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Reincarnation: The Past Revisited
Posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 (CST) by Thoth
 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
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ThothWeb.
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