The Reincarnation FAQ
Evidence
Religions & Philosophies
How Can You Remember?
Books & CDs
Prominent Believers
Internet Resources
Past Life Memory Bank
The Reincarnation FAQ
Maintained by Richard Holmes
For the foreseeable future, there can be no absolute scientific proof of reincarnation, and none
against it. It is up to the individual whether they take a personal stand or not on the issue. But
for those interested in the subject, it is desirable to have as much information about the evidence
to date and the various schools of thought.
This FAQ (short for "Frequently Asked Questions") was created to provide answers for the many common questions people have about reincarnation and also to give as wide a background to the subject as possible in terms of scientific, religious and mystical exploration. Suggested corrections and/or additions are very welcome.
This page was created in January 2001.
Sub-pages:
Articles on reincarnation from around the internet
Submitted past life memories and experiences
How people recall past lives - people explain how they have investigated their past lives
Changing Gender Between Incarnations (NEW)
"The Journey of Rainsnow: One Man's Past-Life Journey"
Recent additions to this site
Table of Contents:
Reincarnation terminology
Metempsychosis
The cycle of rebirth
Transmigration of the soul
Is there any evidence at all suggesting reincarnation?
Glenn Ford - mysterious language abilities
Jane Evans - unexplained knowledge of 12th century Jewish history
Jenny Cockell - did she find her children from a past life?
Children's Past Life Memories
How can events or memories from a past life affect people in this life?
Resonance
Recurring dreams or nightmares
Seemingly irrational fears or phobias
Unexplained or chronic physical afflictions
How do people claim to remember past lives?
Spontaneous recall
Triggered recall
Dreams
Hypnosis
Profound meditation
Can past life regression be used for healing?
Healing via Hypnotherapy
Common questions people have with the concept of reincarnation
If people have lived previous lives, wouldn't they remember them?
Why do so many people into reincarnation seem to remember being someone famous?
If there's only a fixed number of souls, how has the world population increased?
So after we die, there's no eternal heaven?
Isn't reincarnation heresy if you're a Christian?
Won't I have to stop being a Christian if I believe in reincarnation?
Isn't it the devil's doctrine?
How many people believe in reincarnation?
Common questions about how reincarnation might work
Are people supposed to look like their past life self?
Do people reincarnate as animals and vice-versa?
If people remember a past life as a foreigner, why can't they remember their past life language?
What factors decide where people are born in their next incarnation?
How long are people supposed to spend between incarnations?
Why can't everyone remember their past lives?
Does everyone just keep reincarnating forever?
Why does nobody I know seem to have past life memories?
What views do major religions and philosophies take on reincarnation?
Judaism
Hinduism
Buddhism
Islam
Druze
American Indian beliefs
Christianity
Christian personalities and organisations which teach reincarnation
Don't some Bible verses conflict with reincarnation?
Are there any Bible verses which support reincarnation?
How can people try to find the details of their past lives?
Try to improve your natural psychic ability
Consult a psychic
Self-regression using relaxation and visualisation
Professional past life regression using hypnosis or deep relaxation
Prominent people who accepted reincarnation and/or appeared to recall past lives
General resources
Self-regression cassette and CD courses
Books on reincarnation
Internet Resources
Personal past life memories on the web
Related links
Researchers working in the field of reincarnation
Organisations
Books
On-line Discussion Groups
Reincarnation terminology
One of the first problems with talking about reincarnation is the fact that there are a few
other terms which refer to the concept, but might not be immediately understood by many people.
Metempsychosis
[From the Greek meta (change) + em (in) + psukhe (soul)] A fairly archaic
word meaning reincarnation, which can often be found in books from last century, or very
formal texts (e.g. the Encyclopedia Judaica). The Catholic Encyclopedia even has an
entry for metempsychosis,
though strangely the word reincarnation itself is not even mentioned once at their website!
The cycle of rebirth
This term is most often used in Buddhist and Hindu texts.
Transmigration of the soul
A slightly less specific term which almost always refers to reincarnation, but could conceivably
also refer to the concept of souls moving from one body to another without a birth taking place. This can be found in early Christian texts as in the works of Origen.
Is there any evidence at all suggesting reincarnation?
There are so many documented cases of past life memories that it would be
impractical to list them all. Below is a selection of cases which are impossible
to explain with conventional modern scientific knowledge.
Also, do read the many fascinating past life memories which have been submitted to the excellent
Past Life Memory Bank
which holds many people's past life memories - including amongst other things:
Holocaust past life memories
World War II past life memories
Titanic past life memories
Animal past life memories
Glenn Ford - mysterious language abilities
There are now many recorded cases where under hypnosis a subject has not only recounted
details from what appears to be a previous life, but also spoken a foreign language of which
they claimed to have little or no previous knowledge.
A notable case of this is the famous Hollywood actor Glenn Ford. Under hypnosis, he recalled
five previous lives - one in particular as a French cavalryman under Louis XIV. The astonishing part was
that though Ford said he knew only a few basic phrases in French, under hypnosis he spoke French
with ease while describing this life. And when recordings of his regression were sent to UCLA
(University of California), they discovered that not only was Ford speaking fluent French,
he was in fact speaking the Parisian dialect from the 17th century.
Jane Evans - unexplained knowledge of 12th century Jewish history
Jane Evans, a Welsh housewife, agreed to be filmed for BBC television being regressed back to
a past life by Arnell Bloxham, president of the British Society of Hypnotherapists and a respected practitioner.
She had originally consulted him about rheumatism and under hypnosis, revealed seven past lives including one
life - where the regression was televised - where she identified herself as a Jewish woman living in the city of
York in 12th century England.
She described many details of Jewish life at the time and how she and the local Jews were forced to wear
badges to identify themselves. She also spoke of a terrible massacre of the Jewish population by the local townspeople.
During this event, she recalled taking shelter with her children in the crypt of a local church, but they were discovered
by the mob and that is where she died.
Professor Barrie Dobson, an expert on Jewish history at York University, was called in to check the information from her memories. He found that her description of 12th century Jewish life was impressive with its accuracy and in fact he was convinced that some of the details would have only been known to professional historians. However it also seemed that some details appeared to be quite incorrect. Firstly, it was not until the 13th century (1215 to be precise) that the Church authorities in Rome decreed that Jews in Christian countries were to wear special identification. Secondly, from her description, the church had to have been St. Mary's Castlegate, but it did not have a crypt.
However further investigation revealed that the practice of making Jews wear identification was already widespread in England during the 12th century before the church decree. Then astonishingly several months later, during renovation of the church a sealed chamber was discovered below the floor which appeared to have been a crypt - a very rare phenomenon indeed for churches in the area.
So not only did her regression bring forth obscure details which were historically accurate, it also yielded historical information which should most definitely not have been available at that time.
Jenny Cockell - did she find her children from a past life?
Jenny Cockell had always been haunted by dream-like memories of a previous life she had lived as a young Irish
woman named Mary Sutton - who died over two decades before Cockell was born, leaving eight children.
