Deja Vu or Have I been here before?

Reincarnation. Everyone has had instances of knowing that could not be explained. I had thought about reincarnation's possibilities, but ultimately had no hopes for any kind of life after death. Raised a Catholic, I had left behind that dogma and along with it the heaven and hell concept. For many years I believed the here and now was it for us--and of course all of the eastern religions emphasize being present in the moment--our lives' ultimate focus.

How joyless this existence then if we live with the thought of total annihilation of the soul upon death! How overjoyed, then, was I to read that upon the end of our physical lives infinite possibilities await us. And--AND (another biggie for me)--we keep our individuality--all of the traits and experience we've developed in this life (and the others we've lived). The transition is/can be so seamless that many of us hardly know we've died right away. And what do we transition to? Do we go directly to another body (do not pass go do not collect...), do we experience atonement/heaven/hell etc?

Every being's experience is different (why wouldn't it be). Here are several quotes related to what happens after death from The Seth Learning Center website:

Seth- “(After death) you will find yourself in another form, an image that will appear physical to you to a large degree, as long as you do not try to manipulate within the physical system with it.” (From the book: SETH SPEAKS)

“For those of you who are lazy I can offer no hope: Death will not bring you an eternal resting place. You may rest, if this is your wish, for a while. Not only must you use your abilities after death, however; but you must face up to yourself for those that you did not use during your previous existence.” (From the book: SETH SPEAKS)

“You will reincarnate whether or not you believe that you will. It is much easier if your theories fit reality; but if they do not, you will not change the nature of reincarnation one iota.” (From the book: THE SETH MATERIAL)

“When I tell you that you lived, for example, in 1836, I say this because it makes sense to you now. You live all of your reincarnations at once, but you find this difficult to understand.” (From the book: THE SETH MATERIAL)

(Many of Seth's books speak of the after death experience--The Seth Learning Center has more info also.)

According to Seth we all have had or can have multiple reincarnational lives. Seth alone had countless incarnations--male, female, etc. (I will explain the etc at some point.) And another huge premise that is an underlying truth for all of Seth's teachings is everything is happening simultaneously. Time moves out from the point of power which is now. Everything is a pulse--yogis call it spanda. What we do now not only impacts the future, it also impacts the past. Since our physical reality is based on the concept of linear time, I have not been able to really grasp Seth's time. So I hold it as a theory that I can believe, but not yet understand. Hopefully, through the pursuit of the best understanding one can achieve in this life, I will come to intuit this sense of the ever spacious present that holds past and future lives all simultaneously.

We are not bound to the fates of our other lives--indeed above all we have free will. They can influence us as much as we can influence them--yes we can influence a "past" life and a future incarnation now. And they in turn give us feedback that is used in our daily lives. How does this happen? Apparently much of the exchange and interaction with other selves happens during our dream time, when our conscious self rests and our unconscious self holds sway.

More on reincarnation next time.