Around the world, many people—perhaps the majority overall—accept a belief in reincarnation as part of their religion.
Not many people in the West believe in it, though. In fact, many scoff at the very idea and regard it as nonsense.
This is largely because in the West we are enamored with the benefits of scientific knowledge and increasingly sceptical of the old religions—rightly so, in my view. The knowledge science provides can be systematically checked to ensure that it is valid and reliable. This is why it is of such great value.
But it is not necessarily the only source of knowledge that is valid and reliable.
Besides, what science can see is limited to that which is physical and objective. Reality itself is not necessarily so limited. If we limit our understanding of what reality can be to just what science can see, we are leaving ourselves half-blind.
A wealth of information is now available from a wide variety of sources which, despite their differences, give surprisingly coherent and mearningful insights into the nature of the soul and its evolution.
Thanks to a combination of channelled teachings, insights from near-death experiences, reports of hypnotic regression, transpersonal experiences induced by meditation, breath-work or psychoactive substances, after-death communications, and even scientific research into children’s spontaneous descriptions of their past lives, it is now possible to put together a very clear picture of reincarnation.
Regardless of the medium (no pun intended), the message is consistent. Whether one regards such information as factual knowledge or as loony nonsense depends upon one’s openness to non-physical sources of information.
Interestingly, in light of this accumulation of knowledge, we can now see that even within those Eastern cultures that believe in reincarnation, many people’s understanding of it is confused by all sorts of religious doctrines that are just plain wrong.
So, here are ten things about reincarnation which I think are valid and reliable and which I believe everyone—East or West—would benefit from knowing:
10 things everyone should know about reincarnation
1. The soul exists.
- The soul isn’t just a myth or an illusion or a relic of pre-scientific superstition. All human beings are a combination of physical, mortal body and non-physical, immortal soul.
- Your soul is the absolute essence of you — the only true answer to the question, “Who am I?” It is who you always are regardless of how you feel or what you believe or how you perceive yourself.
- From the body’s perspective, the soul is the conscious, animating life force within it. From the soul’s perspective, the body is a vehicle for inhabiting the physical world and experiencing physical existence.
- The soul is pure consciousness, pure energy, pure being. It exists on a timeless, non-physical level of reality. It is a piece of Spirit or God or Source, a spark of divine light and love, a fragment of absolute perfection.
2. The soul evolves.
- All souls are on a mission to evolve (grow, develop) through their own experiences and efforts.
- To evolve as a soul is to become increasingly self-aware and self-capable as a unique expression of Spirit.
- By evolving, the soul changes in its level of beingness and consciousness, from new-born innocence to greater and greater levels of love, power and wisdom. In effect, that which is created rejoins the Creator — after eons of evolution.
3. The soul evolves most effectively in physical form.
- Evolution of the soul comes about through individual experience and choice.
- A soul evolves most effectively by facing and making choices as a separate individual, making choices big and small, and experiencing the effects of each choice.
- To do so, the soul incarnates — that is, the soul fuses with a physical body for a whole lifetime, from birth to death.
- By doing so, the soul gets to experience being physically limited and physically separated from others and from all-that-is. This is actually an illusion, a trick of the senses, as the soul itself is never really limited or separate. But the illusion creates enough desire, fear and other pressures to cause the soul to experience conflicts and dilemmas and to make choices. It also puts the soul’s own perceptions, feelings and decisions under the microscope, as it were.
- The experiences and choices of a lifetime serve as lessons for the soul once the life is completed. After death (the soul’s exit from the physical realm), the soul and its guides review what happened during the life and what lessons can be learned from it.
- The soul not only reviews its own experiences and choices but also discovers the effects of its own choices on others during the life. For example, the decision to steal a sum of money at one point may have caused the victim significant hardship and anxiety.
- The soul learns that all choices have experiential consequences, not just for the self but for everyone involved.
4. The soul undergoes the full range of meaningful experiences and choices by reincarnating.
- One lifetime is not enough to experience the whole gamut of life circumstances and to make all choices. For example, the soul needs to experience life as both male and female; as both victim and perpetrator; as both student and teacher… Hence, the soul re-incarnates many times over in order to experience the full spectrum of life.
- Being human again and again, each time with a different body, different life circumstances and different relationships, enables the soul to experience the full range of possible perspectives and relationships and all the lessons that these entail.
- Through many different human experiences, the soul gradually becomes more self-aware, gradually discovers more of its true capabilities (love, power, wisdom), and gradually learns how to overcome the illusory limitations of being physical.
- Generally, the soul learns best through a “compare and contrast” process, not through blind repetition. Hence any given lifetime may be completely different in some way from the last one. (From the soul’s point of view, there is little value in repeating the same kind of life again and again — unless, that is, there is a specific lesson within that lifestyle which has yet to be learned — in which case, Groundhog Day is an excellent metaphor).
- Each human lifetime is an opportunity to learn specific lessons. One lifetime, for example, might focus on learning greater self-responsibility while the next might focus on being kinder to others. If in one lifetime the soul experiences being a man with a lot of power over women, say, it would then be of value to contrast that with the experience of being a powerless woman.
- The soul has no preference for one side of the equation or the other, since both sides help draw out different aspects of the soul.
5. The soul has no nationality, creed, race or gender.
- There is no such thing as a Jewish soul or a Chinese soul or whatever. We are just souls, and as souls we are free to experience the whole variety of human cultures across the planet.
- We choose our birth location, race and nationality to suit our purposes for any given lifetime. Sometimes race and creed are a deliberate choice; at other times they are merely incidental to what the life is about.
- Because the soul learns through a process of “compare and contrast”, one who has just experienced a life as (say) an Israeli soldier might decide to be (say) a Palestinian orphan in the next.
- There is no such thing as a male soul or a female soul. Gender is a biological phenomenon, not a spiritual one. Human beings are of two sexes and so we have to choose which one to be before each life begins.
- Because we want to experience, compare and contrast all possible perspectives, we will choose to experience lives as both men and women. We can be male or female as often as we please. We can be male in one lifetime and female the next. Or we can be male for ten lifetimes and female for the next fifty lifetimes. It is all a matter of choice. Even if we have a strong preference for one gender, we will still tend to incarnate as the other gender every now and then, just to maintain a balanced perspective.
6. The soul sticks to one species at a time.
- Contrary to certain teachings, the souls of human beings reincarnate only as human beings.
- That’s not to say we did not experience life in simpler life forms before that. But at some point in our earlier evolution, we selected the human species as our vehicle of choice (no pun intended) to evolve as self-aware individuals.
- The soul’s mission is to expand in consciousness, and there is no value for the soul already at the human level in experiencing life at a “sub-human” level of consciousness. There may be rare exceptions where a soul who is normally human experiments with being a dolphin, say, but as a rule we do not return as insects or cows or blades of grass or what have you. We are spiritual beings on a human journey, learning to be ourselves through human experiences, human relationships and human choices.
7. Each lifetime is pre-planned.
- Before taking birth, the soul (along with its guides in spirit) will decide what experiences and choices the life should include.
- The appropriate circumstances and relationships will be chosen and set up with the cooperation and agreement of other souls who will be involved.
- For example, let’s say the soul wants to experience being compassionate towards children. The soul may decide that the life to come should include its own childhood experience of abandonment by the mother. This would help drive the personality in adult life to want to help abandoned children. Another soul will then agree, out of love, to be the mother who abandons this soul in childhood.
- Most major events in life are pre-planned: the birth, the family, the school, the relationships, the career and so on. This includes deaths, accidents and illnesses. There is, however, plenty of room for unplanned things to occur. The choices we make on the ground matter far more than “destiny”.
- The body is also chosen by the soul before birth. Souls are aware of which foetuses are viable and which are not, and which are going to be terminated before birth. (Hence, abortion is not really ‘murder’.)
- Some lifetimes are explicitly set up for the soul to undergo a particular learning experience (such as being a teacher, for example), while some are actually undertaken for the benefit of others‘ learning experiences.
- For example, we might opt to live a life as a much-loved child who suddenly dies while still young, purely in order to help another soul undergo the experience of tragic loss.
8. There is a law of karma…
- … but it is not like many people think it is.
- If soul A kills soul B in one lifetime, then in a later lifetime soul B will kill soul A. That is the effect of karma.
- But karma is not (repeat not) about cosmic justice or divine retribution. From the perspective of Spirit, there is no need for cosmic justice because there is no such thing as cosmic injustice.
- Karma is really about learning through “entanglement”. If I do something in physical life that violates your free will, we become entangled. We both feel the lack of equilibrium between us. It’s like we have become tied together by a rope. The only way to restore equilibrium is to undo the entanglement—by having you violate my free will in a similar way. That way, we both know from experience what it is like to be both the violator and the violated.
- Souls tend to commit karmic acts in the early stages of their reincarnations when they have less experience of human existence.
- Typical karmic acts are: murder, rape, dismemberment, imprisonment, abandonment.
- In all cases, one person imposes something on another against the other’s will. There is no karmic entanglement for acts that are accidental or not by choice.
9. Reincarnation has a beginning and an end.
- Contrary to certain teachings, we are not tied to a wheel of endless death and rebirth, to be saved only by renouncing the world and seeking spiritual liberation.
- The whole journey of evolving through reincarnation begins with us at a certain level and ends once we reach another level. It takes (typically) well over 100 lifetimes. From first human life to last requires thousands of years, depending upon the availability of physical bodies.
- In spirit, the whole path is clear to us and we know exactly what we are doing. Each lifetime is a deliberate adventure and is undertaken out of love and a desire to evolve.
10. There is no urgency.
- Contrary to what many teach on the subject, there is no urgency for us to become enlightened, or to complete our reincarnational cycle.
- It is not “better” to evolve quickly over a few lives than to evolve slowly over many lives.
- Reincarnation is not a challenge to reach the end of evolution as quickly as possible.
- We are not “caught” in the cycle of human death and rebirth.
- The physical world is not a hell-hole to be climbed out of.
- God is not wishing we would get a move on.
- From the perspective of Spirit, there is no passage of time. Time is just a perceptual phenomenon for us while in physical form. Souls literally do not care how many thousands of years it takes to get from one level of reincarnation to another. The passage of time in human terms is, to the soul, irrelevant.
A final word
I would also add one more correction to certain teachings: souls do not normally reincarnate instantly after death. Usually there is a period of several years or decades between one life and the next, during which the soul recuperates, considers the lessons learned from the last life and plans its next one.
———
It should come as no surprise to learn that we have had a past life, or even many past lives. The only ones who haven’t lived a previous life are those at the very beginning of the reincarnational cycle. The only ones who aren’t coming back after this life are those at the very end of the cycle.
Reincarnation is the norm for all human beings. It is universal. It is what we are all doing here.
____________________________________________________________________
Further reading
For a useful perspective on the stages of reincarnation, see –
You can also check out all my blogposts tagged “reincarnation” , including these popular posts:
– barry
One comment: From the many books I’ve read (especially the detailed past-life regression records kept by researchers such as Dr. Michael Newton and Dr. Brian Weiss), Person A killing Person B does not mean that B WILL kill A in another life (because, after all, B may be a highly evolved soul who would never do such a thing); but, rather, that A will need to be on the receiving end (be the victim) at the hands of some person (whoever that is) who’s still at a level where he/she will commit such an act. Thanks. — Carol Hubbard, ReincarnationTruth.com
Great – thanks Carol.
I’ve also read (I forget where – maybe Roger Woolger) that B could “return the favour” through some non-violent act. For example, let’s say A once killed B with a knife to the stomach. In a later life, A is a woman about to give birth in hospital and B, who is now a physician, gives her an emergency C-section.
– barry
Or if A killed B in one life, A might be born as a woman in another life and gives birth to B; thereby, in a karmic way, returning the life that A had once taken from B.
Or maybe, if B is very angry with A back then and promises revenge, B is going have to incarnate later in a body of a wicked insane person who goes crazy with a knife on A.- even if his soul is evolved past that stage. I have read that sometimes a body does not match the soul and the soul has trouble controlling it, like a car where the steering wheel doesn’t work.
But since they say, karma is unfathomable, this would probably only happen if A needs the lesson. I think there is a lot of “eye for eye” thinking in terms of karma because that’s what sounds “fair” to us. But what’s fair in a cosmic scheme.
I mean, B could have killed A in a life time BEFORE that!
Quite!
Why B should be punished twice !! If A killed me in a former life, I certainly don’t want it to be my mother in the next life ! (Unless I was a so horrendous evil person, that I need/deserve such a fate…)
We are not “caught” in the cycle of human death and rebirth.
But why do I feel that I am?
