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An Understanding Of Past Lives Reincarnation
One of the philosophies that believes in past lives reincarnation and other births for the soul is the Hindu philosophy. The Hindu philosophy also believes in athma (soul) and karma (deeds). Hindu religious scriptures say that the soul never dies but merely changes body or form, much as one might shed old clothes for new.
This is a very different philosophy from that of Christian theory of reincarnation, which focuses on the resurrection of Christ. It is believed that the soul can take any form, whether man, woman, or animal. The deeds or karma of the human being in the present life are what determines the kind of life that person will have in the next life.
Several scriptures and the Hindu religion talk about past lives reincarnation extensively. Notably, a major one of these is the Bhrigu Sanhit, which apparently had an accounting of the future and past lives for all living souls. This scripture has been lost over the centuries, however.
In regard to modern-day reincarnation theory, Dr. Ian Stevenson has collected some compelling data. Even though modern science scoffs at the idea of past lives reincarnation, Dr. Stevenson believed in it. Therefore, although it can't be said that his data is the most respected scientific data on the theory, it's very famous and his cases are very well documented because Dr. Stevenson held a degree in medicine and was a psychiatrist.
Unlike today's past life regression therapists, though, Dr. Stevenson didn't put his patients into trance or hypnotize them. Instead, he interviewed children who had spontaneous recollections of the incidents they experienced in their past lives.
Among the most famous and puzzling of these cases was that of a small boy, six years old, who came from a small village in Punjab. The little boy claimed that he had been a man named Satnam Singh in a past life, and could even minutely described the man's village of of Chakkchela; that was true even though the child had never been there.
The family tried to dissuade the boy from making these claims, but he nonetheless continue to do so. He even revealed the name of Satnam's father. The boy claimed that he, Satnam, had been killed in a motorcycle accident when he was on his way home from school. This claim was investigated, and it was indeed found that the man had been killed in just the way the young boy described. He also revealed other intimate details about the family, but the most startling aspect of his reincarnation claims was that when the young boy's and Satnam Singh's handwriting was compared, it was found to be identical.
Another startling case from Stevenson's files involved that of a young girl, three years old, named Swarnalata. This child remembered that she had been a young woman named Biya Pathak, and could vividly described the house that she lived in. In fact, when she and her father were traveling one day, she led her father directly to the property and even said that she had lived in the area; further, she said that they could get a better cup of tea in that house than they could on the road. Her recollections were completely validated, however, when the little girl recognized the young woman's brother, and addressed him by a pet name the young woman had had for him, from a group of nine people.
Stevenson's work records dozens of incidents like these. Stevenson further states that if one is injured in a past life, the injury can manifest in the next life as a birthmark. This was indeed found to be true for one case that involved a man from Thailand; this man said that he was in fact his own now-dead uncle (his mother's brother) and had been reincarnated. The man bore a scar on his head that matched the location where his uncle had sustained a fatal wound from a knife.
Another child Stevenson talked to said that he had been a man named MahaRam. This man had been killed by close range gun fire in his chest area. And indeed, the child had birthmarks on his chest that very much looked like bullet wound scars.
Dr. Brian Weiss is considered to be the father of modern past life regression, and he and several other eminent authorities in the field of psychiatry and psychology consider that the concept of rebirth is in fact a plausible one. Nonetheless, science itself remains very skeptical about it. It's also worth noting here, however, that when people do undergo past life regression therapy, they often suddenly dispense with lifelong fears and phobias.
The Incredible Idea Of Past Lives Reincarnation
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