Reincarnation Sounds Awesome
An Aspiration for Right Now
Welcome to Polymathic Being, a place to explore counterintuitive insights across multiple domains. These essays explore common topics from different perspectives and disciplines to uncover unique insights and solutions.
Today's topic is a heterodox position that looks at what most people miss about the power within the idea of reincarnation. We’ll uncover how reincarnation is what Atheists are missing, what Christians could gain from it, what simulation theorists see, and what almost all religions aspire to. Let’s dive in!
Intro
What happens when we die?
That’s a question that has preoccupied humankind for all of history:
Are we just advanced primates who are born through a random uterine lottery, struggle to survive life, and then pass away into nothingness?
Or are we created by a higher power, some form of Benevolent Dictator, and expected to follow a doctrine to enjoy an afterlife?
Or do we live, die, and are reborn until we achieve Nirvana?
Or is it some form of simulation in which our consciousness manifests in an avatar, and the whole thing is a reiterative approach to transitioning from fear to love, as Thomas Campbell proffers?
We are diving into the realm of philosophers, religions, and cults. Everyone, from the most hedonistic to the most reverently religious, deals with this question during their short time on this Earth. Is there a goal? Did I meet it? What happens if I don’t?
This is why I love the concept of reincarnation, and if you knew the church I grew up in, you’d know what a heretical position that is from their doctrine. But let’s dig into why I think reincarnation sounds awesome.
Theological Adventure
In my late 20s, I went deep into what I call my “Theological Adventure.” I was raised a Conservative Christian and attended a Lutheran Church with my wife when the birth of my first daughter and the expectations of baptism sent me into a study that could have earned me a Master’s of Divinity.
Long story short, I realized I was treating religion in a way that made it fragile, and I was missing the entire point of becoming a better person. Even more, I realized that many people treat religion as what I call “Golden Ticket Theology,” where, as long as they believe the right thing, they’ll get their ticket. I knew that wasn’t what I needed.
On the other side, the Atheists were also equally lost. Oscillating between nihilism and humanistic obsession, without theism, they were turning everything into a religion and not even seeing it.
As I struggled with finding the right balance, my cousin,
, who was part of that Theological Adventure, recommended the book: Journey of Souls. It’s a fascinating read about a Psychotherapist who used hypnosis to uncover patients’ trauma. In the process, he discovered what he calls the life between lives and the larger soul journey. I’ll try to summarize the idea here:
A Journey of Souls
As the author, Michael Newton, writes, the soul journey begins with creating new, young souls. It’s described as bright white with lots of unfocused energy. These young souls are instantiated in a life here on Earth with the sole goal1 of learning, growing, and maturing. This is just the start of a much longer journey.
After the death of that life, the soul returns to their soul group (think guides, soul mates, etc.2) and they work together to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. You’re held accountable for your thoughts, words, and actions. When the soul is ready, they intentionally select their next life for the next learning step. It’s a lot like Karma, but instead of it being divine, it’s personally intentional. You might be facing things today based on what happened before. You might select a life with significant challenges because of what you need to learn.3
The main idea is that your challenges aren’t random; your soul inherits a situation. However, it’s not all set in stone; your soul has agency to make decisions. The catch is, you don’t have a memory of your past. You aren’t starting over, but you also don’t have all the cheat codes. You’re here to learn, grow, and mature.
As we learn these lessons, our souls mature and our energy becomes more focused. Our instantiations become even more deliberate, and we are expected to take on roles guiding others. Eventually, the old souls no longer have to instantiate here. They’re ready for the next event.4
For me, this makes a ton of sense. While the author makes no statements about how many of each type of soul exist, I’m going to wager it follows the Pareto Principle, where you have 80% who are in the ‘younger’ bucket, 19% in the ‘mid-aged’ bucket, and 1% who are old souls. As I look around, I see that distribution in so many engagements I’ve had. The young souls with their unfocused energy bouncing all over the place, the middle souls who seem to flow through life more easily and weather adversity with greater aplomb, and the occasional old soul who just doesn’t seem made for this world with their amazing insights.
