Religion and Spirituality; What are Your Thoughts?
61What Does the Ever After Look Like to You?
Can You Meld Your Religion With You Own Ideas on Spirituality and the Afterlife?
I've always been curious about how different religions view spirituality, and also how people think about having their own individual thoughts on the afterlife, reincarnation and spirituality in general; and how do you rationalize those beliefs with those of your religious background? Are they conflicting ideaoligies or do they work together?
Many of us will say that we don't feel it necessary to bend to the strict beliefs of one religion or another; we have our own rules and answer to our own God and not to man-made religious organizations.
Others feel that we may be looking at big problems if we question our church's strict doctrines.
I wonder, these days, with so much forward thinking regarding spirituality, are your churches now embracing or making room for these "new" philosophies, or are they still clinging to the old ways with the same steely determination?
This is not meant to be a forum for criticism or nasty debate, but more a forum for discussion on the topic. Chime in, relate to your own, otherworldly experiences that may have brought you to your own conclusions.
Reincarnation
Does Your Church Allow for Belief in Reincarnation?
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Do YOU Believe in Reincarnation?
See results without votingSome Relating Links
- Whose Fault Is My Life Anyway?
I believe that we are in charge of determining our own destiny. I believe that we signed up for the job, agreed to the terms, got our ticket and here we are. What we choose to do with our life is up to us. ... - Visits From the Other Side; Death is Only a New Beginning
Whenever the loss of a loved one seems too painful to handle, it is comforting to know that what we are feeling is sadness for US. Our loved one has gone "back home." I have had enough brushes with the other side to know that life does not end with o
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I do believe in reincarnation, I remembered some of my "past" lifes. Life is immortal, cannot cease, we are just changing the bodies through which we express and explore different point of views we (Divine) want(s) to take. I was man in majority of lifes I remembered. It just happened after very intensive periods of meditations... But...on the higher levels of existance past and future are mixed togethew and everything is just a...set of possibilities.... Time is not linear, so reincarnation is not linear experience....
Love&Light
Elena,
Thank you for the photo compliment; I love photography but I am an ameteur from the word go; it's all about the digital cameras and they do make "idiot proof" cameras these days. I love that photography makes me slow down and look for the little, or big, beautiful things to photograph.
I respect everyone's way of seeing "the afterlife" or nothingness. I've just seen and read about too much to think that we end here. I keep reading and researching and hope that we do go on. And yes, it does make you think. I find it most interesting a subject.
Tatjana,
I've had flashes of past lives during hypnosis. I was disappointed that I was not Cleopatra or Queen Victoria or anyone of importance! I too believe that time is not linear anywhere but in this dimension. There is a fascinating book on a woman who came face to face with her past lives; when I find it, I'll post the title here. It is hard to argue that we don't come back again after reading this book....
Madison
You know in the back of my mind I have always thought that untill one fully understands how life is for other denominations, or say a blind person, or a deaf person we may have to experience it ourselves...I have my own thing about a certain race and I think I may have to come back as that race so I will fully understand it.
I have learned a lot and have learned to except many things in this life time...been through several rough times, lonliness, illness, seperation, sadness, deaths and on and on..things that teach us about our strengths and weaknesses...and it seems to me before we can enter the "Promised Land" we must perfect ourselves...we must be loving and caring and honest and sincere and watch and take care of other's un-selfishly and without rewards....but this is MY own way of wondering....and I do...G-Ma :O) Hugs & Prayers
G-ma
That is exactly the point of this--no one is wrong or right; I just think it's interesting to hear about how people feel and what they have experienced.
The last two years have been difficult for me, as you know. I surprised myself because never once did I blame God. I feel that we're here to perfect our soul, as you mentioned. We really don't learn much when life is rosy, that I think is one thing everyone agrees on. How could I blame God when we come to earth to learn and to grow from difficult events? God gave us free will. He doesn't "make stuff happen" to teach us a lesson; we are wiling participants in the exercise, at least I see it that way; others may not and that's okay too!
I love your photo! Good hub and thank you for the thought-provoking questions.
I have a side that some people call psychic and other people just think is nuts. I have learned a number of things about what happens after death, at least to some people, this way, and over time I've come to believe that some of it is true. But the way I learned the stuff is so wacko I don't talk about it. (I guess I'm talking about it here.) Sometimes if I walk into a place where there is a 'ghost' I'll get an image of the person who died or I'll get a name or even a message or spoken sentence. It's hard to know what good this is, but it's interesting.
I do believe some people come back (reincarnation) and so move on and don't choose to come back, they just sort of become a part of what most people would call God. Other people stay between life and death to help others because in doing so they work off some karmic issues of their own.
Wacko, I know. I even think it is. Still I also have come to believe it's basically true stuff. Thanks for asking. :o)
Why is that Wacko? If you lived here in California, you would be considered very, very normal! When I told my therapist that I was upset with my deceased daughter because she hasn't dropped by for a visit with her mother since she passed-on, my therapist didn't even bat an eyelash; she said it was because my daughter made sure everyone was okay, then crossed over and most likely would only visit when I REALLY needed her; like right after my father died. And she did visit, by the way, right after my father passed
So if you want to talk about whacks, I have you beat in that dept!
