Reincarnation and Karma
What happens to us when we die - and for that matter, in the time before we're born ? Are painful and difficult experiences we meet in life - or seeming strokes of good fortune - purely random, a matter of chance, or part of something larger, some greater path and pattern in our lives ?
In my twenties I came across the work of Rudolf Steiner, who wrote and spoke, among many other things, about the life of the soul after death. This included the relationship of those who've died to those still alive, and processes that unfold in as orderly and lawful a way as processes of embryology or child development - only in a different direction, as the soul first leaves, and eventually returns to life on earth ; and in a completely different realm of existence.
Since that time, now 40 years ago, it's become amazing to me how much interest we take in the most intricate, complex facts of nature and technology, how for granted we take their complexity - yet how little interest we take in the possibilities of life before birth, or after death ; and how unwilling we are to imagine that this life too might be complex.
Such things have in fact been known by some, or even generally, in cultures of past times ; but the materialism of our own keeps us from even having such questions ; or from wondering why when we're born, for instance, we're born into a particular constellation of family, friends and community. How is it that our inclinations, health, interests and abilities can in some cases be so different from each other - or in others, so similar ? What, also, of the people we meet in life who help us and anchor us - or who lead us in completely new directions ? Who give us courage to grow - or even, reluctantly, force us to ? Fast speculations on who, when and in what way such things may have come about "karmically" may be wildly, even humorously inaccurate, and socially awkward if we share them ; but to pay attention to impressions and feelings, to hold open questions about such things, can improve and deepen such relationships.
We may in fact already have questions about these matters, but there are few we can ask, and few real resources to consult. But what if it makes a difference - a large and crucial one ? Death is perhaps our most pressing challenge.
We know what it means if a child has no loved ones, or receives no education when he or she is born ; and we take steps to prepare these things. These preparations are detailed, both in the thought necessary, and the actions we carry out. But preparation for our exit, or for real continuity with those left behind, is almost non-existent today - it's completely left to chance.
I raise this having recently revisited lectures on this time after death ; and because my own sense of relationship to the dead has changed, just in this past year. The deaths of old and current friends, and also of my own mother have intensified my questions. And I've also felt the grief and loss of friends and loved ones, vividly and repeatedly in this time.
We do turn to each other, and carry each other in thoughts and prayers. We're there for each other, and Kubler Ross's "stages of grieving" are a real thing. But are acceptance and memory the last stages in these lifelong relationships ? Are their, and eventually our own deaths just the end for us, "full stop" ?
The doors are not necessarily closed between us and those we've loved, once they pass. I've heard this for a long time, and as mentioned, it's become more and more real to me. Relationship remains possible, per Rudolf Steiner - loving, active and creative relationship. There may be still more to do with our loved ones, even important things. Reading to loved ones from books like those listed below, for instance, can be a living, fruitful activity, that works strongly and helpfully both ways. I experience this vividly every day.
Reincarnation and Christianity
There was knowledge of past lives in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ, such that when questioned on such matters (John 9 : 1-41), He answered without hesitation ; and in another case (Matthew 11 : 1-15), spoke boldly at his own initiative.
Renewing knowledge of reincarnation was clearly not the aim of the New Testament ; it was rather to record and reveal the greatest, most decisive event of all world history - the life, death and resurrection of Christ for all of humanity - for the whole earth. Yet as late as the third century A.D. reincarnation was acknowledged as fact by Origen, among the greatest of early Christian theologians, as the process by which the soul evolves in Christ. This understanding survived for centuries until historically and purposely extinguished by a Church that had become almost an extension of the Roman Empire.
Reincarnation, as you'll find in the resources below, was once universally known, as direct experience, by a humanity still closely connected with the spiritual world from which it had come ; and not yet so deeply descended into the more purely earthly and physical world we know today. It was inevitable that such knowledge would be lost in the process - but with the loss came also the possibilities of full self consciousness and of freedom - spiritual independence for the individual human being. In the resources below you'll learn more about this gradual, but immense process ; and of a new role and understanding of Christ as Lord of Karma ; as guide and helper of each human being, in freedom, on this path, as on all others.
Welcome.
Article by : Jeff Smith RN (Retired)
Resources
Facing Karma
Read for Free Listen
Good and Evil : Individual Karmic Questions
Read for Free Listen
Reincarnation and Karma : Two Fundamental Truths of Human Existence
Buy Read for Free Listen
Manifestations of Karma
Buy Read for Free Listen
What happens to us when we die - and for that matter, in the time before we're born ? Are painful and difficult experiences we meet in life - or seeming strokes of good fortune - purely random, a matter of chance, or part of something larger, some greater path and pattern in our lives ?
