The River Lethe - Forgetfulness of the Soul -

Have you ever asked yourself if you came back as your most hated sun sign, what would you be like?  Have you ever thought about the same with race?  Forgetfulness is what its all about. The place I will start is the Greeks. Ah, the Greeks, those ultimately syncretistic peoples who, breathing the Spirit of Democracy were about COMBINING ideas, absorbing ideas and making new ideas, giving them new names and packaging them in Hellenic ways! The Greeks, sitting where they sat in their craggy stony island places, in between the East and the West are a wonderful source for so many ideas.

Paying the Boatman and Spiritual "Lethargy"

The River Lethe is their name for the process of forgetting - what happens to the Soul when it passes from Death to the Other Side, from the Other Side to Rebirth. The word "lethe" has the same root word as lethargy or sleepiness. We are supposed to be forgetful of our past lives, otherwise how could we live our current lives? The ancient practice of putting coins on top of the eyes of the dead was to "pay the boatman" who took you across that River of Forgetfulness. So they devised Imagery that feels vivid and somewhat like a movie. Greek Mythology was highly picturesque. It all tends to stick in the mind.

"The Uttermost Farthing" -

Christ refers to this in his picture of "agreeing with your adversary quickly, lest you be taken to the uttermost farthing". Most see this as a warning against being overly litigious. It is really most likely Jesus' reference to a judgment phase for the soul. (It has recently been shown through archaeology and history that Jesus was very Hellenized. We can deal with that in another blog) The point here is to appreciate the fact that your Soul is under constant assessment and analysis, and as you pass, you should be in a state of peace, not disputing and struggling with the fingers of judgment that are pointing at you. "Agree with your advesary quickly" says: "Get some perspective. You are in a State of Grace, you are about to go to the Other Side. Don't struggle with the Accuser. It's over for now. Let the process work. Do not exhaust your spiritual resources fighting like a fool for your Virtue."

The Grand Ovearching Comfort that Lies in the Concept of Reincarnation -

The point of this blog is to get people to think about all of the psychological, emotional and spiritual benefits that can be derived from contemplating this "divine mechanism for soul development". For those of you who might not be aware of it, reincarnation is a concept that spans ages, centuries, and cultures. There is no need to document that here. Of course, culture and history hold LOTS OF OPTIONS for what reincarnation means. I will discuss how I am approaching the topic, but let me acknowledge here the multiplicity of offerings from around the world on reincarnation.

You have a background story -

Is there a rationale for your lot in life, the people you have met, the positives and negatives of your fate and your character? Forgetfulness dictates that you do not remember your background story, but the reality of your life - its complexity, apparent contradictions and mixedness of life, make each individual ask - is there a WHY to all of these various factors? If it is random, then you must deal with what that sense of randomness does to you. If you have a ONCE AROUND sense, then luck, curses, despair, privilege, blessings and all those words tend to have more power. But if you see the background story as an explanation for your soul development, then you can be in a constant state of transmutation of trouble, building on blessings, crushing curses. If you think in good news/bad news terms, its easy to get discouraged with life. If you see your soul as going through a set of experiences that with conscious work will all be beneficial to the eventual further development of your soul, then Life's Lot does not need to be a weighty burden.

You've Gotten Another Chance -

I once told my sister that the fact that she was alive and on the planet was evidence that redemption and salvation were hers. The divine has declared that you can learn more lessons and progress in your spiritual journey. You have a life. That is a positive statement that you are progressing. If you have been "beaten up" in the past, this current life is a declaration that you need not be a victim again. You are not granted another individual existence for failure. You have gotten another chance and that is reason for Joy!

Ultimately the Mystery of You has a Great Ending -

Why is a mystery story so compelling? Because you know that everything will be explained in the end. A mystery is a great mystery if it keeps you guessing and wondering and coming up with potential answers and being forced to look at everybody as the solution to the mystery. That faith that your good mystery story will be satisfying in the end is what reincarnation offers you. Reincarnation says: "There is a reason for your story, and when the story is over, your wonderfully complex character will manifest again with even more color and texture for your development in the next life."

Death is not Final -

I am trying to avoid discussions of heaven and hell and purgatory because they tend to put dead people in spots for the "organizational purpose" of "where do dead people go?" Reincarnation sees death as NECESSARILY TRANSITIONAL. The human body is only going to live a short time. The soul having previous existences, current existences and future existences "knows" that multiple lives are the only way to build character, become more completely textured and arrive at spiritual states it has not previously had.

Kabbalah's Shards of Light -

One vision of soul development (ancient wisdom from Mosaic/Egyptian tradition) sees our souls as once very young splintered fragments of divine light, and filled with the glory of divine company. But at the same time, these "shards" of divine light were ovewhelmed with a sense of their "lack of development" or "unworthiness". These shards (young souls) ate of the "Bread of Shame". They thought that being so profoundly blessed and yet so undeveloped made them in need of development. Of course, the Divine said: "You can't have it any better than this, but you can get better, sure! Physical existence will give you opportunities for development. As you go out on this journey, you are going to feel lost and alone, many times. But you will be brought back from life to life to contemplate your development. This is your decision, but in the end its what the Divine wants too." This proposed dialogue gives a sense of what reincarnation, as a belief imparts.

"The Fall of Man" was not our grim determination to be GOD LIKE and impetuous and rebellious, the fall was our recognition that we needed to go through a process that would take ages. Virtually everyone I have ever listened to characterizes the "fall" in wholly negative ways. Orthodox Christianity makes Adam and Eve the "heavies" in a drama that is over before it starts.

