When you think about it, wouldn’t it be an incredible waste of an immortal soul if we can only have one, brief life? After all– about 80 years is only a drop in the bucket compared to eternity.
Isn’t it particularly wasteful for those who die young and barely get a chance to live? It would be like winning an all-expenses paid trip to Disneyland, walking into the park, going on the Pirates of the Caribbean and leaving.
Some still find it difficult to believe in reincarnation, however, because it’s fairly mind-boggling. “If we are reincarnated,” you might wonder, “Have I been here before? How can I know? And how did I end up here, in this life?”
No one has definitive answers for these pressing questions, but based on the research of the last few decades we are starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together so we can see the big picture.
Was I Reincarnated?
The first and most common question anyone has about reincarnation is, “Have I been here before?” There’s no single way to tell; most people have lived before, more than once.
There are two schools of thought on souls. Some believe that new souls are still born — a drop of pure divine energy that breaks free from the whole and comes to Earth to relive the cycles of life and death, perhaps for new experiences and understanding, before reuniting with the Divine Source.
The other school of thought is that there is an infinite number of souls in an infinite number of universes; souls are neither born nor do they die, they just continue on their journey until they break free of the cycle.
Either way, there’s a first time for everything. This includes a first life. While it’s possible you are in your first incarnation, it’s exceedingly rare. Most people are in the midst of the journey.
Some clues may be if you have a strong sense of deja vu about some things, or you may have snippets of memories surfacing, particularly in dreams. Sometimes you feel odd connections to people you just met, or places you visit for the first time, and you feel you know them intimately.
A past life regressionist or qualified psychic can help you determine if indeed you’ve been here, and can help you learn about your past lives.
How Did I End Up Here, Now?
Reincarnation is not a random event. Virtually all spiritual paths that embrace reincarnation agree on one thing: you choose your course. That is, you choose when to come back, and where to come. That means you chose your current life.
If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute—I would have never chosen this life! I would have chosen to be a rock star, or a sports hero, or king or president!”
The purpose for an incarnation is to learn, to resolve certain issues, and to move on with your soul’s journey. You might have chosen to be poor now to learn the value of life beyond materialism. You may have been born unhealthy to learn the nature of suffering and develop deeper compassion for it.
Moving On
Your biggest challenges and struggles in this life are not by accident. They’re why you’re here. You may think you wouldn’t have chosen them, but the fact is that it’s just those things that plague you most that you came back to work on and move past once and for all.
This is all the more reason to not give up and give into your problems, or you’ll just come back yet again to face them.
