On Monday 29 March 2010 13:35, Zach Collins (Siege) wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Rick Pikul <chakatfirepaw_at_gmail.com>
wrote:
> > It's similar to how many people who believe in reincarnation have
> > significant previous lives. If you come to believe that you were a serf
> > who never left his village, a fisherman who went out in a small boat
> > every day and a samurai: You talk about life in service to your daimyo.
>
> Actually, I'd prefer to talk about life as a helot, a prostitute, a
> peasant, a scribe.
That would make you unusual, but not unique. For instance, Gen. Patton
maintained that he had always been a soldier, be that a nameless grunt or a
general.
Although, even when the believers talk about being a nobody, it's often about
how their particular nobody did something to become a somebody, (even if not
a historical somebody).
> Sometimes the smaller lives are the more
> interesting ones, and it keeps people from shaking their heads at your
> very large claims. "Emperor of what now? When was this? Do you have
> any proof?"
There's a reason I picked a comparison between absolutely boring lives[1] and
one that would be interesting, (or at least notable to modern eyes), but
hardly unique.
And there is at least one person who maintains that he is not just the
reincarnation of a ruler, but of an entire line of rulers.
[1] Both were intended as examples of people who did the same thing every day,
and then died.
--
Chakat Firepaw - Inventor & Scientist (Mad)
Received on Tue Mar 30 2010 - 06:49:30 CDT