But reincarnation settles mankind into a Spiritual Context of Continuity. The Roman Catholics love the fall of man as a concretized spiritual reality because then they get to run around SAVING everyone, especially on the battlefield, because we are these LOST SOULS about to slip into OBLIVION. If you believe this, I am sorry to offend you, but it is not a particularly elevating vision of the human state. It works for Orthodoxy because it casts the lowly people separate from a God who sees them as damned, and the intermediary priesthood negotiating the fate of each "newborn" soul.

Salvation is not the end, but the beginning -

When I look into the eyes of a newborn child, my heart does not overflow with awe because I am contemplating its hoped for redemption from the strangle hold of physicality. I am filled with awe because I see an ancient soul wrapped up in one of life's new packages, ready for a new round of experience. Birth is a salvation for new complications and challenge which will happen to an old soul. Death is a release into a new round of such activity.

Dying Suddenly In Youth -

When Mrs. Ryan's feet and knees buckle on her front porch, upon hearing that she has lost 3 sons, in that painful scene from "Saving Private Ryan", (one of the best movies ever made), your heart sinks in your chest. The awareness of this "mortal coil" being shuffled off is always with us. "In the midst of life, we are truly in death." We are like grass and flowers so beautifully manifest and yet so quickly gone.

With reincarnation you need not conjure up a scene in your head of Mikey bouncing his ball on God's driveway with all these other similarly situated youths. Reincarnation puts a soul back into the running up and down quality of the process. Losing one's life unexpectedly in mid-stream is probably one of those major soul experiences that is a "requirement" for one to go through. Think of the major shocks and pains in life, as a soul, you have probably gone through a selection of those experiences. Loss, to be understood and appreciated, makes its mark on us all. As a species we have cut enough young people down in the vibrancy of youth. Reincarnation puts a quiet comfort in contemplating that that young one will be back in the flow of flesh sometime soon.

Racial and Cultural Prejudices -

Reincarnation says: "You don't know what you used to be, you don't know who you are going to be in the future, so try to get some neutrality about who you are dealing with." In the SUBJECTIVITY OF YOUR CURRENT EXISTENCE, your identity tells you how to feel about others. Human cultural, ethnic, linguistic worlds are constantly creating a person's reality. We can not resist thinking of ourselves as Americans, Brazilians, Germans, Cubans, Majorcans or Chinese. We are where we are born, brought up and pickled. And religion as a cultural creation, perpetuates that reality of what it is to be a socialized enculturated human.

BUT if you believe in reincarnation, you have a thought in your head that keeps you in check. "Last time, I could have been like that guy. Next time, I could be like her." At this moment in time, that might not be comforting to you in your current state of mind, but as a backdrop of human consciousness, this thought could alleviate racial, strident, virulent, fighting fury. At least, as a night time nugget of contemplation, it might calm your soul a bit and give you a different kind of look from a 30,000 foot view of the kingdom that is your conscious and subconscious mind.

"I'm depraved on account I'm deprived." -

In "West Side Story" the gang members sang to Officer Krupke about how people were poorly socialized and thus criminal. In the 50's these ideas were up for more ridicule than they are now. But presently, we also consider that NOT EVERYBODY who is deprived becomes depraved. Character, will, choice and determination also come into play. I bring this up, not to restart the "nature/nurture" controversy, but rather to talk about how reincarnation is life's way of saying that EVERYONE is a Distinctive Soul with a Unique Past and our Own Special Will and Horoscope. What you decide to do in your life is a result of all of these uniquenesses. One can say: That we are just smart apes who have a dynamic need for security and food and comfort and people don't even have souls" Reincarnation says: "Talk like that if you will, but you are a divine individual with a plan. This puts a heavy responsibility on the soul. Reincarnation puts a burden on the identity. It puts a burden on the heart and head to come up with a plan based upon self respect and a sense of individual destiny.

Relationships have Greater Potential Meaning -

Some or our relationships in life are not loaded with meaning. Some are meaningful but negative. Some relationships are long term, meaningful and full of love. With reincarnation, you are constantly looking for the poetry and sense of relationships, because you believe that the OTHER GUY also is a divine soul with a past and a purpose. And perhaps, just perhaps. YOU HAVE A PAST WITH THEM. This fuels speculation that can never be determined. It is entertainment often, for people trying to have a more special kind of relationship -- imbue it with greater meaning. This doesn't hurt. It gives people a greater reverance for each other. "Soul Mate" is a term that is popular and is based on the idea that this is a more transcendent relationship. Previous lives is just a more fascinating term because it quickly leaps to "previous relationships" in those previous lives. Since nothing can be confirmed, and only speculated upon, it becomes fodder for friendliness and reasons to contemplate your similarity of dispositions and values.

NAMASTE -

"The divine in me acknowledges the divine in you." This ancient eastern idea faces human interchange as being one in which our divinity is constantly being carried around and facing other people who also have the divine residing within. This affects human consciousness if you let it. Reincarnation, as a belief held, is a reminder that everyone we are dealing with is a child of god with a load of karmic action in their past. It makes you not necessarily tolerant, but aware. One can conclude that the fixed aspects of life come from our past and we should accept that fact in others. Reincarnation keeps us ever in mind that there is this fixity that we do not need to become overdramatic about. People are not doing things AT you on PURPOSE, they are just, most of the time, acting our their horoscopes and working off their karma and approaching the world in a generalized way. Seldom do we need to take things as personally seriously as we do.  These ideas open up new ways of seeing daily life.