Hi oavada, everyone.
I hope you will agree that the following is directly related to the topic because if the necessity of karma and re-incarnation is better understood then it is not simply something that has to be "believed in". Our own memories of the past can be validated in the context of an understandable process. Instead of it not making sense from the point of view of a 'ridiculous scheme' it can really make a lot of sense.
I used to work at the botanical gardens in 'Kings Park' so i hope you don't mind the analogy.
The way i see it there is only one way out of the cycle of binding karmic thoughts which bind the soul to the wheel of [seemingly] endless rebirths. The ROOTS and SEEDS of karmic thoughts must be burned to a cinder. What are the roots and seeds? They are the subconscious causes of our mental / emotional environment.
We're all awakening to the fact that if we can get our internal environment under the control of our inner Christ MIND, all the external environMENTAL problems can be solved. The integrating power of that inner 'superconscious' mind cannot be underestimated. That's why some have secluded themselves away in monasteries and caves to try to uncover it. It is the master key to our healing and our ascension out of the material universe beyond the reach of the lower laws of karma and re-incarnation.
If you think about it, our thoughts and feelings spring from subconscious levels of our being. Like seeds underground.... unseen and mostly hidden from view. It is a level so deep that it is difficult to influence these innate patterns merely by engaging the conscious mind alone.
Anyone who has tried, and you sound like you have oavada, knows that that task is not easily accomplished because the conscious mind is only one part of the mind. And oftentimes meditation does not get past conscious awareness. The conscious mind can deal most easily with what is on the surface of being. ie. the seedlings of thought. [ which are the effects.] But it cannot easily penetrate the subconscious and unconscious levels where the seeds are already planted from past experience and where the roots have taken hold.
That is why so many fail to change through practicing meditation. Trying to tame the growth of the seedlings of surface thoughts [and hard feelings] with the wind and hot air of the outer mind will not succeed. You may bend them into temporary submission by the force of will but they will spring back and the roots still thrive under ground... 'seeds' vibrating away, continuing to produce after their kind.
As long as a part of our own being [ie."the carnal mind"] is vibrating at a lower rate than the christ MIND deeper within, we must incarnate back to earth until we find the inner Christ consciousness. Conscious integration with that inner MIND is the only antidote to the 'lower karmic self' and is therefore the only antidote to the continual round of karma making and re-incarnation.
While the 'weeds' of karmic energy patterns remain untransmuted in the subconscious, they will continue to draw experiences to us which tend to reinforce the energy patterns of that 'lower self'. Our negative reactions to those experiences will cause the 'bad seed' to karmically reproduce after it's kind. It is a terrible loop which the mass of humanity is caught in. It is not something anyone can extricate themselves from without accepting the higher power within.
Believe me when i say that you may entreat that inner Presence as you would a kindly king or a loving elder brother or sister. It really is not a trite attitude. It's an acknowledgement that our outer/lower human will has not worked well for us over countless incarnations. We are still trapped in the karmic circumstances of earth. We are still being held in contempt by those with greater forces of human will than our own... because they are organised against us.
The christ Self even though it is ourself can be approached as an objective Person. It is much higher than the normal outer awareness, higher than the soul which too is hidden from the grosser outer ego consciousness. Don't be shy to actually talk to this powerful being within you. I do it all the time. I did so before i knew it was real. Thats how far into unreality i was. But eventually i got a response... the loving light appeared, and then many more times over the years. I've had plenty of dark periods too.
Now i always consult my inner Presence in big things and small and i am developing a close relationship with my christ Self. One day i will wake up and know myself as being fully that higher Self, and no other, because the last vestage of lower self consciousness will have been transmuted. The twain shall be one and all sense of separation will be finished. That is the way out of 'duality consciousness' and that is how to overcome the law of karma, and it's natural corrollary, re-incarnation.
