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Don't Let Your Past Lives Ruin This One
Past lives reincarnation is a theory dictated by the Hindu philosophy of athma, or soul, and karma, or deeds. With this, the soul goes through past lives reincarnation and other births, because it is indestructible and cannot be destroyed. Instead, it only changes form from one life to the next, much as you might change outfits once one has outlived its usefulness.
Christianity has a very different viewpoint of reincarnation, focusing on Christ's resurrection instead. In Hinduism, the soul can inhabit any form, woman, man, even animal. The karma, or deeds of the human being, dictate what the next life will hold for that person.
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.
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.
Today, most therapists who use past life regression induce trances in subjects or use hypnosis to get them to recall past lives. Dr. Stevenson did not do that, however. He simply talked to children who could spontaneously recall events from their own past lives.
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 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 lists dozens of these cases in his data, and also states that in some cases, when there has been a physical trauma in the last life, it can manifest in the form of a birthmark in the next life. A man from Thailand seemed to illustrate this; he recollected that he was his own deceased maternal uncle, reincarnated. And indeed, this man had a scar on his head that was located in the exact same place as a knife wound his uncle had died from.
Another well-known case of Stevenson's was that of a boy who claimed to be a man called MahaRam in a past life. This man had been killed by close gunshots to the chest, and the boy carried similar scar-like birthmarks on his chest that looked like gunshot wounds.
The 'father' of modern past life regression, Dr. Brian Weiss, supports the concept of rebirth as a plausible one, and so do many other prominent authorities in the field of psychology and psychiatry. Even so, science itself remains very skeptical about the concept of past life rebirth. It's also true, however, that people who have past life regression therapy often suddenly are rid of phobias and fears they've had their entire lives.
Experiences With Past Lives Reincarnation
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