After many years researching the clues given in her memories, she finally tracked down Mary Sutton's children
and wrote a book about the experience,
Across Time and Death: A Mother's Search for Her Past Life Children.
Comment by reincarnation expert Rabbi Yonassan Gershom:
"This is one of the most convincing reincarnation cases I've
come across in a long time. Jenny Cockell not only had
memories of a past life, she actually found her children
-- now all grown up -- from that life. This story was
featured on a number of U.S. TV programs when the book first
came out, featuring both Jenny and the children from that
life. Her still-living children, being devout Roman Catholics,
do not believe in reincarnation per se, but went on record as
saying that somehow, their mother "speaks through" Jenny, and
they verified details of her memories.
I met Jenny Cockell at a conference in Oslo, Norway, in 1994
and found her to be totally sincere and quite credible. I
highly recommend this book!"
Children's Past Life Memories
The area of children's past lives is quite remarkable - especially in western countries,
where children have seldom been exposed to the concept of reincarnation. Often such
memories can fade as some grow up, while others will be able to recall past incarnations
all their life.
Thousands of cases have been documented by various researchers from around the world and
some children are recorded as having described and their past life residence and recognised
family members by name - even when these families live in a different district - and even
successfully passed tests set by the identified family. What is remarkable here is that in
most cases the children appear to have no incentive, financial or otherwise, to make such claims.
Dr Ian Stevenson, Director of
Personality Studies at the University of Virginia, has devoted the last forty years to the scientific documentation
of past life memories (without hypnosis) of children from all over the world - and has over 3,000 cases in his files.
The
Children's Past Lives web site - cases, stories, research, and discussions
describe how young children spontaneously remember their past lives.
How can events or memories from a past life affect people in this life?
There are a number of ways in which people claim that the events from a past life are somehow affecting
them in this life.
Resonance
Often the first hint about a past life people have is an inexplicable interest in a particular country, language,
time period, historical event, etc. And often when presented with photographs or movie footage which related to
their past life, they might feel an emotional rush and even identify themselves somehow with what they are seeing.
For example, an English TV documentary showed a American who had become so fascinated with the American Civil War
that he had turned his house into a Civil War museum. Not surprisingly, under hypnosis he remembered being a soldier
in the Civil War. This can be viewed by the sceptic as wishful thinking, but conversely it follows that a Civil War
veteran would always have a fascination for that period - probably even into their next incarnation.
And an example of these obsessions with history which often seem irrational to the outsider are the current proliferation
of military re-enactment groups
all over the world, covering formations as diverse as medieval knights, through to soldiers of the American Civil War, WW1 and WW2.
Recurring dreams or nightmares
Recurring dreams or nightmares are a common way people claim to be able to view their past lives. This can vary between vague dreams of an unpleasant nature with a recurring theme all the way through to vivid dreams where other participants can be clearly recognised. Good examples of such dreams can be found at the Shoah Dream Project.
Seemingly irrational fears or phobias
Some people have seemingly irrational fears from a young age for such things drowning, aircraft crashing, loud noises,
etc. Often when trying to work through this problem under hypnosis, the person will state that the cause of their
phobia is an event from a time when they were someone else - and often the event is the cause of their death in that life.
Unexplained or chronic physical afflictions
Another problem that can occur is when people have a chronic health problem for which there seems to be no evident
reason. Here again, when working through this problem under hypnosis, sometimes people will state that the origin of their
problem is a traumatic event from a past life. And surprisingly once this discovery is made (under trance, etc), the person's
problem are often reported as - almost miraculously - going away of their own accord.
How do people claim to remember past lives?
People can be presented with what appear to be past life memories in a variety of different ways.
Spontaneous recall
Especially with small children, memories simple appear to surface from nowhere. Some describe
the process as being like a "waking dream". Images and scenes may come to mind and the
subject may often find themself as a participant in the memory, though often they report feeling
somehow different in the memory from their current self. Although it might seem like a daydream,
the subject is often surprised by the unexpected nature of the experience and it can also be very
intense.
Triggered recall
The memory is experienced in the same way "waking dream" fashion as with spontaneous recall, but
it is triggered by an event of some kind. This event may be anything which appears to remind the
subject of a key part of the memory - for example a particular smell, the sight of an object, a
noise, hearing a particular word or phrase, a taste or being in a particular physical setting.
Dreams
Sometimes people have recurring dreams which do not seem at all to be the usual surreal type
of dreams, but which have recurring scenes which seem strangely real. The vividness can vary
from a dream which is thought-provoking to one which leaves the subject in a cold sweat or in tears.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been used for decades as a tool for trying to discover past life memories. Even though
it has been studied for at least 150 years, little is understood about the actual process by which
humans can be hypnotised. The effect of hypnosis is to put the subject into a trance state where
they essentially put themselves under the practitioner's instruction. The main advantage with this
method for gleaning distant memories is that the subject's mind can be focused extremely sharply under
trance, to the extent that the mind can be made oblivious to sensations of pain in the body.
Hypnosis is used for many different reasons, e.g. by police investigators trying to glean extra
pieces of information from witnesses or by people trying to rid themselves of smoking habits or eating
disorders. Occasionally it has also been used effectively in the place of surgical anaesthesia.
Unfortunately as with many things, the results vary greatly from person to person, with some people being
very difficult to put under hypnosis while others can be put into very deep trances indeed. With
respect to past life regressions, here too results vary greatly. Some people can have session after
session without getting any significant results, while others can unleash a torrent of information the
first time they go under.
Naturally one important prerequisite is having an experienced practitioner who can guide the session
responsibly and try to ensure the subject answers all questions as honestly as possible.
IARRT Directory of Professional Members - an international index of members of the International Association for Regression Research and Therapies.
Profound meditation
Profound meditation is said to be able to give some subjects spontaneous memories which appear to be from
past lives. Once profound meditative states can be achieved, the effect is similar to being under hypnosis,
except that there is no strong external influence over the subject. The difficulty of this approach is that
is can take years of intense meditation in order to perfect a particularly deep trance and even then there
are no guarantees. Having said this, people who experience past life flashbacks or fleeting memories often
appear to have a head start in this area, and can obtain results fairly quickly if they persevere.
It is worth noting that for thousands of years it has been the single most common method used by people
of all religions or philosophies in order to gain mystical insights.
Can past life regression be used for healing?
Healing via hypnotherapy
Sometimes, people who cannot find the source of a chronic physical or psychological problem seek relief via hypnotherapy. Many hypnotherapists who have been in practice for a number of years can attest to the fact that when people are hypnotised and are asked what the source of their problem is, they are sometimes confronted with details from what appears to be a past life. Many times, the patient will describe an incident which occurred in this apparent past life where and injury occurred or a illness set in - which relates closely to the current problem. Most interestingly of all, the problem will often clear up shortly after this session. And this pattern occurs irrespective of whether the hypnotherapist believes in reincarnation or not.
A good example of this can be found at Past Life Regression Therapist Ann C. Barham's web page where she relates how she originally discovered past life healing in a very personal way.
