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Experiencing Other Religions?

BriarRose

BriarRose

Senior Registered
Are there members with strong Christian convictions who remember non-Christian past lives? Conversely, do we have members who practice other religious disciplines (i.e. Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish) who have memories of Christian lives? To make this question equitable, are there atheists out there who remember having strong religious feelings in another life? So far, I am aware of having been Catholic, practicing what the Catholic Church called "the old religion", and following Native American traditions. I feel emotionally connected to paganism and Native American practice in this life, although the Catholic lifetime would have been far more recent. There are records of my having been a witness, or godmother, at baptisms in Ireland, but no emotion attaches to it. Any one out there who can contribute their ideas?
 
Although I have no recollection of any particular religious affiliations in past lives, nor any membership of any orthodox religion in this present life, I can only say that I have always felt inclined toward a mono-theistic approach to religious belief. Moreover, whilst finding myself at odds with many of the doctrines and precepts of modern Christianity, and being in no sense a "church goer," I would say, that of all organised religions, I feel most affinity with Christianity - which seems a little strange, and surprises even me! If that apparent incongruity has its roots in a PL, I couldn't say, but it has given me something to ponder...
 
spiritual roots


Hi BriarRose and Arrant,


A wonderful question. One of the things I noticed over the years were the religious connections from one life to another. Religion, and or spiritual beliefs play a big role. I remember fondly - even through hardships ~ a life as a nun in the late 1300's. I remember being Christian and I remember living in India where the Gods where very different. I remember praising the Lord Jesus as a slave in the south during the Civi War and yet in secret paying homage to my African spiritual roots. I can reflect on my life in China - and the quiet gentle ways of Buddhism, and I remember the power of Egypt - ancient Egypt and the Gods who informed so many religions after them.


In my late 20's I became fascinated with Anthropology - the study of cultures and their belief systems. Today I look for the common thread that runs through them. Embracing God/Light/Love when ever and where ever I can.


I hope to read more from members - even if a minor connection. It's the little things that add up.
 
Interesting thread....For me, I have memories of being a monk living in a 13th century monastery. I have also been Native American, and then a white who married a Native, sharing their spiritual beliefs. My mom has a strong connection with a Jewish life....


I believe we have all experienced life from many different perspectives! It is interesting to hear the connections members have found -
 
In this life I always called myself a Pagan and cultural Christian, but recently found that my beliefs are more closely allied to Pantheism (a belief that Nature and Divinity are synonymous), however Pantheism denies the existence of a 'soul' or afterlife, so really I call myself an Agnostic Pantheist ;)


As for PL-religions, I feel a deep affinity and understanding for the Christian church of the 11-1200s. Some of the thoughts about the nature of good and evil I pondered when younger recently came up on a BBC4 programme that exactly matched what I had thought! Also have an affinity for the ancient Pagan religions of Britain pre-Roman conquest, and a deep spirituality that may stem from even earlier in time...
 
Hi everyone. The way you described your religious beliefs are very close to mine, Helz. I was actually afraid to identify myself as a Pagan. I think it goes back to PLs where I was persecuted for my beliefs. There, I guess I am "out" now! : angel I used to tell people who came to my door with religious tracts that I was a Druid. (They always left in a hurry) After a time, I realized it was the truth. My view of God is strongly nature centered. I think that creativity in people is the expression of God's creative nature. I think when I started this thread, I had an ulterior motive. If souls "switch" religions between life times, then all the effort put into proving ourselves "right", and others "wrong" is really a waste. So far, all your beautiful posts support my hypothesis.
 
Good morning BriarRose and others. This is a great thread for me because spirituality and religion have been such a major part of my soul's journey through the ages. One thing that I have learned is that this theme of God, Creator, Light, Spirit, Unknown... or whatever it is we try to label "that which compels us," is that most of us are talking and thinking and praying about the same thing.


I was raised Catholic and studied for awhile at a Catholic seminary. I have a deep seeded love for the Mass. I follow a Buddhist practice. I worship nature and creation as a manifestation of God... I am simply a spiritual being living on the fringe of something far beyond anything this mortal mind can conjure.


