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@Leo Gura So now you think that reincarnation happens? That's also my intuition, but when and how did you «realize» it? And is it a belief, intuition or experience/realization, making it undisputible to you?

I had thirteen years of spiritual searching, but was not looking for enlightenment and I was not really suffering much so I wasn't trying to get out of deep suffering either. I just wanted to know the truth. I was taught past-life regression, various healing modalities, and I did meditate (sporadically - guided meditations, heart centered meditations, etc.). I did not really care for meditation, so I did not do it consistently and often months would pass between meditations. I never did self inquiry...I learned of that after awakening. My practices were all ego driven...self-improvement and human potential. I studied whatever seemed interesting...even magick (The Book of Abramelin, the Green Grimoire, etc.). You don't get much more egoic than wanting to control the world. I have a very wide band of general spiritual knowledge from this, but funny enough I did not study nonduality or enlightenment at all. Even the day prior to awakening, if you asked me what was nonduality...I would not have had a clue. After thirteen years of general studies, I hit a point where every new book seemed to just talk about things I have already read elsewhere. So I gave up the search. I quit reading, practicing, and meditating completely. I have been fairly intuitive since starting the spiritual journey, and so anything I bump into multiple times in a short period of time...I take notice of. I kept bumping into the name Eckhart Tolle. I had heard of the 'Power of Now' but hated the title so much that I never read it. I didn't want to read it, but would begrudgingly watch something - so I went to the library. They had a DVD called "Flowering of Human Consciousness". A talk Eckhart had given. As I watched it, it seemed it was more of the same. Be present...something I thought I was doing - even though I was very much in the head and thinking all of the time. But then he went through an exercise to inhabit the body - to be 100% devoted to the experience of now. I actually became present for the first time. Thinking stopped, and in that silence there was only feeling and experiencing what is here and now. In that moment of profound silence in November 2005, total stillness and presence seemed to come out of hiding from behind everything. There was no future and no past…just what is – that is sort of timeless. There was no “I” or identification with anything. The senses functioned and so I saw, but there was no seer…no “I”…just seeing. It was a direct, sudden realization into what is as it is. It was nondual...no separation. There was a clear and deep seeing through the false “I”. At the same time, as it is connected and not separate, there was a clear seeing of the nature of the world. I had spent years trying to let go of attachments, release myself from fears, self integrate, and basically become better. I saw in that moment that those very actions were in part keeping the illusory “I” alive. In that moment there were no attachments, fears, problems, sorrow, anxiety, suffering, seeking, etc. They never returned. I then read and studied nonduality to get some vocabulary regarding the realization and see how others talk about it. Why did it happen? I was ripe...and in being truly present (so there was no thought)...there were no distractions and a clarity occurred. In the end, there was nothing that I did that caused it. It just happened...of itself. Like surprise...you can't create a surprise for yourself. I clearly saw that is the problem with all practice is that an "I" is doing it and trying to get somewhere...without actually looking at the "I" itself. Upon awakening, I clearly realized that all of that time people spend in the process of freeing themselves from bondage was the delusion of bondage itself. We ask irrelevant questions and do a multitude of practices that only distract us from really looking at this "I". I love Ramana Maharshi's teachings...simple and straight to the point - who am I? He would never let people wiggle away from that point. They would ask him about reincarnation and he would reply - who are you now? I felt deep wisdom in this approach...not letting you look anywhere else. The direct path...a path with no steps. No where to go...just who am I? I recognize the limitations of practice and potential dangers of practice. So even when I suggest something that could be called a practice...self-inquiry for example...I point out that this should not be an efforting or doing. We have no choice but to be aware when we are conscious...so just look at yourself. Question - what am I...really? I try to minimize the egoic action involved. Also being present...this too is not a doing or effort. We are making efforts (thinking) that take us out of the present (experience) and into the head (thinking). So I talk about ceasing to do...again removing action and doership of the "I". If you did nothing (not even thinking), you would automatically be present. I try to be careful to not inflate the sense of "I" and doership...which is a danger of practices. As for your last question...I am currently working with someone who has panic attacks just about every day, in constant fear, and feels hopeless. I just keep pointing him back to this "I" he thinks he is. He keeps trying to distract himself...asking questions that have nothing to do with the "I". I point him back to "what am I?" He later tells me that he sometimes has revelations, but recently said he has spend many hours and days contemplating "who/what am I"...and he says he logically sees that he is not the body/mind...but he still worries and fears. I told him that he still believes he is the body/mind...that is why he fears. His fear of travel (one of many) would not be if he was not worried about something happening to the body/mind which he is so strongly identified with. All I can do is point him back to "who am I?" and tell him to be present (without referring to past or future or mental imagination...where can there be fear?). Cease doing...and as you have no choice but to be aware...look at who you feel yourself to be and delve deeper (keep looking).