References and further reading:
Hypnotic Regression to Previous Lives - a short statement by Professor Ian Stevenson (Virginia University) who has been one of the most active researchers into reincarnation.
Common questions people have with the concept of reincarnation
If people have lived previous lives, wouldn't they remember them?
When a child is in its your mother's womb, or is a one-year-old, it is not in a fit state to
remember anything long term - so whether we like it or not, it actually makes sense
that most s can't remember anything from before a very young age, let alone from
before this life.
Having said that, there have always been some people who have claimed
to remember past lives. Many are children, who may lose such memories
before they reach hood, while others get spontaneous glimpses
into their past because a specific event triggers the memory. Such
memories are as mysterious as any other unexplained (or psychic) abilities.
Unfortunately such people often keep these memories to themselves - for
fear of ridicule. If people are open to the idea, and approach
the subject with people in an appropriate way, it can be surprising how
many people you do meet who have experienced some kind of past life memory.
There are also plenty of books on the subject and some very compelling cases
indeed.
Regression therapy is yet another tool to delve into the deepest recesses
of our memories and many sceptical hypnotherapists have conceded in the
face of mounting evidence.
Why do so many people into reincarnation seem to remember being someone famous?
Statistically, this is simply not the case. Many researchers have logged thousands of cases of reported past life memories and most of them describe being fairly ordinary types of people - mothers, soldiers, etc. Many past life experiences have been submitted to this web site and the vast majority describe past life scenes of very ordinary people. See past life memories submitted to this site
So where does this misconception come from? Possibly because the thousands of mundane past life memories are seldom worthy of note, while much attention is often given to the memories of being someone significant.
Having said that, there are definitely some people who claim to have been a famous person in a past life, but because past life memories can be so sketchy and history can often be so poorly and often inaccurately recorded insofar as the private lives of such people go, many cases appear inconclusive to the outsider.
If there's only a fixed number of souls, how has the world population increased?
This is often heard from people who don't believe in reincarnation. First, if people don't believe in reincarnation, why would they believe in a limited number of souls? And one has to ask such people why they really expect that there is a limit to life within in the universe. However having said that, it is interesting to note that as man's population has increased, the animal kingdom has gradually been decimated - and that is where some mystics say human souls gradually evolve upwards from. (Note the most plentiful forms of life on the planet are insects, and think of the amount of forest humankind has destroyed since the dawn of civilisation.) Also of note, highly advanced Yogis state that life exists on many other places in the unlimited expanse of the universe, in which case the planet Earth would be only one of many places for souls to inhabit.
So after we die, there's no eternal heaven?
Why not? Modern mystics describe a very pleasant area of the spirit (or "astral") realms where souls can seemingly relax for as long as they like. And supposedly some people stay there for hundreds of years. However for most of us, we easily become bored if we're not doing new things and accepting new challenges, so presumably that may be the impetus for a lot of us to soon move on and then the cycle starts over again.
Isn't reincarnation heresy if you're a Christian?
For a Catholic, yes it is as the notion of pre-existence of the soul has been anathematised by the Vatican. However at one time it was also heresy to believe that the earth wasn't the centre of the universe and Galileo
was put under house arrest until his death in 1642 because of his heretical views - views which have since been accepted worldwide.
What it comes down to is that the Christian Church is comprised of humans and, like all things human, is most certainly fallible. It has changed its mind many times on various matters over the course of history and no doubt will do so in the future. It often requires extraordinary humans to go against the status quo in pursuit of what they perceive to be the truth.
Won't I have to stop being a Christian if I believe in reincarnation?
Not at all. Religion is a personal thing and so is belief. No two theologians ever have exactly the same views on everything! Jesus didn't preach against reincarnation - in fact many believe that some of his statements actively endorsed the concept, especially when he said that John the Baptist was in fact Elijah.
Isn't it the devil's doctrine?
Well, for people who believe the devil exists, what would the devil conceivably
have to gain from people believing in reincarnation? It doesn't give people a
reason to run amok, or to stop being nice to each other. In fact, if people
accept the concept of karma which is inextricably linked with reincarnation
in most philosophies and religions, there is a definite incentive to do as many
good deeds - and as little harm - as possible.
Conversely, reincarnation is taught by the majority of the most holy and ancient
religions in the world - which also espouse the same peaceful values and virtues
as does, say, Christianity.
How many people believe in reincarnation?
Statistics world-wide are difficult to obtain, but in the US the Gallup Organization made a survey in October 2001 of Americans' belief in psychic and paranormal phenomena. For this survey, they asked s 18 and over amongst other things if they believed in "Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death". In the results, 25% said they did believe in reincarnation, 20% didn't know, 54% didn't believe in it and 1% had no opinion. Belief was only slightly higher among males than females, while it varied significantly between age groups: belief amongst 28-29 year-olds was at 25%, 30-49 year-olds were at 22%, while people 50 and over were at 28%.
(Click here for more details.)
Common questions about how reincarnation might work
This section attempts to give answers to frequent questions about how reincarnation might work by referencing various reincarnational theories and schools of thought. While all could be said to be speculative - as there is no way for anyone but the greatest mystics to verify this - the ideas are still interesting and worthy of mention.
Are people supposed to look like their past life self?
There is a theory that many people physically should resemble their past life self. While this might seem at first to be impossible in terms of changing race or between incarnations, there are many human features which vary in fairly similar ways across all races and es. For example. a high or low forehead, fine or coarse features, thick or thin eyebrows, high cheekbones, etc.
While this would be unlikely to be an absolute rule, there are interesting cases people have put on the web such as the case of General John B. Gordon/Jeffrey Keene .
Do people reincarnate as animals and vice-versa?
Judging from the details of large numbers of past life memories, it appears fairly unlikely that people reincarnate as animals or vice versa very often at all. If human souls did evolve from animal souls, it would seem that by far the majority of humans today had made this transition many, many lives ago. And as people who remember past lives seem to only remember human ones - even back to ancient times - it seems very likely that once a soul is in a human body, it will stay returning to human bodies as a general rule.
However there is definitely a small number of people who claim to have memories of being animals at some stage - see the animal past life memories section of the Past Life Memory Bank.
If people remember a past life as a foreigner, why can't they remember their past life language?
For an example, let's take the case of General George S. Patton who was fairly open about having what he strongly believed were past life memories. If Patton remembered his previous life as a Roman soldier, why wasn't his Latin better?
First of all, in his poem "Through a Glass Darkly", he openly admits that he had only fleeting memories of his past lives. He remembers being a Roman soldier and some flashes from that lifetime but he didn't remembered the lifetime with any great general clarity. In fact, he even admits that he can't remember exactly which battles he fought in many cases when he writes "I cannot name my battles, For the visions are not clear, Yet, I see the twisted faces / And I feel the rending spear." So he could recall some of the most memorable and often traumatic moments for himself as a human being, but many technical points - which can confuse many old soldiers - often eluded him. So I think perhaps we can forgive him for not being better at Latin.