I would say it’s partly that we all feel ‘caught’ in our bodies — we are seemingly locked into our bodies for the duration and we do not (easily) recall making the choice to be here in this form. So from the perspective of the ‘locked-in’ human consciousness, existence is a mystery and death is a tragedy. But I would also suspect it’s partly because of a widespread belief that incarnation itself is a sign of one’s supposed spiritual failure or incompleteness (“if I was perfect I wouldn’t have to be here”) — and one that is visible to everyone else — together with a feeling that the end of reincarnation is the ultimate trophy in terns of self-worth. But the soul sees the bigger picture and isn’t troubled by such issues.
“The only way to restore equilibrium is to undo the entanglement—by having you violate my free will in a similar way. That way, we both know from experience what it is like to be both the violator and the violated. ”
You forget about forgiveness…that which throws a big honkin monkey wrench into the whole karma tit-for-tat, and breaks entanglement threads with wild abandon 😉
Yes, you’re right. Though apparently it’s not very common:
“In rare instances, the energy imbalance is neutralized through “grace,” in which the murderer fully realizes his infringement, and both parties are able and willing to forgive the karma without acting it out physically.” — Shepherd Hoodwin (http://www.michaelteachings.com/karma.html)
– barry
Opps I meant to hit thumbs UP!!!
fixed 🙂
Amazing website and amazing article. Resonates like honey.
i would prefere not to do this human stuff ever again i have non human memories and desies and feelings i would rather have the form i love and tresure above any human things in this universe i would rather be in an eternal reincarnation state as my wonderful FEMALE DRAGON self i have no interest in progression or woman or manhood. this is my choice, after this i am done.
i would prefere not to do this human stuff ever again i have non human memories and desies and feelings i would rather have the form i love and tresure above any human things in this universe i would rather be in an eternal reincarnation state as my wonderful FEMALE DRAGON self i have no interest in woman or manhood. this is my choice, after this i am done.
Eu tive uma viagem pelas dimensões da consciência e penso que a reencarnação não se limita somente ao planeta Terra. Acredito em algo ainda maior com várias dimensões tão profundas quanto o universo. No final é a fusão da luz A jornada segue a espiral da via lactea..
[ translation : “I had a trip through dimensions of consciousness and I think that reincarnation is not limited to planet Earth. I believe in something bigger with many dimensions as deep as the universe.” ]
Thanks, sandra
B
Man what a great read! I swear every time I come back I find knew stuff. So many questions answered. I found the part about abortion especially interesting.
*new
Hi, I’ve just recently become more and more interested in this stuff. I’ve always felt “spiritual” and sense spirits around me, but didn’t do much or really care until recently, and I’m curious as to why I’m drawn into learning more now. Could it be that I was too busy with raising children and my career (EMS) and that now that I’ve slowed down I have the time??
Also, I’m curious about what I see as pure evil in some people, and what happens to their spirit?
Sorry if I sound all over the place. I’m just bombarded with questions and I don’t know where to begin or how to get the right information.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Simone
It sounds like your life plan might have a deliberate sequence to it: first I’ll do the family and career thing, then I’ll focus on the spiritual thing. Perhaps you have a natural gift, but in previous lives you have found it difficult to mix the spiritual with the temporal, so this time you have decided to keep them separate. Maybe it’s not so much that you were too busy until recently, but that things are unfolding as planned.
Pure evil… You say “what I see as pure evil”, which is appropriate. To a great extent, evil is a matter of perception, and the perception of evil has a lot to do with one’s current values. Some people committed to capitalism see socialism as pure evil; some people committed to socialism see capitalism as pure evil. That’s all pretty abstract, so I am wondering if you have some personal experience of behaviour you would call evil. But to answer your question, what happens to their spirit or soul? After the death transition, they like everybody else are welcomed straight into heaven, the realm of non-judgement and absolute forgiveness. That includes, for example, the soul of Hitler.
You say that souls do not normally reincarnate after immediately after death, but I ask how rare it is for this to happen, say within months? I swear my son is the reincarnation of my mother. My mother passed away on Oct 17th, 2007. I became pregnant on Feb. 4th, 2008. My son’s due date was October 17th, 2008. However, my doctor induced me two days early because of issues with my blood pressure. He was born at 6:35 pm on October 15th, 2008.. Had he been born on the 17th (his due date) at the same time he was born on the 15th, He would have been born exactly a year to the minute that my mother passed. Her estimated time of death was 6:35pm. This is beyond “coincidence” to me. Any thoughts?
Another “strange” point– I broke out in hives on October 17th, 2007 at 6:35pm (my mother’s ETD). I was sent home by my employer because I didn’t know what it was because I had never had hives before. I was also the one that found her body.
That does sound pretty extraordinary. I am not sure, though, if it means that your son is necessarily your mother reborn. It COULD mean exactly that – it’s just that so far you only have these timings to go on as clues, rather than, say, similarities in temperament and behaviour. But on the plus side, it’s possible that your mother/son’s soul knows you so well that s/he *knew* you would take these timings as appropriate signs that it is indeed the same soul. In other words, it’s not that reincarnating souls are always born at the same time. Rather, in this case your mother/son has used timings to draw your attention, as a way to say “it’s me again!”
I would only add … Every child is brought up receiving some sort of parental message. “You are *my* mother!” would be a pretty weird message for a boy to take on if this isn’t your mother reborn. Be open still to this being no more than a coincidence, because if that is the case then you could end up projecting a lot of your mother onto your son – a completely different individual – rather unfairly. If it *is* the same soul, then characteristics will unfold soon enough. But beware overlooking “contradictory” characteristics which might indicate that it isn’t the same soul.
Fascinating website, really loved this article! I’d like to ask about the following….
“•For example, let’s say the soul wants to experience being compassionate towards children. The soul may decide that the life to come should include its own childhood experience of abandonment by the mother. This would help drive the personality in adult life to want to help abandoned children. Another soul will then agree, out of love, to be the mother who abandons this soul in childhood.”
….I was a neglected child with a mother who didnt hide the fact that she hated me from birth and she wished she had left me at the police station when I was born. I’m 37 now and while I have come to terms with this, I still suffer with insecurities and was easily convinced my own children would be better off with their father. I saw my own mother in my parenting regardless of how much I love them and tried to show that in everything I did. They are now 19 and 17 and we have a good relationship despite me not raising them, and I also now have a 2 year old who I feel has taught me to break the cycle and i’m very proud of my capabilities as her mother! My point is, I have always believed I chose to be born to my mother but always struggled to decipher why. It wasnt until my 3rd daughter was born I realised I had to learn to overcome hate and break the cycle, to forgive my mother for how she treated me, and to forgive myself for failing with my older daughters. I almost feel like my youngest was the catalyst in that, she chose me for her own reasons, but also she came to prove to me I am capable of great love, compassion and patience, and to no longer live with guilt and doubt. Do you think that each lifetime can have a ‘theme’ in this way? Thanks for a fantastic website!
Hi Jacqui
Thanks for the feedback.
It always fascinates me how early life experiences start to make sense as we approach 40. It’s as if the first half of life is like an astronaut training programme, often a tough one, and then from mid-life we are undertaking the actual “mission” and suddenly the training comes into effect.
Yes, we do set ourselves themes – not always horrible ones, but it does often tend to be the case that if we are seeking growth then we will set up some difficult experiences in childhood. See: https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/the-michael-teachings/goal/growth/
I also recommend a look at the book Your Soul’s Plan – see: https://personalityspirituality.net/2010/02/19/your-souls-plan-book-review/
Hey Barry,
First of all, thanks for your fantastic website… It seems I was meant to find it. I’ve came in contact with it almost a year ago, with the 35 steps article, and never came around to read it fully, even though I bookmarked it. But finally, just this Monday, I was organizing my bookmarks and found it again and took the time to read the full article. It made perfect sense to me. See, from young age, I’ve always felt attracted to something else, feeling that something was “off” and being neglected by most of the people. I’ve always wondered and searched for “it”, but could never quit find what “it” is. Now, with 29 years old, I feel that my life is turning and all the turmoil of information I’ve gathered over the years is finally fitting in, even though there are a lot of gaps still. Your website is one the “big puzzle pieces” and, for that, I thank you. I intend to continue on reading so that I can find more about myself and about my true soul purpose, since there is this dingling sensation that I must find more about who I am and what must I do. Also, I’ll ask you, if at all possible, if you can help me find out more about my soul type and age, since I’m curious about it and feel that that can help me find out about my true purpose.
Thanks and all the best,
Hélder Pestana, from Madeira island, Portugal
Hi Hélder, or perhaps I should say welcome back. 🙂
I hope things are ok for you in Portugal.
I was 28-29 when I came to the same turning point, and I believe it is pretty common at that age. Astrologers say it is to do with our “Saturn return”. I would say it took me another ten years or so to get my sense of purpose into focus, mainly because I was still largely under the influence of my chief feature (impatience, the fear of missing out) which kept steering me in search of “quick wins” rather than true fulfilment.
Anyway, happy reading, and feel free to ask questions.
Barry
I don’t know about reincarnation, but the theme in my life seems to be abused and/or abandoned by the people I love. Parent/grandparents/pets dying in short spaces of time, friends leaving/backstabbing, and the only love of my life doing something i will not put on here.
I can see a pattern and am unsure of the lesson I need to learn as I have begun to have detachment issues – whereby because of the people who have left me and because of how people can be – I can’t seem to move past that and have become very isolated in myself.
I love children and animals naturally and immensely, strive to be compassionate to say the homeless, and have ideas which no one else seems to think of (weird/different ways of arriving at a solution to a problem), scared of heights for some reason and very empathetic – I can feel peoples negativity at times and it baffles me because I don’t understand why people would stoop to that level, why it even matters, and being around people makes me want to avoid most people – i just stick with people I can trust, (lifelong friends, siblings)
Only ever felt a romantic connection to one person ever which again shows my bizarreness – and he has used/rejected me on so many levels and on so many different occasions, yet I can’t seem to move past him.
He is the biggest loss of my life – I keep feeling I have failed him somehow – he is I think narcissistic. And I am pretty sure he does not feel the same as he is a womaniser and a liar, but he also feels something – which is why he has treated me how he has I think because he finds it scary seeing as he sees people as being there to use.
(Not relevant to my question but including) I have a strange connection to my mom as well – I dreamt my teeth were falling out and woke up panicked and turned out at that very instance she was having a painful procedure in her mouth. Another instance I was tearfully trying to patch things up with my ex, and she from the other side of the world called to say she had dreamt of me talking and talking and looking really anxious – she knew I was hurting. Even as a very young child, I would always try to reassure her and I would try looking after her.
Is there any tips/guidance for me because I am a mess and sometimes not even sure why I am here.
Hi Sara
The reason why you are here is the same for all of us… to experience life as you have created it thus far and, whenever you feel the need, to choose a different way of being that will re-create your life thereafter.
You are a being of love evolving in consciousness through challenging situations and life choices. And what I can sense about you as an individual is that you are loving, giving and insightful, but you seem to be surrounded by people who aren’t like that at all. There is nothing wrong with avoiding people who act and express with a lot of negativity. People “stoop to that level” out of their own ignorance – they haven’t yet got to the place where treating others well, or even caring about their effect on others, is something that comes naturally. If, as it appears, you have a more positive and sensitive energy, then all that negativity will jar with you and get you down. Perhaps you live in a particular location where there is a lot of it about — you might want to consider a change of environment, to be around more evolved souls.
Something else I sense about you — and I say this with compassion — is a certain naïveté when it comes to romantic relationships. It occurs to me that the theme at work may not be so much about you attracting people who don’t treat you right. Rather, it may be how you seem to blame yourself for their failings. Your former boyfriend — who you yourself recognise as a narcissistic, exploitative womaniser — mistreated you, and yet you wonder how YOU failed HIM. So the lesson could be about you becoming more conscious of the difference between what you are responsible for (= yourself) and what others are responsible for (= themselves).
It sounds like you and your mother are soul mates who look out for each other at a psychic level. Which is cool!
Thanks Barry… Naive is definitely the word for it. 🙂 And seeing as he is the only person I have had a relationship I have put in double, treble the amount of work to make it work, and it has backfired. Maybe he is not my soulmate, but there is such a pull towards him, and I always felt like I knew him before. No one saw any good in him which is why I tried so hard to prove them wrong because I always felt he was a good person deep down, even he doesn’t believe it.
But he got someone else pregnant and I will never contact him again.
Your words really helped, thank you.. x
Absolute truth all i read here.
How do i know what kind of level i m at the moment?
Hi Filip
I am working on some kind of test but in the meantime just read through the descriptions on this site and see what resonates the most for you.
Barry
I’m so grateful for your dedication and thoughtfulness. The clarity here is making me smile!
Years ago I wrote a short story about a hard-core realist journalist who really hates her dying mother. The journalist desperately wants a child but has trouble conceiving. Finally she births a daughter who over time reveals many of her mothers’ traits that drove her crazy. A non-believer, she researches reincarnation (she would be lucky to find your website). In the end she feels that her mother came back as a cherished child so she could learn to love and accept her.
Does this story sound plausible to you?