This isn’t some ‘holier than thou’ attitude either. I have no idea what level of soul I am. I ascribe to what Plato said: “The only thing I know is that I know nothing." I’m here, meaning I need to learn something along with everyone else.5
Here to Learn
Now, I’m not saying that Journey of Souls is the Truth, but I do think it sounds awesome. The idea that I’m here to learn and that my challenges aren’t bullshit or random but opportunities that encourage my learning is, frankly, inspiring.
It focuses me on being better, continually growing, respecting others on their journey, and helping them when and where I can. The ability to continue to learn over time also sounds a whole lot better than the typical heaven of the Christianity I was raised with6 and it allows me to relax away from getting this life ‘right’ to paying attention to the lessons and focusing my energy on learning, unlearning, and relearning.
This idea helped form my personal mantra that I summarized in one of my first essays, Religion as a Psychology:
Is what you believe, and where you place your faith, enabling you to become a better person and allowing you to add positive energy to the world around you?
If you can answer yes to that question, I have zero need to debate you and zero desire to take your faith away. Why would I rip down someone trying to be better? We are all on a journey together to get better. In fact, how can I help you?
Now, this idea isn’t at odds with the major religions at all. Christianity has its foundation in the Torah, which contains instructions in righteousness. The entire goal of the religion is to become better. The only thing my Christian peers would disagree with is that I haven’t said the special words. The same is true for Islam, Hinduism, and more. They’re all about becoming better, and this is something Atheists often miss, as well as losing the wonderful structures that help direct that improvement.
Summary
When people ask if I believe in God, I answer that I live as if there were a God.7 I believe that most religions have that aspiration to become better. I just add the idea that it’s part of a much longer journey, and we have more than one chance to get it right. To weave back in Thomas Campbell, I’m here to learn how to mature from fear to love. I’m here to learn to focus my energy and my mind on helping others.
I ditched the golden ticket theology, and I stayed away from nihilistic and hyper-religious atheism. However, if the atheists are right and there’s nothing, I’ve done no harm. If the religious are right and there’s something, then I’m aligned. I seek to live my life with the recognition that my goal isn’t to be perfect. I’m still here because I’m not perfect. But I live to learn and grow toward perfection. That’s my soul’s journey, and it’s been awesome, and I trust it’ll be an adventure the next time I’m here, too.
What do you think? Does reincarnation sound awesome? Does the ability to continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn over many lives sound great or terrible? I’d love your comments below!
More on the topic of religion:
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Further Reading from Authors I Appreciate
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- Integrating AI into education
Socratic State of Mind Powerful insights into the philosophy of agency
This could also be a soul goal or a soul’s sole goal or even a sole soul goal because words are so amazingly fun! 😆
This part deserves a future exploration, as I recognize so many people as potentially being in this group. One lady stands out in particular. Her name was Paige, an HR person who grabbed me during a period when I was a fish out of water, and helped me understand a lot. I call her a cheese grater to my defense, and she was incredibly influential. Then, just like that, she moved to a different job in a different state, and I haven’t talked to her since. We met, she knew me, she forced me to see myself, and she vanished.
There are a lot of nuances here I’d love to get into, but it complicates the flow, and the book Journey of Souls does a better job. Suffice it to say that if you were male and abused a woman, you might be perceived as a woman in a vulnerable position. If you were a powerful woman using that to thumb down anyone else, you might instantiate in a position of weakness. The lessons you need to learn often include being taken down a peg or two.
I have no idea what it is, but it’s fun to think about this as a constant cycle.
Pro-tip: If someone calls themselves an old soul, they’re not.
Descriptions of heaven have always sounded more hellish to me. The idea of eternity spent praising God doesn’t sound like a great reward, and I’ve always wondered why people view it so rapturously. I’d rather have Valhalla!
The observant will recognize this is very similar to what Jordan Peterson recently discussed. While I risk sounding like a copycat, this was a phrase I’ve used since at least 2014 in conversations on this topic. [edit] as Andrew Perlot pointed out in the comments, it’s a lot older than that: “One way or another: atoms or unity. If it’s God, all is well. If it’s arbitrary, don’t imitate it.” — Marcus Aurelius
I like how you wove together Thomas Campbell and the soul journey. That makes so much sense.
No idea about Peterson, but the idea is ancient.
"One way or another: atoms or unity. If it’s God, all is well. If it’s arbitrary, don’t imitate it.” — Marcus Aurelius