>I think that some of the reincarnation 'understandings' state that we lose the memory of the
prior life once we go back into physical life. And this is tightly bound with the idea that our karmic baggage dictates that we don't carry previous experience consciously into the new life because they'd act as a cheat sheets for passing the test that we're taking by living in the first place.
>
>Or something like that.
Yes; although I don't believe this myself, this fits in neatly with the general idea of reincarnation.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)