Three out of the four past life memories I have are from a holyman's perspective. The most prominent was as a monk/priest in an abbey in Austria called Melk. The time period is not clear to me but if I had to guess it seemed 17th century. It was a beautiful sacred life filled with the love of God, the love of a woman and much physical suffering. Some day I hope to go find the place and walk around. A later life was here in the Americas as some type of holy-man. In fact I feel strongly that the remnant dreams are connected to several life times as an indigenous shaman, one in an area of what is now central Ohio and the other much later in the mountains of Wyoming and the Red River Valley.


The experience of all these life times, in culmination, seems to be directed towards the same Great Spirit. And what it has done for me in this life is allow me to see this Creator God in most all "religions." For example when Helzbelz or BriarRose write about their pagan beliefs, I innately know from some root of understanding that this is simply a differing translation of the SAME story! I find that true pagan beliefs are beautiful. But they have been so vilified over the centuries that wonderful people like you are troubled by it. Do I agree with every thing? No. There are those out there who bastardize all religions and creeds to fit their own devious, selfish and egocentric needs for darkness (the opposite of good...God). But I don't ever want to condemn the variance, I want to understand it better... hence the root of compassion and love.


One of the many teachers I follow has a daily meditation. Today's topic was directly relevant, and wonderfully synchronous to this: Richard Rohr


Tinkerman
 
Tinkerman said:
... I am simply a spiritual being living on the fringe of something far beyond anything this mortal mind can conjure.


Tinkerman
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My life has been a process of searching, and it brought me to the "fringe" with you. That was beautifully expressed. I deeply respect all well-intentioned religions. Now, I thank people who bring religious tracts to my door. That takes courage, and dedication. Most of them truly care about my soul. I am not Catholic in this life, but find the old Latin Mass beautiful beyond words. I was sad when the church made prayer caps for women redundant. I find Gregorian chants beautiful and comforting, and listen to them when I'm alone. Perhaps in my life as Rose, the faith was more important to me than I realize. Thank you for contributing, Tinkerman
 
I read Richard Rohr's daily meditation. It was right on point for today's discussion in a remarkable way.
 
My sense of religion in prior lives, even those in which I was a monk, seemed less a focus on any sort of dogma or ritual, but rather an overarching belief in something more than ourselves. In my view, the particulars of each religion are never placed in the fore, but rather a part of what we did in honoring that which we could not see, but knew existed. It seemed, much like this life, as long as I could cobble together how it all worked for me, it blended into my life. I recall this feeling from native american lives, indian/hindu lives, catholic/christian lives and celtic lives.


I wonder if it is seemingly "glossed over" because despite what we believed in each lifetime, we are a part of this spiritual reality as we observe those past lives. Maybe what I sense is these religious beliefs were, at least in my case, "lived" as opposed to believed...the business of life was a greater concern than the focus of religion...surprisingly, even as a monk!


Another aspect may be that my memories of religious events did not carry much weight. Though, as a monk searching for relatives among the casualties on the battlefield, I remember being very frustrated by some old women demanding I render last rites to their obviously dead relations in Agincourt...while I complied, I am not sure I was wholly gracious about it. With these centuries to think it over, I wish I had been.
 
Shiftkitty said:
To this day it rankles me when people bash Christianity and I will fight on its behalf like a fire and brimstone preacher. Especially when they oh-so-carefully tiptoe around other religions in the name of "respect".
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I think when most people, especially Americans, "bash" Christians they are lumping them all together with the "Bible-thumping" Fundamentalists. There are also many people who had bad religious experiences when they were growing up. I have a few friends who went to Catholic parochial schools in the 50's and 60's. They and their fellow classmates are no longer Catholic today.
 
I am fascinated by religions. Studied many in College. Took a lot of Anthropology classes and The Bible as Literature course at Mills in Oakland, Ca. The farther back in history I researched ~ the better my perspective. hug2.gif


There is a common thread that runs through them.
 
I really like Deborah's responses. And I tend to agree that the more you study religion, the more they share the same principles.


I was raised in a Christian family, even spent my entire school career in a private Christian school. But I tend to follow a more pagan, or naturalistic view of God and would prefer to be know as spiritual. Having read the Bible through, I often wonder if there are some things that didn't make the editorial 'cut'. The quote: "History is a record of the winners" comes to mind.
 
shamblescross said:
Having read the Bible through, I often wonder if there are some things that didn't make the editorial 'cut'. The quote: "History is a record of the winners" comes to mind.
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The Bible has been edited and rewritten thousands of times. Things were added and/or deleted over the centuries. Many things were lost in translation. In the beginning each copy was handwritten by Catholic monks. Because most people were illiterate they had no way of knowing what was added or left out in each new edition.
 