Further to this - even when we ourselves think of a memory from decades ago, we find that words are often the first thing to be forgotten. We remember the gist of what was said, but how often can we remember the exact words used? It's mainly the strong emotions, the sights, the smells and tastes which are etched strongly on our memories. The names, places and dates and other facts however are many times hotly debated. So it seems to be with past life memories.
A good example of how memories can remain but language can be completely lost comes to mind. Many immigrants who spend decades out of their country often forget their mother tongue completely if they have nobody to share it with. A BBC documentary aired in the 1990s where a Ukrainian man - who had spent the 40 or more years after the war in England - finally returned to Russia to visit his home town again. He had relied completely on English over those 40 years, but assumed his native language would return to him once he returned home. In the end, he was sadly mistaken and needed the services of a translator at all times. He would still of course remember many, many incidents from his early life, but no longer much of the language which had been used.
So from there it doesn't seem surprising then that most people who have past life memories - which are usually extremely brief and vivid "flashes" triggered at different times in their life quite outside their control - do not have any residual ability in the language of their perceived past life culture.
However, under hypnosis this can be a much different matter. One famous example of someone who, when hypnotised, could speak a language to a level he had not achieved and with a dialect he could not have known, was of film actor Glenn Ford - who spoke 17th century French while regressed to a past life.
What factors decide where people are born in their next incarnation?
This is a common question for people to ask, and the answers can only be speculative at best. One common idea rules that a person in their next incarnation will be thrown together with the people they were most emotionally attached to - either by love (including friendship) or by hate. This would be a good incentive for people to never actually hate anyone they don't like, so that fate would hopefully not throw them together again. So a person may in some instances be reborn in a country where the people they are closest to have ended up. As to whether this is by their own choosing, who can say. Note that there is no reason to suppose that with such a theory, these emotional chains would not also work with favourite pets, physical locations, nations, etc.
We can also look at various examples for ideas. In one case, a man who claims to have been a German soldier in the First World War remembered in that lifetime seeing a poster advertising emigration to Canada and thinking that this could be a nice idea. He now lives in Canada, thereby giving some credence to the idea that one's own wishes may determine the place of rebirth.
How long are people supposed to spend between incarnations?
Looking at what people who remember a past life have to say, this would seem to be very variable. Some people claim to have been reborn in less than a year of their previous death, while others seem to take many years or even possibly decades to return. One reason for this in conventional mystical thinking is that a person who has passed on might want to spend many years as a "guide" or "guardian angel" for someone - perhaps a loved one. Also some lives are said to be so traumatic that a person's spirit might take a while to recuperate from it. Or the person might want to spend time with other loved ones in the astral realms before returning. Again it is speculative here, but it seems a little unlikely from what is reported that everybody would reincarnate immediately as some cultures suppose - or conversely take 1000 years between incarnations, as some mystical fraternaties once stated.
Why can't everyone remember their past lives?
If everyone could remember their past lives then there would be some serious problems. For example, if a person were murdered, they might go looking for revenge on their killer - or worse still, as everyone else would remember them from their past lives, they might find themselves being held to account for all their previous crimes/debts/etc. As well as this, people would be tormented by every unpleasant memory they had from countless previous lives. Forgetfulness even within a lifetime is very important therapeutically as it allows us to let go of the many painful situations which occur. As the saying goes: "Time heals all wounds". Forgetfulness between lives would allow us to start afresh as it were, without too much emotional baggage hanging over from the last visit. However with spiritual advancement would come the possibility of regaining access to those past lives, creating the challenge to deal with and understand the soul's path up to that point.
Does everyone just keep reincarnating forever?
If Paramanhansa Yoganada's book "Autobiography of a Yogi" is to be taken at face value, then the cycle of reincarnation can definitly be broken. His guru's guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, was said to have finally broken out of the cycle of rebirth by breaking free of the bonds of karma (see chapter 34). Perhaps this level of spiritual achievement is not even necessary to break the cycle for some, and possibly desire to exist somewhere else is simply enough. Of note, most religions which contain reincarnation usually see it as a limited cycle which doesn't go on forever - perhaps ending when the soul has fulfilled certain requirements.
Why does nobody I know seem to have past life memories?
It may seem odd that reincarnation is talked about and is a more commonly held idea than many people might think, but most people never hear first hand about anyone's insights into their past lives. While having a past life memory appears statistically not to happen to the majority of people, there are many people who do have such experiences. However these experiences are often seen as being intensely personal and too easily a cause for embarrassment or mockery from people who don't believe in such things. Hence the vast majority of people who have past life memories do not tend to share them with friends or coworkers. Having said that, once the subject crops up in conversation in an informal atmosphere it can be surprising what people will tell you if they are assured that you are open-minded and they are not going to be scoffed at.
What views do major religions and philosophies take on reincarnation?
Judaism
The mystical school of Judaism is called Kabbalah and the teachings are said to have been handed down from teacher
to pupil in an unbroken line going all the way back to Abraham. Kabbalists have over the centuries verified reincarnation
(or gilgul as it is known in Hebrew) through their own perception of the truth via spiritual enlightenment.
The man most responsible for bringing reincarnation into more mainstream Judaism was
Rabbi Isaac Luria, a great mystic
whose teachings have been given status as a primary authority.
Accordingly, orthodox Jews have reincarnation as a mainstream part of their faith, though surprisingly
it has not been a particularly well-known aspect of it at all outside the clergy.
References and further reading:
Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572 also known as the ARI or the ARIZAL), renowned as the greatest Kabbalist of modern times and the only Jewish sage ever to be referred to as "the godly". It is said that at times, Elijah appeared in order to teach him, and that every night his soul ascended to heaven, escorted by angels asking which heavenly academy he chose to visit. He also was said to have the gift of being able to tell a person's good and bad deeds from looking at their forehead and he listed the reincarnations of various notable figures from the Torah (ie what is for Christians the Old Testament).
Homepage of Rabbi Yonassan Gershom - a
prominent writer on Jewish theology and cases of reincarnation, especially in
respect to the Holocaust.
Reincarnation and Judaism: The Journey of the Soul by DovBer Pinson
Introduction to Kabbalah
An article on
the Baal Shem Tov, mystic and founder of the Hassidic movement and includes a story about his perceptions of reincarnation under the heading A Deep Understanding
(Also see the Shoah Dream Project -
this site is a collection of (often recurring) dreams which people have about the Holocaust. While not
specifically citing reincarnation as a cause, these dreams are similar to the ones had by many people
who claim to remember a past life in the Holocaust.)
Hinduism
The system of reincarnation is outlined in the Upanishads, the ancient mystical writings
which date back thousands of years and are said to be divinely inspired.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
explains some of the workings of reincarnation to the despondent Prince Arjuna before his momentous battle:
"As the soul, wearing this material body, experiences the stages of infancy, youth, manhood,
and old age, even so shall it, in due time, pass on to another body, and in other incarnations
shall it live again, and move and play its part. Those who have attained the wisdom of the Inner
Doctrine, know these things, and fail to be moved by aught that cometh to pass in this world of
change; to such Life and Death are but words, and both are but surface aspects of the deeper Being."
