text: as a christian, as an athiest. as a jew or buddhist; how do you feel about re-incarnation? this is an interesting subject; i'm interested in hearing your viewpoints on it.  do you believe in it? why do you? can one be a christian, and still believe in re-incarnation? is it contrary to christianity? if it is posible to be re-incarnated, how does this belief fit into god's plan? what are some of the beliefs about re-incarnation; why do you think it is possible... i am asking, because i have a curious mind!!! energy cannot be created (by humans or in the "natural universe) or destroyed.. this leads me to believe that the energy of the human soul is conserved and reincarnated into another human being..  *****conservation of energy is possibly the most important, and certainly the most practically useful of several conservation laws in physics. it states that the total inflow of energy into a system must equal the total outflow of energy from the system, plus the change in the energy contained within the system. in other words, energy can be converted from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. this excludes the possibility of perpetuum mobile of the first kind.  law of conservation of energy is a mathematical consequence of continious translational symmetry of time (no moment of time is different than any other).**************** ------------------------------ the structure of the soul   a human being on earth unites two parts -- a body and a soul. each part is extremely complex in structure and consists of multiple components. while the body's structure is reasonably well understood, the structure of the soul is a mystery many tried to analyze. one talmudic opinion divides it into three major segments:  -------- nefesh: the lower, animal part, related to the instincts and to the reactions of the body.  ruach: the spirit, or the middle soul, linked to the understanding of morality and the ability to differentiate between good and evil.  neshama: the higher soul, linked to the intellect, and separating humanity from all other life forms. it allows the person to be aware of god, and to participate in the afterlife.  -------- according to the zohar, which leans toward a mystical view of the universe, two additional soul parts may be developed by very few, select individuals who have the capacity of sublime levels of intuitive cognition:   chayyah -- the part of the soul that is aware of the divine life force.  yehidah -- the highest part of the soul, capable of achieving full union with god.   when the body dies, the soul components come apart, and each segment follows a separate road. the lower parts must undergo purification; the higher parts aim to join with god. nefesh remains with the body for about twelve months, guarding the grave and occasionally roaming the earth for the purpose of learning. ruach goes to gehinnom (purgatory), to purge itself from the sins the person committed in life, and prepare for the future life of the soul. neshama goes to the lower gan eden (paradise), chayyah and yehida return to upper gan eden.   the stages of the journey   in rabbinic teachings, olam haba took many shapes and forms. to some, it is simply our own fully physical world, made better after the coming of the messiah. to others it means paradise, a spiritual place. often, a journey is described, where the soul will encounter certain stages:   hibbut ha-kever (the suffering of the grave)   a jew who truly believes in god has little fear of dying. he sees death as a simple transition from one life to another. god will be the same there as he is here, and that is all that matters because in either life the one goal is to serve him. the separation of body and soul is as simple, according to talmudic transition, as removing a hair out of a glass of milk.   to the less than perfectly pure, the separation can be more difficult. the soul of the worldly jew strongly identifies with the body -- an erroneous but powerful notion that makes watching the body undergo decay and be eaten by worms extremely unpleasant. however, this mental agony serves a purpose; it awakens the soul from its wrong assumptions and allows the separation from the body to occur.   dumah (the angel of silence)   if hibbut ha-kever is still insufficient to separate body and soul, a great danger looms -- the decay and disintegration of the consciousness of the soul. at some point after death, the angels summon the je