Why do we forget our past lives?

[Sunny]

Oh, dear Bina, I am so sorry but it was'nt my intention to atack or to wound you. I understand very well what you mean, an many people will certainly agree with your idea that forgotten things are no more painful things. And to avoid suffering is also very legitimate. But let me say just two things:

1) the notion of grace is mainly a concept of christianism. And in my opinion it isn't a bad nor better notion than in others religions. Regarding the memory of past life which will say that our life in this existenxe is already a reincarnation, I am very estonished that Christians forget the message of Easter where they get the lesson of resurrection.
On the other side, the Ancient believed in the reincarnations and some had also memory of their past lifes.

2) As you refer to psychology, consciouness and so on, then I want only to remember, that in that speciality we know that the forgotten things (events) are always present by repression.
The buddhists think that these are translated in our tendancies, and that are exactly these ones which we are taking with us in our future lifes. Therefore a baby just born isn't neutral at all, so to speak in this perspective.

So, dear Bina, gorgive me for my clumsiness.

Sunny

[Prominent]

Originally Posted by retinoid

i think it is a mistake to think our soul's time or what not is the same as our mind/psychological perception of time. we are purely making a construct of reincarnation based on our MIND's perception of what time is, which is false time. Since time doesn't truly exist

I agree with this.
If you look at what is the case with how all things work right now, you can begin to see the most likely case with death in the moments outside of now- in a place that has no sense of progress or time or anything.
Something that doesn't require anything must be actually everything united in absence. It would both know nothing and in doing so flow between/through anything and thus know everything at the same moment, and in this process become something unimaginable because it has no point of focus like how we understand reality from our limited perspective.

[Prominent]

having said that.. I wonder if every single form of death within the universe somehow propels everything forwards- like a spark of life being translated into energy that will power the universe in that split moment where it goes throughout it all.

[JUPITERASC]

Originally Posted by Moog

By observing more closely the things I do and their connection with what happens, I gain a better understanding of how to sow more 'good' and reap less 'bad'. Maybe that's enough. But why doesn't the universe make it easier? Dat's what I wannna knoow

fwiw IMO that's declining personal responsibility by implying that e.g. 'it's not my fault' aka 'It's all god's plan' aka 'it's nothing to do with me' aka 'who me?' But that's just my opinion

Originally Posted by Sunny

.....The problem with the forgetting is for me that you'll not have any chance to rectify your errors or even to understand why you did them. In this way you are the one who suffer your past life, not this one who'll advance in the better way. And also, if you remember some aspects of your past life by experiencing events in your actual existence, then you can know that you're paying your debt and that it is paid. Sunny

From my own personal observation I have noticed that even in our current lifetimes, when asked at random, few people are able to recall the events of any one particular day that occurred as recently as just a month ago UNLESS something momentous occurred!

AND EVEN IF some momentous event was experienced on that particular day last month, most people are unable to recall the ENTIRE day in any significant detail and frequently get the sequence of events muddled. Ask most people what they were doing three days ago at some specific time most would have to think for a while before recalling VAGUELY where they were and what they were doing and frequently correct themselves as they realise they were actually elsewhere doing something other than they thought.

One of the reasons supporting the well known phrase “Time is a great Healer” is simply the idea that - in general - memories fade as time passes

Originally Posted by retinoid

Why doesn't our mind remember? Because it either 1) doesn't operate on the level to experience all our lives like the soul. 2) is deluded. 3) has forgotten. I don't think someone deliberately prevents us from knowing. But it may not be worthwhile to even know.

A person who has injured themselves by falling over while drunk ALTHOUGH unable to remember exactly how they sustained that injury NEVERTHELESS experiences the painful consequences of their drunken behavior/actions.

[JUPITERASC]

Originally Posted by Inline

I think there is a real reason we do not remember or better said, we forget, our past lives and it is a blessing in disguise......It's so that that we can restart each new time with a clean slate.

If one accepts that 'karmas' aka 'actions' lead to consequences then 'clean slates' are theoretical

Originally Posted by Inline

In another thread where a similar question was asked, there was a discussion about a film of an extremely, intelligent woman who was not able to forget a single memory from her entire life. She was fighting with her sister whom she now hated, because she wasn't able to forget any of the slights and fights they'd had while they were growing up. Her memories kept coming back and she was unable to forget and ultimately, forgive her sister. She ended up alone, depressed and miserable.

