Spiritual Forum. Org

According to Buddha,Our life is a journey while death is a return to earth.
The universe is like an inn.
The passing years are like dust.
Regard this phantom world
As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp - a phantom - and a dream

I learned from our Humanity class before that based on Buddhism, when we die and we live again on earth as another being, our next existence depends on how we lived our present life. Good karma will lead to good rebirth in our next life.

From Buddhism, it seems that beings never die and living never stops because as we die we return to earth only as different being without knowledge of what we are before. We again go to another journey.

I wonder if I am right.

You are right and you are wrong!     It is true that we do reincarnate to another life but it is only to learn and to even Karma.  Some day when we attain enlightenment then the cycle will end and we become part of God or whatever you want to call the higher power.  Now according to my beliefs, during the time between lives we discuss our past life and see determine what we need to improve in our next one.  Where we will be born, financial status, how and when we will die, etc.  We do not have memory of this because if we did, it would be too easy to breeze through the next life.

You are right and you are wrong!     It is true that we do reincarnate to another life but it is only to learn and to even Karma.  Some day when we attain enlightenment then the cycle will end and we become part of God or whatever you want to call the higher power.  Now according to my beliefs, during the time between lives we discuss our past life and see determine what we need to improve in our next one.  Where we will be born, financial status, how and when we will die, etc.  We do not have memory of this because if we did, it would be too easy to breeze through the next life.

What do you mean we become a part of God? Are we not already? What are we improving?

Hi R Paradon,

Okay cool so Buddhist teach we are all a part of God.

We also need to learn how to live a life of compassion in order to balance out our Karma and eliminate the need to have another life or other lives...this I get.

What I don't get is this. 

"Now according to my beliefs, during the time between lives we discuss our past life and see determine what we need to improve in our next one"

If the whole point of returning is to learn compassion and balance Karma, what needs improving except our ability to be compassionate? What does our location, financial status and external environment have to do with learning compassion? Compassion is an internal event that can be learned whether we live in poverty or wealth. Whether we are disabled or able.

Perfect is an ideal constructed by comparing this from that. The concept of perfect is highly dependent on ones perception and will differ from one person to the next. When we do not live in the moment we are often not accepting of "what is" and striving to be perfect (or improve our external environment) comes into play.

When we are aware of more of "what is" that which we might have strived for no longer needs effort.

No I do not think I am perfect in the sense you are asking. Of course there are areas that need improving however for me they are internal improvements not outer ones.

What I don't get is this. 

"Now according to my beliefs, during the time between lives we discuss our past life and see determine what we need to improve in our next one"

If the whole point of returning is to learn compassion and balance Karma, what needs improving except our ability to be compassionate? What does our location, financial status and external environment have to do with learning compassion? Compassion is an internal event that can be learned whether we live in poverty or wealth. Whether we are disabled or able.

As far as location, financial, etc. goes I think it goes back to that old saying of walking a mile in another persons shoes.  This lifetime I am a white gay male person.   Perhaps in my last or previous life I was a homophobic and caused damage to gay people.  Now I am here to experience this life and understand what being gay is about.  The same if I hate a particular race or group of people perhaps the next time I will be one of them.

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"Perfect is an ideal constructed by comparing this from that. The concept of perfect is highly dependent on ones perception and will differ from one person to the next. When we do not live in the moment we are often not accepting of "what is" and striving to be perfect (or improve our external environment) comes into play."

You are correct.  When I used the word perfect in was in a general sense.

As far as location, financial, etc. goes I think it goes back to that old saying of walking a mile in another persons shoes.  This lifetime I am a white gay male person.   Perhaps in my last or previous life I was a homophobic and caused damage to gay people.  Now I am here to experience this life and understand what being gay is about.  The same if I hate a particular race or group of people perhaps the next time I will be one of them.

******************

"Perfect is an ideal constructed by comparing this from that. The concept of perfect is highly dependent on ones perception and will differ from one person to the next. When we do not live in the moment we are often not accepting of "what is" and striving to be perfect (or improve our external environment) comes into play."

You are correct.  When I used the word perfect in was in a general sense.

Oh I get what you are saying.

I wonder if this review period you were talking about in a previous post is more about reviewing how the Karma came about? Being able to review the cause and become more aware about the effects that are yet to be endured to balance the Karma? Not actual time place and location type thing? If the details were available then it would mean that the next life is predetermined which I don't think it is.