Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00930)

Daniel:

>Has everyone had a previous life. Or in other words
>has everyone been reincarnated numerous times?

The general idea, as I understand it, is yes. We are external
going into the past. As sparks of the divine, we never had
a beginning. The finite, mortal part of us, though, is born
and dies. Then we take on another one, and then yet another.
We continue to be born and live some kind of life, followed
by a period of rest, forever. It is just that over vast
periods of time we spiritually evolve, taking on more complex
forms and existing on higher worlds or planes of consciousness,
suitable to our unfolding consciousness.

>I have lived as another person in the 1800s, 1500's, etc...?

There is disagreement with how long we spend in the after-death
states between lifetimes. What I've heard is, for most, starting
at a few thousand years and upwards from there. The New Age
literature indicates a very-short period between lifetimes, but
the classic theosophical writings indicate a much-longer
time period between lives.

-- Eldon