Heaven - Being Reborn as Dogs/Cats

[RamaRaksha]

I do like the idea of finding "heaven" on earth.

Ah the problem is that you don't FIND it - you have to WORK for it, make it happen
The reason the ancients dreamed of a better life in the sky somewhere was because life was so bleak back then - one researcher said that we have rose-colored glasses of the past - she said that a minimum-wage worker of today might have more material things in his home than most kings of the past
Movies always show Kings with lots of stuff, big castles etc - but most kings did not live that well
The world was a violent world, times were difficult & we were weak & this idea of running away to some magic land in the sky was very appealing
The frustrating thing is that we still continue to blindly follow these weak ideas
The world has changed - we can see the future now - the world depicted in the star wars movies will become a reality if we don't kill ourselves or some asteroid doesn't take a aim at us

 

[RamaRaksha]

No such thing as fate.

context matters - try "actions determine our future" - fate is taken in this context

 

[RamaRaksha]

The Prajapita Brahmakumaris teach that each species will reincarnate within that group itself and no exchanges takes place, meaning human beings reincarnate as human beings and birds reincarnates as birds and horses reincarnate as horses without any aberration in this process.

I like the idea of moving up or down - why should a horse or a bird be condemned to being just a horse or a bird? What about species that are now extinct? They say plenty of other animals will go extinct in the future because of climate change
Those who chase after Heaven - the easy lazy life with nothing to do while a magic being tends to their comforts - clearly do not want to be human, because as a human being, unless one is a shameless prostitute or a leech or a "chamcha", one will not get that easy lazy life
But as a Dog, yes they will get that lazy life - it that lazy life that they want, whether they are human or not is irrelevant

 

[RamaRaksha]

and some forms have .....how many arms?
and the spiritual life has rules of form?
God is human?.....like someone's Father?

Did you happen to see the 2nd star wars movie? The one where Luke goes in search of this great Teacher, Yoda? How many were expecting the usual? A tall old white man with a grizzled beard?
Instead they were introduced to a little green funny-looking "creature"
I am willing to bet that Lukas saw the image of Ganesha somewhere and that gave him the idea of Yoda
The idea here is that don't expect God to meet your pre-conceived notions of what He or She must be
God might look entirely different from what you expect

We see that Christians and Muslims fall into this Idolatry trap - for Christians God must come down as a handsome young white man, blond hair with blue eyes and must answer to the name of Jesus. What if God came down as a woman? Or a dark man and says his name is Rama? They would kick both out! That's the Idolatry trap

God is the Father/Mother because He made all of us. We frequently use the words, "Mother Earth" and it is in this context that we say God is our Father
Christians & Muslims view God more as a Master - these religions are sprinkled with Slave words, "Commandments, Submit, beg, obey, judge, mercy, punish, forgive, Fear" - All Slave/servant words, totally absent in Hinduism/Buddhism
A different view of God - which leads to different responsibilities and actions

 

[idea]

We can't live in the past - we can't correct those B's or D's that we got last year
This year is different - we have to make the best of what we have this year
The question you posed comes from people who still believe in some sort of Heaven - a life elsewhere & if we learn from our past life and correct those mistakes, we will get to go live in some magic land in the sky

And as for forgetting the past, you may simply not be aware of your past life - when you are watching TV or see something and it appeals to you, ask yourself why? Why this particular thing? For eg you may get involved in teaching, giving money to help educate young kids - but there are so many other needs, why did you focus on this? It could be your past life calling you

Old beliefs die hard, I was raised in a heaven-centered home. I agree, best to concentrate on the here and now, finding joy peace love and all that now - not imagining future bliss. People like Jacques Lusseyran and Viktor Emil Frankl found peace and meaning in a concentration camps, while others are rich and miserable - heaven is not a place, it seems to be a state of mind. Non-attachment is a step in the right direction I think, as is connection.

From what is real, everything dies. Matter and energy mix together with all of the other atoms, then new life springs up from decaying death. Yin/Yang, part of life is born from life, and part of life is created from eating dead things. In any event, the matter and energy that constitute our bodies has always and will always exist, just changing shape. Mixing, and re-mixing. Atoms that were inside stars are now in our bodies - perhaps dinosaurs to birds and fish, it's all mixed together within each of us. Conservation of mass, of energy, nothing is ever destroyed, it just changes forms.

 

[Thief]

A different view of God - which leads to different responsibilities and actions

I do not believe God is human
by definition....He cannot be human
He is extraterrestrial

God is spirit
the sons of God are spirit

it is written....do not conform to this world
be transformed by it

form.....it not always a notation of shape and appearance

when Genesis mentions.....the serpent
I hear that as a notation of character
not form