Consciousness - memories and information
Past Life and Future Life Analysis:
Some suggest that 'life is magical'. Others feel that life is intelligent. Another group thinks life was sent by an entity. I say that life is both magical and intelligent; and it is possibly sent to earth by itself and not by an 'unknown' entity. No one knows for sure of the latter. However, all would agree on the first two.
Question:
To analyze the topic together, let me present a simple question. If there is one life to live, should we all have the same intellect? Meaning, if all lives begin at zero knowledge, should we all be learning everything at the same rate given the same mother, father, neighbor, village, town, society, school, and etc... However, we see that every life has different intellect and that each learns at a different rate; even the twins born in the same household do not end at the same knowledge. People who live in the same house, same town, same village disagree on many topics even though the goal is the same. WHY? hints: intellect and knowledge
My opinion is that all lives are born with different levels of memories and information and not at zero knowledge as mentioned in previous paragraph. We learn and retain information at different rate based on our consciousness - citta in Pali language. If this is so, where did the intellect and knowledge come from the moment an infant is born? Some people excel in certain subject(s) faster than their peers as they age. Others recall things they have never encountered in this lifetime. And a small group claim they can see the unseen or the future. Are they nuts? crazy? or just want attention? Unless we are ignorant ourselves, we should not claim that they are nuts, crazy, or want attention. There might just be some truth to what they say. We are intelligent enough to be open minded to the things people say. However, we cannot accept nor can we reject to what they say without an investigation.
My Personal Opinion
Mind, or consciousness, does not die like the physical body does. It continues to exist through time and space in the form of energy. How is it possible? Well, mind and consciousness consist of small particles - unseen to a naked eye. Similar to a household electrical wire. We don't see it is alive; but we can feel it is hot. We can feel the current running from end to end and back to its source. Reincarnation Evidence: Stevenson's Research, Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/. When the intellect and consciousness are not in the seen form, they express themselves through other means - some call them spirits, ghosts, or gods. When they are incarnated in the body, they bring back all the past intellect and knowledge. They continue their lives from the past. This is what makes each of the living forms unique. Whether we are born as a dog, a cat, a plant, or a human, we retain our intellect and memories.
Wait, you were about to ask why do we have to take care of our young children if they had brought back their past memories? They need our care because they need to learn our language and culture. How I understand it, they could be from another country or world in the past. Once their thinking is prevalent, we will begin to see the change in their behavior. I am sure some of you may have experienced this.
Now, if we accept that we came from the past using the above synopsis. It is easier for us to accept the future life. This is because tomorrow, next month, next year, next lifetime depends on current and past actions and experience. Simply put, if there wasn't yesterday, there would not be today; and therefore, there will not be tomorrow. The past, now, and future life are all linked together. In Buddhism, we call this Kamma in Pali language.
Synopsis and Scenarios:
Life is unfair and injustice. No matter what we do, it does not seem to go our way. Others seem to get whatever they wish. Some acquire things without effort. Why is that? A luck of a draw? A couple gets divorced after 15, 20, 25 years of living together. A close-knitted family going different directions in ideas. Once there was a love and now there is hate. A homeless won a lottery. A millionaire going broke. The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer. And vice versa. A, seemed innocent, baby born with deficiencies, mute, deaf, blind, crippled. A lifetime criminal gets a second chance and is making a significant impact on society. A case against a priest of having molested at least four boys ("Nun Said She Saw Priest Molest Boy", Religion and Child Abuse News, http://religionandchildabuse.blogspot.com/). A school teacher sleeps with a 14 year old student ("Lafave is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student at least five times at her home, at school and in the back of her SUV.", Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/). Synopsis, scenarios, and documents are endless.
We can now picture the scenes from these examples. Regardless of how knowledgeable some of us are about the good and evil, black and white, heaven and hell, the unavoidable circumstances must happen. Life continues, and conforms to KAMMA, from the past with or without realizing the end result. In Buddhism, we believe that their actions, or KAMMA, determine their future. The meaning not only is meant for this lifetime but also for the next day, month, year, and lifetime as well. For instance, if you kill a dog, the same scene will be repeated in the future life - maybe tomorrow, or maybe the next life. Only this time, you are the subject. If you do good in this life, you will take all the good deeds you have acquired with you to the future life. The term future life means the next breath on up.
In conclusion, we should not accept nor should we reject the concept of past-life or future-life. Rather, all of us should do our own research on the topic. After all, the action we make at this moment determines our future. In my opinion, those who understand the concept fare well with their life. This is because you are now grounded with KAMMA, your own actions. Perhaps something is missing in your life; or perhaps you are going through hardships. After all the readings, take an insight meditation - specifically vipassana meditation. Why meditation? hints: when you are quiet and at peace, you see things clearer; you just might be able to travel through time and space with your intellect and knowledge.
Jack Panyakone
Resources
YouTube Meditation Videos created by Jack Panyakone
1. Guided 15 Minutes Meditation - Beginner
