Reincarnation: The Past Revisited Date: Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 (CST ) Topic: Philosophy, wisdom & the human condition Belief in reincarnation, the idea that an essential part of a living being can survive death and later be reborn in a new body, is an ancient doctrine that has persisted for thousands of years. Banned from Christian teachings at the Council of Nice in 553 A.D., belief in reincarnation is still a subject that greatly divides people along cultural, spiritual, philosophical and scientific lines. For some, the only purpose to our lives is ingrained in the physical here and now, these people firmly reject the idea that life offers a deeper meaning that is developed over progressive lifetimes, insisting that there is no potential for the continued refinement of our spiritual purpose. Those who believe in reincarnation dismiss this idea and suggest that each life represents just one aspect of a continuous cycle of existence that the soul endures as part of its natural evolution and quest for wisdom and enlightenment. Two sides to every argument Supporters of reincarnation, which literally means ‘in flesh again’, suggest that consciousness transforms as it passes through varying stages of existence. When the physical vehicle dies, the soul, the non physical aspect, will eventually transform into another physical incarnation on this plane of existence. The length of time this takes to happen and the residual memories that remain are dependant on factors such as the mode of death and spiritual purpose of the soul. To them, it is inconceivable that a soul can possibly experience everything it needs to in one lifetime, arguing for example that if a child that is stillborn or dies very young, a soul would have gained almost no experience or knowledge from its short life. Translated onto a larger scale, even our average lifespan of four score years and ten seems rather insignificant when you consider the possible age of life on earth and the possibility of an infinite universe. Critics often make the point that the culture a child is raised in has a bearing on their ability to recall past lives. Certainly, past life recall is most common in areas such as Southeast Asia for example where reincarnation is an established part of the prevailing belief system, whereas in the West, mainstream Christianity tends to reject the idea of reincarnation.   The converse of that cultural argument must surely be that just as children in places like India would be open to the idea; children in the West would suppress such memories if they did not conform to societal and parental teachings and beliefs. Using cultural beliefs to explain away past life memories seems to be a somewhat flawed approach. When we consider the big picture, it seems to be sensible to at least remain open minded as to the possibilities. Philosophy Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates attempted to prove the existence of reincarnation through philosophical arguments, in classic works such as “Phaedo” and “The Republic”, where in “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato introduced the idea of what he termed ‘the formland’. According to Plato, when the immortal soul is separated from the body, it spends an indeterminate amount of time in the formland before it incarnates in another body. According to Plato, we need only recall our buried memories to manifest innate knowledge. The idea that we subconsciously tap into pre-existing knowledge from previous lives is certainly interesting to ponder as it would perhaps explain unusual skills or fears. Old Souls Often people with past life memories demonstrate unexplained phobias or abilities that seem to be a throwback to former lives. Likewise people who recall past lives can often identify people, places and objects that they have no prior knowledge of. The present Dalai Lama was reputedly able to speak a language that no one in his village was familiar with, and as a small child would frequently announce, 'I'm going to Lhasa, I have a palace there.' When the Buddhist Lamas came to investigate his behaviour to ascertain if he actually could be a Lama himself, he climbed into on of the visitor's lap and grabbed the prayer beads, given to the priest by the former Dalai Lama, and announced 'these are mine'. Clearly there is no way a young child could have known the history of those prayer beads. So, is reincarnation a myth or a reality? How is it that the Dali Lama was born so wise and spiritual? Critics claim that it is just a result of genetics, upbringing and environment; however adherents claim that the evolution of the soul plays an important part and that Plato’s assertions that we are able to tap into a well of pre-existing knowledge has a firm basis that can be observed. A Past life Remembered One of the most convincing cases that has emerged in the West is that of an English woman named Jenny Cockell. Throughout her life, Jenny had persisting flashes of jumbled imagery of houses and buildings and people who she didn't know, or at least she 'felt' she didn't know. As she grew older, she became increasingly convinced that there was something in the past that had been left unfinished and that needed to be put right. Drawn to try and make sense of these jumbled images, she began to not only document everything she could recall but to follow through and investigate the memories. After undergoing several hypnosis sessions it became apparent that these 'flashbacks' were indeed in relation to herself; but from a previous lifetime. They revealed the life and early death of an Irish mother of eight named Mary Sutton. After Mary had died, her alcoholic husband had been unable to care for the children and had sent all but one to various foster homes, breaking the family apart. Determined to find out more about Mary and see if she could find a way to validate these strange memories Jenny travelled to Ireland where she recognised various locations which had been a prominent feature of her dreams and 'flashbacks'. Jenny had never been to Ireland before, yet she knew instinctively where certain buildings were in the village that Mary had lived in – including the ramshackle remains of Mary’s house. Eventually, Jenny managed to trace all the members of her previous life family again, Sonny, the eldest was amazed when Jenny related to him of certain events in his early life of which only Mary (his mother) could have known. Jenny's sense of  having 'unfinished business' was satisfied, she had managed to connect the fragmented memories and images from what she is convinced is her former life and be reunited with her long lost children. Interestingly, Sonny was reported as saying when he first met Jenny, "I can see my mother in her eyes". Romancing the Myth Not all claims of past life memory are quite as convincing as Jenny Cockell’s account. One of the main problems with reincarnation is that there is an abundance of reincarnated Cleopatras, Marie Antoinettes and members of the Russian royal family that seem to be out there. Other notable cases that detailed investigation has subsequently proven to be a result of false memories, rather than past life memories include that of Virginia Tighe from Colorado. Under hypnotic regression, Tighe recalled a former life as Irish woman Bridey Murphy and even spoke with an Irish accent when