"personality" of souls from life to life?

[zetascair20086]

I found that very little of my personality now is original to me. Over 90% of it is inherited from my past self.

I'd say that's about accurate for me as well. Most of the differences are fairly superficial and cultural. Since I know alot about some of my lives known to history I can see I've carried over most of my habits, preferences, attitudes and even body movements and hand gestures from even thousands of years ago. I don't know if the ratio is the same for everyone but in my case, as in yours, I feel very little has changed and very little about me can be accounted for by my present life alone.

 

[Meiga]

I must say I agree with Phoenix. I think we carry part of our baggage with us from previous lives. When I was very little I was very compassionate, much more so than I am now. One day I was walking along with my mum and dad when we passed a tramp. I must have been about three or four. My mum said she was very surprised when I burst into tears, and when they asked me why I said because we passed this tramp and didn't give any money and he may be hungry. This went on for a while, and as I wouldn't stop crying they had to retrace their steps and give him something. So where did that compassion come from? I hadn't been explained the meaning of it as I was too little. I think that I was carrying this characteristic from a previous life.

 

[Ailish]

I found an interesting passage by Gary Zukav:

Your intentions create the reality that you experience. The healing journey of the human soul through its incarnations into the physical arena is a process of cycles of creation:

Karma-->personality-->intentions + Energy
-->experiences-->reactions-->Karma-->etc.

The karma of the soul determines the characteristics of the personality. It determines the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual circumstances into which the personality is born. It determines the ways that the personality is prone to understand its experiences. It determines the intentions with which the personality will shape its reality. These intentions create the reality that provides the soul, at each moment, with the experiences that are necessary for the balancing of its energy, and the personality with the clearest choice between learning through wisdom or learning through doubt and fear. Through these intentions the personality shapes the Light that is flowing through it into the reality that is optimal for its growth, for the evolution of its soul.

The reactions of the personality to the experiences that it has created creates more karma. Reactions express intentions. They determine the experiences that will be created next, and the reactions of the personality to those experiences create more karma, and so forth, until the soul releases that personality and body.

For me -- the above post makes sense. I cannot see the same personality within me, that existed in my past lives. I believe, as Zukav suggests, the soul survives but the personality ends with the body.


Ailish

 

[Val]

I know that I don't have the same personality now that I had 20 plus years ago. For me, personality seems to be related to how I choose to act, or react to experience. By gaining knowledge and understanding I act, or react differently now than I did in the past.

Maybe some of the deeply ingrained traits, or disposistions may stay with us through several lifetimes until we gain enough understanding to be able to let them go.

 

[Val]

Meiga, in a past life you may have been a hungry homeless person. Experience can bring empathy.

 

[tiltjlp]

I know that I don't have the same personality now that I had 20 plus years ago. For me, personality seems to be related to how I choose to act, or react to experience. By gaining knowledge and understanding I act, or react differently now than I did in the past.

Maybe some of the deeply ingrained traits, or disposistions may stay with us through several lifetimes until we gain enough understanding to be able to let them go.

Excellent post Val. You have summed up what I feel Karma really is about. Whoever first suggested that it's about punishment and revenge pointed most of us down a blind alley, I think. Karma as I have studied it is about how we each act, and how we each react to the actions of others, nothing less, and surely nothing more.

John

 

[destiny]

I think personality is formed by: this life´s experiences (and environment), genetics, and past life´s experiences. So, "soul" would be a 1/3 in the process.
BUT : if the soul chooses a similar environment and a similar family (or family background) to reborn, then the personality would be very similar.

Very good Owl.

I believe we are very much formed by current life and social situation. And these influences are so deeply imbedded in what we generally believe is our soul, that we have difficulty separating it from our personality.

Just think how much gender is part of the personality. That is why most people refuse to consider that their personal soul could ever have had a different gender. It is too much what they ARE today, the imprint from gender.

On the other hand, it seems like souls prefere one gender to another in the circle of rebirths, taking it from the many works of Ian Stevenson and others. Also, it seems like this tendency is stronger in societies with more separation between genders (e.g. male dominated societies). So may be gender is one part soul and one part personality?

 

[Titus Rivas]

Personal reincarnation

I wrote a paper on reincarnation and personal identity:

Rebirth and Personality Identity: Is Reincarnation an Intrinsically Impersonal Concept?

Titus

 

[Lila P]

Thank you, Titus for the article.

Since introspection is one of my favorite hobbies, I´ll try to share my opinion and experience here.

I do believe that part of our current personality is just an adaptment to the body, cultural environment and upbringing. You can call this adaptment whatever you want, I´ll call it ego. There are people whose egos are huge and it totally covers the soul or true self. They don´t really know who they are. When you think that your PL-self was very different from your current self, you may have had a very ego-driven life back then.

Then there is the soul, your True Self. It won´t stay constant but will evolve and mature. Our experiences change us. I´ve also experienced a major personality change in this lifetime.

As a child I easily found a certain collection of archetypes inside of me. I believe they are an essential part of my True Self. For example, although I am a woman now, I was always aware of a strong masculine side in me as well. It was easy to find an Aristocrat, a Scribe, a Hedonist, a Horseman, a Natural Child, a Judge, an Artist etc. Later on, I found more of these, like a Knight, an Axe Killer and a Mystic. I think that these archetypes are my PL-personas. My current life as a scientist will be one of my archetypes in the future.

I believe that these archetypes will always be there, from an incarnation to another. How you live with them and use them in your current life, is another thing...

 

[Karoliina]

Thank you, Titus Riva, for the interesting article, and Lila, for your post, which I found interesting, too! :thumbsup:

Karoliina

 

[Jim78]

My personality has remained pretty consistent. It wasn't until I actually remembered reincarnation that I felt any need to change.

http://sarasmichaelcollinssite.com/man_versus_myth

I look back on my lives and I realise I've never been a particularly nice person. I've always been an insoucient, anti authoritarian ( unless I'm the authority ), quick witted and confrontational individual. I am trying to change though. The humours been knocked out of me that's for sure. Remembering reincarnation has been a grim experiance for me. I'm almost afraid to be myself now. I don't like who I've been anymore, yet its all I know how to be.