(No offense, Ziyal. I'm a Catholic myself)

Tsk, eh?

Two of my other friends have seen their past lifes as well, both had about 6 that they remember.

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"Do you want to be President?"
"Yes."
"Put you hand on the book and say 'I do'."
"I do."
"Good, done. Let's eat!"

In all seriousness...
I believe I will give the same answer as the many generations of computer in Asimov's famous story, "The Last Question." It's the only answer that any human using only observational and deductive reasoning can give:

"There is insufficient data to form a meaningful conclusion."

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

[Inexpert opinion follows:]

And the Biblical heaven is supposed to be an almost indescribably good place to be. One theory is that for every activity on earth that feels good, there is a heavenly analogue without unpleasant side effects.

Some facetious (but possible) examples:
Golf, f'rinstance, just might be a contact sport. Sugar, fat, and salt will all be good for you. Although there will be no marriage in heaven, marriage is supposed to be a 3-dimensional, physical representation of God's relationship with humans. Therefore, there is something better than sex, at least in the afterlife.

[/opinion]

~~Baloo

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Beer lovers take note:
Stroh's spelled backwards is "shorts."

http://www.geocities.com/cyrano_jones.geo/

Mark Twain wrote an excellent story about the afterlife called "Extract From Captain Stormfield's Visit To Heaven".

I recommend it to everyone.

Heaven and Hell, yes, I believe in those very much.
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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

In the Hindu Religion, who you become reincarnated as depends on your past life. In my World religions Class, mention was made of a rich man who was so mean and evil to everyone that when he died, he was reincarnated as a Chili Pepper!!!

My belief in reincarnation has nothing to do with religion.

So what happened was, I picked up the book What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson while strolling down the "M" asle in my local library (because I had seen the movie and liked it a lot). What I basically got was an exploration of the afterlife in fiction form based on the author's research, so that got me interested on this topic. Then I came across three books by psychiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss, who first came to believe in(or rather, "proved," as well as he can) reincarnation when one patient, during hypnosis, went back to many different past lives for the source of her phobias. I said "proved" because his patient during hypnosis said things that she couldn't possibly have known, such as how to make butter from scratch, some very philosophical explanations of the afterlife, and something about the doctor's dead first child whose existence was known only to himself, his wife, and his doctor. His first book is a detailed account of how he came to believe in reincarnation while treating this one patient. The second book has many more cases of how chronic pains and phobias were cured after finding their roots in past lives, as well as a script for "relaxation and regression tape" that helps you to remember past lives (which I intend to try). The third one is an account of how he discovered that two of his patients who never met each other were soul mates through their corresponding past lives.

Reincarnation, as some wise people on "the other end" explained to Dr. Weiss through his patients, allows souls to learn lessons about human relationship--that is basically it. The purpose of each life is to learn a lesson: for example, to trust others, not to let anger or fear gain control, etc. The most important thing about human relationships is Love; love connects souls across lifetimes. I think the belief is that all souls reincarnate into humans, for there's no mention of otherwise. This is also why it is wrong to end our own lives or lives of others, because they need to live their lives to the end to learn their lessons. There IS something similar to karma, though. One interesting note: the same people told the doctor that abortion or miscarriage involves a consent (I assume it's unspoken) between the mother and the soul of the child, and the soul can come in and out of the fetus's body at will until birth or just after birth, at which time it enters permanently. Sometimes a soul that is supposed to enter an aborted fetus might enter the body of the couple's next child.

Judaism and Christianity--
Doctor Weiss (I think he wrote that he's Jewish but I'm not sure because he didn't particularly emphasize it) said he couldn't believe how Judaism and Christianity wrote nothing about reincarnation for thousands of years of their existence, so he did some research. I'm just going to quote him.

In Judaism, a fundamental belief in reincarnation, or gilgul, has existed for thousands of years. This belief had been a basic cornerstone of the Jewish faith until approximately 1800-1850, when the urge to "modernize" and to be accepted by the more scientific Western establishment transformed the Eastern European Jewish communitites...In the Orthodox and Chasidic communities, belief in reincarnation continues unabated today. The Kabbala, mystical Jewish literature dating back thousands of years, is filled with references to reincarnation...

When I researched the history of Christianity, I discovered that early references to reincarnation in the New Testament had been deleted in the fourth century by Emperor Constantine when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Apparently, the emperor had felt that the concept of reincarnation was threatening to the stability of the empire. Citizens who believed that they would have another chance to live might be less obedient and law abiding than those who believed in a single Judgment Day for all.

In the sixth century, the Second Council of Constantinople underscored Constantine's act by officially declaring reincarnation a heresy. Like Constantine, the Church was afraid that the idea of prior lives would weaken and undermine its growing power by affording followers too much time to seek salvation. They concurred that the whip of Judgment Day was necessary to ensure the proper attitude and behavior.

During the same Early Christian Era leading up to the Council of Constantinople, other Church fathers like Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and St. Jerome accepted and believed in reincarnation. So did the Gnostics. As late as the twelfth century, the Christian Cathars of Italy and southern France were severely brutalized for their belief in reincarnation.

As I reflected on the new information I had gathered, I realized that aside from their belief in reincarnation, the Cathars, Gnostics, and Kabbalists all had another value in common: that direct personal experience beyond what we see and know with our rational minds or what is taught by a religious structure is a major source of spiritual wisdom. And this direct personal experience powerfully promotes spiritual and personal growth. Unfortunately, since people may be severely punished for unorthodox beliefs, the groups learned to keep them secret. The repression of past life teachings has been political, not spiritual.

The people from the other side also told Dr. Weiss that this "afterlife" is the reality, and Earth is the illusion. They said that Earth WILL be destroyed by human hands, though not in our lifetime (but who's to say we won't come back to experience it?), and that there are many other worlds and many more souls. If that's not a confirmation of intelligent life out there, I don't know what is.