Reincarnation
Reincarnation translates literally into, 'to be made flesh again'.
It is the binding premise behind eternal life. It is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn into a new physical body.
This eternal essence is called the spirit, soul or higher self.
So, when one refers to a 'life', in this reference - the life of a soul incorperates the cycle of birth, life, death, and time between lives, repeated. Some say this process is eternal, while others say the journey of a soul is along the road from Darkness to Enlightenment.
Each progressive life gives opportunity for the soul the experience new situations and gain knowledge and wisdom. Mistakes from previous incarnations (Karma) can be re-addressed until the soul passes the test.
Click this banner for a Past Life Regression Guided Meditation
The following has some information sampled from Wikepedia.
According to some beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constant throughout the successive lives. It falls into line with the Nature verse Nurture debate. In simplistic terms, twins raised in the same environment will have different interests, habits and world views. Their personality, although influenced by their environment, is best explained by previous incarnations.
Societal belief in reincarnation has ancient roots. Though many widely held views have come and gone, (Like the world being flat) Reincarnation has stood the test of time and is as popular today as it has always been. The doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Eastern religious traditions, and is again spreading throughout the West as the practice of Christianity has left many people wanting more.
The Buddhist concept of Rebirth although often referred to as reincarnation differs significantly from the Hindu-based traditions and New Age movements in that there is no unchanging 'soul' (or eternal self) to reincarnate.
In reincarnation, spiritual development continues after death as the deceased begins another earthly life in the physical world, acquiring a superior grade of consciousness and altruism by means of successive reincarnations. This succession leads toward an eventual liberation or enlightenment.
One consequence of the Hindu and Spiritualist's beliefs is that our current lives are also an afterlife. According to those beliefs events in our current life are consequences of actions taken in previous lives, or Karma.
Many Wiccans, though not all, profess a belief in an afterlife called the Summerland, a peaceful and sunny place where the souls of the newly dead are sent. Here, souls rest, recuperate from life, and reflect on the experiences they had during their lives. After a period of rest, the souls are reincarnated, and the memory of their previous lives is erased.
The Comparative Religion website has a great article which explores the Reincarnation Theory in the major Eastern religions.
Click Reincarnation to view the article on their website.
From Reincarnation - The Vedanta Philosophy.
Here let us take an illustration: In a dark room pictures are thrown on a screen by lantern-slides. The room is absolutely dark. We are looking at the pictures. Suppose we open a window and allow the rays of the midday sun to fall upon the screen.
Would we be able to see those pictures?
No. Why?
Because the more powerful flood of light will subdue the light of the lantern and the pictures. But although they are invisible to our eyes we cannot deny their existence on the screen.
Similarly, the pictures of the events of our previous lives upon the screen of the subliminal self may be invisible to us at present, but they exist there. Why are they invisible to us now? Because the more powerful light of sense-consciousness has subdued them.
If we close the windows and doors of our senses from outside contact and darken the inner chamber of our self, then by focusing the light of consciousness and concentrating the mental rays we shall be able to know and remember our past lives, and all of the events and experiences thereof.
These dormant impressions, whether we remember them or not, are the chief factors in molding our individual characters with which we are born, and they are the causes of the inequalities and diversities which we find around us.