There is a real benefit to our well being when we are not able to remember painful experiences, because it allows us another opportunity at dealing with the problem again, without predjudice and maybe this time with more success.

Fwiw IMO Inline, forgiving a person ONLY because we simply cannot remember what they did is not forgiveness! BECAUSE if we cannot remember the bad stuff the person did to us, then we are only being nice to them because we have a poor memory – and that's easy!

IMO forgiving someone EVEN IF we remember precisely the awful things that person did to us is the meaning of forgiveness. Whereas, NOT forgiving someone because we can remember precisely the bad stuff that person did to us is “bearing a grudge” and is a dangerous state of mind because it can lead to thoughts of “taking revenge”. We may think we are 'entitled' ore 'justified' to 'take revenge' BUT our thinking could be flawed! Fwiw IMO, the woman was unhappy NOT because she had a good memory but because of her reaction to those memories.

[Bina]

Sunny,
first of all it's ok, i don't feel hurt by what you wrote, just deeply misunderstood! And i still feel misunderstood!
I don't agree that the notion of grace is mainly a christian concept. I've spent a lot of time in India and it is very common among Indian people (Hindus) to talk about God's grace.
I know there is some references in the bible to reincarnation and past lives (even by Jesus), i just think that Christianity today does not want to accept and approve the idea of reincarnation.

Also i don't believe that forgotten things are no longer painful or to avoid suffering at all cost. Even though you may have forgotten, the pain is still there (but it is a bit like you are under the influence of a strong pain-killer or even an anesthetic, you don't feel it fully - which is what i call grace). You will only remember when you are ready to deal with it, just as often people completely forget their traumatic childhood experiences until such a time when the memories can be uncovered again and dealt with.
I agree that some of our tendencies in this life are the result of actions and experiences in prior lives (I have also studied some of the Buddhist philosophies, although i don't agree with all of it), but i still don't believe you have to remember all of your past lives to grow and learn in this one, i think if it was helpful to remember, we would and when it is helpful for our growth, we do remember what we need to know!

[Moog]

Originally Posted by JUPITERASC

fwiw IMO that's declining personal responsibility by implying that e.g. 'it's not my fault' aka 'It's all god's plan' aka 'it's nothing to do with me' aka 'who me?' But that's just my opinion

I'm basically asking 'why is existence tricky, rather than easy', and in no way did I say anything about wanting to ditch responsibility for myself.

Another way to say it would be 'why is there so much suffering, rather than not so much'

[JUPITERASC]

Moog, so when you said:

Originally Posted by Moog

By observing more closely the things I do and their connection with what happens, I gain a better understanding of how to sew more 'good' and reap less 'bad'. Maybe that's enough. But why doesn't the universe make it easier? Dat's what I wannna knoow

you meant:

Originally Posted by Moog

I'm basically asking 'why is existence tricky, rather than easy', and in no way did I say anything about wanting to ditch responsibility for myself.

Another way to say it would be 'why is there so much suffering, rather than not so much'

I'm no expert Moog, fwiw IMO given the theory that 'karmas' aka 'actions' are basically the causes of effects THEN suffering exists for that reason

e.g. If a mango seed is planted then a mango tree will grow – when the right conditions are in place. If a grass seed is planted then grass will grow – when the right conditions are in place...

[Moog]

That doesn't answer why, it only explains the mechanism.

I'm not really expecting an answer though, just trying to have a conversation, have a think about some things.

[JUPITERASC]

Originally Posted by Moog

...That doesn't answer why, it only explains the mechanism.

fwiw IMO 'the mechanism' is 'explained' in order to simplify finding an answer...

i.e. for example, IF - according to the theory - 'karmas' aka 'actions' are just like 'seeds' that 'grow' when the right conditions occur THEN IF - to keep it simple we then pretend that suffering and joy are seeds - THEN just as ripened grass seeds or ripened mango seeds provide mangos and grass, then SO suffering and joy are experienced when the seeds of suffering and joy meet the right conditions for ripening and 'ripen'

[tsmall]

Well, what's the point of reincarnating? Evolution of the soul? Have you ever noticed that happy people don't change the world? Change only occurs, either personal or societal, when suffering happens.

