Raimon Panikkar
I would like to address all those important soul questions listed in the previous post. I do believe they are very important things to ask ourselves to trigger our recognizing and remembering.
I Knew Before
I would be sincere in responding that way because I don't know but only partially so. I may not know on the conscious level but I feel somehow that I "knew before." I do believe I know the answers to these questions on a deeper level of understanding I have yet to tap into. The answers are in me somewhere, where they have always been. I just forgot.
Something tells me, I did know before! This leads to another big question.
Was there really a before?
Do you believe we knew before as ACIM tells us we did ? Were we somewhere else in different form before we came here; before we were born into these bodies? Did our souls exist before the body did?
What do you believe? What do you really believe?
I know what I was taught to believe growing up with orthodox Christian teachings. I was taught that the body came first then the soul...therefore there really was no before. There may be an after but no before. "But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, then the spiritual." I Cor 15: 46
And "The first man being from the earth is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven." I Cor 15: 47-48 The Jerusalem Bible
Even to consider the idea of pre-existence was sinful according to this belief system.
It was deemed by the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 that purporting this belief could lead to excommunication. "If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema"
Is this what the bible teaches?
Even that is questionable. "Before I knew you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jer1: 4-5 (NIV)
And what about this from Romans 8-29-30? : "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (NIV)
The idea of us having a before seems to have different possibilities in the bible. Which one do we believe?
Do all Christian Religions teach that pre-existence does not exist?
No. The Church of Latter Day Saints teaches that it does.
“ Mormons teach a totally different perception concerning the nature of God, the pre-creation universe of eternal realities, the origins of our world, the nature of humanity, and the eternal potential of humans to become gods. In fact, the worldview constructed and promoted by Mormonism mirrors several aspects of ancient paganism, Egyptian and Greek mythology, Hinduism, and New Age, and is foreign and destructive to a biblical Judeo-Christian worldview. " (The Primordial World of Mormonism)
So not all Christianity is set on this idea that we were nothing before so therefore we have no prior knowledge to "remember." What about other religions?
Other Religions' take on Pre-Existence.
According to Kohler & Blau ( 1906), pre-existence of souls is a part of the Jewish teachings. They begin their article in the Jewish Encyclopedia with this description, " Existence previous to earthly life or to Creation, attributed in apocryphal and rabbinical writings to persons and things forming part of the divine plan of human salvation or the world's government."
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in Chapter 2 of the Gita, " Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." So the Hindu take on us having a before is certainly expressed.
Islam also speaks of a pre-existence, a Fitra which is a primordial nature that we are born with and "the ever flowing life."
Buddhism speaks to the concepts of being and non-being and that there is no death, just rebirth. We are re- born into one of 6 realms of existence and it is from one of those six realms we emerge. So there was a before and there is never an end, according to Buddhist tecahings.
So from the "universal" religious standpoint the dominant thought does not agree with Orthodox Christianity and sees that there definitely was a place where we were before. If there was a before, there was a knowing before. This supports the teachings of A Course in Miracles.
Philosophical Theories on Pre-existence
Whether we came here with innate knowledge or a "blank slate" has been a topic of great philosophical debate for centuries. Two dominant figures come to mind when I think of pre-existence. Plato who first coined the term "innatism" firmly stated that we were somewhere before and have come into human form with some knowledge. Carl Jung a 20th century psychiatrist also believed that we had the memories of our ancestors trapped within us, in what he coined "the collective unconscious,"
These two historical figures both purported, amongst great debate and criticism, that we existed before and that we carry knowledge with us now.
Scientific View of Pre-existence
According to many quantum physicists there had to be pre-existence of consciousness before anything manifests in physical form. " The implications of the 'Observer Effect' are profound because, if true, it means that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must first be observed. Presumably observation cannot occur without the pre-existence of some sort of consciousness to do the observing. The Observer Effect clearly implies that the physical Universe is the direct result of 'consciousness'."
Were we pure consciousness before we were bodies?
Somewhat Unusual Explanations of a Before
Some others, step away from the religious and philosophical understanding of a before and have totally "new" ideas. Many of these innovative thinkers believe we come from other planets. There are several different theories related to that possibility. I have included one article for the Gaia site for you to review.
Or maybe we came from another dimension. Please read Stuart Wilde's article linked below.
How will we ever know what that before is?
It doesn't matter what you were taught, what you read, what you discovered through experiementation...do you really know if there was/wasn't a before and if there was...what that before was?
How will we ever know if there was a before if we can't remember it? How will we ever know if we are carrying precious knowledge and wisdom within us from the "something" that may have existed before our births into these bodies? How will we know if this is our first time here or if we have been here many times? How will we know where we are going if we don't know where we came from?
How will we ever know which teaching; which philosophy; which possibility is the true one?
Whether it is a scientific explanation you are looking for, a spiritual one or a new more exciting one there is only one way of knowing anything. The only way to know the answer to that question is to do what we need to do to answer all soul questions: ask the Spirit within. Go inward to the silence and stillness...that has a lot to do with where we were before. I know that for a fact and I cannot even tell you how I know that. I don't know much but I know that.
If there was a before, maybe we will never remember everything or anything about it and that is okay too.
Do we really need to know where we have been or where we are going when all that there really is, is this moment we are in right here and right now?
At this point I can tell you that I strongly believe there was a before but I don't know. I follow my heart and I am doing my best to remember because I strongly feel there is something I am supposed to remember.
All is well in my world.
References
For More Information to help you answer that question for your self, check out:
Chapter 2: Contents of The Gita Summarized (n.d.) Retrieved from https://asitis.com/2/12.html
Could a Person's spirit existed Before Their Soul was Created? (n.d.) Apostles Creed . Retrieved from http://apostles-creed.org/confessional-theological-orthodox-perspectives/could-a-persons-spirit-have-existed-before-their-soul-was-created/
Innate idea. (n.d.) New World Library. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Innate_idea
Lafontaine, Lewis (2013) Carl Jung, Gnostic, Meister Eckhart, Scrutinies, Soul. Carl Jung Depth Psychology. Retrieved from https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2013/07/05/carl-jung-meister-eckhart-gnostics-red-book/
Lesson 15: Life, Pre-existence and Eternity (2004) Al-Islam.org. Retrieved from https://www.al-islam.org/discursive-theology-volume-1-dr-ali-rabbani-gulpaygani/lesson-15-life-pre-existence-and-eternity
McLeod, Saul (2014) Carl Jung. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html
New International Version. Bible Gateway https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A26-30
Patterson, Alex (2008) The Observer Effect. Master Index. Retrieved from http://www.vision.net.au/~apaterson/science/observer_effect.htm
Thich Nguyen Tang (n.d.)Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth. Urban Dharma. Retrieved from http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/viewdeath.html
The Primordial World of Mormonism The Exhumator-Encyclopedia of Esoteric Knowledge http://exhumator.com/02-017-00_religious-mormons-faith-latter-day-saints-the-primordial-world-mormonism.html
Wann, Raenae (n.d.) Are Humans Actually aliens on Earth? Gaia .Retrieved from: https://www.gaia.com/lp/content/are-humans-actually-aliens-on-earth/
Wilde, Stuart ( 2009) Where Did Humans Come From? (The Fourth Dimension) Stuart Wilde. Retrieved from http://www.stuartwilde.com/2009/02/where-did-humans-come-from-the-fourth-alternative/
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