I don't believe Dalai Lama is the reincarnation, Buddha surpassed the level beyond need for physical reincarnation. If anything maybe just a small fragment of his soul but from my Understanding Buddha consciousness resides in the 8th-9th Dimensions. He is an Ascended Master, why would there be any need to reincarnate once completed all physical levels.

Dear reader, Here is a theory that will help you understand who you are and where you came from. Assumption : 1) Space time is an interface, not reality. There is no demarcation on the basis of time or space. We are objects in motion so we believe in time as a demarcation. But these are illusions. Each system for containing consciousness has their own reality. Two realities can have the same representation of information but still be separate. Any system that processes information is conscious. The question : Where I come from and why can I not access the other consciousness? Why are there limited representations available? do other people have consciousness or are they philosophical zombies? is a computer conscious? etc The solution : Consciousness switches from one reality to the next. Each individual contains their own reality. Even though realities may interact or be in the same spatial and temporal phrase, they are actually separated in one axis that we cannot represent. Consciousness can only exist in a single reality, however it appears as if everyone has it. Only "I" am conscious. Other agents/systems are not conscious IN MY REALITY. However in their own reality, they are conscious. "I" will experience their reality. Since time or space is not a demarcation, when I experience their reality I will see my system as an agent without consciousness. This may sound like 'reincarnation' in popular religions, but it is not. There is no space time demarcation, so I will not reincarnate, but 'I' can be the cat I fed yesterday, or the friend I talked to many years ago, or donald hoffman. All consciousness needs is a system, and then through some unknown method it becomes that system. Part 2: Representations - The ultimate representation for humans is a description of reality, like a video game interface. Any description other than the one we have is inaccessible to us. But what is this description? I think it’s a simulation (based on current technologies). And since any simulation requires an external system to process it (a video game needs a human to play it), this one does too. So what is an external agent here? I don't know what it is, but I think the word we can use to name it is 'consciousness'. What this means for human race: If this is true, then humans should act a lot more kinder to each other. Because they are not separate individuals, but one consciousness. They all appear to exist at the same "time" (time and space are illusions), but there is just one consciousness which is going through them. The system that is the universe is geared with the purpose of making system that can retain this consciousness. In other words, the universe is a vessel for consciousness. (This theory is still not fully fleshed out, and might never be. As of now, i do not intend to bring it anywhere near a scientific audience because there is not much empirical proof of any of this except for maybe the visual interface theory. ) Some material to explore : http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/

I'm interested about reincarnation, is there a next life?

Hey Leo, are you interested in such illusionary thing as soul and reincarnation? What does your research suggest so far about whether illusionary body has illusionary soul and whether reincarnation exists as a phenomenon of course? And are you going to shoot videos about that?

This is the thing I freaked out most when trying to get into the whole Eastern philosophy and religion. Of course you wanna do everything to save your poor-ass soul! But that whole concept is based on reincarnation - and how can one know that it's true?How can one sacrifice everything just to follow some dogma he could never check or truly figure out???

Yesterday my 6 year old daughter did this certain smile, it was my mom’s smile. My mom was in her eyes. Unmistakable. I think the trouble comes from trying to sort out or individualize reincarnation. We are all that life. We’re all the one. The Buddhists, of course, see it otherwise, so there might be mindfuck on it’s way to me.

