'Both. Before you are born, you are allowed to set up some of the basic parameters of your life. Whether you will be a man or a woman, smart or dumb, tall or short, talented or ordinary - things like that.' You mean things that will be genetically determined?

'Yes, but other things too.

'Like what?

'Like whether you will grow up rich or poor, in a modern country or an underdeveloped country, whether you will contract certain diseases or develop certain problems, whether you will find true love or not. All sorts of things that might be classified as - environmental factors.

'If this were true, it would explain many difficult problems we see here on Earth, but I'm still having a problem. If we set all of this stuff up in advance, doesn't that mean we are locked into a certain fate, that we don't really have free will once we get here? If that is so, then how can you say that we create our own realities in this life? It sounds like they were already created before birth.

'You get to set up some, but not all, of your basic parameters in advance if you want to. But I can assure you there is plenty of room to flow and change and create in and around these parameters.

'What do you mean, 'If you want to'? Not everyone plans things out in advance?

'You know people. Do all of them plan things out in advance?

'No. I suppose not. I know a lot of people who have very poor skills in this area.

'It's like this. Some souls are very willful, very arrogant. They don't want to listen to anyone. They won't let us explain things to them. They won't let us help them set up a plan that makes sense for them, that will help them progress and evolve in an efficient, organized way once they take birth. They are like people who flop into college with little forethought and take courses in a rather haphazard and chaotic way.

'There are a lot of things about this that still don't make sense to me. For example, if we get to set things up ourselves, why don't we all choose to be healthy, rich, and happy in this life? For that matter, why doesn't everybody choose to be talented, famous, and well-loved?

'Well, first of all, there aren't that many positions available in your system for 'famous, well-loved people.' Fame, by definition, means that you are that one-in-a-million person that everybody else recognizes. You can't very well have ten million 'famous' people on Earth. People couldn't pay attention to nearly that many famous people, and they would therefore not be famous. Do you see what I mean?

'I guess that makes sense.

'Besides, there is a huge waiting list for positions like that. Many, many people want to take birth as 'famous, well-loved people' even though we rarely recommend it. Some of them are willing to wait in line for an amazingly long time to do so.

'Are you saying anyone can take birth as a famous and well-loved person, or a very wealthy person, or a very talented person, or a very powerful person if they are willing to wait long enough?

'No. There is more to it than that. You have to be qualified too.

'How do you become qualified?

'By laying the right groundwork, by taking the necessary prerequisite courses of study, as it were.

'So if you want to be, say, a famous singer, you have to develop great talent as a singer before you take birth?

'Not necessarily. It's more like you have to accumulate enough - how can I say this - 'credits,' I guess is as good a word as any. Then you can spend these credits in any way you see fit.

'How do you get these credits?

'There is only one way credits can be accumulated, and that is by selfless, loving thoughts and deeds.

'So, if you are a very selfless, giving, generous, loving soul prior to birth and thereafter, you can accumulate a lot of credits and spend them to be anything you want?

'Not anything. It is like winning tokens at an amusement park. When you go up to the counter to cash them in, you can only get a desired prize if it is being offered.

'What did you mean when you said you don't recommend being a famous well-loved person?

'I mean it's not always good for you to be famous and well-loved, or powerful, or wealthy, or beautiful, or exceptionally intelligent, or talented in the big scheme of things. Being the center of attention tends to make you feel like you are the center of the universe. This increases your sense of self-importance, which in turn leads you to undo all the selfless work you did to get there in the first place. People who experience fame also have great difficulty focusing on other individuals. They have a lot of trouble with intimacy and cooperating with others as equals.

'Surely you are not implying that all exceptional people are self-centered, self-important jerks?

'No. Of course not. Some are humble and very deep. After all, there have to be some exceptional people, some figures that others can look up to and imitate. It hasn't been set up so that it is completely impossible to be extraordinary and be a decent person at the same time. It's just that it is a very difficult act to pull off, that's all.

'Pause. It sounds like the information you are giving me confirms the doctrine of reincarnation, that we come back over and over as different people here on Earth.

'No, the doctrine of reincarnation is not exactly accurate. But neither is the notion that you go to an eternal heaven or hell and just sit there forever. Laughter. How would that serve the Creator's plans?