Theories on Reincarnation and What Happens After Death- Spiritual Living 101

Depending on one's spiritual background or lack thereof, people have many different beliefs regarding the idea of reincarnation. Here I'll discuss some of the ideas and theories on reincarnation that I have heard and considered.

Most people of faith have some belief when it comes to the idea of reincarnation. Some religions believe that when one dies they go to heaven or hell, some believe that we are reincarnated as people, animals or other parts of nature. Some believe that we return to the collective consciousness or the pool of universal energy from which we all begin. Even people with no religious background have some thoughts on the matter.

I have talked with people from mainstream religions about the belief that when one dies their soul, or life energy, travels to wither heaven or hell, never to return. This seems to be a widely held belief. I have never quite agreed with this idea. If the life energy of a person goes to a specific location after the death of the body and never returns, one would have to wonder where the energy comes from to create new life. This theory would lead into a long discussion of whether there is a finite or infinite pool of energy available in the universe with which new life can be created.

Some faith systems believe that when we die our souls are transformed into animals, and these animal spirits can be communed with, and thereby future generations can connect to past ones. Again this brings up the question of finite or infinite energy. Some people explain this by saying that it is possible for animal spirits to reincarnate in human form, thereby keeping the balance.

Some faiths believe that upon death all energy returns to a "blank" state, and is infinitely recycled into new forms of life. No matter what has died, whether it be a tree, person, animal or other life form, at death both the biological and spiritual matter of that being are returned to the universe to become new life. Other faiths believe that the energy does not become "blank", but maintains some form of collective consciousness.

Those that believe our souls return to a collective consciousness use this to explain young savants, unexplained memories and knowledge and a variety of other unusual phenomenon. The idea of this form of reincarnation can often make sense when you see people with detailed "memories" of events the never participated in, abilities for which they have never trained, and instances of people meeting and feeling they were acquainted "in another life".

Unfortunately, it is impossible to prove any theory of reincarnation or lack thereof. We have no way to prove beyond any doubt what happens to someone after death. We know what happens to the physical body, but we do not know what happens to the soul or life energy, if such a thing even exists. However, there are some people who claim to be sure of their own reincarnation, and many who have absolute faith in what they believe happens after death.

It is my personal belief that whatever energy drives us through life, whether it be electrical impulses or a soul or whatever it may be, returns to a pool of sorts to be used again. I have had experiences that lead me to believe that some part of who we are must be saved within that pool, and return in new bodies. I have had memories of things I cannot possibly know, and understood how to do things that I had no experience with whatsoever. I have also met people and felt as if I had known them for years, or even a lifetime.

I'm sure that there are plausible scientific explanations for these occurrences, but faith does tend to be something that defies scientific explanation. I'm also sure that science has some ideas on what happens to our energy after death. I doubt however that anyone will ever be able to scientifically prove those ideas. We will all be left to our own theories and beliefs on reincarnation.