This question does not leave me alone at nights... what happens after our physical death? Do we reincarnate as another body/ego or we wake up from this illusionary dream forever? This is question of the highest significance and I am sure some gurus may have some kind of perspective on that. If we reincarnate constantly no matter what while forgetting the past life experience then this significantly lowers Enlightenment value...

The Self is really just another name for the Soul, which is the absolute real. I disagree with the Anatta teaching that there is no self, it goes against other Buddhist teachings and is fallacious. If there's no self, what's the purpose of a spiritual life? What about people who have experienced a self/soul? What about the after life, if there is no soul/self, what lives on? This interpretation contradicts teachings on reincarnation and goes against the Buddha’s admonitions against materialism.

I've been slacking off recently..I don't see any reason at all to do anything.Why study,meditate or improve myself in any way?For what reason? One day I am going to inevitably die.One day the entire human race will die.Even if we manage to colonize other planets to ensure our survival,the Universe will die,and therefore we too. I am not a fully developed human being,I am far from that.I have emotional problems, there is a lot to develop about myself..but why?To experience happiness?What is happiness?It just an emotion,and what does an emotion is?Some chemical reactions in your body.That's it.It is no different from anxiety, depression,stress,love, courage etc...Why should I even bother to do anything to cause some chemical reactions in my body? Why should we create purpose in our lives?Why should we fight for anything?That something that we are fighting for is going to die/disappear and no one will ever remember it again.There is no afterlife in which we will remember our achievements in life.There is no heaven/hell/reincarnation or other stuff like this.When we die,we die.Nothing remains. I often think..what if I would die right now?Why should I bother becoming enlightened or finding deeper truths about life if everything is going to end at some point?.. Please.. don't spam any of Leo's videos here.. chanches are that I've seen it.Just write.. To anyone who is thinking about replying to this thread..why are doing what you're doing?For what reason that important to you are you developing yourself? Why add value to a reason if what you're going to achieve doesn't have any value in of itself and will inevitably disappear?

@Brimstone the main thing that landed me in the hospital was that I was not sleeping, it wasn't because of me running my mouth about my non-dual experience, I actually didn't do that. I was in a state of panic because I felt I would actually die if I fell asleep and asked my mother to take me to the hospital for that reason. All of the synchronicities I was experiencing felt too much for me at the time, and I became overwhelmed/suicidal all over again. There was a voice in my head telling me that I would do the right thing, tell the truth, and I would die because of it. The inner voice was also telling me that I was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and my name in this life has the same initials for that reason (J.C.). Then I started realizing the biblical names of people in my life were synching up. I felt I was the true creator of this reality that I'm living in, down to every last detail, and it was absolutely beautiful and terrifying. Anyway, it was all very intense and seemed too much to handle alone. Possibly like a bad LSD trip (even though I've never taken psychedelics).

@BuddhaPixel @LaucherJunge I don't pretend to know anything about reincarnation, I am just curious, but, are guys coming from belief or experience?

Consciousness is projected into the body, when the body dies and the ego with it the projection gets cut. Now the projection of consciouness starts in another body but the source of it is always the same, so it is not exactly a reincarnation atleast if you look at the deepest level of truth, you can go to more fragmented dimensions and there you might find some other form of identity or attributes from which the new ego emerges as the old one that died already.

Given the presence of ego here, you're probably looking at reincarnation as existential craving is still very much present.

What happens after the physical death of human? Does our ego disappear forever and we go back to knowing our true self eternally or do we convert to new ego (Reincarnation) ?

