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I believe when it comes to the point the higher self will take over the ego-self (So to speak) All fear will cease to exist as a more universally connected self takes over Think of it like a powerful dream, when you wake up in the morning, even though the dream felt real and as you were there for a lifetime it will be shortly forgotten in a few hours because you are now in this reality so it wont bother you because you feel more home and alive here and now. In my understanding for reincarnation into a human form is based on the development of the soul/spirit. The more evolved/matured the soul, the less chance you will need a physical body/existence in the next life unless you choose to for greater purposes.

Hi all and happy new year! This is the first time I post on this forum I'd like to highlight an old question that for me - being a hardcore scientist and a beginner meditator - is extremely interesting. Furthermore, I am struck at a point in which I can "smell" something powerful in the Self-Enquiry method, but for the moment I cannot really go into it because of the next-discussed problem in the interpretation of the true nature of external reality. Probably I am not interpreting correctly the self-enquiry method, and hope to find some help here. So, let's talk about the "external reality". I assume that all humang beings have a same nature and can develope certain insights and traits through the same practices. Hence, I'll try to avoid elements that depend on specific cultural and religious beliefs (e.g. reincarnation, afterlife, existence of a Creator versus self-sustaining Universe, etc). According to the belief/opinion and (probably in many cases) experience of teachers belonging to different traditions, the approach to the "absolute truth" (whatever it might be) leads to the deep understanding that "external reality" and the subjective awareness have the same nature. Therefore (and here is the point, as I see no reason to do this conceptual jump) "objective reality is an illusion", as it is the subjective experience of the "I-though" (the mind that produces toughts). As a "corollary", if you want to achieve awakening (meaning here mainly the "complete understanding", and not necessarily the "liberation", which is too much cultural-related), *you should put in question the idea of existence of the outside world and eventually find out that you can release it completely*, in the same manner in which you will release the thoughts. This point sound suspicious to me. But I started going on it more and more while watching some of the Leo's episodes on self-enquiry in which he states that during the practice you should use the thoughts only "to question everything you hold certain about the reality", and stay open-minded. Well, in principle this is exactly what a scientist does. But the difference is that a scientist believes that his senses and subjective experiences are not the only thing that exist and he relies also on logic, mathematical proofs and overall coherence of what he considers "probable" or "very likely". As a scientist I do not think I am closed-minded, I see no conceptual problem in accepting the truthness of concepts that may appear incompatible with the scientific reasoning (e.g. the voidness, the no-self) and I know that the universe of human beings is a subjective one, i.e. we cannot have an ultimate proof that the external universe exists. However, I have seen that Leo has gone from this position to the (classical) one of 'the veil of Maya', i.e. that reality is an illusion (see "brains do not exist"). I am wondering if this is part of the self-Enquiry method. If yes, now I see why I cannot do it. In fact, the autenticity that is often teached in Vipassana leads me to the position that the external universe actually exists, and will exist whatever we think about it and whatever trick we try to play with our mind. I see no point why we should assume such a dogmatic position, despite tons of clues highlighted not only by the individual subjects agreeing upon their experiences, but also by instruments, measurements, mathematic proofs, coherence checking and so on. Instead, I naturally see so clearly how a non-dual picture can be interpreted the other way around: i.e. a) the Objective Universe exists; b) it is the manifestation of Laws that generate and control the phenomena; c) These phenomena are infinite, and there is an infinite hierarchy of processes & phenomena, on top of which (in terms of complexity, and as far as we know up to now) there is the consciousness, i.e. the process of "being an I". In this sense, I am still affirming that "I" and Existence are one, because "I am" and "I" are emerging phenomena arising from the processes (biological and biochemical and molecular, in the specific case of a Homo Sapiens animal) which are among the infinite manifestations of the One (or of the Reality, or of the Source, or whatever you want to call it). Thus, I am not "in essence" different from another animal, or from a rock, or from an atom, or even from the space and time itself (according to the quantum loop theory, space and time are also manifestations of processes and not an ultimate element of reality). I - as consciousness - will cease to exist because it is in the nature of the processes to reorganize: the specific information pattern from which the "I" arise will be shuffled, the electrons and protons (which are eternal) of my body will arrange in another pattern and the eternal existence will continue, as has continued for billions of years even in absence of any information pattern that could create self-awareness. This position seems to be pretty compatible with a nondualism, and - most important for actual practice - I really do not understand why a meditator who got an insight of "being one with the Everything" should put into question the existence of reality, universe, brains and so on, instead of interpreting it by saying that the external universe IS the reality, that phenomena exists, including the "I" process/phenomenon which has the universe-existence-quality. So the Universe is not the illusion, while "I" am the illusion, if I think that "I" is different from any other phenomenon. Anyone wishes to express his point? It would me help me a lot. And, in pratcie, do you think there a fundamental incompatibility between a scientific mind and self-enquiry practice / non-dual advaita paths? For those who arrived here: sorry for my english. This thing has become longer than I thought...