There are some books on the subject, including Alison Dubois's book, "Don't Kiss Them Goodbye," and any of the Brian Weiss books. I encourage you to check them out because you have a gift. I know you're so busy trying to make a living, and I so get it, but when you have a minute, check them out. If you don't want to buy them, email me and I send you mine to borrow!!
You're not a weirdo, you just have a gift in a part of the country that hasn't quite evolved yet, spiritually!!! (Please don't send me mean emails other folks: After all, the Unity Church is based in Missouri and there are great things in the mid-west, like my grandson!! And, great schools....)
Thank you for those kind words! It's true I guess--smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt it's not that smart to talk about woo woo stuff, but on either coast it's no big deal. I also felt upset that I never heard from my mother after she died. But I think not everyone is 'available' if you know what I mean. I think your therapist is right that it's likely you won't hear from loved ones who have truly moved on unless you are in some kind of danger. I wrote a hub about a haunting I experienced after my mother died that, at the time, I felt had nothing to do with my mother. Yet when I read my own hub and saw what the outcome of the hub was, I thought to myself, that might have been her, actually.
I've read Weiss's books, he's great, but I'll check out Allison Dubois--I never heard of her and I love all that stuff. Even Sylvia Browne, who is in a lot of ways kind of a scammer I think, has a lot of it 'right.' She just charges up the wazoo.
I think most of the spirits still hanging around have issues, but they aren't always bad issues. Some have chosen to hang around to be helpful, others can't move on because they're stuck, others are just a pain in the butt and feed off fear and confusion should be ignored. It's just like life I guess--there are some nice dead people and some not so nice dead people, and some dead people who are barely people or not people, but in generalm most people go back to God, which is great. Some days i feel ready myself, lol! But I know life is too short and I know enough to cherish every minute, even the rough minutes.
Well said, Pam. There was a time that we didn't "share" our ideas on the subject for fear that people would think we were nuts. Now, things are much more open plus, I really don't give a damn what people think, LOL, and that's the truth! When is comes to business and job, etc, I just prefer to keep those private things private. It's really none of anyone's business anyway.
Interesting about your Mom. I haven't heard from Dad either.
What I like about Allison Dubois is that she just sort of does what she does without a lot of fanfare. She really isn't about how the "big plan" works, only that she sees and speaks with those who have passed on and it helps her help in crime solving and to help those in pain reach their lost loved ones--that's where her work ends. She doesn't profess to know her spirit guides, channel ancient folks or any of those other things.
I also just read Lisa Williams's book. I liked her, as well. I'm not just grasping for a way to reach my lost loved ones; I am and always have been curious about how the psychic works and how it relates to the bigger plan.
Tatjana,
I found the name of that book; it is the last in the list of Amazon books below.
Madison
Through the years, my views about spirituality, religion, afterlife, reincarnation have expanded and just opened up in more ways than I could ever have imagined. The more I do, the more things become possible. :D Belated Happy Valentines Madison. Hope love continues to flow in your heart and life always... take care..
Ripple,
You are the sweetest! I hope you had a lovely V day, also. My husband and I spent the weekend with his sister in the gold country at her lovely home in the mountains. It snowed like crazy and we just chatted, caught up and his sister, Laurie, is an amazing cook so we were treated to fabulous meals all weekend!
It was so completely pleasant and lazy. We're home now and glad to be back but I do so love the mountains!
Oooh, that must have been a fabulous time - feeling pleasant and lazy moments up in the mountains with good food and all... :-) Thanks for sharing! :-)
Ripple,
It was so wonderful! The area is lovely and it is quiet and everything was covered in a delicate white powder of snow. We took walks together and had some champagne to go with our excellent cook's menu; we even cancelled restaurant restaurant reservations because none of the 4 of us wanted to leave their cozy home to go out!
Some Great Reads on the Subject
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Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
Price: $12.57
List Price: $14.00 |
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Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy
Price: $6.30
List Price: $14.00 |
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Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love
Price: $6.75
List Price: $13.95 |
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Don't Kiss Them Good-bye
Price: $3.24
List Price: $13.00 |
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Life Among the Dead
Price: $12.00
List Price: $24.00 |
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Across Time And Death: A Mother's Search For Her Past Life Children
Price: $6.12
List Price: $11.00 |
Elena. says:
11 months ago
Let me tell you, first of all, that the photo is awesome!
On spirituality, I'm probably the least spiritual person around in the "other worldly" sense of the word. Reincarnation and afterlife and such don't sit well with me, for me, but I find the concepts quite fascinating from an intellectual perspective, different ways to deal with the "is this it?" older than dirt dilemma. I don't believe there is an afterlife, however all that business about matter not being created nor destroyed, just transforming itself gets one thinking, doesn't it? :-)