Having read the Bible through, I often wonder if there are some things that didn't make the editorial 'cut'.
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Many Gospels were not included in early versions of the Bible, (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament_apocrypha). Some of these lost Gospels have since been rediscovered, such as the Gospel of Judas. It also depends on what denomination of the Bible you look at - the Roman Catholic Bible contains sections which are not present in the Protestant Bible for instance.


The way I've come to see it, there is no 'one true god/gods/religion/etc', all 'official' interpretation of that which is greater than ourselves is almost always filtered through the minds of people of power. And who is to say that any of the many other religions that have been on this earth (eg Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, etc etc) are any less 'true' just because they're not around now?
 
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I think there are many faces of God, and he chooses which ones he will wear. I have a feeling that he fits the message and the face he wears to the times, and the audience. Therefore, we have Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc. The underlying messages, as others have noted, are in essence the same. I have sometimes wondered if all the great prophets and spiritual masters in human history are the same soul, incarnating for other cultures, and stages of human spiritual evolution. We, as imperfect human beings, take the message and twist it for our own purposes, and levels of understanding. It took about fifty years for me to figure this out, so it is obvious that I don't learn quickly. :rolleyes:
 
I AM TOO CONFUSED BY RELIGION!!!


I'm still not sure if I want to be Pagan or Jewish...Aggghhhhh!!! I feel a little uncomfortable with Paganism because I grew up Jewish and Judaism is so against it. Plus, I am in love with an Orthodox Jew, which attracts me even more to Judaism. But yet, I feel a strong pull towards Paganism.


In my last life my spiritual practices were Native American.


I feel bad that I missed an Ostara celebration with a Pagan group yesterday, but I was sick physically, and not just spiritually confused, and I didn't want to get anyone else sick.


I also made a blog about being Buddhist and Jewish, called "Walking the Kosher Middle Path," because I'm attracted to both traditions, although unlike most Buddhists, I believe there is a God and I have a soul. http://koshermiddlepath.blogspot.com/
 
Maybe you can meld your belief system into something that is right for you. Being in love with an Orthodox Jew is a complication. I am not a Jew, but am very drawn to Judaism, probably because of a PL. I also find Paganism very interesting. Actually, I find all religions interesting! They all have some valid things to say, and there are some "constants" between them. My kids suggested yesterday that we celebrate Eostre instead of Easter. Since the Catholic Church "borrowed" so many holidays, I have no problem with this. There would be a certain comfort in religious orthodoxy, but I for one, can't manage it.
 
While I feel like my being essence lacks faith, I feel connective vibrations to both Christianity and Judaism. I was raised by the guiding hand of Islam but perhaps this could not align with my chakra as other religious teachings have in my ancient past. I tried Judaism but that was a calamity. Still the vibrations remain.


You old souls of many faiths, do you feel bemused by having relations with so many different teachings and paths or is the general essence of these faiths similar enough to provide guidance together?
 
It's my feeling that as we experience religions through our different lives, we see from our mortal perspectives how mankind has perverted a basic message of love for one another and respect for our inter-connectedness into an "us vs, them" mentality. If there is a Creator, and All-Father, or any kind of central extra-corporeal entity that watches over us, surely he/she/it can't approve of this perversion.


There is a path, but it's clouded over by people nit-picking over the details of the path. To reach the Great Truth you must do this and this, but don't do that or that. A ritual for this, a ceremony for that, etc. Clear it all away and it boils down to a simple road defined by love and respect, even for those you disagree with. (Hate the sin, love the sinner, as they say.) No converting anyone, no "my way is right and you're just misled", there is just love. Anything else is just dust in the eyes.
 
Shiftkitty said:
No converting anyone, no "my way is right and you're just misled", there is just love. Anything else is just dust in the eyes.
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Ding! Ding! Ding! This fits my belief...when those in my Sunday school class were patting themselves on the back because us Presbyterians weren't going to hell like those Methodists across the street, I stopped going...while the "all loving God" existed in their minds, the juxtaposed idea that somehow the Methodists weren't included in that "all" reduced their sense of faith and assurance to an untenable level in my mind.
 
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