|
|
Is Past Lives Reincarnation Really Important?
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 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.
Most compellingly, Dr. Ian Stevenson has collected modern rebirth data. Although scientists still frown on the claims of rebirth, such that it cannot be said that modern science respects so-called 'scientific information' on reincarnation theory, Stevenson's work is the most well-documented and famous; not least, that was because Dr. Stevenson had 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.
One of the most puzzling and well-known cases involved a young boy who was six years old, and who lived in a tiny village in Punjab. The boy claimed to have been Satnam Singh, and he claimed to have lived in a village named Chakkchela. This is of note because the young boy had never been to Chakkchela, yet could describe it with astonishing accuracy and clarity.
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.
Stevenson's data also contains another startling case, that of little girl who was just three years old; she was named Swarnalata, but recalled being a young woman named Biya Pathak in a past life. She could minutely recall this young woman's home, and in fact showed it to her father when they were traveling one day. Further, she said that she had lived in the area and that they could get a better cup of tea in her house than they could on the road. Her recollections were completely validated when she recognized the young woman's brother, and addressed him by a pet name the young woman had called him, from a group of nine people.
Stevenson's files are filled with these cases, dozens of them. Stevenson also asserted that if a physical trauma has taken place in the last life, it can show up in the next as a birthmark. Indeed, one subject said that this had happened to him. He said he was his own deceased uncle, on his mother's side; the subject had a scar on his head that matched a knife wound his uncle had had in the same location, the wound his uncle had died from.
Another case from Stevenson's files was very astonishing as well; with that, a little boy claimed that he was a man named MahaRam; MahaRam had been shot and killed at very close range, in the chest. What was amazing was that this young boy displayed birthmarks on his chest that looked like gunshot 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.
Experiences With Past Lives Reincarnation
|
