Showing posts with label Buddha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddha. Show all posts

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Is reincarnation real? Are we all reincarnations of our previous lives?

Is reincarnation real? 

I found a good answer to this question on Quora which I would like to share with you.


Ⓒ Reincarnation


*****


I think I can answer it because I have a living proof with me.

My mother’s elder sister’s (masi) husband could remember his past life when he was just 3 years old.

Today, He is a reputed Orthopaedic Surgeon in Ludhiana, Punjab.

When he was 3 year old he would tell his parents about his past life.

He told them-

I used to live in a village in Gujarat. I died because of a disease. I want to go back to my family.

He told each and every detail- His past life parents name, His past life wife’s name, his occupation etc.

Then without telling him, his father went to that village out of curiosity and was shocked to know that each and every detail was correct.

He (his father) didn’t tell him about this and after some time, my uncle eventually forgot about it.

But his father told this incident to my uncle’s wife (my masi) and warned her to never ever talk to him (my uncle) about this as this will cause him severe depression.

Now it’s up to you to believe in it or not. But I believe in this.

Note- Uncle’s parents weren’t uneducated or the ones who would believe in anything without using their knowledge. They first went for the proof, after that only they believed in it.

Also there are many other incidents about Rebirth.

SOUL IS AN ENERGY. AND ENERGY CAN NEITHER BE CREATED NOR BE DESTROYED but Can be transferred from one medium to another.

Some of You won’t believe in it because it hasn’t happened with someone close to you. But that doesn’t mean its a fake thing.

It's fine, had I been in your place, I would have reacted in the same way.



                                                               *****


The ideal proof of reincarnation is the law of conservation of energy.

We spend our whole lives learning, processing situations, solving problems, making decisions, etc. It is impossible to believe that all this huge energy potential disappears with the death of a person. It is more natural to think that the best energies slowly but steadily are collected in our soul, which will work as a carrier also for our next body.

Also I would like to add that there are plenty of proofs of the past lives.

The most famous "case" proving reincarnation is, perhaps, the experience of one of the greatest teachers of our planet - Gautama Buddha, who lived two and half thousands years ago.

Gautama Buddha © Jacklyn A. Lo


He saw all his "countless" incarnations at the moment of his complete enlightenment. He saw his past lives in such detail as who he was in life and how he struggled in his attempt to find the path to full liberation.

Gautama was a real person, prince, who left a golden palace of his wealthy parents for the gaining a liberation from the materialistic world.

                                                                   *****


Find more about reincarnation via four Past Lives of a High-Tech Executive



Sunday, August 30, 2020

Redemption. Excerpt Four

 

Ann with her AI pal Rob

I'd like to present the fourth extract from my novel Redemption

In this discussion, Rob explains to Ann which intangible values affected her Spiritual Choices in her first two lives.

****

“I don’t understand it, Rob,” said Ann as she stepped out of the shower. 
“I had expected these nightmares to stop after going to the psychic. Several weeks have passed but - if anything - the dreams are more worrying than ever. It’s gotten worse instead of better.”

“That is all part of your journey, my lady,” Rob replied, looking out from the screen of the E-A device sitting by the sink. 
“Consider the Buddha’s path from the golden palace to enlightenment or Jesus’ journey through the cross to the resurrection. The greater the destination, the harder the journey must be.”

Ann considered this while drying herself with a towel. 

“I guess I can accept that,” she said eventually, “but from what I’ve seen on my two visits to the psychic, my - what did she call it? - My reincarnation chain has hardly been a series of victories. In my first life, I lost my son days after giving birth to him and ended up killing myself. And in the second I failed to save the woman I loved and died of a heart attack. I achieved nothing!”

“Nothing?” Rob raised an eyebrow at this and shook his head. 
“But, my lady, sacrifice has always been a necessary part of the greatest journey.”

Ann stopped drying her hair to look questioningly at him. “Sacrifice?”
 
