Reincarnation
The topic of reincarnation is pretty difficult to navigate because, first and foremost, I have to speak primarily from a spiritual point of view and delve deeply into topics that are still considered unconventional or taboo for most people. This won’t stop me, though, because where is the fun in writing if we don’t embrace a little bit of a challenge?
So what is reincarnation, and what does it mean for us if it were really true? Reincarnation is the belief that life doesn’t end with death, and that our soul or consciousness returns into a new vessel to live, i.e., another human life, for the purpose of evolution or karma, such as unfinished lessons. Some people living and breathing today remember past lives, and I had the privilege to be friends with one of such people during college. Not only did she have past-life memories, but her mother did as well. I’m not going to mention who, obviously, as I want to respect their privacy, and the only reason I want to bring it up is to offer another experience and opportunity to maybe try and keep more of an open mind when it comes to such topics.
Even from a scientific perspective, consciousness is still a great mystery. Meaning we can map the brain and study behavior, but no one truly knows where awareness comes from or where it goes. While we don’t have definitive scientific proof of reincarnation, research into memory, near-death experiences, and so many cases of children remembering past lives shows there’s more to consciousness and human life than we know.
For instance, DNA holds water around its carbon atoms and between base pairs, helping the helix-like structure stay in place. Some researchers have found that water can hold structure or information, and since our bodies are mostly made up of water, I am not shocked that people who do remember past lives often describe it as if their memories live not just inside their minds, but in the water inside their cells.
Priorities and karma | Reincarnation
While most people have a general understanding of karma as action and consequence, like “what goes around comes around,” karma, at its core, as I have described in detail in my book How to Get on the Good Side of Life, stems from a misconception of the self and, if we go even deeper, a distortion in how we view or perceive personal power. Now, yes, every action has consequences, but if we truly want to escape the matrix or third dimension, as most people in the spiritual community are acquainted with when it comes to living life, we have to understand the true value of life and what distracts us from it.
Those who are innately more in tune or in alignment with the spiritual dimension of life began with these questions. Such as: what is important in life? What has worth in life? What is the purpose of life? What is the mission of life? Etc. So now the question is, what makes us prisoners of life? What keeps us bound to reincarnation and forces us to face harsh lessons from life to life? And the short answer to this is whenever you step beyond the spirit and place anything above the spirit, that is when you accumulate debt. Meaning, when you constantly place priorities beyond the spirit, you incur karma or create debt, and that results in reincarnation.
This can also equate to putting God first. You’ll see many people who say or claim they place God before everything else, but their actions may prove otherwise. This is hypocrisy. Now, we’re not here to call people out because it’s not our business to do that, and who’s got the time for it anyway, right? This is just a heads-up that spiritualists, like materialists, come in all shapes and sizes. The most dangerous types of spiritualists to be aware of are those who form or partake in cults or those who cover up their trauma with spirituality. You’ll see these patterns everywhere, especially if you’ve been around the block for a while.
You don’t have to be spiritual or call yourself spiritual to be in tune with the spiritual dimension of life. If you want my opinion on where to start with being more aligned with the spiritual dimension of life, start by first learning to become more aware, understanding consciousness, and recognizing what distorts consciousness.
Christian perspective on the divine
Before I proceed, I want to cite John 14, as this is probably one of the most profound passages in the Christian Testament for understanding God and what it truly means to place priorities beyond Him. I find this passage so tender that it touches my heart and often brings a tear or two.
John 14
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
God, the jealous lover
Please keep in mind that when I speak of God here, I don’t mean this in a religious or dogmatic sense, but from a deeply personal and spiritual experience.
No one can love us better than God, and I don’t think we will ever fully understand that kind of love while living this brief human experience. The only way to come even close to feeling it is by humbling ourselves and accepting our limits. And no, I don’t mean humbling ourselves by playing small. That is a distortion of what it means to be devoted to God or to live and breathe God. I mean, knowing that we can only experience and understand so much while being in this human vessel.
I know this because I have witnessed the miracle of God’s presence, even in the darkest places. God doesn’t like to be rejected, and if He is, you will surely know and feel his wrath. God wants our undivided attention and devotion. He’s a jealous lover. God wants you to do and create everything with and for the love of God. He wants you to put Him first, above everything else. He wants us to talk to Him and to acknowledge our mistakes and limitations. God wants us to be honest with Him. He’s a possessive lover.
Circa 2014, I was practicing “My Sweet Lord” on the guitar by George Harrison. I kept playing and singing the song over and over again because I wanted to post it on Instagram, lol. That same night, I had a profound experience. I became conscious while dreaming and found myself face-to-face with a man I had never seen before. As this man appeared in the room, a profound and encompassing love radiated through every pore of his face, and with the most tender smile, I instantly knew this was God. I was so shocked and overwhelmed by the experience that I woke up and couldn’t believe what had just happened. I kept asking myself, Did I just meet God?
I thought it might have been the power of that song, and I never thought too much about it after that. Only sometimes, when I would find myself asking questions about God and who or what God is. To this day, I haven’t forgotten a single detail of that encounter.
Maybe God did appear in my dream after I sang that song for nearly three hours straight and took the form of a man I had never met. But, regardless, the whole point is that if you truly want to meet God, then sing for him, write to him, and talk to him. Like I said, He’s a jealous lover, and if you take one step toward him, he will take ten toward you, because no one, I mean no one, can love us better than God.
