Just what is the nature of humankind? This same question, framed in dozensReincarnation: Have We Lived Before?
From Cayce’s perspective, we are not simply physical bodies or even
physical bodies with souls, but are instead spiritual beings who are currently
having a material experience. As souls, we have manifested in the earth
in
order to learn lessons that will enable us to return to our former state
of
spiritual awareness. At the same time, one purpose we all have in common
is to bring the spirituality of the Creator into the earth.
A soul can choose to be born into either a male or female body in any given
lifetime or, as Cayce called it, an “incarnation.” A soul selects that
environment (parents and family, location, personal obstacles, etc.) which
will best allow for the learning of lessons it needs for completeness.
The
goal is to fully express love in all the challenges which physical life
offers.
One’s experiences are subject to the choices made with free will. As one
grows, he or she learns -- or rather remembers -- his or her true
relationship with God and one's heritage as a spiritual being. With free
will,
we can turn the challenges life presents to us into stepping-stones toward
growth, or we can see them as obstacles and stumbling blocks. Either way,
we reap what we have sown. We constantly meet the consequences of
previous deeds and attitudes.
One frequently misunderstood concept regarding reincarnation has to do
with karma. From the standpoint of the Cayce material, karma is not
destiny, it is only memory. These memories are generally unconscious and
influence our abilities, our faults, even our relationships with others,
but with
free will we can meet this memory as a positive or a negative experience.
Karma provides us with the potential to learn a lesson we need in order
to
grow at a soul level, and free will determines whether or not we choose
to
learn it at this time. The choices we make determine the next set of potential
experiences we encounter.
Much more than simply a concept that applies to a limited segment of the
world, reincarnation is a philosophy that has -- at one time or another
--
been embraced by all the major religions of the world. It’s a concept that
can allow us to have compassion for one another because ultimately we are
all equal -- there is only one God and we are all His children.
From Cayce’s viewpoint, it didn’t really matter if an individual believed
in
reincarnation or not. For some it can be a helpful concept, for others
confusing. The main purpose was to allow individuals to become aware of
their true spiritual nature and their ultimate relationship with one another.
In
fact, if we can think for a moment about the one person in our life whom
we
love most of all. then we will get an inkling of the goal of reincarnation:
to be
able to love every single soul, even ourselves, with the very same love.
(Edgar Cayce. http://www.are-cayce.com/reincar.htm
)