A lot of beliefs about reincarnation. Do you think it will be as another human or something else? My ego - me - doesn't want to forget who I am as a human.

@Shanmugam interesting book, although he discusses reincarnation a lot there, he seems to merely disbelieve it instead of dispassionate analysis of buddhism. I wonder what's your stance on reincarnation

Well, I wouldn't say it's a matter of "believe" in it or not. If a person experiences it, then it's not a belief. I heard from someone on this forum saying that if you kill an enlightened person, it's a billion years in hell (phenomenon). That's the karma of that person. Because the person prevented the enlightened person from doing his job on earth (phenomenon). Then, when the person becomes reborn onto earth (phenomenon), it will feel like heaven (phenomenon) to him. So, he feels blessed and wants to contribute to the world. You have to wonder why books like Dante's Inferno is written. Is it written for no reason? Probably not. Also, different religions point to things in common. Karma, reincarnation, heaven, hell, etc., are both in Christianity and Buddhism. *** For me, the answer is yes. Because why would different religions even mention it if it doesn’t exist? Ppl do experience it and write about it. (I'm talking about different phenomena, including our earth. I'm not talking about God = no-self = no 'you' = nothingness / everythingness)

Me too, for now I can't imagine nor know if reincarnation is true,. But try to think of it.. our DNA will be passed in our children.. our body will be passed in our children... all aspects because of our DNA or genes... so we are the consciousness, the formless and life.. so maybe that's reincarnation goes?? I don't know? If you think if it what are we? We are not the body.. we are he true self... so true self is one in all of us, we are one.. so the form becomes different., maybe memories will be gone and we will become someone because of passing genes and since we are not the body and mind same consciousness but different form and characteristics

See, that sounds too speculative to me. Why can’t we admit we don’t know what happens fully? The Mind is addicted to knowing, and that’s why we neurotically cling to all these silly beliefs. All we can do is be. Whatever the Mind thinks is true is most probably false. Thinking everything is cyclical is just a belief. Don’t cling too hard to that. That’s a trap. Reincarnation is a piece of culture, an article of clothing, laid-up on top of awareness. It’s like putting tennis shoes on and then thinking the shoes are part of the feet. No — tennis shoes are a part of culture. Beliefs like reincarnation are like that too. Ideas are in the air, they have a history.

I don’t believe in reincarnation as of now. Not in the sense that it is commonly believed. When I had my Ego-death experience, I was taken out of here and then came back, but that wasn’t really a reincarnation. When I was in hyperspace I was just Being. Whatever carnation there was dissipating like a breaking television set flickering in and out, although it didn’t happen fully. It happened like 90% — enough for me to see the being behind the purported carnation. But to believe in some cyclical kind of reincarnation is probably just the Mind trying to impress itself or to calm itself down. We don’t know! All we know is what we have experienced. You gotta watch out for the insecure Mind which has a powerful need to know. You gotta release that. Awareness in the Now is all you have. What doesn’t change is being. All the content is in flux. That’s what that experience taught me. Believing in reincarnation is clinging too hard to the experience. Being/awareness never ceases! Reincarnation sounds like a trap to me. Nothing ever dies! It’s only when you cling to experience that the Mind conceives of death. Death is being too beholden to the content of awareness rather than awareness itself. Awareness itself never dies, although the content is always changing. The Mind pretends that the content is what is real. No, awareness/Being is what is real. That’s a sneaky trap that the Mind plays on us. But it seems so real! Yeah? — that’s where psychedelics can really help you see this trap fully.

@Joseph Maynor when you think about all the stuff he talks about the reincarnation comes as the ramifications of it but not directly he's never mentioned it.

It’s the first time it’s had the reincarnation flavor that I can recall.

@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).

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 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.

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???

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?

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.

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.

@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).

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) ?

@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.