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Life Is For Living, But Remember The Past
Past lives reincarnation is a theory whereby the soul goes through reincarnation and other births; the Hindu religion dictates that this happens because of karma (the deeds one does during one's life) and the soul or athma. Hindu religious scriptures dictate that the soul does not die, and only changes from one form to the next, and just as one might change clothes that have worn out for newer ones.
This is a very different philosophy than that of Christianity, which centers around Christ's resurrection. The Hindus state that the soul can take any form, man, woman or animal. The deeds or karma of a human being in the present, say the Hindus, will determine the life he or she will lead in the next life.
Several Hindu scriptures talk about past lives reincarnation. Most notable among these is the Bhrigu Sanhita, which supposedly held an accounting of all past and future births for souls then currently living. It's unfortunate, then, that the scripture was 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 patients under trances or into hypnotic states, however, as many modern day past life regression therapists do. Instead, he simply interviewed children who spontaneously recalled things they had experienced in 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 boy's family tried to dissuade him from making such statements, but he continued to claim that his name was Satnam, even going so far as to reveal the name of the man's father. As Satnam, he said that he had been killed while coming home from school on his motorcycle. This claim was investigated and was indeed found to be true, that a man named Satnam Singh had indeed been killed thusly. The boy also revealed other intimate details about the man's family that checked out to be true. The final proof was when the man's handwriting was compared to the young boy's, and they proved identical.
Stephenson's collection also includes another popular account of past lives reincarnation, from a young girl named Swarnalata. This little girl was just three years old and vividly remembered her past life as a young woman she called Biya Pathak. The little girl described the house he lived in and took her father to the house one day when they were out. The child went so far as to suggest that she'd lived there, and that they could have a better cup of tea if they went into that house than they could get on the road. The 'clincher' for this case was when the little girl recognized the young woman's brother, and addressed him by his pet name from among 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 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.
Many psychiatrists, including Dr. Brian Weiss, the father of modern past life regression, as well as several other prominent authorities on psychiatry and psychology, believe there may be such a thing as rebirth; however, science is still mostly skeptical about it. It's also worth noting, however, that when people undergo past life reduction therapy, they can often get rid of life long fears and phobias after just a few sessions.
Were You Famous In A Previous Life?
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