Why aren't spiritual people more kind? Here's an undeniable fact: I don't know who is reading this piece of text right now, but whoever it is, its actually me + different brain programming. Whoever wrote this text, whoever electrobeam is, its actually you + different programming. Of course this is the case. Imagine Ricky(or some crazy scientist) replaced all of your memories with Leo's memories. Now he replaced your values with Leo's values, now he replaced your body. Literally transferred your body to Leo's body. You would literally be Leo. You're still you, you didn't change. But you went from whoever you are now to Leo. Just visualize and pretend that who you think your parents are was actually just a dream, who you think you are is actually just a dream, and what you really are is Leo. Envision his parents, his body, his values, his videos being yours. You're still You, you that thing that exists is still there, you the real you hasn't changed, only your mind has, and you're actually Leo. You can apply this to everyone and everything. You are still you, no matter whether you're a bird or hitler. You're still you. And the reason why you think you're not Leo is because of what? A fabrication of reality, memories ideas and dreams that don't have any more basis than the boogie man. When you watch Leo's videos, all you're doing is watching yourself, from a different reincarnation. Its kind of like your 20 year older self(back to the future) came into your reality and started making videos about how fucked up you are. Except in real life its not your 20 year old self, its your 20 reincarnated generations of yourself. So why aren't enlightened people more kind? Why aren't they more humanitarian than they are? Why do yogis isolate themselves from civilization and not help and try and stop pollution. Can you imagine the amount of suffering is going on in the world(that is, the suffering you will/did go through). Why does Jann Esmann not care about how fucked up everyone is, why do all of the best yogis hide themselves from society(their self ironically) instead of helping it?

Hello all, I am definitely on and working towards staying on the path of actualization and of awakening to enlightenment. But, a thought has come up often and today again whilst I was listening to @Leo Gura's latest video on distraction, so I wanted to put this question to you all… If when we die, the individual ends, the personality ends, the self ends and goes back into the substrata that makes the all, what difference does it make whether we attain enlightenment or not? I mean if you believe in reincarnation of the self - I can see why it would matter because then the self ‘comes back’ with a higher consciousness and therefore incarnates into a more evolved state.. But, I have come to a different understanding of reincarnation and it no longer involves a continuation of self… that old version of reincarnation satisfied my ego very much as it saw it just as a continuation of itself, but as I realize the self, the ego is a finite ‘thing’ that lasts one lifetime and can be reduced greatly in that life time, then what would the difference be if I actualized if I attained enlightenment or not…? Is that not still just a state of achievement for my ego’s experience in this life and it’s hope to continue after? I really do not have the answers and only questions and to be honest have been having a bit of an existential crisis regarding all the beliefs that have carried me thus far.. for example the power of prayer, or the assistance of more evolved beings/forces… at the moment I don’t even know if those things are ‘real’ sigh.. Ok any helpful insights would be lovely, Peace, B

Does anyone know, or have a good idea? I've been watching Leo's videos about moralism, teaching me more to accept reality just being, which I figure has to be the ultimate truth - it makes sense and explains so much about the world. Now, given this, being unconscious is also just reality. Evil is just reality. Suffering is just reality. Neither of those things are bad but from our own perspective. But isn't our own perspective all there is?, meaning that living in hell equates reality just being hell, regardless of whether hell is an illusion or not, or what is true in the absolute sense. Yet, I often hear from self-actualizers that reality is sooo amazingly beautiful. Isn't it then appropriate to say: "Well, speak for yourself"? So, does anybody know WHY or HOW the ego in all its evil exists? Is it necessary? Is it random? Or does no one know? Worth noting that given that I'm not dead or having been dead, I don't know how it is to die. Leo for instance, says it's the most beautiful thing. I'm a little skepticle of the notion that death by enlightenment equates "normal" physical death, not only because you come back to your ego again pretty fast. I've become more open to reincarnation, and think that it is actually quite likely - then, is it a viable notion that "you" could become a lower conscious being in the next life, like a chimpanzee or something, even if you got enlightened in this life? Or would you say enlightenment is like "Nirvana", where the cycle of all lives stops for eternity? This is quite speculative, so worth to note that I'm not believing any of it, but I don't exclude it either... just wonder if anybody has some knowledge, experiences or ideas, because I find it really interesting.

