(snip) > Let me ask you again, is it possible that these animal reincarnations > are intended to be symbolic? They plainly are in the Tibetan Book of > the Dead. Why would they be literal in the Gita? > > They are real in much "esoteric" literature. But incarnation as an > animal will be very short and due only to certain strong attachments.
When I was in Mexico, I met a a woman there in the Yucatan area, that was sitting on the step with her dog. I asked her if she wanted to go to town and dance or something(it was Friday nite). She said I can't, that her husband was watching her. I asked her what she meant, and she pointed to her dog, and said, her husband had passed away, but his spirit was in her dog. So, I said, 'OK'... Also, Jesus I remember said something about sending 'legions of demons', out of someone who was possessed, with whatever; And sent them to the reside in the pigs; Some theory's about this, is that certain lower spirits can temporarily reside in animals, mostly nocturnal animals like possums, racoons, and mad dogs and such. Whether this is superstition or not I guess is up for debate. Some people say, that these things are just 'lower vibrations', and by naming them or calling these things demons is just giving more energy to it, or them, or whatever. And this seems true to the extent that 'what we put our attention on grows'. There is talk of demons in the Vedic literature, at least what I remember in the 9th and 10th mandala, which I haven't listened to in a while.. But I think everyone can relate to the feeling sometimes, that there are energies we don't quite percieve that certainly exist at other levels of reality. Some are very high vibrations, and some not so sweet. It would be interesting to hear other people's understanding or experiences of these areas.