In addition, the predominantly Hindu mystical science of Yoga has produced mystic after mystic who
claim to have confirmed the nature of reincarnation through their own mystical perception. (Click here for Bhagavad Gita version with commentary.)
References and further reading:
The Bhagavad Gita (online) - the most well
known book from the sacred Mahabharata text, filled with Krishna's explanations of the mysteries of life.
http://www.hindunet.org/upanishads/
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. The story of the life of Paramahansa Yogananda
(1893-1952) which offers an insider's view of many of the great teachers, saints and traditions of yoga. A spiritual classic
which has sold over a million copies. Click here for the online edition.
Iyengar Yoga - a strict form of yoga which has helped many people have
intense spiritual experiences. Recommended by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who wrote the forewords to Iyengar's
books Light on Yoga
and Light on Pranayama -
the Yogic Art of Breathing.
Kundalini Yoga - a description and handbook for Kundalini
Yoga published free on the Internet by Sri Swami Sivananda
Buddhism
The Buddha taught reincarnation and that incarnations depend on the quality of each preceding life (i.e. on one's karma).
Though some disagree and say that he taught rebirth and not reincarnation, this is really only splitting hairs. The Buddhist view of the cycle of rebirth is much the same as the Yogic view - rebirth is the curse of the individual who must keep returning to earth to struggle through life, learning lessons and paying back their karmic debt. The goal of the student of Buddhism is the same as the goal of the student of Yoga - to achieve enlightenment and break the cycle of reincarnation.
References and further reading:
Lord Buddha - a summary of the Buddha's life by Sri Swami Sivananda
An Overview of Buddhism at the Wikipedia online encylopedia.
Islam
Although mainstream Islam tends to reject reincarnation, once again experience of the
mystic branch of the religion - in this case the Sufi movement - is very supportive of
reincarnation. Like many mystic organisations, the Sufis see the one truth in all forms -
in Christ, Mohammed, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman and are influenced by the writings of many
different religions.
Druze
The one sect which above all others fully accepts reincarnation is the Druze sect of Lebanon, Palestine (including Israel) and Syria.
From early 2001, the National Geographic Channel aired a documentary showing a reincarnation researcher and a reincarnation sceptic investigating various cases of Druze children who each claimed to remember their respective families from a previous life - though with varying levels of detail. Although the cases were not conclusive, it highlighted the phenomenon which is certainly not limited to this culture.
References and further reading:
What is Sufism? by David Berry, New Humanity Times - including mention of reincarnation.
American Indian Beliefs
There was - and still is - widespread belief in reincarnation in American Indian tribes. The Dakota
tribe taught that man reincarnated and in between those lives he lived with
the Gods and received instruction in magic and healing. Many of the Indian medicine
men claimed to remember past lives.
References and further reading:
Amerindian Rebirth: Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit by
Dr Antonia Mills
Christianity
In early Christianity, many varying beliefs flourished - including reincarnation in some quarters.
For example, the Essenes (from whom we have the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran) believed in the
pre-existence of souls - a belief later anathematised by the centralised church. Also the Catholic Encyclopedia itself states that
"St. Jerome tells us that metempsychosis was a secret doctrine of certain sectaries in his day, but it was too evidently opposed to the Catholic doctrine of Redemption ever to obtain a settled footing."
(Metempsychosis is another term for reincarnation.)
Under the Roman emperor Constantine, Christianity was taken as the official state religion and
a central doctrine was formed at the Council of Nicea in 325AD. However, disagreements over
various points of doctrine continued. In 553AD, the second Council of Constantinople was convened
by Justinian and Pope Vigilus and concluded with anathemas against Origen among other things for
his belief in the pre-existence of souls - which finally shut out any possibility of room for
reincarnation within Christian belief.
However some sects - particularly the early Gnostics and the later Cathars of 13th century
France - did believe in reincarnation and often paid the price. In the middle ages, Rome launched
a brutal crusade against the Cathars of France causing the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent men,
women and children. Also the cruel and bloody Inquisition effectively put an end to all dissent
within the Christian empire with a ruthlessness which, in addition to its infamous use of torture, even
saw thousands of Jews (including converts to Christianity) deported en masse out of Christian lands.
Because of this extreme intolerance of diversity of views, understandably there has over
the centuries been little debate over the subject inside mainstream Christian circles. Even
these days, any member of the clergy would be placing their position in jeopardy if they openly
gave reincarnation any credence, while at the same time mystics over the ages have been very
guarded indeed in their own experiences and insights into the afterlife.
As the mystic wisdom of fairly well every other religions seems to support reincarnation, I decided
on a hunch in 2001 to contact a prominent teacher of Christian mysticism to see what his views were
on reincarnation. My idea was that being a mystic, he should be able to access the true nature
of things directly without being constrained by blind faith or church dogma as is the case with
members of the clergy. His reply is below (though his name is withheld for obvious reasons).
"All of the saints connected with the Church bypass the issue
of reincarnation as well as other subjects that would get
them thrown out of the Church.
I mention it in [my material] but don't really take a stand
on it. I believe the doctrine to be true but I do not have
anything but fleeting memories to verify what I believe on
this subject."
(To date I am still searching for an advanced mystic of any religion who can actually state based from their
mystical insights that reincarnation does not occur.)
Also of interest, Edgar Cayce,
known as the "sleeping prophet" and arguably the most famous Christian mystic of the 20th century,
brought reincarnation further into mainstream consciousness with over 2,500 of his 14,0000 readings
mentioning reincarnation. Although most of his readings focused on remedies for physical ailments,
he soon began to speak about past lives - and he regarded these beliefs as perfectly compatible with
his deeply-held Christian faith, as do many Christians of today.
While some individual Christians believe in reincarnation, the only major push for reincarnation from within
official Christian circles has been from the Army of Mary,
a Catholic sect which is based in Quebec, Canada. The founder of the organisation, Marie-Paule Giguere, is said to be a
mystic who receives divine messages, at least one of which affirming reincarnation. As is to be expected,
church authorities have put pressure on the sect to conform but all attempts to rein them in have been to no avail.
In fact since it become controversial the organisation seems more popular than ever and claims to have a membership
of 25,000 people worldwide. For more details, see the following links:
http://www.rickross.com/groups/armyofmary.html - introductory articles
http://www.religioustolerance.org/army_mary.htm - a summary description
http://www.catholicdoors.com/isit/isit11.htm - church condemnation
http://www.communaute-dame.qc.ca/ - the official website
References and further reading:
The Bible: Revised Standard Edition - online at the University of Michigan
Christian reincarnation - the long forgotten doctrine - exploring the place of reincarnation in early Christianity
Reincarnation - The Key To Christianity by Allan Cronshaw Jr. The prologue to his upcoming book on the lost early belief in reincarnation by the Jewish followers of Jesus. Plus various articles including Did Jesus teach reincarnation and the pre-existence of the soul?