Whoah, I’m so way behind with the comments here after a spell in hospital. Sorry about that. Anyway, does it sound plausible? Yes, so long as there is no sense of the journalist being made to feel stupid for being wrong – an orchestrated moment of realisation like that would surely be one of heart-breaking love.
Hey,
It seems some pruning was made here in the comments. But ok, that’s understandable, It is your blog and your moderation. Great job on the site and thanks,
Love and Light,
Hélder
If a person is old, senile or dying of old health or poor health – can their soul begin assessing with spirit guides about next, best ‘situational person, life experience’ to be born into – or do we have to be ‘dead’?
Good question, and I wish I had a good answer but I haven’t come across this one before.
I would imagine that senility is a gradual withdrawal from adult human functioning to something more childlike or infantile, perhaps to revisit certain issues from one’s early childhood in this life before returning Home (eg experiencing a state of dependence). I think one would have to be done with the body altogether, though, before having a life review with guides.
On the other hand, I have heard that we can sometimes arrange things with our guides or at least our soul mates while we are in our sleep state, such as planning to “accidentally” bump into an old friend while on a trip abroad. Whether that sleep activity involves discussing future life options, and if it is possible while one’s conscious personality is dysfunctional, I do not know.
Cheers Kayt
Barry
Hi this is very fascinating and helpful thanks. I am a very emotional person, I get very involved with people I don’t even know. I live in SOuth africa we have a lot of crime so all new is negative not really positive. I would just like to know about the soul of a four year old who was abused terribly and murdered by his parents. It was awful and I cried for days and days as if he was my own child. It happend recently and I’m battling to come to terms with this. Did his soul chose to live and die this way and if so why?
Hi Monique
I can’t really answer for the specific case, but this sort of thing has happened a lot throughout human history. Of course, it’s “right” to be appalled by the act and to feel compassion for the child. But I would also assume that there is a bigger picture in which it makes sense at a higher level, where all parties deserve respect for the roles they are playing.
Either it’s a new karmic act committed by the parents, or it’s an old karmic experience returning to the kid. Or both. What if, for example, the boy had been a ruthless killer in a previous life, and his parents had been his victims? That doesn’t mean we need feel no compassion for the child as he “deserved” it or “had it coming”. Rather, we feel compassion for all our fellow beings who both create and receive suffering – which we all do. We’ve all been there.
A skeptic might argue that it was just mindless brutality, and all this spiritual-explanation stuff is just an attempt to find meaning where there is none, in order to make *us* feel better. For me, though, that kind of argument is a cop-out – it’s like those who said that Egyptian hieroglyphics were meaningless pictures (before the Rosetta Stone came along). Personally, I don’t look for explanations to feel better, but to not overlook deeper truths that might be there.
Barry
I just find it so hard to grasp that, even though it makes sense.
My problem is that the child is now, and can’t possibly understand that this could be karma coming back to settle a previous event. And even with the explanation, that doesn’t give peace to everyone this tragedy will touch.
I do get it, I just find it hard. Not sure if what I’ve said makes any sense, but thanks for letting me comment.
Thanks Simone. Don’t get me wrong, I find it hard to grasp too. I don’t want to give the impression that “explaining” it means being unaffected by it.
6. The soul sticks to one species at a time.
Contrary to certain teachings, the souls of human beings reincarnate only as human beings. There may be rare exceptions where one experiments with being a dolphin, say, but as a rule we do not return as insects or cows or blades of grass or what have you. The soul’s mission is to expand in consciousness, and there is no value for the soul already at the human level in experiencing life at a “sub-human” level of consciousness. We are spiritual beings on a human journey, learning to be ourselves through human experiences, human relationships and human choices.
I’ve heard this come up before in some spiritualists’ viewpoints and wanted to ask how you arrived at this conclusion. Many of us who explore our past lives tend to latch on most readily to our human past lives, leading some to the belief that that is all there is to see in their history. But as someone who has had memories and experiences to indicate that I have had many lifetimes as other lifeforms (animal, plant, ET, etc) and that there appears to be no soul-growth hierarchy relating to lifeform in my history (as in, I did not “work up” to being human as some suggest is the case), I’d like to know how this idea came about.
You say it yourself: There is no such thing as a Jewish soul or a Chinese soul or whatever. We are just souls, and as souls we are free to experience… And yet you seem happy to assume that while souls aren’t inherently Jewish, Chinese, male or female, they must be inherently human (and, much like typical racist/sexist lines of thinking, that being human has some sort of inherently better spiritual value).
This is an idea I personally find egocentric (because of course humans want to believe they are top of the spiritual foodchain as it were!), anthropocentric, and troubling. I wonder why no one recognizes it as the bias that it is?
What is the difference between someone saying, “Male/white/rich people are clearly the most superior and capable, and once you have been these things you would not choose to be lower forms of human” and what is being said here? Why is it appalling to say that a female or African or Jewish human has a “‘sub-human’ [and thus inferior] level of consciousness” but not to say this of a dolphin or elephant? Is it because those beings aren’t present in human communities to speak for themselves on the matter of their spiritual growth potential and value?
Admittedly, it is troubling for humans to put themselves on equal footing with other beings on the planet. That puts us in an awkward position of having to acknowledge the spiritual worth and autonomy of the animals we eat, trees we cut, and planet we live on. But this isn’t something spiritualists should shy away from. I would think embracing all that is includes all form of life, not just the ones we, in our human ego, can be sure of. Is it just that people don’t remember their history as other lifeforms? If so, we’d do well to say I don’t know, rather than saying I don’t know so it must not be possible.
I think the phrase “we are spiritual beings having a human experience” was a statement from a human being to other human beings about the fact that the human state is not –permanent-, not a statement intending to say “spiritual beings wouldn’t or couldn’t choose to experience anything but the human form for meaningful soul growth.”
Thank you for your thoughts on the matter!
I’m genuinely curious where this idea came from and why it continues to be given credence.
Wow..I am amazed by how intrigued I am with all your insight and teachings. There is a lot I have learned about my soul and where I could possibly be at as in the stage of my soul, but it comes with much soul seeking indeed. Through this knowledge I am able to gain knowledge of what could be and with that peace and reassurance. I have always been one to feel, think or act by looking into myself. More so when I come to a certain time in my life when I feel lost. Is this of any surprise to you? Can one feel, act or think within your self? Is it the soul that controls the body or vice verse? Also how does dreams play apart in this? Dreams are said to be of the unconscious mind but sometimes dreams feel like they are of great significance to your future life or past life such as dejavue. Is it possible for them to be reenactments?
Hi Angela. Nice to hear you are so intrigued!
Looking into oneself is pretty much the whole purpose of incarnation … At least for mature souls, as it’s how we get from the young soul stage to the old soul stage. We discover our inner world, and realise that everyone has a similar inner world. We realise that this inner world is the heart of the matter, and that the outer world of the body is really just the venue or arena in which we explore and actualise what we think and feel and know internally. We also realise that every person’s inner world is not only valid, but also of equal value to our own.
Does the soul control the body, or vice versa? Well, ‘control’ is not necessarily the best term to describe the relationship. Certainly, we can think of the soul as the driver and the body as the vehicle, but It’s also more like a symbiotic relationship. The soul experiences physicality through the body, and the body participates in a world of complex and meaningful interactions thanks to the soul, and gets to pass on its genes.
The body itself is a complex living organism — think of each single cell as a being in its own right — all cells cooperating as best they can to create and sustain a vehicle for consciousness.
Dreams – as far as I understand it, there are various types of dreams. Or rather, there are various things that go on at night while we are asleep and physically unconscious, some of which we remember as ‘dreams’.
One of these is the brain’s attempt to piece the day’s random events together in a meaningful way, as though trying to solve a puzzle, making all the pieces fit a narrative that has some sort of (unfathomable) personal meaning. Another thing that goes on is that we explore “what if” scenarios — what if I don’t pass the test tomorrow … what’s the worst that can happen? Those are usually what we call anxiety dreams.
Another kind of ‘dream’ is, as you say, a straightforward re-enactment of past life events. We occasionally re-live the past, perhaps because there was a trauma at the time that has left a mark and is having some sort of effect now because of some resonance in our present life to the earlier one. For example, perhaps your boss in this life was your abusive spouse in the Middle Ages, and you have never fully forgiven them, hence your ‘inexplicable’ distrust of your boss who is actually (now) a nice and trustworthy kind of person. The soul wants to get over such ‘blocks’, so the past life might be called to mind as a way to reconsider your relationship now with your boss, and allow yourself to choose a fresh approach.
(Incidentally, I once had a re-enactment of a medieval time when I was killed by an ax cutting through my head and face. It put me in touch with a sense of wishing to forever avoid violence.)
There is also (apparently) some stuff which we do not often remember as it occurs in the deeper states of sleep. Our souls can (in a psychic or etheric way) meet up with other sleeping souls, jointly looking at the trajectories or “vectors” of our lives, seeing how things are lining up for the near future, making & changing plans and agreements — stuff that will eventually be experienced by the personalities involved.
For example, you might have planned before life to meet a future spouse in the next 5 years, but in the dream state you get in touch and renegotiate the agreement. Maybe the meeting can take place sooner than you had planned. Then, when it happens, you have a sense of déjà vu, or a sense that this was “meant to happen.”
Very interesting stuff, your page made me understand my own soul and its position in this system, it was an incredibly enlightening experience. I have had a hard period for a couple of years where I have seemed to forget myself, my old self “disappeared”, I think the reason is that I changed soul level from 24 to 25. Do you know anything about changing soul levels in a lifetime?
Hi there
There are two ways of looking at changing soul levels within life.
One is in terms of how we *manifest* our soul age. In each life, no matter what our soul age, we are born as infants with no memory. In terms how we act as physical beings, we always start out at square one. But gradually we manifest more and more of our true inner being until, around age 35, we plateau out at our actual level. So in a sense, we ordinarily cross multiple levels going from birth to mature adulthood. This is just in how we manifest outwardly, not how evolved we are inwardly. But of course, how we perceive ourselves as growing individuals is very much based on how we see ourselves acting outwardly, so an “upward” change in behaviour could be seen as an evolutionary change in the self.
Note that, if you have come into life with the goal of Growth (https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/the-michael-teachings/goal/growth/), you will be driven to climb up the ladder of consciousness as far as your soul level will take you. (With the goal of Growth, one has multiple growth challenges and opportunities in life, the aim being to be able to up a level after the life.) so you may have experienced a determination to fully manifest – or “act your age” – in one last growth spurt.
The second way of considering a change of levels is in the actual soul evolution itself during life. Apparently, this is not very common but it can and does happen. Usually, we move up a level between lives, after we review and absorb the lesson learned from the one just ended. For a “level up” during one lifetime, as far as I understand it, this actually entails what is otherwise known as a near-death experience. In other words, the “you” at level X has to die and check in with the astral so that the “you” at level X+1 can come into being.
That’s what I’ve understood, though I can’t vouch for it being certain. It might help make sense, though, out of a lot of NDEs. It might also account for certain comas where an individual literally disappears for a while and then returns.
I’m afraid I don’t know which of these interpretations would best explain your experience, but perhaps there is something here that helps make sense of it?
Cheers
Barry
Hi Barry,
Clever stuff. Couple questions.
1. What is the value in the accomplishments of humans if its truly about the growth and development of souls? It sounds like this existence is just a laboratory or stage where we try stuff out. This perspective makes things seem a little hollow with regards to an experiences intrinsic value.
2. The relationship between human bodies and souls. Does a body always have a soul? What if there are no human bodies? For example something happens to remove the species.
3. Is one persons human knowledge a subset of the souls knowledge? If so, how could a human comprehend the knowledge of an in incarnated soul?
Thanks
Hi Aaron
Sorry for taking a while to get back – I’ve been going through some typical Mature soul stress at this end. To address your questions:
1. Soul evolution is our long-term purpose, but it happens through the moment-by-moment choices and experiences of everyday human life. Every minute of human existence is inherently valid and of value. Everything we do contributes to the expansion of all that is. Every human action is an act of Divine will, filtered through our limited but ever-expanding consciousness.
2. A body without a soul wouldn’t (as some might imagine) be a walking zombie; rather, it’s more like a car without any fuel. It’s still a car / human being in terms of its physical form, but it isn’t going anywhere. Those who are in a coma (or rather, whose bodies are in a comatose state) are examples of bodies minus souls, though there is still a thread of a connection.
If there are no bodies – as might happen, say, if we had an all-out nuclear holocaust that wiped out the species – then all the souls affected would simply migrate to another species, on another planet if necessary – and hopefully try not to do the same again!
3. Yes, the knowledge acquired by a person in their lifetime becomes a subset of what is available to the soul – although what the soul really wants to know (just after death) are the lessons to be learned from the life just gone.
For a human to access a soul’s knowledge, they need some ability to transcend the limitations of the human brain – a psychic gift, or a spiritual experience. Some highly evolved people appear to have the ability to remember their past lives at will.
