Sunday 22 October 2017

other lives ...

Reincarnation is a topic fairly frequently considered, since anecdotes abound and allowing the possibility opens the mind to explanations of otherwise inexplicable phenomena ... as well as offering comfort to those of us entering the third phase, though thought may disturb equanimity if an entity entertains memories of evildoing and fears the coming karma... Roman Catholics officially reject the concept these days, though they do have an arrangement for adherents to confess their sins and wipe the slate clean ... hasty research suggests many folks signed up to the "one true faith" don't bother so much with the confessing but do believe in reincarnation .... kind of pick and mix so common these days ... our sceptical times undermining orthodoxy, along with the behaviour of so many of the clergy, finding the rules of celibacy too challenging and allowing the blocked sexual energy to manifest in ways not only immoral but often cruel and abusive ...

Anyway, this Sunday posting is not meant as yet another attack on organised religion, which, after all, does bring solace and companionship to so many ... and if folks are prepared to sacrifice their freedom for some hope of salvation, then that's their business ... if it turns out their version was correct, good luck ... if it turns out reincarnation is a thing and each entity needs to sort out their own understanding of what's going on, there are plenty of lives available, after all eternity is beyond a very long time ... if it turns out the Atheists are right, nothing is lost in the end and believers can meet their demise happily deluded ... renouncing sin and evildoing is always worthwhile, whether to mitigate karma and dodge rebirth in hell realms, as described in some Buddhist texts, or just because of the intrinsic benefit of living an ethical life this time round ...

Recent reading material enriches the concept of reincarnation ... Claire Sylvia's 1997 description of her experiences after a heart and lung transplant ... the donor being a young man ... her uncanny knowledge of details from the deceased boy's life and her meetings with the family ... suggesting, as well as reincarnation, memories held not only in the brain ... in fiction, David Mitchell's wonderful debut novel, Ghostwritten, tells the stories with reincarnation (and transmigration) implicit throughout ...

Such are the joys of synchronicity and confirmation bias ...

Meanwhile, sunny, Sunday, Stanhope offers Dances of Universal Peace with Nicola in the Church Hall .... always a joy ...

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