Why aren't we given memory of at least our last birth?

[Guest guest]

When we attain the body of a human, wouldn't the memory of of our last birth be helpful in ending the cycle of birth and death. Especially in this age, it seems that most people are falling down. If people knew of their previous life, it would be a nudge in the rightdirection.

[theist]

It could get really confusioning. The Lord in the heart reminds us of our continuing desires and aspirations that we bring over. The name we had before and all the details are irrelevant.

 

The real question is who we really are beyond all these births and deaths. After all we weren't that body and personality then anymore than we are this body and false ego now.

 

Can you imagine if the last 100 incarnations remainded in our conscious awareness? How could we funtion. Even one would be too much.

 

All those rememberances of the past crimes and misdemeanors that we committed to feel guilty about. Old resentments against those that wronged us would be there, as well as the good deeds we would want to feel good about having done.

 

Too much, just too much. I can't handle all the junk from just this one life that floats around in mind as it is.

 

We know what we need to do, remember Krsna &love Krsna. Let's let the rest fade out like the bad dream that it is.

[Guest guest]

Do you have to be a devotee of Krsna to go back to Him? What if a person is a Christian or Muslim, at the end of their current life, can they attain Krsna? It seems like in religions other than Vaisnavaism, they cannot go directly, but to a heavenly planet which serves is a stepping stone.

[Guest guest]

In the Spiritual world, what do the souls do when in the company of Krsna? Are they always happy, full of pleasure, have jobs (duties), families, and friends? Is everybody in the form of a human? Do they ever get tired of the company of Krsna and want to return to this material world?

[Guest guest]

Sorry for asking so many questions...

 

If I remember Krsna in this lifetime is it possible to forget Him in my future lives?

 

Is there any guarantee that I can go back in this lifetime,

even if I eat meat?

 

Also, in all pictures why is Krsna portrayed as a male? Wouldn't you think he would be genderless?

[Guest guest]

 

...Also, in all pictures why is Krsna portrayed as a male? Wouldn't you think he would be genderless?

 

 

 

From "If Krsna is God" thread:

 

"God is Radha-Krsna, not simply Krsna. Krsna always implies Radha also. Neglecting Her, He can never be genuinely realized, let alone personally related to. Radha and Krsna interact together everywhere, in everyone and everything. This is understood through Radha and Her personal associates."

[Guest guest]

>>"God is Radha-Krsna, not simply Krsna. Krsna always implies Radha also. Neglecting Her, He can never be genuinely realized, let alone personally related to. Radha and Krsna interact together everywhere, in everyone and everything. This is understood through Radha and Her personal associates."

 

 

Did Radha and the other gopis have bodies of flesh and bone or were they similar to Krsna's?

[livingentity]

The Spiritual Sky - A Compilation of Srila Prabhupada quotes

[Guest guest]

So to say, God is impersonal and do not have any attributes as such. But to perceive such God, takes utmost devotion of a devotee, to the extent that, the devotee sees God everywhere and in everything. But attainment of such a highly evolved stage is very difficult directly. One has to go through the various stages, the first being, developing devotion to a Personal God. The devotees of our level (I dare say this) can identify, God only in the forms that are familiar to us, such as the human form. Apart from this reason, there is yet another reason. God, on His own, takes various incarnations on earth to establish Righteousness and protect saints. One such incarnation was the Lord Krishna in Dwapar Yuga. Thus, in this incarnation He was a male. But does it matter to us? The ultimate devotion to Him, takes us to Him permanently.

[Guest guest]

Even I have this strong desire to know the previous birth of mine. This is to know, what deeds I did in order to beget the sorrows or happinesses (if any) in this birth and how I can possibly avoid the same mistakes. Apart from this I would also like to know if I have evolved spiritually a little bit at least! When I asked the same question to a sanyasin from Ramakrishna Ashrama, Bangalore, she asked me whether I was interested in knowing what I studied in the First Standard, after having attained the higher education. Inspite of all the arguments my desire to know my previous birth has not diminished even a bit.

[Guest guest]

***When we attain the body of a human, wouldn't the memory of of our last birth

 

For happy.

[Guest guest]

Haribol, we actually have a lot of memory of past lives, and present actions conform to these simultaneous realities. It is just that such memory is not very clear, and if we go to the spiritualist hypniotist for regression type therapy, this just adds more smoke to the fuzziness that is already there.

 

Say we get into a head on collision with a semi, our arm gets lopped off, but we dont feel it, or we pass out (because our brain injects pain killers) from shock. This is a good thing, just like fire burning so bad that we pull our our finger from the fire. If it did not burn, we would soon have no finger. Forgetfulness is a gift from god to prevent reliving the horrors of our temporary existances.

 

Even the coffee-table mystics do not consider this when they speak of their lives as great queens or great artists (or something else great, did ya ever notice, why werent any of these new agers seeing their lives as ethiopian stick people or living in rubble heaps). But even the great suffer horrible death, regrouping, and rebirth, and all of these events are much greater trauma that the collision mentioned that causes merciful forgwetfulness.

 

We get glimpses, like me. I know at some time, I lived in Tonga, I know the layout of the island, when I was five years old, I kept saying "Nukualofa", and I even wrote the word on the wall of my parents bedroom. Only 10 myears later did I discover the word in actuality, it is the main city of the Republic of Tonga. Where did my memory come from? I still never been there, nor have I even seen a mivie about the island, but If i were to arrivew there today, I would know exactly where to go, I would go to a beach I know as well as beaches in hawaii I used to frequent in this birth.

 

Im sure others have many glimpses of past lives, but detail is removed to keep us on track. Alkl these past life memories would mess up all chances, my god, the ancwesdtors of this birth wont leave us alone, imagine if this list of those who never went back jhome were expaNDED. I love the forgetfulness Krsna provides aS MUCH AS THE MEMORY HE MERCIFULLY GIVES IN REASONABLE DOSES./

 

hARE kRSNA, YS, MAHAKSADASA

[Guest guest]

It is definitely possible to have the memory of the past bith, but this happens, generally, with those souls, who are forcefully made to leave the bodies due to some unavoidable circumstances. For example, if someone, is murdered, the soul experieces the trauma of this murder, and continues to live in these memories even after acquiring the new body. Such many cases have been reported by Dr. Ian Stevenson in his books on reincarnations, many of them were from either India or SriLanka, I suppose.

[Guest guest]

Just loose fragments, and not because of trauma, which shields one from memory. I would take exception to the scientist you mention, as murder or other untimliness makes one unable to leave that body, thinking that life can still be had in such a broken corpse. Some are even trying to relive in the body after cremation, trying to live in bone fragments. But after birth, everything is forgotton because we have whole new world of sense attractors to fill our minds.

 

My description of Tonga is one of complete serenity, not of trauma, and the scientists confirm that such childhood memories of past lives are most valid, as clarity and confirmability is quite profound.

 

haribol, ys, mahaksadasa