Cheers
Barry
What if a soul chooses not to reincarnate. What happens next?!
Hi Linda
Simple answer: nothing. It would be like opting out of school at a young age – not “wrong”, just different.
More elaborate answer: the soul will then evolve at a “slower” pace than its soul mates – i.e. the other fragments of the same consciousness. For example, while its soul mates learn through direct experience what it means to be corrupt versus having integrity, this soul would have no experience to go by, only the recorded experiences of its soul mates.( Souls learn most directly through the harsh dualities of human relationship. )
I presume any soul could choose to opt out of reincarnation, but as a consequence it would then take on a different “path” or “purpose”. And if the choice was one based on fear or self-doubt, I expect there would be a lot of loving encouragement to stay the course.
Hi Michael, what if all that’s wrong? What if the end is the end? What if this is the product of Djinn messing with humans getting them tricked into believing false conclusions? What if this reality is not a hologram? What is there is a way that seems right but is wrong? So many questions. Who was Jesus the reincarnation of? Would you consider Jesus A Mature old soul? Why would He come back? Shouldn’t He be done? Ah, dont worry, there is more.
But that’s for another post.
Hello all…Just a thought .. we are all here now…it took a LOT of hard work to get us here (with the help of of our dear mothers..) so why not make the most of it ..try to help our fellow humans and try to be responsible for our OWN actions.. (after all the only thing we can control is ourselves) .be nice to animals and kind to the little children who can not take care of themselves…learn from the aged (the wize) and remember what job we “do” to support ourselves and what car we drive does not really matter in the end…
It is all imaginative stuff. You are writing without any experience of the reincarnation. Your 10 points about soul have even contradictions amongst them. What is the objectivity of your paragraphs? How they are different from theological imagination?
What is the objectivity of your assertion that my writing on reincarnation is all imaginative stuff?
You claim that I write without any experience of reincarnation, but that is just an assumption which, evidently, you haven’t checked.
By “theological imagination” I presume you mean theistic imagination, given that theology is the rational study of theistic faith. I am neither a theist, nor am I inclined to write from my imagination. I am, in fact, a scientist, and I took my time seriously studying the evidence for and against reincarnation over many years before coming to any conclusion.
If someone don’t remember his experience in this dimension and he can’t prove in some way this does not mean it never happened,you need prove in this world that even not existed when life begin on ether plane for me is enough to read and i understand that is a part of truth that i forgot.
Age 20 and my spiritual leader and others say to me ” you are an Old Soul”, how do you know whether they are right and if so how do you know what step oneself is undergoing at that level???
Strangely I started believing in reincarnation after I read books from a fantasy author called Kathrine Kerr. I am not a very bright guy so I learn through pleasure, reading books and things like that, no TV or Movies though, I ignore those completely. My career choice is based on pleasure too, I work because I enjoy it not for what it brings me or because this system forces us to work.
But some of these things are really difficult for me to get my head around, is this belief system about faith because man it can change your whole perspective of life if you can believe in it without a doubt. Example, if I look at humans through this lens, then well they not so bad, I can understand them better, makes me less judgemental, it’s almost like finding peace. I like that it makes me see the world this way. I am always trying to find ways to make people see what they doing wrong because they making mistakes, hurting themselves and other people, its really frustrating for me. I really really want to believe this is what we are going through on this world, it explains so much.
I look forward to death although I would not seek death, but I am so bored with this life, really its so boring, the same shit happens over and over and over again, but I feel like I am here to do something, just don’t know what and I am over 40, not much over 40, but I still feel young though, I look 70 but I don’t feel like I am 40ish, lol.
So thanks blogger, very interesting reading indeed.
You’re very welcome, Nevin. Glad you like it.
One question. Are there more souls “made” when more people get born on Earth? Or are all souls “made” at the beginning and all the orher souls were waiting to come to be born on earth while there were only few souls/people on earth walking (like thousands of ears ago)? How does this thing work, can someone explane please?
As far as I understand it, souls come into being in timeless eternity, which is where they remain, except for that part of them that occasionally inhabits the realm of time and space for the purpose of individual growth. The sense that time must have a beginning is something that occurs to us while caught up in the realm of time, like looking down a tunnel and wondering where it starts/ends. Between lives, however, it seems that large populations of souls will volunteer to undergo a reincarnational “expedition to Earth” (or wherever) when the circumstances suit them. So from the earth perspective, we get waves of “new” souls every now and then.
Well, that’s my best sense of it at the mo!
B
Great Blog Barry. This is a great place for someone strange like me who likes to make sense of things and knowing there are like souls out there. I have experienced many spiritual things in this human life of mine. I have many times throughout my life felt, known, and communicated with my compassionate, loving spiritual guides. They are with me almost all of the time, that I can tell. When I draw upon them, they come in to my frequency. I have had 2 NDE’s one as a small child and the other when I was 39. I have spoken to my best friend hours after his passing, and connected with him while he was feeling euphoric and happy, telling me all about it before telling me goodbye to go off with his guides. I had three separate dreams on three occasions within a year after my mother passing. In which the guides actually came and took me out of my sleep to a place where they showed me her while they were educating her, they were asking me for my thoughts and suggestions for her. I told them and then they whooshed me back into my body while I was sleeping. The final time they came again and took me out of my sleep to a place where I couldn’t see her but, knew she had been made into new form, just couldn’t see her, but felt her. They again sought my approval and opinion, I gave them my approval and then I understood she was being sent into another lifetime at that moment. I felt good about it, and felt like it was a good decision. (Important to mention, not at anytime during this did I look at her like my mom …. I knew that she had been the figure of my mom before … But, in the heavenly realm, she was a soul that I knew and cared for) Then, I was wooshed back to my bed asleep again.
I know it all sounds nuts. I would think it was nuts too if I didn’t perfectly experience these things. They were all very wonderful experiences by the way. And, the one thing I can say is that this is wonderful gift to be reincarnated into different lifetimes and there is a LOVE out there that is beyond human description that celebrates each of us and awaits our return.
Lissa, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful insight and amazing experiences.
Cheers!
Hi
A long time ago, a spiritualist told me that I was a ‘level 3’,an advanced soul. She said that it came with responsibilities. From what I remember she said that most people were at a ‘lower level’ but in my case, I was where I was and that I should be careful, that I don’t go around creating harm to people otherwise it would come back to me, plus times the incident. I mainly forgot about this as it seemed far fetched but of recent I’ve taken up meditation and my mind has gone back to what this woman said. Your article gives me some idea of what a Soul is but do you feel there is any truth in what she said?
Lots of people have their own definitions of “old soul” and levels, so it’s hard to say. However, the idea that you could amplify your karma by the sheer fact that you are supposedly more evolved sounds like nonsense. An Old Soul is more conscious of the ultimate validity of others and therefore less likely to go around creating karma by harming others. Also, the idea that you have to live up to certain responsibilities is also spurious. All souls are free to choose their own path of evolution. They might also choose to take on responsibilities as they evolve, such as guiding younger souls, but there is no compulsion. The only compelling force between/beyond human lives is love – love for self, others, truth, growth, freedom, etc.
Cheers
Barry
Are human souls forced to re-incarnate as Homo sapiens after death? Or may they travel to distant planets that support intelligent life. I’m just trying to believe all the things you say, and also account for the large variety of intelligent life our universe contains. I highly doubt a soul could learn all it needs to learn, and experience all of the things it needs to experience, tied to one intelligent species. Especially one as primitive as ours. And honestly, the idea of being stuck as a human forever makes me cringe. Is the total number of intelligent beings in our universe a constant number? Do animals on Earth, and on distant planets, such as elephants who have a theory of self and a conscious mind have a soul as well? Does not all biological life have some kind of life force? What happens to my cat when it dies? If time does not exist, does that mean that our universe, like us, is also eternal? know some of these questions may be unanswerable but I assume you have more insight on the matter then I do.
Thanks,
Kenneth
Hi Kenneth,
I will see if I can answer each of your questions. Where I don’t know the answer, or am uncertain, I will say so.
1. Human souls are not forced to do anything. Period.
2. Between our human lives, in the “astral interval”, there is plenty of freedom and opportunity to explore other worlds and life-forms, if we so desire. There are (so I have read and so I believe) billions of intelligent life-forms in the physical universe capable of “ensoulment”, i.e. capable of supporting the energy and consciousness of souls like ourselves who are, as it were, fragments of the Source with limited self-awareness at first, but evolving to full self-knowledge through complex interpersonal interactions.
3. It is indeed possible to experience all we need to experience to evolve from point A to point B in our journey of evolution as souls, while “tied” to one species. It is easy to romanticise about the “loveliness” of other species or other worlds compared to our own — but we haven’t come here and taken on this human form with loveliness in mind. Well, maybe some. But a greater attraction of the human species is our potential for conflict. Conflict is the drama that stimulates souls (at least while still young) to find themselves and express themselves in their truth. Another “bonus” of the human race is that our bipedal posture with arms, hands, fingers and opposable thumbs free to do stuff. Hence the development of technology. Unlike, say, the cetaceans (i.e. whales and dolphins, who are also ensouled like us), we humans have the ability to manipulate matter and energy and our environment into endless advances in technology (as well as great risks to the biosphere), from cave art to nuclear warheads. Our potential for harming or killing others, individually or en masse, is a great stimulus to help raise our collective awareness of our options and our responsibilities.
4. You are not stuck with the human form forever, but only for say 5-10,000 years. That’s how long it evidently takes to evolve in human forms, from infant soul to old soul. After that, it is my understanding that you — as a realised being — will eventually meet up with all of your fellow “graduating” soul-mates and together you will be able to unite to form a higher intelligence. So you no longer feel like a separate being, but an integral part of all being. Beyond that, you can merge back into the Source, which is endless bliss, or you can leap out again as a spark or fragment to do the whole thing again in a different species on a different planet.
5. I don’t know if the total number of intelligent beings in our universe remains constant, but I strongly doubt it. The Tao or Source is literally infinite creative potential, so I would suspect limiting numbers is not a factor.
6. Animal species in which there are individuals with a “theory of mind” or “theory of self” are prime candidates for ensoulment, so long as the ability is species-wides and not just limited to one or two “bright sparks.”
7. Yes, all life is animated by a life force. This is not consistent with modern science which dismisses the idea of “life-force” as pre-scientific or religious (animism). Nevertheless, all would no doubt agree that the difference between a live animal and a dead one is the live animal’s active circulation of energy – constantly burning energy to find and store more energy at both micro and macro levels. I also believe that part of the problem here is the reliance of science on “objective” measurement of energy (or anything else), whereas I believe energy also has a subjective aspect to its existence – we can feel heat, see light, hear sound, etc. the meridians mapped out in Eastern philosophy and medicine are, I would suggest, maps of the subjective aspect of energy – how it feels – as it flows around the body.
8. Your cat, when it dies, will return its energy and life experiences to the “collective soul” or life force of cats. Cats lack the self-awareness and sense of continuity of humans, but the identity or personality by which you know your cat will be stored as part of the universe, and — because of the pull of attraction caused by your love for it — your cat will be there to greet you when you eventually die. It will be easily recognisable, although probably looking distinctly younger and healthier than the last time you saw it alive.
9. My guess: It’s not that time does not exist at all, but rather that our familiar space-time physical domain is merely a subset or perceived subset of the greater whole, which in itself is eternal and timeless. In other words, time only has meaning when reality is perceived with physical senses and linear thoughts.
Cheers
Barry
What happens to a soul if they’ve committed suicide?
Basically, there is no judgement or tut-tutting from anyone “up there.” If the suicide is to end unbearable and irreversible pain, then everyone understands — “fair enough” — especially if the planned life task has been completed. If the suicide is to end pain but occurs before the planned life task could be completed, then the next life will likely be a repeat attempt at the same task (or possibly a “life off” for a bit of R&R first). Steps might be taken to avoid or reduce the same pain re-occurring on the next attempt. If the suicide is intended to bring an end to one’s existence, then the soul will likely slap their forehead (if they have such a thing) as soon as they realise their mistake – that they still exist beyond death and always will. Then it’s a matter of planning a swift re-birth, possibly with some plan in place to make sure that suicide is averted when the same crossroads is reached.
I think that covers it!
Barry
Well if this is so tru then can you tell me why we dont all in the world know this already without haveing to be taught this cus our soul is one never to part so therfore it has no effect on the brain forgetting it and we would know already when someone is pose to die supposedly if were involved in there death..and in that case why the hell does it hurt so bad in so deep when we knew it all along this whole reincarnation makes no sense at all
If I understand you correctly, Brenda, you suggest that reincarnation and life planning cannot be true because, if it were, then we would be born knowing all about it already, without needing to be taught. Moreover, the deaths of loved ones would not surprise us or hurt us if we had this prior knowledge from the planning and agreement processes?