Let's take the person who hates his job. Most of the time that person will not change jobs unless forced to do so by external circumstances, or unless he becomes "uncomfortable" enough to make the change, in other words the suffering has to outweigh the benefit. The degree of necessary suffering will change depending on the individual.

[Sunny]

To JupiterAsc:
That's the point, our memory, the wideness of our memory. Therefore some masters ask you: do you remember what was your first thinking when you woke up today? That's the same history.

To Bina:
I am very sorry that you feel misunderstood. But I really understand what you mean, but I am not with all in the same way as you. What you are saying about India, is very pleasant for me to hear because I love India very much. And it was my ignorance that the notion of grace isn't only widespread in the christian religion, sorry for that.

Yes, in a way, that is very true that once have to be prepared for the "news coming from his past" . But if someone is only lazy he will never or not without some difficulties meet what he wants or doesn't want to know.

I think that the remembering of your past lives is independant from your good will, but depends mainly from the degree of your increased conscious, which enlarge your memory. And if you are studying the cases of people who remembered their past lives, it is always done by traumatism. There, I think, you cannot more talk of being in the right time because we need then this remembering. The cases are often and mostly very young children who remembered their death because they had suffered a violent death. That isn't the case for all of us. To return to this children, they remembered it nearly almost suddenly, without any preparations or need for their actual lifetime and even they aren't in the situation that they want to know everything about their past life.
Now, Bina, do you understand, what I mean and why I am answering this to your comment?
People in a certain age have very much difficulties to remember anything of this problem and need to purify their memory by several technics such as meditation. The great buddhist masters can do so, but for us ...? We can train it and hope that it will occur.

Sunny

[Janus]

I've never heard of children remembering things from past lives. I can't recall remembering anything myself, although maybe I did and I forgot it eventually

Personally, I would be interested to know what I was in past live/s. I don't know if or how it's possible to do so. But I'd like to. Why? Just curious.

In my chart I have my South Node in Libra in the 4th House. If that is relevant at all.

[Prominent]

the act of Feeling anything gives rise to awareness of something occurring.
Suffering and Joy exist on the same spectrum of feelings that make up all clues to communicating forces.. In order to have friction that gives rise to the sense of touching and knowing, there must be variability and scale to everything..
nothing is disconnected, only the illusion(the ELUSION when you choose not to sense anything)..

[Bina]

Sunny,
the great Buddhist masters and other masters remember their past lives because they are strong enough to do so - strong enough to take it, not only because their memory power is greater. They also have more consciousness and inner strength to deal with it.

Young Children who remember their past lives because they have suffered some extreme trauma or violent death, do so because the imprint of that experience was so powerful that it was carried over into the next life, perhaps the next incarnation was soon after the previous death so the memory of the trauma remained on the surface of consciousness. And who can tell whether they need this memory or not, perhaps because it was very recent and the shock is still with them, they need to remember so they can somehow process their trauma?

[Judy_AzVirgo]

Originally Posted by Bina

Young Children who remember their past lives because they have suffered some extreme trauma or violent death, do so because the imprint of that experience was so powerful that it was carried over into the next life, perhaps the next incarnation was soon after the previous death so the memory of the trauma remained on the surface of consciousness. And who can tell whether they need this memory or not, perhaps because it was very recent and the shock is still with them, they need to remember so they can somehow process their trauma?

This is exactly my experience of the most recent past life, which ended during WWII, about 6-1/2 years before I was born. I had flashes of "borrowed memory" as a very young child, and as an adult, I explored these memories through past life regression hypnosis, in order to fill out the picture -- which wasn't pretty. I've also accessed incidents from other past lives unaided by hypnosis.

One thing that blew me away was to catch a glimpse of some sort of instruction by a teacher in the "between time" (what I call it) while a soul is waiting to reincarnate. I saw a review of the life, with the emphasis on accepting and forgiving self and others for what had happened. It was a lovely experience. Maybe some souls are unable to forgive and forget, and so they intrude on the next life? That would definitely be the case with the young man who died in 1944.

In one exploration of a life, I was told that I was "a keeper of the memory" for the entity associated with all of these lives, and that recognizing and remembering them would help the soul move on in some way. So maybe that is part of the point of remembering?

