|
|
Are your Past Lives Really In The Past?
For those who believe in past lives reincarnation, they believe that the soul goes through reincarnation and other births life after life. Among those who believe in this are those who practice the Hindu religion. The Hindu religion states that reincarnation happens because of the soul or athma, and because of karma, or the deeds one does during one's life. Hindu scriptures state that the soul doesn't die, and only can change from one form to the next; this is similar, for example, to the way one might simply shed old clothes for new.
This is very different from Christianity's view of reincarnation, which focuses on Christ's resurrection. The Hindus state that the soul can inhabit any form, man, woman or animal. The deeds or karma of a human being in one life dictate what's going to be his or her life in the next.
There are several Hindu scriptures that speak very much about past lives reincarnation. Notable among these is the Bhrigu Sanhita, which apparently had a complete accounting of both past and future births for all living souls. Unfortunately, this scripture has been lost over time.
Dr. Ian Stevenson has the most compelling modern day account of rebirth, as represented in the data he collected. Modern science still pooh-poohs rebirth as a legitimate claim, so it can't be stated that this is the most noted source of scientific information on past lives reincarnation as a theory. However, it's the most famous and is extremely well documented because Dr. Stevenson was a psychiatrist and had a degree in medicine.
Dr. Stevenson didn't put his patients under any kind of hypnosis or trance like state, unlike many modern day pass life regression therapist. Instead, he collected his data entirely from children who spontaneously recalled past life incidents.
Among the most well-known and puzzling cases was that of a child, a young boy, six years old, from a tiny village in Punjab. This child claimed that he had been Satnam Singh, a man from a village that the boy named as Chakkchela; the boy claimed to have lived there as Satnam Singh, even though he actually had not been there himself. Additionally, the boy could describe Chakkchela in minute detail.
The family tried to stop the boy from discussing this, but the boy was not dissuaded and continued. He was even able to reveal the name of the man's father. He claimed that as Satnam, he had died as a result of a motorcycle accident he'd been in as he rode home from school. Closer investigation found thatSatnam had indeed died in this manner. The boy was also able to reveal personal information about the family, but the 'clincher' was that when the child's and the man's handwriting samples were compared, they were identical.
Another child Stephenson interviewed had a past lives reincarnation account about a young woman. The little girl's name was Swarnalata, and she was just three years old. Nonetheless, she claimed to have been Biya Pathak, a young woman. The child could describe the house the young woman had lived in with very significant clarity, and even took her father to the property when they were traveling back from the railway station in their town one day. She further said that if they were to go to this young woman's house, they could get a far better cup of tea then they could on the road. The 'clincher' in this case happened when the little girl recognized the young woman's brother and addressed him by a pet name, from a group of people numbering nine.
Stevenson's files listed dozens of these types of cases. Further, Stevenson states that when injury happens in one life, it can manifest in the next as a birthmark in the same location as the injury. This was indeed borne out in one of his cases on a man from Thailand, who recalled that he was in fact his own deceased maternal uncle, reincarnated. This man had a scar on his head that matched the location where his maternal uncle had been wounded with a knife and had died as a result.
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, who is the father of modern past lives reincarnation theory, is one of the more prominent authorities on the subject; he and other colleagues in psychiatry and psychology believed that there may be such a thing as rebirth. Even so, science itself is still skeptical. It should be noted, however, that if people undergo past lives regression therapy, they can often rid themselves of phobias and fears in just a few sessions.
Remembering your Past Is The Key To The Future
|