From the soul’s perspective BETWEEN lives, undertaking many human lives could be likened to us reading a series of novels or watching a boxed set of TV dramas. At that level, we do have full recall.
But WITHIN a human life, our soul’s memory for all that history — including the current life plan — is set aside so that our attention and energy are utterly absorbed by the present life. Otherwise, the life would never be able to unfold in its own way, or even get started.
Having explicit memory of our past lives would leave most of us traumatised from day one. Imagine being a toddler with conscious recall of being (say) tortured, raped, beaten, beheaded, buried alive and drowned many times over in a variety of different bodies, male and female, young and old.
Some kids do in fact have spontaneous recall of specific events – usually the most recent traumatic death. It’s just something they seem to need to get over at an early age so that they can focus more fully on the new life.
Deliberately remembering our past lives while in human form requires a good deal of detachment from our present one. Usually this is routinely possible only for those older souls who are close to the end, i.e. completion. Most lives, however, are set up with no intention to add past-life memories to the mix. Each new life is what it is, and needs to be experienced as such.
That is also the reason why we do not walk around with our life plans in the forefront of our minds. Each life is an elaborate set of experiences, conflicts, opportunities and choices, all mapped out from birth to death. It’s like a video game. If you know all the “cheats” then there’s no point playing. Would you really want to go through life knowing how long your first relationship is planned to last or when you are supposed to suffer a serious spinal injury or which virus is supposed to kill you next year?
It hurts so much — the pain, the loss, the grief and so on — because it does. That’s what we are here to experience. Life on the “other side” is fine and dandy. It’s life in physical form with all its sensations and limitations that provides the “studio” for all our emotional learning. If we didn’t want to know what brief pain feels like, we would not have left the Eternal Light.
Barry
I have a question, So say you have visions of past lives quite randomly when least excpected… Why would I feel such emotion for those lives? Is it just because that’s how the human mind “translates” the information?
I have a past life where I killed myself and I seen the guy I thought had died, but came back to find I was dead. Another life vision was one where I was murdered. One was of a boat I felt was mine and the language I spoke was Spanish…
Why would a person be given visions? It doesn’t make sense to right a wrong if there are no right or wrongs… Did my higher self just simply want to remember? Some one once told me it was to help me make it to the next level, but I’m not sure what that means, and if I should go and speak about it (I confirmed one life definitely happened) or should it be for just me?
I would suspect what’s going on is a a resonance between past and present situations. They sound like they were intensely emotional events at the time, however long ago they were, even though they seem to hold no charge for you now.
Our soul memories are organised around emotional themes. For example, present feelings of mild shame could trigger direct associations with more intense and traumatic underlying feelings of being publicly humiliated to death in medieval times for a ‘shameful’ act. In such cases, the lesson (if there is one) is to simply recognise and be clear that the past and present are not the same – whatever happened in the past that may have led to trauma isn’t going to happen again if you don’t allow it. You have even more freedom of choice now than you did then, because you are older and wiser (as a soul).
Another possibility is that the other soul(s) involved at the time are showing up or are about to show up in your present life, so these significant memory traces are being triggered. Possibly the two of you have met up to go over the past and plan the near future. Setting the scene, as it were. That life is which you were murdered… does that karma feel cleared up to you or do you sense any possibility that the pendulum is about to swing?
barry
Thank you Barry for responding and helping me out! 🙂 I think it’s finally sinking in. I give it more meaning than it actually has. It probably is supposed to mean the past is past stay in the now. The stage was set for a traumatic event that happened as well while certain people did seem to pop back up into my life. I simply chose finally to stay away from that person. Thank you again!
Hi, awesome stuff.
I was just wondering, does the soul itself feel pain? Can pain be carried to the next life?
I’m just wondering cause for most of my life I’ve felt this sadness, my life isnt that bad, abandonment by father (which seems to be a pattern in my family’s history), slight controlling mother.
Not too sure but I think I may be in the first few steps of the Mature, my mother would be Young and my absent father I’m gonna guess is Infant.
I’ve just hit my 20’s and theres this immense pain, that feels like it comes from the deepest part of me. Like I’m putting aside my personality, my history and my pain from this life’s experiences, there is still a pain that resonates from the very…essence of me. It sounds weird but thats the only was I can describe it. And this amount of pain doesn’t feel like it matches my history cause its been alright considering.
I mean, growing up, the roles between me and my mother were kind of reversed, I took care of her emotionally with all her trials of love, life, career etc, while at the same time being a child. Its all very confusing. She’s very hardcore in the sense of ‘it’s my way or the highway’. I know one of my key roles was to look after my mother during that stage, but now that’s done and not only do I feel like I can leave knowing she’s fine, but its like since she can walk she’s just thrown away the crutches without so much as a thank you. My ego is bruised and wants appreciation, but would my soul be more forgiving and humble about it? I’m torn between. Did “I” pre-plan this cause I wanted to experience whatever I have to, or did her soul, and I said yes to being involved in her life?
Why aren’t there more mature souls?
I’ve always wanted to know the ‘why’ behind the why, so even if any answers you could give me would be awesome, I’d still have this annoying ‘yeah, but why’ question on the tip of my tongue.
I’m always searching for information, open minded about religion, fascinated at the thought of magic, energies, the chakras, possibilities of possibilities.
I dont know. I’m looking for answers, this seemed like a good place to try find them, or an outline of them.
Thanks
Hi Leigh
Your last paragraph or two suggests to me that in this life you have the goal of Growth — the search for ever deeper understanding, which is the soul’s way of developing to a higher level. Within life, the motivation to seek understanding is usually triggered by difficult or contrasting circumstances in early life. Confusion is the negative result — being too overwhelmed to make sense of life. The positive result is comprehension or wisdom, the integrated understanding of multiple insights and experiences. So rest assured, the constant search is very much a purposeful life path. (I have the same.)
To your question: the possibility of pain carrying over from one life to another.
First, let’s distinguish between the physical sensation of pain (headaches, knife wounds, broken bones, etc) and the emotional sort of pain (grief, guilt, shame, etc). You need a physical body to experience physical pain, but you only need a mind to experience emotional pain.
Between lives, we have no physical body so there is no physical pain. We do have minds, but our minds are not isolated little worlds locked inside our heads – they are open to the entire cosmos of knowledge.
Our soul-minds are also capable of adopting any perspective at will. We can see and understand the truth of any situation (such as, “I know why my mother in that life didn’t thank me for what I did. She was privately ashamed of herself to be in need of my support, and couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge it.).
As a rule, a negative emotion (emotional pain) is a response to a situation we don’t fully understand. We see “our” perspective but not “theirs”. In grief, for example, we feel our personal loss — which is perfectly real — but don’t see the bigger picture of life, death and rebirth — which is equally real. Once we understand, the emotional pain has no “hook”.
Often we don’t get the bigger picture until after we die and review the life just lived. Those of us with a goal of Growth, however, actively seek it within the life itself. Our perspective is constantly stretching, or at least being challenged to stretch.
In your case, you speak of a pain that comes from your very being, and seems to have nothing to do with your current life history or development, other than your mother’s ungratefulness for your support.
Several possibilities come to mind.
1. You planned exactly this – to have the experience of giving without being acknowledged. She has played her part and you are now dealing with the issue as intended.
2. You planned and agreed the basic relationship – your emotional support during her (chaotic?) life. But her acknowledgement and thanks were never part of the ‘script’. It is a personal ‘failing’ on her part. The bruised ego is one of yours.
Either way, the lesson could be that true service needs no thanks.
As I see it, there are two possible “bad moves” in serving others. One is never serving without expecting or even demanding something in return. That’s not really serving, it’s merely trading. The ego sees things in terms of iti-for-tat.
Learning to serve without expecting something in return is certainly a mature step. Perhaps you just need to decide for yourself that what you have done, thanklessly, was actually good and right in itself.
The other “bad move” is always serving for no reward — never receiving or accepting any donation or payment, or even a word of thanks, even if it is gratefully offered. Although this sounds like an enlightened attitude (Jesus being a perfect example, perhaps), it doesn’t suit the majority of evolving souls who have material and family commitments, as well as psychological needs for self-esteem and a sense of fair exchange.
It’s even possible that your planned “challenge” arising from this episode is to explicitly articulate to your mother that you have served her and would appreciate some acknowledgement or thanks for that. Does that feel like a block for you? Do you sense that doing so would have a healing or growthful result?
Barry
To offer some more thoughts on this:
“I’ve just hit my 20′s and theres this immense pain, that feels like it comes from the deepest part of me. Like I’m putting aside my personality, my history and my pain from this life’s experiences, there is still a pain that resonates from the very…essence of me. It sounds weird but thats the only was I can describe it. And this amount of pain doesn’t feel like it matches my history cause its been alright considering.”
Yes, absolutely you can carry grief and pain from one life to the next. I believe that unhealed pain will follow us until we are able to heal it, either through working through the problem in our current context (facing our “karma” in a sense) or by getting to its root and healing it from there, such as through past life regression or healing meditations.
In this life, I am especially sensitive to past life recall and have faced a lot of deep pain stemming from prior lives; pain that in some ways gets wrapped up in my current context and in other ways doesn’t fit at all. Part of my path and growth is to heal that pain by remembering and releasing it.
“I mean, growing up, the roles between me and my mother were kind of reversed, I took care of her emotionally with all her trials of love, life, career etc, while at the same time being a child. Its all very confusing. She’s very hardcore in the sense of ‘it’s my way or the highway’. I know one of my key roles was to look after my mother during that stage, but now that’s done and not only do I feel like I can leave knowing she’s fine, but its like since she can walk she’s just thrown away the crutches without so much as a thank you. My ego is bruised and wants appreciation, but would my soul be more forgiving and humble about it? I’m torn between. Did “I” pre-plan this cause I wanted to experience whatever I have to, or did her soul, and I said yes to being involved in her life?”
Barry offered a couple of thoughts, but I’ll offer a few more possibilities: I don’t necessarily belief that as souls we have everything scripted out or if someone is a jerk to us either they planned that or we did. I can see how that contextualizes bad behavior in a way that makes it comforting, but I don’t think (and I’m only drawing from my experiences, guidance, and deep thought on the matter) that that is quite how it works. While we are here, we are free to make choices and in those choices we find our growth. I do believe that certain things are planned such as big events and important meetings with other souls, but nothing is carved in stone and we can change the game while we’re here. We can turn around, lose our way, forget our path. Our guides may try to lead us back on track but we are free to listen or not. To be able to make these choices gives us the ultimate growth: will we show kindness or cruelty in this moment?
As such, your mother may have a million motivations and Barry is right that your soul will be able to see things from a much wider perspective outside of this experience. But did she plan to be cold? Did you plan to experience being unappreciated by a soul who was willing to play the other part? I don’t think that’s necessary. Maybe instead you both planned to be in a setting where those particular choices/feelings would come up, but I don’t think you plan how you react to a situation down to every tiny movement of your arm. When we are here, we are complex and we have a full range of complexity to explore, even if we choose the arena and the circumstances prior to this life.
So what does that mean for you as an enlightened soul? Practice compassion and understanding. You already have a much wider perspective on the world and that gives you, as a “mature” soul, much more to draw from than souls who are still finding their way.
Those are just my thoughts, and my experiences. I’m only offering them as another idea.
Thanks for the reply.
I just want this pain to be healed.
And yes barry, I think this is a block, and I would get something from it.
awesome stuff
Do you think souls are reborn together? So would my husband be my husband in the next life, my sister my sister, or even another relationship? Do souls recognise each other? I know this is a clichéd topic as all the reincarnation novels are based on this but it’s piqued my curiosity! 🙂
We each have numerous soul mates or siblings with whom we often arrange to live together in human life. But the nature of the relationships is certainly not consistent and in fact is wide open.
Let’s say you and I are soul mates who have lived together 20 times. In two lives I was your mother, in two lives you were mine. Once we were passionate lovers. Another time, we were comrades in war. Then I was your schoolteacher. Next, you were my elderly aunt. Once we were born as twins, just for the fun of it. We have also played out many karmic scenarios. In one life I killed you for your horse; in a recent life you killed me for my motorbike.
That’s sort of how it works.
I happened to be curious to see more about what is meant by an old soul or what that type of person was like. I’ve gotten that from friends before, and more recently from my girlfriend. The whole relationship thing is new to me, at 28, and so are all the feelings going with it, but I do trust her judgment completely. That part all seems to fit and make sense, though I have little sense of which part of being an old soul I am. I am having issues with the soul type as aspects of most of them resonate strongly with me.
I did have questions here, though. You talk about there being two sexes and genders. I know there are people that are physically both sexes and some that are neither. I also know how powerful gender can be, especially when it doesn’t match your body. I don’t know if gender is part of my soul, or if it was a choice to go through all the pain of being a trans woman, but that is one thing I’m curious to discover reasons for. I was also wondering what your thoughts on adoption were. Would the souls of the adopting parents and the adopted children have made that arrangement and be closely related souls? Children are something I’ve really wanted for a long time, but it’s currently impossible for me to have biologically related children.
