This question brings my mind back to the raw truth about everything.
Which is.. There are no answers.
.. not everlasting, definitive, ultimate conclusions that will not be manipulated, shaped and modified to fit a given purpose- is what I mean. There are probabilities and ¨safe bets¨ given certain context and that is good enough for general decision making and such.
While ¨answering the question¨, I can do so most sincerely by handing off some ¨stretching constructs¨. Like one of those things you might put in a shoe to hasten the break in period, making it more comfortable and helpful. Then we can come back and wonder- ¨Is there reincarnation?¨ with more room to stretch out.
So it is appropriate to come from the place called ¨We don´t know¨ when we approach topics that refer to things outside of our direct experience, and which would be impossible to debate constructively should a person bring direct experience at higher levels down to a worldly debate where individual minds intersect.
Now consider that in philosophical or spiritual terms, meaning is often delivered in metaphor.
What people do: We consume a concept, and the first thing we do is mentally construct what the concept, if deemed basically true and relevant, would look like. Ok, so that is normal, but when that is accepted at face value with no further reflection, meditation- other words, if not subjected to a persons capacity, lesser or greater, for ¨higher levels of awareness¨, then we have an ordinary topic that is subject to binary thinking. A token. Or a superstition or something that a person may ¨adopt¨.
Spiritual concepts have value in a spiritual context. They refer to matters in other worlds which may certainly influence those that we all traverse daily. (yes we and each person exists in multiple levels of being / worlds). Condensing that down and only handling it in a dense form, that must be retrofitted to everyday logic and reason, is a mistake. The concept may lose most or all of it´s value and message. It becomes a point of useless conflicts and arguments; wasted energy, distraction and division. This is one of the harms of idolatry brought onto people and societies. Idolatry? Yep. Itś not just giving up your best chicken to a statue, This form of degradation reaches well beyond that mental image, and is a cause for spiritual confinement to low level existence, where everything is subjected to consensus and judgement. Always shedding freedom and quietly taking on discontent for a life that keeps shrinking and losing richness of value, culture, mystery and heart.
So re approaching reincarnation... What can this concept tell us if we´re not dragged down by a need to be right. Will consciousness even survive physical death? Ask someone after your passing. If they answer at all- the answer is yes.
Consciousness was here before you and will continue after your time. The details of the matter touch on our understanding but confuse us too because we are not ¨there yet¨. Our minds continue to grow and expand. That cannot happen if we have arrived at a place called ¨conclusion¨. Don´t make that your goal because the day you arrive there, is the day that our journey ends.
What if living is less about singularity? Have personal qualities made impact beyond expected limitation? Is there sameness among divided parts?
If I have the audacity to reach beyond limits with an open heart, if capacity for awareness expands a bit each time I do, will that inexplicable awareness outlast my identity? And is that infinite expanse referenced somewhere within my being?
Am I willing- to let go, -of the weight of the earth right now, letting love alter me in the process ?
When you answer that, you will then know if ¨there is reincarnation¨.