I've heard it said in some 'new age' material that God / Universal Mind needs us to gather all of these human experiences we are all having so that we can contribute this marvellous wisdom to the Whole Oneness. You know, like stubbing your toe or being run over by a bus, or being knifed in a dark alley. Nonsense. We are having our own experiences because WE need them personally. We need to find out what it's like to be on the return current of our own negative creations so that we can learn the lessons which karma brings. [ Including positive creations which bring good karma]
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is the 'golden rule'.
But i think it is greatly hoped by our christ Self that we will turn within and be initiated by that 'high priest' into higher and higher levels of our own inner being. It takes more and more surrender of levels of human will and false concepts in order to make "room" in the "inn"" of being for the "child" of our christ Self to be born [ borne ] in our hearts. The alternative is to think we can successfully run our lives without that discovery and surrender of the human will.
Some people reading this will think that this is a simpleton's version of an old 'spirituality'. I am aware that in some quaters of the 'new age' it will be considered delusionary and that i am the one creating false gods and separations and perpetuating illusions and duality consciousness. They will tell me that i have refused to percieve the "Oneness" because i have used terms to delineate reality/levels of consciousness. Just "Be" they would tell me... "all else is illusion" they would say. "Good karma/bad karma is all duality and illusion" "You are the ONE, do whatever you will... unburden yourself from these ignorant archaic concepts... get out of the dark ages." These people are the ones deluded.
Most of us believe that we are individualisations of God but some mistake their current awareness of 'spiritual concepts' and self will for "Godness". Nobody, including myself is perfect but i believe the questions are the same for any of us... Are we all sure that we are doing the inner will of the higher Self? Do we try to discover that will and find out if that higher will is different from our 'natural' inclinations at least most of the time? Do we know the difference? Do we know how it feels to yield to that will when other powerful inner mental/emotional forces are rebelling? Or do we usually tread the path of least resistance [from our lower ego self.] Do we intuitively discern the vibratory difference between when the higher Self says NO when 'we' are saying yes. Or when It says YES and 'we' are saying no?
Resolving these questions in favour of the higher Will is essential but it can sometimes be a painfull process if we have to go against some level of ourselves. On the other hand it is a great joy when all levels of being "agree" and we find energies flowing freely in harmony with divine will. We all engage to some extent. But i'm convinced that the higher Self knows the shortest distance between 2 points in order to resolve both into ONE. Accepting a higher [ and higher ] power as we rise into spiritual levels of Self is the way out of karma and re-incarnation.
I am not speaking from the point of view of someone who has learned all my own lessons either. But i am developing a healthy respect for a law and a process which does not depend on my belief for it to operate. Belief just helps at times when my whole being is not in full agreement. And given the fact that we've all fallen into duality... thats inevitable isn't it.
But T Ren is right... whether we believe or not in re-incarnation it will be what it is or isn't... just make the most of this incarnation the best we know how. We still have to rise in vibration while in the body in order to transcend the material planes now and at the conclusion of this life.
edit : A good read on this subject is ; "Life Before Life" by Helen Wambach.
She is a psychologist who 'hypnotised' hundreds of people, often in large groups, and recorded their impressions and memories in the book. Anyone who thinks that this universe is not well organised by higher beings is in for a shock. There are dedicated, organised helpers who are intimately involved with each of us personally. Call them 'angels' [no wings of course] or masters or whatever... they are real and they are 'rock solid' in their dedication to our overcoming the challenge of life in the lower planes. Helen Wambach's guided meditation/hypnosis sessions pierced the veil of forgetfulness that causes some of us to deny the existence of an organised spiritual 'rescue mission'.
Helen's subjects remembered their parents from former lives [oftentimes as their children, siblings, lovers or spouses.] They remembered their feelings and thoughts about their coming into physical embodiment in a family of familiar people. They remembered their conversations with higher beings who guided them through the process of accepting their life plan for the coming incarnation. This is a book that can give you a very grounded and practical understanding of the ties that bind and the process of birth, death and reincarnation. It could change the way you look at your path.
. Mind you, working in IT, I have a 'RTFM' T-shirt, I guess this is my karma coming round.
So yeah, I totally picked up on your thoughts, too funny....