Not sure if any of you have already read this but it goes in line with everything Leo says when he talks about enlightenment. I'm really surprised I haven't seen this posted more often around Leo's channel. http://www.truthcontest.com/entries/the-present-with-religion/ This first pdf is for those who grew up with any religious background. It relates enlightenment to what Jesus said. I grew up a strong catholic so this was perfect for me. http://www.truthcontest.com/entries/the-present-universal-truth/ I actually haven't read more than the first 10 pages of this second link but it seemed to be the non religious version. Ever since my first enlightenment experience about a month ago I've been doing non stop research on different masters and different people who know the experience we're talking about here. This is the most clarity I've seen in one place so I couldn't wait to share it. I have to disclose I'm only 100 pages in and this book does have ideas of how reincarnation might work so take it with a grain of salt like you should take anything. For anyone hesitant about wanting to read just a bit, the first 3 pages may take about 3-5 minutes to read and I strongly believe it's well worth it.

Reincarnation has been the closest to a belief that I hold about our existence here on Earth, when I was a child I always thought about it. Not as much now, but today, I've come across Dolores Cannon and her work. She was a hypnotherapist and in her sessions she just couldn't ignore all the patients talking about past lives and she compiled all the info, wrote lots of books. In one of her books she proposed the idea of volunteer souls. After Hiroshima, these souls (free of karma) volunteered to come to Earth for the first time in three waves. The first wave is the baby boom generation, born after the war. They were kind of lost here, so although they have jobs and raise a family, they feel they don't belong. They get depression and sometimes commit suicide. The second wave, born somewhere in the 80s (she says it's difficult to draw a line) were a bit luckier. Their job is to only be, and raise the energy and frequency. She says these people heighten the spirits when they go into a place by just being in there, but they feel so uncomfortable that they prefer to stay at home, work from home etc. if they find a similar soul they get married, but probably won't have children. The third one is the children of today, mostly geniuses although some are misunderstood and diagnosed with ADHD etc. She said these children have different and better DNAs, and are probably the saviour of the Earth. Now I hope you will keep an open mind and tell me what you think. When I listened to her I thought about Leo being in the second wave, and also myself. Especially because as much as I hate to be in a room full of people, I am always told I raise people's spirits. I'm also sceptical of course. Want to hear your ideas about this. Anyone having a similar experience? A small talk by Cannon, longer ones can also be found on YouTube:

@TimStr Conspiracy theories can be fun and I do agree that they help expand a closed mind to more possibilities. In fact, I think they had an impact on me going from strict baptist christian to where I am now, believing in more of a universal consciousness type God and reincarnation. My whole belief system changed (which can be a huge shock on the mind and on ego), and I accredit much of it to listening to coast to coast and Art Bell. I don't cement the conspiracy theories to my belief system, but they have definitely cracked open the door to new understandings and possibilities. So, I don't think they are a waste of time at all if you enjoy listening and reading them. Just do it with an open mind and a grain of salt.

It's the ego (I-thought), that is a special kind of thought, because it thinks it's real, that is the one afraid of death. In reality the body/mind is constantly changing (Inner- new thoughts/feelings, outer- cellular changes, wrinkles, etc), it could be said it's continuously dying and being reborn. Every night in deep sleep the ego and body, completely disappear. When you reawaken it's like being reborn. Extend that to afterlife realms, other life forms, reincarnation, ect. It all happens (if it exists) within awareness itself, the background, which permeates everything. Btw, what you really are can not be negated in Self inquiry, therefore it's the background/substratum and can't be negated with the death of the body/mind. Hope this helps a tad.

I was going to say something similar to this. You should learn as much as you can before you die, but to answer your question fully, it most likely won't happen in this lifetime, unless you have been working on this for many lifetimes and somehow cognize with one of the masters (buddha, christ, God himself), or your higher self who remembers all of the work you have put into it in the past. Otherwise, just learn what you can and hope you will cognize in a future life. If you don't believe in reincarnation, then you may either end up achieving this, or very disappointed.

I agree, but you only answered what happens to my ego during the physical death itself but question is there are other egos too. Do I experience others too? Like reincarnation but not really...