What animal do you wish to reincarnate as?

Given the infinitesimally small chance of ever being a human again ?

 

You certainly need to reincarnate. If not, where will Skip's carnations find new loyal helpers. HF could end up becoming history.

On a more serious note.
Are you one of the increasing number of people (myself included), who doubts that human life is native to this planet.
Religion debunks this theory, but why. If god is our overall master, does he have no say in what is going on within the other trillions of planets and stars in the universe.

Sadly, even with evidence of more than 1,000 extraterrestrial visits a day, governments are either lying, or keeping their heads firmly in the sand buckets.
I have heard on good authority, that over the next two decades we are going to be drip fed the truth and what happened in 1947.

In the meantime ask yourself two questions.

Who invented the internet, no one has even claimed responsibility. The few people who have tried don't have the first clue how when I press the send button you can be reading this message in less than a hundredth of a second.

If I called you, both using our mobile phones, you could be sunning yourself in the Bahamas and I could be shivering somewhere up in Alaska. We would both be away from our phone base locations, but we could be chatting within 12 seconds. To achieve this, my phone would have pinged every mast on the entire planet to find you, before giving up and sending a voicemail or missed call to your home location if your phone was switched off.
To all but a few, it sounds so simple. Just send a few trillion pings per second to every mast on the planet.

PS.
Jane just called our daughter to tell her that I am having another attack of brainworm.
She ignored the fact that despite Christina beeing about 400 miles away, her call connected within less than 3 seconds.

 

I don't wish to be reincarnated, resurrected, nor to journey to a better place after I leave this one. Enough is enough. I expect to go six feet under, where my remains will provide nourishment for numerous worms. If that can be considered reincarnation, I guess worms are my destiny!

 

At the moment I do not believe in reincarnation. Things seems cyclic so there is a sign post but I don't know, so until I know I won't hand over to belief.

I think I would go for a Giraffe or Dolphins and of course birds.

I suppose the question was to provoke thought into what reincarnation under the Buddhist suggestion that it is incredibly unlikely you will
be human again.

I'll keep meditating, you never know ! I am going to start on the Tibetan book of living and dying again some time in the next 3 months, I have a stack of books I will read. Though I am aware that books are mere signposts, they can keep you going.

Although there is a sense of dissatisfaction as you plough through them that they are merely words when you end one. It feels good to read them, though I find they are largely saying the same things but with different words and characters of the authors.Words that are sign posts and nothing else.

The words can be important and some have a deep impact, often very short sentences.

I cannot think of time better spent though with other forms of 'entertainment' they seem more empty to me these days.

I already meditate every day and cannot see myself ever stopping. Some days I am less inclined to but always sit. I just be for a bit every day an hour seems optimal for now it often overruns, rarely underuns. I keep going.

 

I would say that given our knowledge of how genetics determine what we are, your next incarnation would pretty much have to match the genetics of your new parents to keep your spirit. So how do you fit in to that scenario. Your brain isn't the same.

Now if you believe your spirit, which I assume includes your personality, more or less stays the same, then that implies your physical composition has nothing to do with either, right?

If you believe you leave your personality or ego behind, then what's left of you, exactly? How would you or others know it's the same you with a new ego and personality. Sorry, I don't buy the Dalai llama selection process. It seems political.

So if you reincarnate as an ant, you're supposed to have the same physical mental capacity to be as spiritual as you were before? Well I guess you'd have to fuck up pretty badly in your last life to get downgraded so.

I suppose i'd want to be reincarnated as a an alien living on a clean, sane planet where everyone respects each other and their planet.

 

I'm not Buddhist and reincarnation is kind of heavy. "What do I deserve?" I might wonder a bit. Maybe a fish.

 

The point of my original post was to clearly remind humans who are Buddhists what their belief system involves according to their belief system.

What you believe in, typically involves never being a human again.

Also it seems that we can extrapolate that Buddhism is not a very good practice for enlightening people given how few are enlightened. How does one move forward with that ?

 

No they wish to I am sure, but I have read quite many times by notable Buddhists, it is unlikely. quite sure. The Tibetan book of living and dying makes quite a thing out of it.

You know the quote something like... if you surfaced on a huge ocean to be a human again would be like surfacing at the very place where one sole floating leaf is. That is not an inspiring statement based on laws of averages. In fact it is firmly discouraging.

I will find out soon and quote it as it is on my reading agenda. (in short prepare to be an animal) I never saw other religions suggesting enlightenment was the end so they are difficult to compare. Enlightenment is quite a big deal in Buddhism and yet... looks around. Maybe 10 or less out of billions, many generations of Buddhists. All unconfirmed as well, though how one confirms it ?

And that is if reincarnation even exists, which is very highly debatable. I simply do not know. I think it could possibly be nothing, which is interesting as that would be basically the same as this life according to a Buddhist. I don't know and I am quite ok with that, I know life and it is mysterious enough in itself.

I don't have a problem with post death. Getting there in your final hours probably won't be much fun, but not existing would be a non issue as far as I know beyond physical programmed instinctive struggle. In fact in part, my practice is born of possibly helping have some conscious skills to help smooth that, even slightly. I suspect it is very easy to become completely overcome with fear if there is pain and suffering. The very worst must be some form of difficulty breathing, I would wish that on no one passing.

There is a good sentiment in that, I wish all who read this have a fearless and smooth a passing as is possible. With the very least suffering possible.

 

If I have to reincarnate as an animal - and I get to choose which animal.......

I'd choose to be an eagle. I don't think there's any other animal as intrinsically free as that.

 

If I got to choose, I would be the biggest, strongest saber toothed tiger there ever was.

 

The analogy fails hard. It also makes no sense if there are 5 Billion humans which seems a lot in the scale of magnitude we operate at.
It is off putting and illogical that is very unhelpful.

 

I'm just wondering why so many posters seem to be unable to answer a simple premise's question.

All Unityatone asked was what animal we'd pick - not whether we believe in reincarnation or if it even is a real thing.

Simple game. What animal - other than human?

 

Can one come back as a cosmic ray? Almost Pure energy that travels at 99.9% of the speed of light able to pass thru any object in the universe?

That would seem to be a higher form of consciousness or being. Just read the second biggest one ever recorded just went thru the earth. The funny thing about it is they don't know where it came from...a black void without any existing galaxies or anything. They have no idea what created it either.

Would be a cool reincarnation! Did it's transit affect the Earth or us humans?

 

I appreciate the replies and Kathy L also. All replies show willingness of people to share their time and their understanding whatever it is and that is appreciated.

 

I don't know why anyone who believes in reincarnation would even expect to be reborn on Earth. There's an infinite number of planets and stars. Life can take an infinite number of forms.

If Buddhists believe in science, then why such limitations? And even Buddha had to put things in terms humans could understand when science as we know it didn't exist. Telling people you might return as a jellatinous creature on a planet of liquid nitrogen would not have made sense.

See what I'm getting at? So the question of returning again as a human when there could be much higher forms of energy/matter to attain is a self-delusional limitation.

Open your mind beyond the human paradigm.