I found this very informative, I’m only 19 but have just started to crawl out of a very deep depression which had much to do with the incessant hounding of philosophical/cynical questions that occurs in my mind, to the point where I was having difficulty even reading or talking under the logic that my brain shouldn’t be able to interpret random symbols or sounds given meaning by men. I was a militant atheist at a young age for no rhyme or reason, despite a deeply religious mother, as I got older however I matured into more of an Agnostic. However I still question the point of things like happiness and love, when both are just chemicals, which has caused me to feel hopeless. It’s almost like my mind finds the one bad thing, about any situation and focuses on that
It was not until my mother (who had no idea I was feeling like this) went to a psychic who pointed out everything to her, from my life goals, to my depression. that I started to have faith, as the details relayed to me were too accurate to have been just random guesses. She also spoke on reincarnation, which I at first thought was outlandish simply because it was a belief worlds away from even the Abrahamic religions, of which I wasn’t inclined to believe in the first place, and belonged to what I saw as, in my ignorance, (please do not be offended) what I thought of as “Pagan” faiths.
And then I realized that reincarnation made sense, for one of the other questions that constantly tormented me was why is the present now, during our life times, when it could be 1000 years in the future when we would be long dead, or 1000 years in the past when we had yet to be born. Why are we still alive? after all the universe has seen 13.8 billion years. My only logical conclusion was that we really must be reincarnated, and therefore exist eternally in the present.
But despite this, I have a few questions that I hope could be answered,
First of all, why does the soul have to learn and then return to the Tao? It kind of strikes me as someone going to university, and then returning to the womb upon graduation. Shouldn’t the Tao as the creator, be above the need to learn from souls?
Secondly, is returning to the Tao, or even the “Elder soul” Similar to almost non existence? In that yes, they exist as a part of the Tao/elder soul, but just like a drop in the ocean, they have no individuality or control. As an individual they cease to exist, almost like a mere neuron in a brain. It seems kind of depressing infact.
I apologize in advance for my complete ignorance on this topic, in addition to this very long, possibly very rambling post. I possess a mind forever voyaging, and I would be extremely appreciative of any answers.
Cheers
Hi Matthew
Sorry for the long delay – I’m a bit overwhelmed with health issues at the moment, but still determined to get through all the questions people send whenever I can. So…
1) “Why does the soul have to learn and then return to the Tao? It kind of strikes me as someone going to university, and then returning to the womb upon graduation. Shouldn’t the Tao as the creator, be above the need to learn from souls?”
Good question. Short answer: there’s more to the Tao than creation. And there’s more to a soul’s existence than leaving the nest and getting an education.
Think of the Tao as more like a process — an endless churning whirlwind of creation and destruction, fragmentation and unity — but orderly, intelligent, self-aware. At the eye of the storm is the eternal still point of pure knowing.
Each soul is a unique, shining instance or aspect of the total process, creating itself, discovering itself, defining itself, and exploring its own possibilities. And just as there is a silent awareness at the centre of all creation, so there is within each of us the eternal silent core where we witness our existence and become increasingly aware.
Creation – the birthing of souls and other levels of being – is merely one aspect of the Tao. There is also the evolution of souls in myriad forms, the interplay of minds, the enrichment of experiences, the many ways of discovering ‘self’ in ‘other’, the many ways of giving ‘self’ to ‘other’, the many ways of falling into separation and back into union.
It’s like how an (evolved) artist creates paintings, say, not because his paintings provide glory or status but because the act of painting provides him feedback – he consciously participates in the process of creation, he observes the effect, and he learns how to refine the next creation.
The soul is integral to the Tao itself, and as such it craves to explore existence on its own terms so that the Tao knows itself in every way possible. And each soul is doing what it does by its own choice.
Each of us becomes, as it were, a mini-Tao.
2) Is returning to the Tao, or even the “Elder soul”, similar to almost non-existence? In that yes, they exist as a part of the Tao/elder soul, but just like a drop in the ocean, they have no individuality or control. As an individual they cease to exist, almost like a mere neuron in a brain. It seems kind of depressing in fact.
Yes it does from where you’re viewing things at this moment, but that’s precisely because you are at this stage and not at that stage. As you evolve, you initially go seek adventures as an individual. In the early levels, from Infant to Baby to Young, you dive into human life like a karma-seeking torpedo. There is a great joy in finding and demonstrating your individuality – your individual identity and individual power as a free agent. Then there comes a turning point. “OK, I’m an individual. I can kick ass. I get it. So what’s next?”
Then the context of your individuality becomes more interesting.
As a Mature soul, you become aware of the way you relate to others, and to otherness at large, and of how your individuality is a function of your inescapable relatedness to others. Then, as an Old soul, you become more aware of how you are not simply the hero of your own story, and never were really, but you are always part of part of a much bigger unfolding of life. The ego excesses of the earlier stages may have been fun, but once you see them in context from other perspectives, you know that they have served their purpose and it’s time to move on.
And so it goes through the higher stages, beyond reincarnation. By the time you can merge your consciousness with others to form a superconscious being of awesome intelligence, you will be in a state of shared ecstasy that has far more value to you than any loss of personality.
But it’s not that you merge into the faceless background. Rather, you just drop all those immature urges and ideas that you were once so obsessed with. The real YOU gets to shine in all its radiance.
For what it’s worth, the core individuality of “you” is never lost exactly. If you are a Priest-cast Artisan now, you will be a Priest-cast Artisan then too, only with a lot more unique life experience under your belt. But you will no longer be “that nice guy Matthew” or whatever, as you will be way past any need for labels and images to be assured of your significance. Matthew will be one of your great memories, while the real YOU find its optimum role in the universe at large…
Barry
Hi there,
A very interesting and enlightening article, thanks for posting it.
I just had a question that occurred to me, on the topic of Karma. I know that karma usually only happens with major transgressions of another soul’s liberty, for example murder. Also that souls often create lots of karma in their earlier soul ages while they are not so mature as a soul, and later on spend lifetimes rebalancing the karmic equilibrium.
So my thought was – what about mass murderers? Mao Zedong, for example, the biggest mass murderer in history, or any other political leaders who have been guilty of similar things. It seems inconceivable that these souls would have to be incarnated and then murdered in 1,000’s of lifetimes just to balance the karma, but what other choice would they have? For each individual soul they have created this karmic imbalance with, they would be obliged to correct it, right?
How would this be dealt with in the spiritual or physical realm, for the soul concerned? I also have read the following article – http://www.michaelteachings.com/karma.html, but it didn’t mention karma in the case of mass-murder.
Thanks,
Rosa
Hi Rosa, you’re in my queue and ill get back ASAP.
Your response seems to help me too. I recently had a relationship that didn’t go nearly as well as I would have liked and left me feeling very betrayed. It both gave me hope for having a relationship in the future, and made it hard to believe it could happen because we understood each other so well and it still didn’t work. I think I’ll try to focus on the hopeful side of things, so thank you for writing that 🙂
Glad to have been of help. Thanks Lily.
What happens directly after the death of our physical body? Do we float around in darkness before the supposed “rebirth” I am aware you say we have a life review of sorts but after that? Or is it like going to sleep and waking up again? We see through the eyes yet when we have died physically we no longer have those to see till having a new set upon rebirth.
I’ve had really dark thoughts regarding death lately not suicidal just general fear of the unknown. I have no idea where these have stemmed from. I think about it daily and it sometimes keeps me up all night. I know you can’t fight death as it’s a natural process and yet it scares me and I have severe anxiety attacks over it. I can’t tell anyone as it comes across as crazy. Why have I started suddenly worrying about death, do I know something subconsciously is about to happen to me?
If everyone is reborn how come you could go to a spiritualist and speak to say a deceased family member ect surely they wouldn’t be there to take the call so to speak as they would be in a new soul, new life ect.
Any thoughts / insights would be great.
Hi Tanya
Sorry to hear about the anxiety attacks and death-worries. I really doubt it means you’re about to die – a lot of us go through the same thing. My sense of it is that it’s simply next on your list of issues to resolve and for you to get comfortable with in some way. In other words, your subconscious (or higher self) recognises it’s time to deal with the whole “death problem”, so that you can move on in your personal development & maturity in this life.
To our human eyes, death isn’t just a leap into the unknown – it’s (apparently) the permanent extinction of who we are. No more me. And as a young man in my early 20s, this is what I believed. In fact, I looked down upon all those “soft-headed fools” who believed in life after death.
But in my need to know and understand who I am and whether life has any meaning, I have gradually found myself believing wholeheartedly in life after death. Actually, life after death is a poor way to put it. We are multi-layered beings.
At the absolute core of each of us there is the eternal presence of the universal creative force. Each of us, in our core, is part of that, and integral to it. Pure energy and pure awareness.
Around that, there is our evolving individuality as a soul. Each of us accumulates a unique set of life experiences over many lives. The more we evolve, the more freely we choose and create our own unique way to exist. This is our mission in life – in all existence – to become whoever and whatever we can become, freely and uniquely.
Across our lives we also carry a layer of emotional “settings” – the different aspects of us in which we are more evolved and less evolved. Some of our emotional layer will be light and bright; other aspects will be dark and shadowy – these are the negative tendencies we have still to resolve. Fear, shame, guilt, hatred and so on. We don’t act these things out between lives because between lives there is no issue regarding how we relate to others. We all know ourselves, and feel our cosmic connectedness. It’s in life that we create these dark patches and also resolve them.
Our darker aspects are not a terrible mistake, by the way. We are courageous souls who willingly allow ourselves to enter the darkness of human existence, and come out of it with bits of fear and pain and anger sticking to our emotional “body”. All darkness is an opportunity for our inner light to find itself. We create negative experiences and illusions as a way to subsequently discover, manifest and KNOW our positive truth.
Finally, our physical body is the lowest, most dense, and least permanent layer. You need a body in order to experience being a separate individual, disconnected from the rest of the cosmos. It’s similar to picking a character so that you can play inside a massive video game. This game – reincarnation – is how we come to find and increasingly know our true selves, through our own separate experiences and choices, rather than just being immersed in the oneness of love and light.
After you die as a human being, the first thing that happens is you separate from your physical body. You might experience floating above it.
Once you realise what has happened – that you are no longer that body – your attention turns from the physical to the non-physical levels of reality.
Here is a potential point of confusion for many. The “astral plane” or whatever we like to call it is not solid matter; it is whatever we imagine it to be. So those who die expecting to see the devil with a pitchfork will see exactly that. Not because there IS a devil with a pitchfork, but simply because they are in that transitionary stage where their human body is gone but their human mind is still intact. Thoughts become reality. (The same happens on Earth, but not so immediately and vividly.) So they are immersed in the world of their own beliefs and expectations, seeing whatever they imagine death to mean. (Those who believe in extinction will “see” nothingness.)
This only carries on until they become aware that they still exist, or that what they see is merely a projection of their own mind. Not surprisingly, older souls are quicker at this than younger souls. A very religious person might have to go through some elaborate imaginary scenario of being judged by God or whatever they expect to undergo, before realisation dawns on them.
Some might get confused or lost at this point. But there will always be beloved soul friends and guides – perhaps deceased relatives – right there to greet them and steer them back Home.
Once we arrive into the realm of light, we review the life just lived and assimilate the many lessons it gave us and the universe. By doing that, we dis-identify from that person/personality, and recover our full identity as a soul. If we are still “weighed down” by negative emotions, we can be cleansed and re-energised.
So, first we shed our human body, then we shed our human belief system, and finally we shed our human sense of self/identity – the little ego.
So, to answer your questions more directly:
– Do we float around in darkness before the supposed “rebirth”
Only if we EXPECT to float around in darkness, as we go through that transition from realising we are “dead” to realising that we are still very much alive and returning Home.
– After the life review?
We chill out, we meet up with our soul mates/siblings, exchange war stories, go to sessions with our guides, help out others who are less evolved than us, start to plan our next life, explore the cosmos just for fun, etc etc.
– If everyone is reborn how come you could go to a spiritualist and speak to say a deceased family member ect
How long we spend between lives is very variable and up to us. We may hang out in the astral plane for a few years, or a few decades, maybe a century or two, before planning the next one. (It really isn’t the case that we jump straight from death to the next birth.)
Well, I hope that’s given you some food for thought 🙂
barry
Im a christian but i do believe in reincarnation. Im not doubting bible. I think bible and reincarnation is a different thing. I am a half chinese half indonesian, but i dont know i always feel that i was an italian or spanish who lived in coastal areas in my previous life.
Thanks Priska,
I would say anyone is free to believe in reincarnation, free to trust their own past-life impressions, and even free to doubt the Bible, and still be a good Christian in the eyes of God.
