As a aside karma/memory disappears once one ‘knows’ (not a mind knowing) that life and death are not sperate. There not even two sides of the same coin, at least that’s not a great metaphor. The problem being is that your likely pick up the coin and flip it calling heads OR tails when their is no OR. No matter how small you slice the coin you will never be able to separate the two.

A issue hear is language as we don’t have a word to communicate this think that is  life/death though some might use the word G_d if that word wasn’t so loaded. Perhaps the word Tao – Watts “I prefer not to translate the word Tao at all because the Tao is a sort of nonsense syllable, indicating the mystery that we can never understand—the unity that underlies the opposites.”

Hi Helcat
The African Yoruba religion have a interesting take on reincarnation is that the soul actually chooses the experience they wish to have in life.  No training required. I have a friend that believes this as it give her comfort.

From what I read of the wisdom traditions with regards to choosing ones next life, it stars with ‘knowing one self’ so that you can ‘see’ reality clearly and thier by respond to it vice react. Then you get face with the challenge of coming to terms with the problem of opposites, duality, binary thinking.   You can see the problem of binary thinking played out on social media where everything seems to be either or, like – dislike, with me – against me, all or nothing. Language doesn’t help as its dependent on contrasting and implying the opposite.

Funny thing as the problem of opposites becomes resolved within ones experience, words disappear including the ‘I’ which I think Rob hints at.

I’d be very interested in you take on a problem I’ve had with Buddhism and other traditions. In Buddhism only the Now exists yet many of the concepts and teachings appear to be projected onto some future and that seems like a contradiction.

Lately when I read about such things from various wisdom traditions I’ve been re-referencing the teachings to the Now. Is what I’m learning about the Now? In that context the teachings seem to resonate. Heaven is now, nirvana is now, hell is now, purgatory is now, death is now, life is now…  If we don’t notice its because we see the world as we are not as it is, we get in the way. So the work (training) is so that we see ourselves better and doing so get out of the way. (surprise the self, small s, disappears as does separateness.)

Using the story of the Garden, Adam and Eve gain the knowledge or good and evil. Note that  ‘knowledge of‘ is not the same as the ‘knowledge of what is‘ and so we have tension between the opposites. This tension gives birth to ego consciousness, language and the problem of opposites.  How can something be good one moment and bad the next? Its a problem, and the first thing Adam and Eve note with this new ego consciousness is that they are separate, maybe not good and naked where being naked is judged shameful. So they try to hide and cover themselves up with layers of ‘clothing’ – personas/masks.

The end is in the beginning, babies become conscious though the tension of opposite and the suspicion of separation from mother.  Then we spend the rest of our lives trying to undo that experience which all the wisdom traditions point to involving learning to see through the problem of opposites and a realization that we arn’t and never were separate ‘I’s’.

You, me, everyone, everything is IT and that is a happening and possibility of every Now.

No Idea if that made any sense just seeing where the thoughts go. Still thanks for allowing me to express them.

Thanks Helcat

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experience with  attachment, memory and being Present.  I find it helpful in hearing how others express thier experiences with what they are learning.

Often people live the experiences of life and their thoughts creates a persistence, this is taken as consciousness. It is part of this life and it will disappear with this life. The self doesn’t actually exist as in forever. When one spend time sitting in meditation, the mind drops the thoughts and is allowed to perceive in a different manner. If the mind’s eye is opened then the other shore become visible. One can see the truth of conditions and act with compassion and wisdom. The latter being harder to come by.

It begins with space between the thoughts. Then quietness. Emptiness. I come to life on the inhale and let it go on the exhale. I do not know the truth and have never seen the other shore. My teacher has long passed away. May be in the next life, I will visit the top of the mountain and come down to share my story.