Christian personalities and organisations which teach reincarnation
More and more today, there are prominent Christian individuals and groups who teach about Christianity and reincarnation too. The following is only a small selection but will be added to over time:
Judy Goodman - trained hypnotherapist, clairvoyant and lecturer.
JJ Dewey's essay on Eternal Lives,
the story of how a prominent Mormon fought the concept of reincarnation even though he kept discovering more
and more evidence of it - until a point where he claimed to receive direct revelation that his evidence was correct.
Don't some Bible verses conflict with reincarnation?
Various bible verses appear at first glance to strongly conflict with the concept of reincarnation. However, on closer examination this is often due to simple false assumptions that the reader has made. People may well ask why the Bible doesn't clearly explain such issues (as well as many other mysteries). Some light may be shed by Prov.25 1-2 which states It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of
kings is to search things out.
Heb.9 [27] And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment
This verse is often cited as discounting reincarnation, and can easily appear to do so at face value. However,
on closer inspection, it can be noted that the term "man" refers to the unique combination of the spirit
(or "soul") and the physical body itself. In reincarnational thought, a man from one life is not the same man
as from his previous life, as only an aspect of the spirit is common to both - and certainly not the physical
body. Hence with reincarnation, men do in fact only die once, then when they return, they return as different men
(or women) with a completely new physical body. So this verse is in fact quite compatible with reincarnation when
viewed in the strictest possible sense - as it is only the soul which does not die.
Psa.78 [39] He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return
Here as with the previous verse, the flesh component of a human would never return in the case of reincarnation,
hence this line does not preclude the concept either.
Are there any Bible verses which support reincarnation?
The Bible does not explicitly describe reincarnation, but it certainly does appear to
suggest reincarnation in places. Some Christians state that reincarnation cannot
occur, otherwise the Bible would explicitly mention it. Unfortunately there are
many workings of nature - including genetics and the theory of relativity - which are not clearly
outlined in the Bible, so it is extremely unlikely that the mere absence of a detailed
description of a phenomenon is irrefutable proof that the phenomenon does not occur.
Moreover, Jesus plainly stated that the general masses (unlike the disciples) were simply not
ready for all the mysteries to be imparted to them, and probably never would be:
Matthew 13
[10] Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
[11] And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
[12] For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
[13] This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
[14] With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive'.
Verses mentioning the return of Elijah
The most significant mention by far is when Jesus announced that John the Baptist was Elijah,
which is highly significant as it was foretold in the Old Testament that Elijah would precede the messiah.
Note that Malachi said:
Malachi 4
[5] "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes".
Not someone like Elijah, or someone inspired by Elijah - as many people claim - but Elijah himself. And then John denies he is Elijah when people ask who he is. (If there were no reincarnation then why would they even ask, one wonders?) John denied being Elijah (below) because he was not aware of the fact. However Jesus later confirms that he was indeed Elijah.
And that's exactly how reincarnation is often described as working: the more advanced mystics can see who a person was in previous
incarnations, the lesser mortals (even ones as great as John the Baptist) mostly don't.
Note that Malachi also says that God would send Elijah - and the New Testament confirms that John was this same man, sent from God....
John 1
[06] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
...
[21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No."
So John claims he is definitely not Elijah.
But Jesus disagrees:
Matthew 11
[13] For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John;
[14] and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
[15] He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Obviously, many people are not "willing to accept it". Note that the point is stressed
as being difficult one to accept, and its significance is further stressed by verse [15].
Parable of the talents
One parable that many people have found very difficult to understand is the parable of the talents.
Matthew 25
[14] For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
[15] To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
[16] Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
[17] In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
[18] But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
[19] Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
[20] The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, "Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents."
[21] His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master."
[22] Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, "Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents."
[23] His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master."
[24] And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
[25] "And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours."
[26] But his master answered and said to him, "You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
[27] "Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
[28] "Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents."
[29] For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
[30] Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It is highly unlikely that it is to be taken literally (the talent was a unit of currency), as
Jesus's preachings are non-materialistic. If as most see it, it is referring to what we make of our
sojourn on earth, then what is the point of it?
As mainstream Christianity promises, the good believers will end up spending eternity in heaven.
However this parable perplexingly speaks of misery for those who do not make the most out of the
"talents" they are provided with - even, in the case of the unfortunate servant, if they only mean
to do the right thing.
Reincarnationists easily resolve this issue as the lesson appears to relate directly to the idea that
in each incarnation we have to learn lessons and evolve upwards in terms of knowledge and experience.
If we simply stagnate and let our "talents" (i.e. skills and opportunities) go to waste, we run the great
risk of returning much worse off in our next incarnation.
Matt 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
Many Christians find this verse hard to fathom, as meek people certainly often inherit little during their lifetime. And if they are to spent eternity in heaven, then this inheritance is even less likely. However if they are to return in another incarnation, it becomes quite possible to understand. (Though whether there is such a reincarnation pattern where meek people are rewarded in such a way can only be speculated upon.)
Matt 26:52 "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword"
Another difficult verse for mainstream Christians, for as we know this is often not the case at all in reality - many soldiers who have killed people in battle quite often die peacefully of old age. However with reincarnation, this can be viewed as a powerful statement of how karma can work across incarnations.
Luke 9:18 "Who do the people say that I am?"
Luke 19
[18] Now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, "Who do the
people say that I am?"
[19] And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen."
Why would anyone say that Jesus might be any of these people from the past, unless reincarnation were possible?
This passage strongly suggests that the general populace of the time did not think reincarnation inconceivable, especially if they thought that an "old prophet" could rise again by being reborn into a new body...
Just as interesting is the terminology used - in this instance, "risen" is used here specifically to mean "reborn".
John 3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
This controversial chapter might appear at first glance to be speaking about reincarnation, as it does seem to be talking about the idea of rebirth in a way that ordinary people could not understand. However it differs in two significant respects.
Firstly, Jesus says that no one can see (verse 3) or enter (verse 5) the kingdom of God unless he is born again - of water and the spirit. However if reincarnation were the only criteria for seeing or entering the kingdom of God, this is hardly worth mentioning - as in the view of most reincarnationists, almost everyone alive even back then would have had many previous incarnations.
However then Jesus goes on in verse 11 to imply that he and his disciples have seen and entered the kingdom of God themselves and they had testified to what they have seen - but how could people without this ability comprehend the heavenly experiences they were talking about?
To understand what Jesus was referring to here, it's useful to have read the works of the greatest Christian mystics to try to find some similarity of experience - as these people are the spiritual descendants of Jesus's disciples. One excellent match we find is in the book by St Catherine of Avila entitled "Interior Castle". In this book, she describes how she visits the spiritual realms in a deep trance. From her description of wildlife and wonderful freedom of travel, this sounds almost exactly like the astral or out-of-body travel practiced for centuries by mystics of all faiths - Jewish, Buddhist, Tibetan, Shaman, etc. Their experiences are often so incredible and difficult to understand for people who cannot experience them that until westerners started writing on this topic over the last 30 years, few westerners would have given it any credibility. Even many orthodox Christians are fascinated by the tales they hear from people who have had the very similar near-death experiences, otherwise known as NDEs.