“Of course sacrifice! Or did you think you gave up those lives without reason?”

“Well…” she continued drying her hair as she tried to think. “Maybe,” she conceded. “But I didn’t really achieve anything. I didn’t get Wu back or save Alfreda. Even if I did sacrifice myself, what was it all for?”

“Answer this then: when you were living in the Stone Age, why did you die?”

Ann shrugged as she picked up the E-A device and headed back out into the bedroom. “Because I shoved a spear through my heart.” 
She winced again at the memory that sharpened stick pushing into her body and placed a hand on her chest.

“No,” said Rob, now watching her from the bedside table. “That was how you died. I asked why.”

“Because that big murdering bastard was going to get me!” Ann jabbed crossly at the SmartHome screen on the wardrobe, selecting a red trouser suit. 

A wooden panel slipped back and the requested suit slid out on a rail.

“And what was that ‘big, murdering bastard’ going to do with you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, pulling on the underwear that had appeared through another panel. “Rape me? Beat me? Keep me as a slave wife?”

“All of the above, no doubt. So why did you decide to kill yourself?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Death has to be preferable to such a life. I died for freedom.”

“For freedom!” Rob agreed. “And what about your death as the Roman priest?”

“Egyptian priest.”

“Indeed.”

“That was just a heart attack, wasn’t it?”

Rob sighed and gave her a long meaningful look as Ann pulled on her trousers and tucked in her blouse. “Again, that was how you died. Ask yourself why.”

“Because I had been running and pushed my body too hard?”

“Okay… and why had you been running?”

“To save Alfreda’s life, to rescue the woman I loved.”

“So why did you die? For what reason?”

Ann finished buttoning up her jacket and stood up straight, suddenly realizing what Rob was getting at. “I died for love.”

“Exactly!” said Rob with a beaming smile. “You sacrificed yourself for freedom and for love. That’s good karma right there, my lady, huge steps on the path to redemption.”

Redemption?” Ann looked puzzled for a moment, trying to remember where she had heard that word recently. 

“The psychic mentioned that at the end of our last session when she was going on about reincarnation chains and other weird stuff.”

“Perhaps it would be worth talking with her again and finding out what she meant?”

“I’m not so sure, Rob,” she said, picking up the device and walking towards the front door of her apartment. “My past lives might not have been pointless, but that doesn’t change the fact that my nightmares have gotten worse since I went to see that old woman. I don’t want to risk them getting even worse!”

“That’s entirely your choice, my lady. It is your life—your journey—and only you can make that decision.”


****



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Sunday, August 9, 2020

Why Liberate? Part II

 


soul

Our soul is the biggest treasure for any spiritual entity as it includes all spiritual inheritance that has been collected during an uncountable number of existences. 

high-risk 


However, the most significant disadvantage of living in physical reality is high-risk factors for our soul. 


What are they, these factors?


the Laws


The first factor is our ignorance of the Laws of the Universe.

We live in the complex hierarchy of our Creator, which is running under these Laws.


Unfortunately, humankind's knowledge of these Laws is close to zero. Nevertheless, our ignorance does not excuse us for responsibility for what we do, and the punishment can be severe.


psyche


The second factor is our limited knowledge of yourself and especially about our psyche.


Our subconscious is massive storage with the data collected through our embodiments.

Unfortunately, as any storage, it also contains some impurities negatively affecting our psyche.  


mind


Our trained mind must be a warrior to recognize these impurities and eliminate them; however, methods of mind control are almost unknown in Western society.


As a result, these impurities generate mental problems such as anger, anxiousness, phobias, etc.


impurities


These problems prevent people from focusing on their primary goals and yielded their life-project in full and in time, which cause a prolongation of their reincarnation chain.


Spiritual Choice


The third factor is the Wrong Spiritual Choice.


Physical reality is a platform on which the qualities of our soul are tested continuously. 