Of course is different you think Vatican is interested to tell the truth to people,from my point of view bible is a book created by simple humans,what you see in it are myths it even does not speak of true god but some gods,demi-gods.
Hello, I had a question but also wanted to show my appreciation for your site.
Is it possible to have “your past life” identity appear as a ghost? I’ve had these “stories” I had as a kid, but didn’t talk much about it. I remember thinking, ” if this story IS true the people of the town know my story…” I had a lot of intuitions about things that happened in the future as well, but that’s beside the point…
Around the age of 21, I mentioned in another comment, I had very vivid visions of some of my stories. For the longest time I called the town Northumbria because it was where I felt it was on the map at age 13, and the word north was prevalent to me. I didn’t take it too serious though.
Back to age 21, I would meditate and words that didn’t make sense to me such as the time such as Normandy, squire, and the phrase Copsi did it! It had to be spelled that way. Anyway, I found out eventually Copsi WAS a real person who existed during the “Dark Ages” like the way the boy was dressed in my vision. I searched every castle in Northumberland but kept coming back to Bamburgh. After I found the castle it wasn’t long until I found out my EXACT story apparently happened, BUT it was a GHOST story?!
The freaky thing for me recently is I knew Copsi came in October, the “legend” says the ghost returns every seven years, but I could feel it was almost spring when “I” committed suicide… Then I thought a second, seven years? It must have been 7 months and I read some where this ghost was last seen around April! I knew I had a sister and I believe my father was an earl named Morcar “Morkeer”. I was beyond joyed when I heard the way old English was spoken. I couldn’t figure out WHAT language it was but sounded goofy like the Swedish chef but guttural like French or something….
Anyway, What are ghost?! I’ve seen them before both mentally, felt the presence, and actually physically seen one WITH an old boyfriend of mine.
I know in the afterlife we return to love, but I believe I hold a LOT of guilt and anger towards myself in spirit, but is it possible to have your past life a ghost? I don’t think it possession or anything as I have NEVER been to England let alone had ANY clue about its history let alone Anglo-Saxon and it’s ties to Normandy. Lol I certainly do now! It happened about 7 years ago, the visions, and I STILL am in shock.
Lol I messed up the months it was sometime around Easter…
Hi again Katy,
OMG, 1066 and all that!!!
You mean Copsi who supported Tostig against King Harold, and was (briefly) Earl of Northumberland in 1086, after Morcar and followed by Osulf.
(Ok, I looked that last bit up in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copsi | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Northumbria )
I also just found some extra detail about him:
(1885 Dictionary of National Biography, public domain)
There are basically three explanations for ghosts:
1. A person has died, left their body, but hasn’t moved away from the physical place yet because they feel utterly desperate to stay around for some reason — typically, because they’re anxious to make sure a loved one turns out OK in their absence; occasionally because they fear hell and damnation awaits them if they move to the light. In other words, it’s an extended out-of-body experience, and not actually of any real use. Guides will be hanging around saying, “Take your time if you insist… but when you’re ready just come this way…” In such cases, they can usually see us but we can’t see them. Psychics may be able to sense them however. But I wouldn’t expect such a soul to hang around for centuries – I don’t think their guides would leave them “hanging” like that.
2. The person has died and moved on, but they’ve left behind an emotional “stain” in some physical location (e.g., think of the atmosphere at a place of torture or mass murder). Typically, they were traumatised by something, and that intensity has left an imprint, which can manifest as a repeating image. There’s nobody actually there (haha, I mean no soul there), just the terror of the event hanging in the air as it were, like an animated image made of subtle energy . Sometimes sensitive people can see the long-dead person wandering about anxiously or hear them screaming or whatever, but it’s just a sort of etheric echo.
3. A lot of people will assume that any old building with cold dark rooms and a notable death in its history must be haunted.
I suspect no. 3 in this case, given that you are now here as Katy!
B
PS: I’ve actually seen Bamburgh Castle a few times by the way, en route to Lindisfarne and Hadrian’s Wall. (I originally lived in the nearby county of Durham.) A number of films have been shot there, such as Polanski’s Macbeth.
Thank you for responding and putting up information! If real, I think I did NOT like copsi, but being that morcar got kicked out bc of him that could be one of the many reasons. I feel I might have been shortly imprisoned, but NOT sure. I feel bad as I’ve been feeling “disconnected” lately, but that’s another story…
That’s awesome that you actually lived near the castle! I can’t wait to one day see what it’s like to drive up and approach the castle. I guess going there won’t “solve” anything nor will something magical happen, Lol, But I really want to go there. My fiancé and I, when it’s financially possible, both are psyched about going there, seeing other parts of Northumberland, and bits of Scotland as an idea of destinations.
It will be VERY freaky to see a land I thought I made up as a kid. There are a few other “stories” I know of, but have yet to find proof that it really happened, but I know the reason for NOT knowing is to play our parts in this life.
Can’t help but feel nastalgic. Northumbria makes me feel sad yet very happy at the same time. Any suggestions for site seeing near by?
Thank you again!
Haha, as a teenager I couldn’t wait to move to London because I felt the whole region was a bleak, desolate, dead-end wasteland. I guess Margaret Thatcher felt the same too because she shat all over it as Prime Minister. But now I can really appreciate its special qualities!
Barry’s top tips for visiting the North East of England:
Durham City — a beautiful, ancient jewelle of a place that somehow survived the Industrial Revolution. Great riverside castle and cathedral, a top university — and the best fish & chips in all of England! http://www.thisisdurham.com/explore-durham/durham-city
Lindisfarne — not the daft ’70s folk-pop group, the Holy Island just off the Northumberland coast, connected by a land bridge twice a day. The monastery there played a key role in the history of Christianity. http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/
Hadrian’s Wall — ok, it’s just a long stone wall in the middle of nowhere to be honest, built by the Romans c.122 AD to keep those pesky Scots at bay. Great if you like archeology though, and long walks through green fields. And sheep. http://www.visithadrianswall.co.uk/
Avoid Sunderland at all costs. Seriously. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
PS: You wont understand a word the locals say. The dialect, called “Geordie”, is like a cross between Viking and Klingon.
Klingon? Haha!!! My fiancé might understand in that case! Too funny! So I’m guessing Suderland is a bit of a “ghetto”? Lol Ty for the advice! ☺️
Thank you again for going out of your way for me. That was very sweet. I’ve been checking the places you gave me online! For the ghost thing, I read people have claimed to see her and certain people have “picked up” on it. How they know the thousand year old tale is kind of baffling. I kind of think this resonance of the past thing. I get this feeling of complete despair, a bit of rage and dred. I wonder if this has anything to do with my bipolar mood swings. I believe in mental illness yet I believe in the spirit world bc of experience.
Anyway,
I’m so happy that you are not only understanding spiritually, but you actually lived near bamburgh! Very cool. Thank you again!!!!
Hi Barry! Been subscribed to this post for years having posted a question ages ago (maybe years ago) and it’s awesome you’re still responding to people! I talked to you last time about a connection I had to my mum (like dreaming of my teeth being pulled out and then learning she had been having a tooth removed at the dentists, or her dreaming of me crying and talking and me having been on the phone arguing with my then friend.) married now and I don’t remember it now but when we first met it was like we knew each other, we had similar experiences and it seems we lived parallel lives streets away. It was such an amazing connection. He’s so on the same wavelength it’s unreal. Even our health problems are similar and our cynicism on religion at times too. It’s scary how my thoughts come out of his mouth. He’s more louder than me though 🙂 and he’s a more positive person.
The love is still there but it’s more “normal” now. I wish I’d met him earlier though, like a decade earlier. But he was with someone else and I went through a lot of bad stuff. And now it’s awesome but I just wish we’d met earlier. He keeps talking about being worried he will lose me or visa versa: (his mum died he was younger and so did my dad hence the strange ways in which the conversation has turned.)
As I read your responses to others I then get follow up questions. My question is this. Some people die before finishing their business. I don’t know they had a list of things to do. What happens to these desires after leaving this life do you think?
Thanks Barry 🙂
Hope to hear from you once more!
Hi Sara, lovely to hear from you again. And what a relationship you’ve found. Hmm, sounds like he’s a very familiar soul mate.
It also sounds like one of your missions in coming together is to heal that deep fear of abandonment — i.e. bring it up to conscious awareness by talking explicitly about it, with the intention of exploring it, understanding it, spotting the triggers, and eventually be so on top of it so that it no longer contains a single shred of fear. Ultimately he could become so clear about it all that he might even feel gratitude for his mum’s gift of her early death. And of course, the same goes for you re. your father.
Think of a day in ordinary life:
* At home, you wake in the morning and make plans for a shopping expedition (or something).
* You make a list, figure out where to go and when, maybe arrange to meet up with someone else, and aim to be back home in time for The X Factor.
* You set off and follow the plan … but by the end of day, not all of your trip went exactly according to plan. The traffic was heavy, some things took longer than unexpected, you forgot to get milk, you cancelled that meeting with your friend.
So you have some unfinished business. No problem – you can just plan when to get those things done tomorrow, or some other day ahead.
This is why it generally takes several lives to complete one level of soul evolution.
cheers 🙂
I enjoyed your explanation here of reincarnation. My question is this, my dad passed away 5 years ago,,,and I can feel his presence sometimes. How can this be if his soul is on his way to another life event? thanks and when I die will I be able to connect with my father in heaven?
Hi Doris,
Five years isn’t very long in terms of pausing between lives. A few decades is more typical.
So your Dad is in the astral interval between lives, but he hasn’t gone anywhere geographically. Distance and direction and duration are all aspects of space and time that appaear “obvious” to us when physical but aren’t there when non-physical. It’s like, we are all in the same room with your Dad and everyone else who is “dead”, but WE are the ones who are caught inside in a game world, like the characters in Tron. In our case, being in our physical game world means that we cannot see the nonphysical beings all around us. In reality, though, your father is no further away from you than your own heartbeat.
When you eventually leave this life, he will no doubt be first in the queue to greet you with open arms.
After a while, you will also remember that he is not simply your Dad. That was just one form of relationship you two souls have had together. (For example, it’s possible that in previous lives you were his Dad.)
As souls, you are both siblings.
Barry
Barry,
Doreen Virtue has said that there are gurus who have passed on ~ that regularly and willingly appear to, and coach, others. Such as, Michelangelo instructing an inquisitive architect, … or I believe Doreen said once when she was trying to learn to run with proper form some deceased runner who was a famous athlete appeared to her and gave her some advice that helped her greatly and stopped her knee from hurting after running … or something like that. You get the point. Do you think this means that those souls who come back to advice/coach us are done incarnation (i.e. cycled off the physical plane), or do you think that it could be that they are simultaneously existing on a different/higher plane, so even if they had reincarnated into a different body their guru-self would still be available (in familiar form, or appearing as their past body) to guide others. … I just wonder … Did that make sense? What do you think? Have you heard of guru’s appearing in spirit and guiding those who seek and ask?
Thanks~
I think those who are highly evolved – like Neem Karoli Baba for example – have the ability to be physically in one place while psychically visiting another. In this case, though, I wonder if she’s simply receiving guidance from her own guides but attributing it to whatever great historical figures come to mind.
Barry – why do some young children have clear memories of a past life and most others not?
For those who have clear memories, it’s usually a case of “post-traumatic stress disorder” — the trauma of their most recent death is still present in their energetic make-up. As far as I can tell, I t works exactly the same as PTSD in, say, US soldiers returning from Iraq. In such cases, the intense, unresolved emotions of certain events triggers them to relive the traumas which they’d rather forget. At first it may be confined to their dreams, but sometimes this can also bleed into their conscious recall. I guess that once one memory is made conscious, it could open the door to others that are less traumatic.
On the subject of karma. It is a contradiction to be free will beings and have an experience ‘imposed’ on us by another.
I think you may be confusing free will with omnipotence. Free will means that here – within the game of physical life – I get to choose my own actions and reactions (even if I don’t always realise it). I don’t get to choose yours. You are free to dupe, attack or kill me, if you so choose. I am free to try and stop you, but I might not be successful. We are all free to commit karmic acts on others, if we so choose. As we evolve, we choose to do so less and less. From the soul’s perspective outside the game of life, there’s nothing “wrong” with karmic acts – it’s all fuel for our evolution.
Hi. This is my first time seeing this site. I had read many books trying understand what life means. I do get it now and understand greatly. I am happy that I have been open-minded. I am glad for this so won’t leave me wondering. I have always been like that sinceI was little girl. I always wondered about myself and why I am for who I am. Born as twins, my sister passed on. I almost died but managed to live. Why? I am hard of hearing (“deaf” who wears two hearing aids). I always wondered whats my true meaning of being deaf. Someone once said, my sister weren’t meant to be in this lifetime (I always wish she’s here so I don’t feel loner). Someone said that something happened in 16th century that caused my deafness today. I do not know why, being said I needed a “host” born into a family (like in hurry) but I strongly do not feel I belongs within my family and always felt outcast to my peers also. Why do I need a host so I can be born? I always wondered if all were true. I don’t know if you could answer me but I just want to get this off of my chest. Thanks.