The last question remains - what has being born of water and the spirit got to do with any of this? In the last few years the technical aspects of out of body travel have been understood far better than before and it is now accepted (at least in metaphysical circles) that in order to astral travel, a person must first use their natural in-built ability of the non-phsyical components of their body to create an "etheric double". This is an identical thinking and feeling copy of the spiritual components of a person. Then through intense meditation or by extreme will-power, the natural bonds holding this duplicate inside the confines of the physical body are relaxed and the etheric double is "projected" out. From there it is free to wander the spirit realms, receiving its power from an infinitely stretchable energy cord which always extends back to the human body. Once the journey finishes for whatever reason (say the person is disturbed or the double returns to the body), the double's memories are usually integrated back into the person, allowing them to remember what happened.
References and further reading:
Interior Castle (online version) - St Teresa of Avila's relatively short manual on spiritual travel. An amazing gem which has been long overlooked and seldom understood.
Astral Pulse - the web site of Robert Bruce, veteran mystic, and the western world's leading expert on astral travel. A great deal of his manuals and guides are available free at this site and there are also discussion forums available for people requiring a few extra tips.
How do people try to find the details of their past lives?
There are various paths you can look into and some are definitely harder than others - though naturally it
always depends on the individual.
Try to improve your natural psychic ability
This is the slowest but perhaps the most rewarding way. Using traditional methods, there is first
meditation - which
is promoted in most religions in the world (though tends to be called "contemplation"
in Christianity). The goal is generally to get more in touch with your inner spiritual self which is said to
be more accessible when the mind is at peace and free from everyday thoughts. While meditation
offers relief from stress and other benefits, many people have reported having past life experiences
during deeper meditation sessions as well as other kinds of psychic phenomena.
You could also take up Yoga (or perhaps Tai Chi) and also do Pranayama, the Yogic
spiritual breathing exercises (or Chi Gong). The main advantage here is that you can do a lot of it free
from a book, but at some stage you would need to seek out a good teacher to get you up to an advanced
level. Here Yoga has a great advantage inasmuch as it has flourished throughout the world, and a
well-recommended teacher should be available in any city of a reasonable size. One year might be
the minimum time required for getting some psychic ability, but you need to be committed and motivated.
One very new technique to open onesself up psychically is Robert Bruce's excellent New Energy Ways technique. This is
very well documented and the guide is competely free and on the internet here and often updated with new information.
The technique is quite simple and delivers noticeable results quickly, and has a good emphasis on safety. One of
the best things about it is that there is a free online forum
where anybody can register and exchange experiences and ask questions. Note that as with any technique like this,
regular meditation is a good accompanying practice.
References and further reading:
LearningMeditation.com - a free and simple guide to getting into meditation and what to expect.
The Astral Pulse - Robert Bruce's website with many articles and training guides.
Iyengar Yoga - a strict form of yoga which has helped many people have
very intense spiritual experiences. Recommended by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who wrote the forewords to Iyengar's
books Light on Yoga
and Light on Pranayama -
the Yogic Art of Breathing.
Mystical experiences of yoga from the WWW edition of
Kundalini Yoga by
Sri Swami Sivananda
Consult a psychic
This is often a very unreliable method. Unfortunately, the average professional psychic has nowhere near
enough skill to be accurate in this area, and unless you find an amazingly good one who is well-recommended
(i.e. someone who can rattle off names, places and dates - as some can), you will probably end up wasting your
money.
Note that a psychic whose claimed ability is only the ability to communicate with spirits is probably
going to be of little use.
Advantages:
You do not need any psychic skills yourself
Disadvantages:
Depending who you consult, you may not get any accurate or meaningful results
You would not be able to experience the memories yourself
You often do not know whether you can trust the information a psychic gives you
Self-regression using relaxation and visualisation
There are various similar methods that people can practice on their own to try to access past life memories. Once such exercise can be found here. This works much like meditation or "self-hypnosis" and may take many nights of practice to get results from - depending on the person of course.
Also there are now many past life regression cassettes and CDs available - see the Self-regression cassette and CD courses section below.
Professional past life regression using hypnosis or deep relaxation
This is the simplest solution, but it can be expensive - especially if you require many
sessions to fill in the hazy details. What you can do is go though the phone book
and call various hypnotherapists and find one who has years of professional experience
and especially a lot of experience with past life regression. If therapists don't fit
the bill, maybe they can recommend someone, as they should know other people in the field.
Also try to get an arrangement where they only charge you if they can actually hypnotise
you - then you at least get some kind of guarantee that it won't be a complete waste of
money. Remember that you might be hard to hypnotise, so do not ever assume that they can
get you under. (Asking the local police dept which hypnotherapists they use might even be
a good first step.) The best person would be someone who has been in the business for 20+
years, has done lots of past life regressions and has a professional-looking workplace.
Try to avoid someone who's just starting out in the field. Paying more for a person with
more experience is usually a good idea - especially if you hear that they have a good reputation.
Note that regression comes with no guarantees of successfully recalling a past life.
Here are the main problems:
you might be very hard to hypnotise
once hypnotised, you might not be capable of recalling past lives (yet)
the hypnotherapist might take a bad approach and ask leading questions which cause
you to invent details. This is less likely with a therapist who has a lot of experience with
past life regression.
Hypnosis allows you to focus your mind far better than when you are in normal waking
consciousness. However it still requires a small amount of psychic skill which
most people will have in one way or another, even if it has never been apparent. If you
are already getting resonance, you should hopefully have a head start.
Not that some regression therapists don't actually hypnotise you, but try to induce a light trance
where the subject is still in full control of themself. This method is less effective for retrieving
past life memories than hypnosis, but is more suitable for people who do not like the idea of being
hypnotised and giving control of themselves to someone else.
A cheaper method might be to get a book on hypnosis from the library, then get together with somone else
who is interested in the idea of past life regression - and whom you trust - and then take turns trying to
hypnotise each other. The advantages here are that you will learn to relax, possibly learn a new skill,
and if it works, you can try it as often as you like - as it can take many sessions to get a clear picture
of someone's past life.
IARRT Directory of Professional Members - an international index of members of the International Association for Regression Research and Therapies.
Prominent people who accepted reincarnation and/or appeared to recall past lives
Many great figures in history have embraced the idea of reincarnation. This of course
neither proves nor disproves the concept, but it can certainly be interesting to note.
Pythagoras (Greek philosopher & mathematician, c.580-c.500 BC) -
the central focus of his teachings was the theory of reincarnation, where the
soul has the ability to survive the death of the body, and exist in immortality
from body to body. His view of the purpose of the soul was to gain release from
the cycle of incarnations through purification. Various forms of purification
ranged from respecting elders and controlling one's temper through to philosophy
and the search for wisdom - a driving force behind his work in mathematics. According
to Diogenes Leartius, his biographer, Pythagoras had memories of some of his past lives.
Socrates (Greek philosopher & logician, 469-399 BC) -
"I am confident there is truly such a thing as living again. That the living spring from the dead and the souls of the dead are in existence."
