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Wed 14 Apr, 2010 02:35 am
Some thoughts on reincarnation by Alan
But let's assume that the soul does exist and inhabits a new body when the old one dies. Why does the soul forget its past experiences? What would make the soul's memories stop when the old body dies? Why would the self - the presumed soul - not be able to remember? Is the soul not the ultimate self? Why would a new body limit the self's ability to conjure its own memories? And for those who claim that d?j?-vu or whatever is repressed past memories, I might ask what the mechanism is for memories to be blocked or let through. If they are blocked, how are they getting through? Why can't they all get through?
And if you're old memories are lost forever, then what is the point of being reincarnated? The point of reincarnation is to extend life, but if you can't retain memories or lessons or knowledge from those past lives, how exactly have you extended your life? It's not much better than saying you achieve immortality by living on in the hearts and minds of your friends. I want to live forever by living forever. I don't want some memory or trace of me living on.
Now for the practical problems of reincarnation. (We'll just deal with humans for right now). Where were all the souls before the earth existed? Where will they go when the earth is destroyed? Will they continue to exist and be sentient, to interact in soul-land? Then why come into bodies at all? And then what if the ratio of bodies-to-souls is off, say more souls than bodies? Do the souls just hang out in soul-land waiting for a new body to inhabit? Or what if there are more bodies than souls? Are new souls born? Or are there some people who are just automatons - functioning robots without souls at all? Could we tell the automatons apart from the real people?
Now let's deal with animals, if you accept trans-special reincarnation. Clearly some animals have different sorts of mental functioning abilities. We can reason better, rats can discern smells better, bats can hear better. Different animals can see in different colors, very much a mental process of the mind. How does the soul make up for these things? When we get transferred to a chicken, do we lose our ability to reason? When we are transferred out of a wolf, do we lose the knowledge of how to hunt? Are our souls restricted in what they can express on their host? And then of course, what's the cutoff point of creatures imbued with souls? Do rats have souls? Bees? Roaches? Bacteria? Viruses? Replicating proteins like Mad Cow? Even if you restrict reincarnation to just humans; at what point in the human evolutionary chain was the first soul imbued?
Now how about the idea that the creature you get to inhabit depends on how good you were in your past life. Who keeps track? Who is the great record-keeper that sends you to your new body? What criteria are used? Is it objective - could it be objective? Does it make mistakes? How does it force our souls into the hosts? Could the soul refuse? And you have to wonder; is your fate graded on a curve? What if everyone in one generation acts perfectly and kindly and loving to everyone? Surely the less desirable bodies are still being born and need to be inhabited. Would a couple of hugs be the difference between a hawk and a slug?
@Alan McDougall,
Can we use a certain logic to try reasoning with reincarnation Alan? You have to accept the possibilities and then try to be logical about its purpose and its expression. If you cant accept its possibilities then you will never be able to express yourself logically because the idea to you is not logical.
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