]

His words are terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Somehow the thought of everything occurring exactly the same is comforting to me. Like it alleviates some of the pressure because it really plays into the idea of destiny. If your life is going to happen again and again, who's to say that it hasn't happened already. And if it will be the same every time, are you really in control of the decisions you make? It's not like the movie Ground Hog Day, where you get to change everything you did wrong the first time...

Actually this theory is really motivating me to get my affairs in order so future incarnations of me can be happy.

As to the original question: No, no, no. If I had a choice I would not come back. I've had plenty enough experiences at this point to feel satisfied. And as for what I would come back as if I had a choice... maybe a lion or bear or something. Anything that gets to sleep more often than not.

 

[partlycloudy]

Anything that gets to sleep more often than not.

LOL, you may just have a winning argument here. I'm going with bear because of the sleep thing plus I can get fat and hairy and have babies in my sleep. Yeah.

 

[sawdust]

As far as I am aware, reincarnation and some idea of karma are often associated with one another. If that's the case, we should all be reincarnated as healthy, athletic types who can eat any and all the desires of the day. :banana:

 

[ameslouise]

Kind of like, hey you got peanut butter in my chocolate!! Except, it's ******...not delicious!!

OMG. That is so funny!

I am hoping that I got all the ****** health in my family and that means my husband and son will never have to suffer. That's what I tell myself, anyway, and it helps me to bear the burden.

Would I come back? I try not to think too much about things I have no control over. Jews don't really focus so much on the afterlife, heaven or hell - we're much more concerned with living our life and being a good person here on earth. That's what I can control and that's what I focus on.

-Amy

 

[Ari]

Something is telling me we live only once, but given a chance I would come back as a wiser and healthier version of myself.

 

[Jennifer]

Of course I'd come back! I don't plan on dying in the first place though.

Reincarnation isn't about coming back as the same person and dealing with all the same issues and problems all over again. Its about having a new life and or a new beginning and you may not even be in human form. Sounds like a great idea to me.

 

[Nyx]

I'm certain I've been here before, and I'll be back again. I have no doubt about that

 

[Jennifer]

Someone told me once that I have an "old soul." Wouldn't just about everyone have an old soul? Or maybe we don't come back right away. But if reincarnation is real, then I think I have been around the block more than a few times.

Forgot to mention. Sometimes I have recurring dreams about swimming with two other killer whales and I'm not afraid of them or the deep water (I have a fear of deep water currently) and I get more of a parental feeling from the other two killer whales. Maybe I've been one before.

 

[Dexky]

It's your spirit animal Crabs!! :lol:...hey, it could be!! It would be one of my first picks!

 

[tiloah]

LOL, you may just have a winning argument here. I'm going with bear because of the sleep thing plus I can get fat and hairy and have babies in my sleep. Yeah.

When I got home I thought of the perfect animal to come back as. A sloth!

 

[David in Seattle]

I'm surprised no one has suggested coming back as one of certain varieties of large tortoise, some of which are thought to live 250+ years.

But while we're on the subject, I think I'd rather be a machine. The program "Star Trek the Next Generation" had a sentient android character named "Data". As smart as a room full of 30th century computers and with the strength of 10 men, he never got tired or sick, and if something broke, it was simply replaced. Good as new. I was always amused that the humans on the program "felt sorry" for Data, because he had no emotions. He could not FEEL. Yeah, wouldn't it be a bitch to have no concept of fear, pain & loneliness? :rof:

I guess you couldn't ROFL, but that seems like a fair trade for a limitless lifespan of perfect health.

 

[Jennifer]

Data had no soul.

That sounds harsh to me right now. I'm just tired and should probably go to bed. Data's awesome.

 

[partlycloudy]

Okay, lol, bear or sloth.

I've often wondered the same thing, David. Pity because Data had no feelings? Huh? I"m liking that idea.

I read up on lobotomies once out of curiosity. Back in the day when this wasn't considered unethical, they performed lobotomies on some patients who were in constant pain. Post lobotomy the patients stopped complaining and enjoyed their lives, such as they were. The feedback from the patients was that they were still in pain, they just didn't care and THAT was the big improvement.

I've been chewing on that one for years.

 

[MADiMarc]

Well spit it out! ick! I kind of like the Data idea but the lobotomy thing just creeps me out! One Flew Over the Coo-coo's Nest stuff. Okay and now how old am I?!
Michele

 

[partlycloudy]

Oh, I didn't mean chewing on the idea of getting a lobotomy, lol. It DID sound that way. I've been thinking about the context things.

I just watched that movie last week for the first time. The ending totally took me by surprise.

 

[Zalanicht]

If true then we have already lived this life many times so why not. Why try to avoid the inevitable if we even can?

 

[MADiMarc]

Oh, I didn't mean chewing on the idea of getting a lobotomy, lol. It DID sound that way. I've been thinking about the context things.

I just watched that movie last week for the first time. The ending totally took me by surprise.

Yeah, just poking you in the ribs a bit!
Jack Nicholson (spelling) doing what he does best.