There are every-day tests, and there is a Final Test, which we have to pass once or twice in a life. 


every-day tests


We can compare these tests with the general school - we have to learn every day as well as be ready to answer to our teacher's questions; however, one day we must pass a Final Exam.


The every-days tests keep us in a shape of thinking, evaluating and learning, providing slowly but steadily spiritual growth. 


degradation


However, in the case of the choice for pointless or parasitic lifestyle, a human loses a spin of energies and faces slow but steady degradation.


The Final Spiritual Test, however, is critical, as it's a Test for our Spiritual direction and our resistance to degradation.


enlightenment


For example, Spiritual choice towards Light would bring enlightenment and a shortcut to Liberation. Still, it also carries a risk of degradation if due to this choice, the person can't sustain himself.


karma


On the other hand, Spiritual Choice towards Darkness* will bring brutalization, negative karma,  suffer and a risk to drift away from the Hierarchy of God to the Hierarchy of Satan. 


The karmic payment brings a prolongation of the chain of incarnations and in addition - the risk of the next mistake.  This choice doesn't eliminate the risk of degradation as well.


Higher Spiritual Teachers


The Spiritual Test is not possible to avoid and even the Higher Spiritual Teachers supposed to go through the Test.


For example, 

Jesus was tested by Satan in the Judean wilderness; 

The demon Mara was testing Gautama the Buddha, trying to unbalance him. 

And the Old Testament tells about the Spiritual Test of Abraham, which was done by God Himself! 


Jesus, Abraham, Gautama


Jesus, Abraham, Gautama successfully passed their tests and were granted Liberation from physical reality. 


All of them continue their self-improvement and development in Thin world, a much safer place than the Earth.



* *This pattern does not apply to Spiritual entities who have already chosen Darkness as their Spiritual Direction. Having lost the right to Free Will, they strictly obey the orders of the Prince of Darkness and, therefore, do not create any Karma.




Saturday, March 7, 2020

Development of Consciousness. Insight. Part II ( out of III)



MAIN WAYS TO EVOLVE CONSCIOUSNESS


                                                         The Girl With Vision. Photography © Jacklyn A. Lo


Like anything in the Universe, our Consciousness is a subject of Evolution and Devolution.

According to my observations, there are three main ways to evolve consciousness.

1. Personalized Answers & Questions


Always look for answers to your personal questions. The Internet, books, films, or people - all of these sources - are a great opportunity to find out your personal truth. Each answer to your question will increase the share of your wisdom and decrease the share of your ignorance.

However, this method has some disadvantages. Firstly, this is a long-term development; secondly, you must remain focused and you also need good luck.

2. Vipassana Meditation


About 2600 years ago, Gautama Buddha gave people the technique that we call Vipassana meditation today.

Gautama practiced various meditation techniques until he began the Vipassana - "to see things as they are." 

This meditation allows you to learn to control your mind and purify your inner repository - the subconscious.  As a result, a balanced mind and cleaned from impurities subconscious are the goals of this process.

Therefore, we can call Vipassana meditation a high-speed path because it allows you to get rid of the impurity in your subconscious in a relatively short period of time. For Gautama, for instance, it took only one day.

Summing up, the cleaner subconscious allows running through your life project lighter, with fewer errors and attachments. Therefore, the saved time and energy will go to the evolution of consciousness.

However, there are some disadvantages to this methodology as well. For instance, you have to regularly practice meditation; besides, there is physical pain from the long sits; moreover, there are some side effects.

3. Choice of Light


A Spiritual Choice towards Light is a shortcut to enlightenment and consequently full liberation from your reincarnation chain.

What is Spiritual Choice?


For example,  at a certain moment in life, one faces a situation of Spiritual Choice*. The spiritual choice is a test for an individual to define a further direction of movement – to Light or to Darkness. The principle of the choice is based on Free Will, which our Creator generously gave to an Individual. 