In my twenties I came across the work of Rudolf Steiner, who wrote and spoke, among many other things, about the life of the soul after death. This included the relationship of those who've died to those still alive, and processes that unfold in as orderly and lawful a way as processes of embryology or child development - only in a different direction, as the soul first leaves, and eventually returns to life on earth ; and in a completely different realm of existence.
Since that time, now 40 years ago, it's become amazing to me how much interest we take in the most intricate, complex facts of nature and technology, how for granted we take their complexity - yet how little interest we take in the possibilities of life before birth, or after death ; and how unwilling we are to imagine that this life too might be complex.
Such things have in fact been known by some, or even generally, in cultures of past times ; but the materialism of our own keeps us from even having such questions ; or from wondering why when we're born, for instance, we're born into a particular constellation of family, friends and community. How is it that our inclinations, health, interests and abilities can in some cases be so different from each other - or in others, so similar ? What, also, of the people we meet in life who help us and anchor us - or who lead us in completely new directions ? Who give us courage to grow - or even, reluctantly, force us to ? Fast speculations on who, when and in what way such things may have come about "karmically" may be wildly, even humorously inaccurate, and socially awkward if we share them ; but to pay attention to impressions and feelings, to hold open questions about such things, can improve and deepen such relationships.
We may in fact already have questions about these matters, but there are few we can ask, and few real resources to consult. But what if it makes a difference - a large and crucial one ? Death is perhaps our most pressing challenge.
We know what it means if a child has no loved ones, or receives no education when he or she is born ; and we take steps to prepare these things. These preparations are detailed, both in the thought necessary, and the actions we carry out. But preparation for our exit, or for real continuity with those left behind, is almost non-existent today - it's completely left to chance.
I raise this having recently revisited lectures on this time after death ; and because my own sense of relationship to the dead has changed, just in this past year. The deaths of old and current friends, and also of my own mother have intensified my questions. And I've also felt the grief and loss of friends and loved ones, vividly and repeatedly in this time.
We do turn to each other, and carry each other in thoughts and prayers. We're there for each other, and Kubler Ross's "stages of grieving" are a real thing. But are acceptance and memory the last stages in these lifelong relationships ? Are their, and eventually our own deaths just the end for us, "full stop" ?
The doors are not necessarily closed between us and those we've loved, once they pass. I've heard this for a long time, and as mentioned, it's become more and more real to me. Relationship remains possible, per Rudolf Steiner - loving, active and creative relationship. There may be still more to do with our loved ones, even important things. Reading to loved ones from books like those listed below, for instance, can be a living, fruitful activity, that works strongly and helpfully both ways. I experience this vividly every day.
Reincarnation and Christianity
There was knowledge of past lives in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ, such that when questioned on such matters (John 9 : 1-41), He answered without hesitation ; and in another case (Matthew 11 : 1-15), spoke boldly at his own initiative.
Renewing knowledge of reincarnation was clearly not the aim of the New Testament ; it was rather to record and reveal the greatest, most decisive event of all world history - the life, death and resurrection of Christ for all of humanity - for the whole earth. Yet as late as the third century A.D. reincarnation was acknowledged as fact by Origen, among the greatest of early Christian theologians, as the process by which the soul evolves in Christ. This understanding survived for centuries until historically and purposely extinguished by a Church that had become almost an extension of the Roman Empire.
Reincarnation, as you'll find in the resources below, was once universally known, as direct experience, by a humanity still closely connected with the spiritual world from which it had come ; and not yet so deeply descended into the more purely earthly and physical world we know today. It was inevitable that such knowledge would be lost in the process - but with the loss came also the possibilities of full self consciousness and of freedom - spiritual independence for the individual human being. In the resources below you'll learn more about this gradual, but immense process ; and of a new role and understanding of Christ as Lord of Karma ; as guide and helper of each human being, in freedom, on this path, as on all others.
Welcome.
Article by : Jeff Smith RN (Retired)
Resources
Facing Karma
Read for Free Listen
Good and Evil : Individual Karmic Questions
Read for Free Listen
Reincarnation and Karma : Two Fundamental Truths of Human Existence
Buy Read for Free Listen
Manifestations of Karma
Buy Read for Free Listen
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