[TristramS]

As a Buddhist I believe in reincarnation, though not the way you might be thinking. My beliefs are a bit different than most peoples though. I believe that everything has a spirit. The spirit isn't simply the metaphysical underlinings of the living being, it's the power gained from all the experiences that something has been through, be the object animate or inanimate. Everything around us is not now as it was always. Example: My guitar was not always a guitar, it used to be a Black Limba tree, and a Rosewood tree, and various other plants and minerals. All those combined have given it many experiences, and as a guitar it has had more experiences from being luthiered to being played in my apartment and on stage. Though it used to be, for the most part, living things, it's spirit will always live on. It may not always be whole, but it will still be part of something. I believe the same concept applies to humans as well, we are not the body that we occupy, but rather the collection of everything that brought us to this point. When I die I believe my body will be broken down and consumed by all that is around it, and in turn I will become part of that, be it plants or animals. My spirit may not pass to the next as a whole, but I find comfort in the idea that it will also not completely disappear, and who knows, maybe in time chance will bring me back as a whole again and I will find new life in another time. I suppose if you really think about it, bodily functions will cease, but there is eternal life, just not the way most religions see it.