Question: “Why is it that we don’t remember our past lives when we are reborn?”
Past lives are like dreams – they’re very real while it’s happening, but forgotten when time’s up. I think if we remembered our past lives one of two things could happen: 1) we would become really sad and depressed about how bad our lives were or how bad we were as people, or 2) become arrogant and selfish because of how great or luxurious our lives may have been.
In a subtle way we can kinda “remember” our past lives by looking at our lives now. We know that our thoughts, speech and actions govern our karma for our present and future lives, so if we live a good, fortunate life with little worries and hardships, then we can assume that our past life (lives) was also a fortunate one or in a state where good deeds were done to have the life we have.
Likewise, if our lives aren’t so great and does have worries and hardships, then we can assume our past life (lives) weren’t that great either and little good deeds were done.
If we could remember our past lives, our minds would be filled with thousands and thousands of lives and we’d all end up in the crazy house! There have been many documentaries and studies on children and their ability to recall their past life, especially if it was a “fresh” rebirth (a rebirth that happened right after the death of the last life). If we were reborn in one of the unfortunate realms or we lingered around too long, then we’d have less of a chance of remembering our past lives as children.
Smile and be well!