I suspect that there are several reasons why most of us don't remember. We're typically taught (in the West) not to believe in such phenomena. And also that our minds are so busy, clogged up with the details of our own lives. Meditation is helpful to empty out those busy thoughts and allow access to other levels of mind and memory. It's also possible, I think, that some lives need to be recalled (due to the experiences of that life or its particular relevance to our own) more than others do, and if there's no special need, then we don't have any strong impetus to access these things. Maybe, who knows, some of us are not reincarnated but are new to this plane of existence, and so have no previous memories of life here.

PS: I have a terrible short-term memory for things like what I ate for dinner last night! Who cares?

[paneagle7]

People tend to forget, as children after a few years of life, in order to lose perception of relationshps once known, or difficult events and history. This is also due to the need for 'consciousness' in this lifetime better applied to our daily and human life.

But those who remember or begin to recall can and do open the door of consciousness, and this allows them to seek spiritual liberation, freedom from karma, and personal or self realization. These are reasons to know or understand our past lives.

ASTROLOGICAL PAST LIVES: Our birth chart is a map of composite past lives - as well, up to birth, our experiences of the past and even those to come will pull on us. We can progress the sol and solar arcs from present TO PAST OR FUTURE<> using the 1 degree per year, century, or decade. - This progression / regression can be quite revealing of purposes here in this lifetime, or what is holding us back from the past.

The 5 methods - 1) Take the house cusp of each house as the past lifetime. See the house positions and planet aspects connected to them or the rulers. 2) Look at each planet as a past life, and see events or connections to them by aspects or transits, and regressions as well. 3) Look at the chart as a composite, thinking 12th, 8th, and 4th house and saturn pluto or moon indicate much of past lives and karma ( good or bad) - 4) find astro-cartography lines to pinpoint places and explore your feelings about events or people, places, and things. Do you like, are you afraid of, and so forth. Ask why or what and how questions (to yourself, for your soul always knows).
5) Do past life journeying in dream state - before sleep, lie on back, ask to see or follow a past life, and wake up with a journal entry, or writing your feelings upon waking. You may also see patterns in your dreams or sensing of past.

- Note; If you feel your a famous person, this may be so in the sense of being with them, more likely than being them. Many can say I was mary magdalene, etc. But in reality many lives were struggles and not successes, and most were 'mundane'. It is true we may be more one sex than another, and could be quite similar to who we look like today.
There will be a pattern to the movement from one life to another. But some have 2 concurrent lifetimes, truly, and many of the people alive today were also in Atlantis and ancient civilizations. We are working to avoid the trauma of the flood and other catastrophe, so the souls here can learn to be spiritually and live as they should, to complete the process of past lives (this known as ending the karmic wheel of the 84 (many lifetimes) and find spiritual liberation.

best; paneagle

[paneagle7]

Originally Posted by Bina

Sunny,
first of all it's ok, i don't feel hurt by what you wrote, just deeply misunderstood! And i still feel misunderstood!
I don't agree that the notion of grace is mainly a christian concept. I've spent a lot of time in India and it is very common among Indian people (Hindus) to talk about God's grace.
I know there is some references in the bible to reincarnation and past lives (even by Jesus), i just think that Christianity today does not want to accept and approve the idea of reincarnation.
!

well said and true. Grace is universal and divine. Let it be for all. The karma can be remembered, but it is not necessary. Christian and moslem domination and religious survival is often based on that Our God and divine inheritance they claim. Saint Paul built the church on largely a guilt issue, to maintain the teaching into antiquity. It worked.

Some measure of reincarnation was in the bible, they say, and I think it is so. Justinian in 4/500AD erased some of those writings. There probably some things in the Vatican remaining on it. Reincarnation can't be denied because they said so. If one of us was reborn, many have been. It is true spiritual realization beats out karmic memory any day. Can we find the spirit path through any religion? Yes. What works best for us, we individually need to determine.

[StillOne]

Originally Posted by Moog

I'm basically asking 'why is existence tricky, rather than easy', and in no way did I say anything about wanting to ditch responsibility for myself.

Another way to say it would be 'why is there so much suffering, rather than not so much'

I think the only answer is that we have to learn about suffering. It seems this existence is largely about that so there must be something important about it. We are mortal for a reason. Possibly we haven't worked out our karma enough in order to evolve to a higher existence or we have chosen to learn more about this aspect, or... we are being punished and forced to relearn about suffering.