in a regressed state. Investigations by journalists from the Chicago American revealed that far from being a woman living in Ireland, Bridey Murphy was the name of one of Tighe’s former neighbours in Wisconsin, where she had been raised as a child. Her subconscious had simply retrieved the name from the depths of Tighe’s memory bank and created a fictitious history around it. Sceptics often seize on cases like these to debunk the idea of reincarnation and suggest that people with past life memories are attaching themselves to an idea. Regrettably, these are often the examples that the media like to promote, but behind the superficial claims of the former Cleopatras and the mistaken claims of people like Virginia Tighe are many examples like that of Jenny Cockell, that make even the sceptics think twice. Famous Again! The need to identify with a powerful and influential figure from the past is not limited to ordinary people who identify themselves with historical figures from the past. Occultist Aleister Crowley remained convinced throughout his life that he was the reincarnation of the great Magus Eliphas Levi. Likewise, David Wilcox claims to have been Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet in a former life. This identification with powerful figures with which the subject appears to share skills, abilities or personality traits is evident even in modern politics and current affairs: General George Pattern was convinced that he was Julius Caesar reincarnated and even today; Saddam Hussein believes he was the ancient Babylonian King Nebakanether in a former life. Hypnosis – the double edged sword One of the criticisms levelled at hypnotic regression is that during the process the subject can have false memories implanted by the person conducting the regression or their subconscious mind may even create their own false memories as in Victoria Tighe’s case. In an effort to approach the subject from a more scientific perspective some researchers such as Dr. Ian Stevenson, one of the most respected researchers into past life memory there is, chose to collect thousands of examples of children who spontaneously recall events of a past life, rather than relying on hypnosis. Dr. Stevenson does concede than if used with care, hypnosis can yield some interesting results that can’t be attributed to suggestion or fantasy. Occasionally while under hypnosis, people have been able to speak foreign languages that they had never learned, an ability known as xenoglossy. One such documented case involved the wife of a Methodist minister who, after having been hypnotized by her husband, began to speak German and described the life of a teenage girl thought to have lived in Germany in the late nineteenth century. Another prominent researcher, Dr Joel Whitton has used hypnotic regression to link unexplained phobias to past life experience. In one notable case, a Canadian psychologist had an inexplicable fear of breaking a leg, had a massive fear of flying, a chronic nail biting problem and an obsessive fascination with torture. Under regression he told how he has been a pilot in the Second World War, who had been shot down by the Germans. Surviving the crash he was unable to flee due to having broken his leg and so was captured by the Nazis. He died under torture, having had all his finger nails pulled out by his interrogators. In this case, there seems to be a direct correlation between the mode of death and the uncontrollable fears that manifested in this life. Another of Dr. Whitton’s subjects was able to speak old Norse when regressed to his former life as a Viking and when regressed back further to a life in Persia began to write in an Arabic style script that a language expert later identified as being Sassanid Pahlavi, a long forgotten Mesopotamian language. Like Dr. Stevenson, Dr Whitton is very cautious in his use of hypnosis, but there are clearly times when, with the proper controls, hypnosis can be a valuable tool. Physical Evidence of Reincarnation Violent death itself does seem to be a strong influence in our ability to recall past lives. Research involving more than seven hundred cases in six different cultures, sixty-one percent of people who recalled a past life, remembered having died violently. Traumatic deaths seem to manifest themselves not just as psychological conditions but also physical ones. During his forty years of research in the field, Dr. Stevenson examined over two hundred cases where children born with scars, birthmarks, even serious birth defects such as absent limbs also have clear memories of past lives where corresponding injuries led to their death. One Indian youth was born with a large area of his chest that had contained no pigmentation. As child, he claimed to remember a former life where he was a man named Maha Ram, who was killed by a shotgun fired at close range. The drawing below is derived from Maha Ram’s autopsy report. The circles show the principal shotgun wounds on Maha Ram, when you compare them with the Indian youth the similarity is quite astounding. Although as we’ve already said, critics often argue that children’s past life memories are either implanted by believing parents or imagined by the child, it seems difficult to attribute an example like this simply to chance. How can it be that a man should die of gunshot wounds and that a child would be born with scars that mirrored not only the fatal injuries he suffered, but had memories of the event? If this was just an isolated incident then it could perhaps be dismissed, but across the East, from India to Burma and Thailand incidents of birthmarks that correspond with events from a past life have been documented by researchers such as Dr. Stevenson. Science Science has yet to prove or disprove that reincarnation is a fact, in fact it is hard to imagine what might constitute ‘proof’ of this phenomena, but there is evidence to suggest that at microscopic level reincarnation really does occur. Reincarnation is not an alien, antipodal event, but one that occurs with regularity in our own bodies. In The Human Brain, Professor John Pfeiffer notes, "Your body does not contain a single one of the molecules that it contained seven years ago." Every seven years one's old body is completely rejuvenated. The self, however, our real identity, remains unchanged. Our bodies grow from infancy, to youth, to middle age, and then to old age, yet the person within the body, the "I," always remains the same. Ultimately, it may be, that it will never be in our power to conclusively prove that reincarnation is a natural part of the cyclic nature of the universe; a force that like it or not, we are all subject to. A great deal of evidence that supports the case for reincarnation has been amassed over the last forty years. While failing to offer conclusive proof, this evidence must at least merit serious consideration to the possibility that there is an essential part of us that never dies, but comes back time after time in its quest for knowledge. © Thothweb - http://www.thothweb.com All images copyright © by their respective photographers. This article is copyrighted. No part of this article can be reproduced without the written permission of ThothWeb. This article comes from ThothWeb - Your Portal to the Unknown http://www.thothweb.com The URL for this story is: http://www.thothweb.com/article4240.html