What Would You Come Back As?

The Chinese are everywhere. All of my electronics are made there. Most of my clothes are made there. Many of the people that I've worked with over the years are from there. Many of our cars are made there (and the ones that aren't use parts that are made there anyway). And they house a huge portion of the world's population.

It seems to me that China can do pretty much whatever it sets its mind to. There's really nothing in our modern culture that they don't at least have a hand in. Except death.

Even that is changing, though: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

China has now banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. You're probably thinking the same thing I was thinking: What?

As I understand it, reincarnation among Buddhists has to do with your life force and karma. The two things combine somehow and determine your reincarnation path. To be pretty simplistic, good people get good reincarnations as better people, bad people might come back as rats or roaches. I don't recall ever hearing about someone having control over reincarnation.

I wonder how this new ruling is going to be enforced, though. Is the government going to come to your private Buddhist school one day and have all the first graders tell who they were in a previous life? Anyone admitting to having been a monk from Tibet is cleared against a list of approved reincarnations. How long do you think it takes before all the kids are just admitting to being reincarnations of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe?

And can they use this rule in other law enforcement situations? Say, for example, a guy gets pulled over for speeding. The police officer checks the driver's information and realizes that this is the third time this week that the driver has been pulled over. "Listen, man, you know the rule. Three strikes, buddy. I've got to report this to the GRUB (Government Reincarnation Usage Board). Driving like this, you'll be lucky to come back as a snail."