There is then also the opposite of suffering to learn about which would be bliss... They exist together, it just depends on your focus. It seems it is more natural to focus on suffering since it is so powerful and drastic. However, the same could be said for bliss. It's just a matter of perspective and mental training... Of course, most religion and some philosophy is focused on this later aspect.

[retinoid]

Originally Posted by StillOne

I think the only answer is that we have to learn about suffering. It seems this existence is largely about that so there must be something important about it. We are mortal for a reason. Possibly we haven't worked out our karma enough in order to evolve to a higher existence or we have chosen to learn more about this aspect, or... we are being punished and forced to relearn about suffering.

There is then also the opposite of suffering to learn about which would be bliss... They exist together, it just depends on your focus. It seems it is more natural to focus on suffering since it is so powerful and drastic. However, the same could be said for bliss. It's just a matter of perspective and mental training... Of course, most religion and some philosophy is focused on this later aspect.

With the lower mind (ego, want, desire) we can never be happy and there will always be suffering. That is what the whole world lives with. Some people can ride the waves of happiness and disappointment that the ego brings, other people tend to be forced into a place where they need to find a way out from the ego because all they feel is disappointment with very little 'happiness'...

And yes you are wise to say it is training the mind. It takes us a very long time to figure out a way out from the ego's hold on our self. The first step is knowing that the voice in your head is not YOU it is your mind which is totally in the ego stage. This is the totality of unhappiness. If you can make the mind a tool rather than make it you, then you have conquered it. But it is very difficult, especially in our society which feeds the ego with everything and everyone else ego controlled.

[StillOne]

Originally Posted by retinoid

And yes you are wise to say it is training the mind. It takes us a very long time to figure out a way out from the ego's hold on our self. The first step is knowing that the voice in your head is not YOU it is your mind which is totally in the ego stage. This is the totality of unhappiness. If you can make the mind a tool rather than make it you, then you have conquered it. But it is very difficult, especially in our society which feeds the ego with everything and everyone else ego controlled.

Indeed Retinoid, there is much material devoted to this. The trouble being which way to go? I think the answer is easier than it seems at first... Pick a direction that speaks to you and go there. Along the way you may receive intuition to change course and that's ok. I think the important thing is that you're on a journey of exploration and discovery: being in motion and not stagnant.

I'd say it's the journey that's the most important. Sure, the end result can be argued as being of ultimate importance, but the journey leads us there.

[Bina]

Originally Posted by Moog

I'm basically asking 'why is existence tricky, rather than easy', and in no way did I say anything about wanting to ditch responsibility for myself.

Another way to say it would be 'why is there so much suffering, rather than not so much'

This question about why there is so much suffering is one of the big questions about life on this Earth, i think there is no easy answer to this one..
A long chain of actions and results - everything has to be balanced - Karma, leading to the slow evolution of the soul to higher states of consciousness.. but why does it have to be through pain and suffering?
Perhaps there are some keys in learning acceptance and detachment, these qualities diminish the suffering..

[Bina]

Originally Posted by paneagle7

But those who remember or begin to recall can and do open the door of consciousness, and this allows them to seek spiritual liberation, freedom from karma, and personal or self realization. These are reasons to know or understand our past lives.

Back to the past life question..

In my understanding it is not necessary to remember past lives to attain freedom from karma, self-realization or spiritual liberation. Many great beings have reached this state without remembering. Past life memories may just happen or come as a side-effect of engaging in spiritual practices like meditation, chanting mantras etc which increase awareness, but it may not. Remembering prior incarnations is not the goal of these practices!
From what I've read about it, once the state of self-realization is attained, past-life recall can happen, since often one can then have access to 'the records'.

[Stephen]

Bina,
There is no suffering, only divine compassion.
The good and "seemingly bad" are like a master with a staff and rod.
universal compassion (God,unity) first trys to lightly get a person onto the right path but the more a person doesn't listen the harder the knocks get.
Universal compassion (Emunah)

[StillOne]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Bina,
There is no suffering, only divine compassion.
The good and "seemingly bad" are like a master with a staff and rod.
universal compassion (God,unity) first trys to lightly get a person onto the right path but the more a person doesn't listen the harder the knocks get.
Universal compassion (Emunah)

Stephen, I'm just curious... you don't think suffering exists at all?