Most importantly, the right choice provides you with an upgrade of your Consciousness. The best reference to how Spiritual Choice affects a human is described in the fictional novel Redemption.

Sample


These three ways for the improvement of our consciousness can be compared by traveling by car. 

The first way (Questions & Answers) can be compared to traveling along a countryside road with a 40 km/hour speed limit, i.e. slow.

The second option (Vipassana) is as driving along a highway with a speed limit of 120 km/hour, i.e. faster. 

While the third option, the Choice of Light, is a shortcut. The shorter alternative route allows you to save time and gasoline, and as a result, to arrive at a destination much earlier than using two other methods.

The best result, however, is achieved by a combination of all three methods.

To be continued...



* Note: some people have no spiritual choice because they have already made a final choice of the direction toward Darkness and, as a result, have lost the ability to have free will.



Saturday, January 21, 2017

Is Vipassana a fast track to liberation?


Twenty-six centuries ago Gautama Buddha designed a meditation technique that has been helping people not only train their minds to stay in balance, but also to liberate them from Samsara (reincarnation chain).

Gautama used to say that there were Buddhas (enlightened people), there are Buddhas, and there will be Buddhas after him, but his role is to provide an efficient meditation technique that could help people reach liberation (moksha or nirvana) in the present life that will allow one never to come back to the materialistic reality and to experience suffering again.

Before the invention of his own meditation technique, Gautama had tried different meditation methods designed by others, but he never was satisfied by the quality and deepness of them, so he invented his own, which is known as the Vipassana meditation technique.




What the Vipassana technique is about
In short, the Vipassana meditation technique is about getting rid of addictions that we have accumulated during innumerable materialistic existences. These addictions (filth and/or imperfections) are hidden in the deeper mind — our subconscious.
In the beginning of the Vipassana meditation course, a student’s goal is calming down his or her mind by focusing on breathing and clearing the mind from thoughts.
Then, the students do meditation exercises for activating the subconscious. The access to the subconscious is going to provide an option for self-healing, first of all a physical body, and later on a soul.
The subconscious is like a dark room, and concentrating on breathing shall light it, making the previously hidden sins (addictions) visible.
We experience those addictions through the sensations of our bodies.
The goal of these exercises is to keep us indifferent to those sensations.

Why Vipassana
Imagine yourself as a traveler who came to this world with a heavy luggage of karma and a desire to make it lighter.
The project named Your Life is already designed for you, and everything that you need can be found by following the Your Destiny script. Your Life project is interactive, and your task is to correct your sins (imperfections) that you have done during your previous existences and to make your luggage lighter.
You could succeed with this job and return back to Your Home with a smaller bag, or you could fail, generating extra negative karma and return home with a larger bag than before. The smallest group of travelers will come home with no luggage at all. This group of people are the luckiest ones burning away all sins (negative karma), they generate no reason to return back to Samsara.
One of the techniques that help people grab this good fortune is Vipassana

Benefits of Vipassana
The students who are following the Code of Discipline and precisely heeding the teacher’s instructions are getting a chance to get great benefits from the Vipassana meditation.

These benefits are:
·      To train a mind to stay balance in everyday life.
·      To increase the energy level of the physical body.
·      To study the philosophy of Gautama Buddha in the interpretation of his loyal follower, S.N. Goenka, the influential Vipassana meditation teacher.
·      To get in touch with your own subconscious.
·      To get healed.
·      To obtain a release of the old hurt.
·      To get the ability to transform negativity into positivity.
·      To receive a supernatural experience.
·      To network with like people.
·      To reach the ultimate goal of a human being - get redemption from Samsara - an endless cycle of births and deaths.



*Note:  This article is based on my personal experience and thoughts after my first 10-day meditation course of Vipassana, and is not presented to be an absolute truth. – Jacklyn A. Lo.

The next article will tell about possible side effects of the Vipassana, the organization of the training, and accommodations in the retreat territory.