Reincarnation to my friend

[donq]

I've just replied my friend's email and would like to shared it here.

She asked, "So I take it that you are a Buddhist? You believe in reincarnation? Have you had many previous lives? Are you always a human in these lives?"

My honest answer is "yes and no". In the past 30 years, I've also embraced all spirituality, especially Taoism/Daoism. I know that most 95 (if not 99%) of Buddhists believe in reincarnation, I don't. Don't get me wrong, I used to believe that, but after my near-death experience and long time study so many Buddhist texts, I changed my mind. One of a venerable monk I personally knew explained it like this: "If you have died down here and a tree has grown on this very spot, it doesn't mean you reincarnate to be that tree. But yes, something in you (physically) might become a part of that tree".
The more interesting is about reincarnation in our mind.
After 40 years of practicing mindfulness, I believe that we can reincarnate each and every day, even every moments. This moment, if my mind is pure, I reincarnate to be a good man; another moment, my mind turns black, I become a villain.
Let me also tell you this: when I mentioned the numbers of years I did this and that, I just wanted you to know I didn't come to where I believe just after reading some books or joining a spiritual retreat just once or twice, but it was my whole life dedication (read tons of books, long time practicing, doing personal research, trail and error, etc.).
As for me, mindfulness is like a microscope to let me see what is really here, in my mind.