Well, we all need a biological “host” to be born in the sense that we need a mother who will bring us into life, or at least carry us through pregnancy. I’m not sure if that’s what was meant. Sometimes our parents are soul mates we know well, and sometimes they are whoever happens to be available with the right circumstances for our growth, so occasionally we do find ourselves in families with people we cannot easily relate to. Rest assured, however, that you – as a soul, in a state of higher consciousness before taking life – knew what you were doing when you chose this setup. The circumstances of childhood are usually designed so as to propel us into adulthood on a particular trajectory, without us consciously realising it as the level of personality. My own childhood felt shallow and meaningless, but that background propelled me to seek depth and meaning in later life, for example. Feeling like an outcast might be the fuel to propel you to seek your “true” community of peers.
Hi Barry. Thank you for your enlightenment. I have a question about #8, the law of karma. It says that there is a karma but it comes back to us in another lifetime. I am having such a hard time believing that because It kills my motivation to go out of my way to do good things thinking that it will come back to me in this lifetime. Or what we call karma is simply just an action and its consequences. Any comment to free me from my confusion?
Might make more sense just to think more generally in terms of law of attraction. If you are putting out a positive, peaceful, joyful vibe, you will attract experiences you regard as good (in this lifetime) which will reinforce that vibe. If you put out a negative, hostile, grumpy vibe, you will attract experiences you regard as bad. Karma is more like a special case of this at the level of action: if you actually DO stuff that deliberately violates (or liberates) the free will of specific others, then you will attract the equivalent actions from those others. But if you murder someone, you’ll both have to wait at least one lifetime for the other to return the physical plane and for your paths to cross.
My partner of 48 years died Feb.14 2014 after a long illness.
This has caused me tremendous grief that I struggle with every day.
I was told by a spiritual healer that we were “connected souls”
at a cellular level.
Can you explain this to me?
Will our souls reunite?
Thank you for your help,
Robert
Cells don’t come into it Robert. You are connected souls at a soul level – the level of pure, free, luminous consciousness where human body, mind and personality are mere memories, fleeting experiences. Despite appearances, your partner hasn’t gone anywhere. Their body is no longer where their consciousness is at, that’s all. They are so much bigger now. Just be open to the possibility that your partner has never left you. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then rest assured that you will reunite at the instant of your own “death”, or return Home.
Thank you Barry.
Dolores Cannon talks about things at a cellular level. … In one of her books she talks about someone’s emotional pain having gone to the cellular level; saying the person had forgiven in her mind and heart, but the grief/pain was cellular. And in supposedly crop circles give up information that records at a cellular level as well. DNA/cellular level, & Soul stuff is not unrelated, in my humble opinion.
Best to you Robert~
Thank you for turning me on to Dolores Cannon.
Pretty fascinating stuff.
I am new at all of this and am searching for some peace!!
Thank you again for your help.
You are welcome, Robert. … Your post there touched my heart; and had me thinking of it for a few days. I’m sorry for your loss and grief, but how beautiful to have had such love in this life with another person. I think there is no doubt your souls will be reunited. You have probably known each other for millennia. Maybe you can speak with a Michael Channel to get more information about what your relationship dynamic was in other life times. Some of the channels that I have heard of are: Shepherd Hoodwin, Troy Tolley, and Stephen Cocconi. Any of them should be able to give you a picture of what your relationship with your partner was/is beyond this life. … I just recently found Dolores Cannon, too. I had a QHHT session in October and it was very, very healing for me. It helped me to finally come out of a 3 year – midlife-crisis slump (that I seem to be finally coming out of just in just the last few weeks, I think, perhaps, its hard to say really. But the qhht helped me a lot). … As far as the channels go … I have used Hoodwin and liked him. I think Tolley is supposed to give a lot of information, looking at other people’s channeled info from him, and I have a friend that said Cocconi seems to have accurate info that lined up with another channel’s interpretation of his relationship with certain ppl in his life. Any of them should be good. … Best to you. … Sending loving thoughts to you at this time, Robert.
Thank you for all this terrific information.
I live in So. Cal. and plan on contacting Shepherd Hoodwin,
for an in person session.
As I said earlier this is all very new to me.
I have no pre conceived notions…but an open mind….and am searching for some guidance and peace.
Thank you for your kindness.
Robert
Barry,
Thank you for all your insight .
I am trying to absorbed as much as I can and gain some spiritual peace to my heart as I struggle.
One more question,
Do you have any thoughts on how affective…
Induced After Death Communication is,
as described by Dr. Alan Botkin.
Thank you again,
Robert
Actually, I wasn’t familiar with Botkin’s work, so thanks for the tip 🙂
I am very intrigued – do you know the purpose of the stick?
The stick is used to induce you into a somewhat REM state.
Its a treatment not unlike EMDR treatment used to treat patients with post traumatic stress syndrome.
This is a link….. EMDR Institute http://www.emdr.com/
And a link relating to Dr.Botkin. http://www.induced-adc.com/
I would appreciate your take on these procedures.
Barry, again THANK YOU for your tremendous insight.
My Best…Robert
Hi,
I’ve looked into it a bit further and my conclusions would be: it seems therapeutically effective, in that people are certainly being healed and uplifted; Botkin is sincere (reminds me of Dr Brian Weiss stumbling on past life regression); I’m not sure if the stick technique is essential or is simply one of many possible tools one could use to help bypass the conscious mind.
Impressive videos on how he used it to treat soldiers with PTSD here:
http://www.healingafterthewar.org/videos.html
Cheers
barry
I like the questions regarding Karma—I too have evolved to a peace attitude,,,,since m fathers death,,there has been much fighting between the siblings and my mother–I have chosen to “step” out of the family doings,,,,so is it a past “bad” life I lived that I am getting so many family members and even some friends that are just out right mean and hateful towards me,,,this makes me feel bad—I sometimes wonder if that is why I have been successful in the medical “healing” career that I have chosen—because I was possibly a monster in a past life?
Hi Doris,
I don’t have the full picture but I would say that people being mean and hateful to you isn’t really a karmic matter, as it doesn’t affect your free will. It’s just their immaturity, their negativity, and if you prefer not to get caught up in that then that’s entirely your free choice. There’s no “requirement” to put up with nastiness from anyone. Maybe this is an opportunity to develop your ability to step away from things you don’t like, while still remaining peaceful.
A medical career is sometimes a way to balance out one’s accumulated karma – saving lives rather that you had previously taken. Yet it can also work the other way: if someone cut off your hand in a past life, you might “return the favour” in this life by having to surgically remove their hand, even though without ill intent.
But let’s not overlook the possibility that karma needn’t come into it at all, and maybe the reason why you are successful in the medical career is because you care about others and you’re good at it!
B
Hi Barry,
I’ve only been at this “awakening process” this past year and reading your site has answered so many questions for me. Thank you SO much for taking the time to do this. I actually still have a number of questions that I hope you can provide some clarity on any if you don’t mind!
1. You mention “Spirit,” “God,” “Source,” and “Creator” – do you have any ideas as to the purpose or origin of this “Creator” that we’re all a part of?
2. The soul sticks to one species at a time – so does that mean that we’re the only “intelligent life” in physical form right now? Can other intelligent life exist without a “soul” like ours? Somewhat tangential, but what is our relation to space/the cosmos/the universe?
3. How are some people able to see nonphysical beings? Or how are some people more “psychic” than others?
1. As I understand it (this afternoon, anyway), the purpose of all this is joy – the sheer joy of being and becoming. The eternal expansion of consciousness to explore all possibilities of joy.
2. Apparently we are one of several “ensouled” species on Earth at present, the others being the various species of whales and dolphins. And millions of others in the Milky Way alone. There is also certainly intelligent life without a soul like ours; that is, without an individualised consciousness that is evolving through choices made within the illusion of separation. Space is part of that illusion, as is time.
3. Most of us at birth lose the ability to see the non-physical simply by becoming immersed in the data provided by the physical brain and senses. Some, however, do not become so fully immersed in the physical and retain some attunement to the more subtle non-physical perceptions.
Barry,
My ex partner of seven years recently committed suicide by hanging herself. She suffered with episodic depression and her was to become introvert and appear busy whilst pushing me away. It was this self protecting mechanism that led us ultimately to split. Throughout out our relationship we felt so utterly connected and on the same page as it were, even though at times due to her illness it was a real challenge. She was very engaging, positive and alluring despite her depression.
After she pushed me a way in December 2011I behaved like a poor whipped puppy, I’d pursue her and she’s repeatedly push me away, after several months of this I decided enough was enough. To that end I moved on and met somebody else, however we continued to remain very good friends and our love seemed even stronger we shared so much but we were no longer in a “relationship”. I am devastated that she has now gone and yearn to be with her again and realise that ours was more than just “love” in the physical sense. I have had a couple of readings with mediums since her passing and heard from her immediately, she explained it was the right thing for her to do and that she is pleased to find that there really is the afterlife we talked of and that she is now truly free. She told me also that there was nothing I or anybody could have done to prevent her from taking her own life and not to feel guilty. She also explained she knew she’d pushed me away and that she was sorry. She regularly comes to me in dreams and I feel her around me all of the time yet I feel guilty that I still love her even though she has passed and I am with another.
My question is this are we “connected” as souls and meant to be? If so what about my current partner and previous relationships including two marriages, are we all ultimately part of the same soul group? Can we assume we will be met by everybody we have ever loved or formed a relationship with or is it based on something deeper as in the case of my ex partner? I believe I love my current partner but it does not feel anywhere near as intense as it was with my previous partner. I hope this all makes some kind of sense, I am struggling trying to explain what I mean!
Steve
Hi Steve
Thanks for getting in touch and sharing this. My condolences for your loss.
It looks very likely to me that your ex was a soul mate of yours. However, there are certain popular notions of soul mates that do not actually apply. All of us have multiple soul mates:
1. There is our immediate ‘soul family’ or small group (you + 6 or so others). These souls all have the same essence (spirit, role) as ourselves. They are like our closest team-mates, as well as our siblings in spirit. We share the same higher-level guides.
2. There is our wider ‘soul community’ or large group (you and your small group + 1,000 or so others). All came into being as one, which then fragmented into individual souls.
3. We each have a sort of ‘twin’ soul (known here as an ‘Essence Twin’). This is simply a soul who came into being at the same moment as us and has a very similar make-up, but belongs to a different group. Our Essence Twin is like our ‘growth buddy’ – we evolve in parallel from start to finish and compare notes between lives. Essence twins CAN choose to incarnate together — when they do, for both the experience of knowing the other is a bit like looking in a mirror; but generally we learn more by being with people who are NOT the same as us.
4. We each have another growth buddy known as a ‘Task Companion’. This is a soul who generally has a different make-up from us, but for that very reason we often incarnate together in order to experience and complete learning tasks from different perspectives. Alternatively, our Task Companion can be non-physical while we are incarnate, but assisting us with our life tasks on an inner plane.
5. As we evolve, we can form attachments to various other souls. These include ‘Heart-Links’ and ‘Travel Companions’.
I say all this to help put your experience into a broader context. Judging by the quality of the relationship with your ex (more than just love in the physical sense), it certainly sounds like she was one of the above types of soul mates. The experience of being with her was undoubtedly something the pair of you set up before this incarnation… But perhaps, so too was her departure (especially if there was ‘nothing you or anyone could have done to prevent it’). It sounds like the pushing away was coming from a fearful place within her, not from any ill intent towards you.
Yes, you were and are (forever) connected as souls. But the phrase “meant to be” comes from a false premise. As souls, we are not “meant to be” together with any of our soul mates. We are with them between lives anyway, so it’s not like the ship has passed, or ever could. She is with you in your dream life, which is the easiest way for non-physical soul-mates to contact us while we are physical. And the moment you depart this life, she will undoubtedly be one of the first in line to greet you into the realm of light. Basically, that love is always available to you. But my advice would be: don’t use your attachment to her as a barrier to other relationships. She wouldn’t want that. And don’t use the intensity of it as a measuring stick to judge other relationships.
Love is what unites us eternally, and it happens purely because we CHOOSE to come together, not because of some secret destiny. The love you shared then, you still share now, and it will always be a truth between you. Real love never dies; it only grows. But at the same time, real love is also not exclusive of other relationships. Having known great love with one soul does not mean that she was your “one true love”. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth and you would be doing yourself a great disservice in life if you were to imagine it to be the case. You KNOW there is love in your life; you are free to go and create MORE of it!
hope this helps
barry
Hi Barry! Its a wonderful read, great insight n in depth!!
God bless you for sharing it all here..
Right now don’t have any questions, for I have just landed here, but m sure will be back with some.. till then take care!!
Cheers Karuna 🙂