Plotinus (Greek philosopher & founder of Neo-Platonism, 204-270) -
"Thus a man, once a ruler, will be made a slave because he abused his power and because
the fall is to his future good. Those that have money will be made poor -- and to the good
poverty is no hindrance. Those that have unjustly killed, are killed in turn, unjustly as regards
the murderer but justly as regards the victim, and those that are to suffer are thrown into the
path of those that administer the merited treatment. It is not an accident that makes a man a
slave; no one is a prisoner by chance; every bodily outrage has its due cause. The man once
did what he now suffers. A man that murders his mother will become a woman and be murdered
by a son; a man that wrongs a woman will become a woman, to be wronged." - Enneads, III:2:15, trans. S. MacKenna
Giordano Bruno (Italian philosopher, 1548-1600) -
"I have held and hold souls to be immortal.... Speaking as a Catholic, they do not pass from body
to body, but go to paradise, purgatory or hell. But I have reasoned deeply, and, speaking as a philosopher,
since the soul is not found without body and yet is not body, it may be in one body or in another,
and pass from body to body." - his trial in Venice, 1592
François Voltaire (French philosopher, 1694-1778) -
"It is no more surprising to be born once than to be born twice: everything in nature is resurrection."
Benjamin Franklin (US statesman, philosopher & inventor, 1706-1790) -
At twenty-two he wrote his famous epitaph:
"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out
and stripped of its lettering and gilding) lies here, food for worms: but the work shall not be
lost, it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition .... revised and
corrected by the author."
Gotthold Lessing (German philosopher and dramatist, 1729-1781) -
"Why should not every individual man have existed more than once upon this world?
Why should I not come back as often as I am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge?
Is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? Because the human
understanding, before the sophistries of the schools had dissipated and debilitated
it, lighted upon it at once?" - The Education of the Human Race.
Johann Wolfgang von Geothe (German poet and dramatist, 1749-1832) -
"I am certain that I have been here as I am now a thousand times before, and I hope to return a thousand times...
Man is a dialogue between nature and God. On other planets this dialogue will doubtless be of
a higher and profounder character. What is lacking is Self-Knowledge. After that
the rest will follow." - Memoirs of Johannes Falk
August Wilhelm von Schlegel (German scholar and poet, 1767-1845) -
author of 'The Language and Wisdom of the Indians'.
"The divine origin of man, as taught in Vedanta, is continually inculcated, to stimulate
his efforts to return, to animate him in the struggle, and incite him to consider a reunion
and re-incorporation with Divinity as the one primary object of every action and reaction.
Even the loftiest philosophy of the Europeans, the idealism of reason as it is set forth by
the Greek philosophers, appears in comparison with the abundant light and vigour of Oriental
idealism like a feeble Promethean spark in the full fold of heavenly glory of the noonday sun,
faltering and feeble and ever ready to be extinguished."
William Wordsworth (English poet, 1770-1850) -
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
and cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come..."
Richard Wagner (German composer, 1813-1883) -
"in contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow"
Henry David Thoreau (US social critic, writer & philosopher, 1817-1862) -
"I lived in Judea eighteen hundred years ago, but I never knew that there was
such a one as Christ among my contemporaries." - Letters
Walt Whitman (US poet, 1819-1892) - "And as to you, Life,
I reckon you are the leaving of many deaths, (no doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before)"
- Song of Myself
Ralph Waldo Emerson (US philosopher & poet, 1803-1882) -
"It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do
not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. Nothing is dead; men feign
themselves dead, and endure mock funerals… and there they stand looking out of the window
, sound and well, in some strange new disguise."
Robert Browning (English poet, 1812-1889) -
At times I almost dream
I too have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
An age ago; and in that act, a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by Death,
That life was blotted out -- not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories; as now, when seems once more
The goal in sight again. - Paracelsus
Thomas Huxley (English zoologist & philosopher 1825-1895) -
"I am certain that I have been here as I am now a thousand times before,
and I hope to return a thousand times." - Essays Upon Some Controverted Questions
Count Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist, 1828-1910) -
"As we live through thousands of dreams in our present life, so our present life is only one
of many thousands of such lives which we enter from the other more real life and then
return after death. Our life is but one of the dreams of that more real life and so it is
endlessly, until the very last one, the very real life, the life of God."
Mark Twain (US writer, 1835-1910) -
"I have been born more times than anybody except Krishna." -- The Autobiography of Mark Twain
Gustav Mahler (German composer, 1860-1911) -
"We all return. It is this certainty that gives meaning to life and it does not
make the slightest difference whether or not in a later incarnation we remember
the former life. What counts is not the individual and his comfort, but the great
aspiration to the perfect and the pure which goes on in each incarnation."
Rudolf Steiner (Austrian philosopher and spiritualist, 1861-1925)
claimed to have gained many mystical insights into the mysteries of life and the afterlife.
"Thoughts that deny reincarnation are transformed in the next life into an inner unreality,
an inner emptiness of life; this inner unreality and emptiness are experienced as torment,
as disharmony." - his book Reincarnation and Karma
David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister, 1863-1945) -
"The conventional heaven with its angels perpetually singing etc nearly
drove me mad in my youth and made me an atheist for ten years. My opinion
is that we shall be reincarnated."
Henry Ford (US automobile pioneer, 1863-1947)
"I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty six.
Religion offered nothing to the point. Even work could not give me complete
satisfaction. Work is futile if we cannot utilise the experience we collect
in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had
found a universal plan I realised that there was a chance to work out my
ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of
the clock. Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or
talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are
older souls than others, and so they know more. The discovery of
Reincarnation put my mind at ease. If you preserve a record of this
conversation, write it so that it puts men’s minds at ease. I would like to
communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us".
- San Francisco Examiner, 26 Aug 1928
Rudyard Kipling (English writer, 1865-1936) - "They will come back -- come back again -- as long as the red earth rolls.
He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls?" - The Sack of the Gods
W. Somerset Maugham (English novelist & dramatist, 1874-1965) -
"Has it occurred to you that transmigration is at once an explanation and a justification of the evil of the world? If the evils we suffer are the result of sins committed in our past lives, we can bear them with resignation and hope that if in this one we strive toward virtue our future lives will be less afflicted.
Carl Jung (Swiss psychologist & pioneer of psychotherapy, 1875-1961) -
"I can well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries ...
that I had to be born again because I had not fulfilled the task Memories, Dreams and Reflections given to me."
Sir Hugh Dowding (British Air Marshal during the Battle of Britain, 1882-1970) expressed his
views on reincarnation in a book entitled Lychgate: the Entrance to the Path and in lectures
at the Theosophical Society.
Robert Graves (English poet, 1895-1985) -
"No honest theologian therefore can deny that his acceptance of Jesus
as Christ logically binds every Christian to a belief in reincarnation -
in Elias case (who was later John the Baptist) at least."
George S. Patton (WWII US tank corps general, 1885-1945) - claimed to remember many past lives as a soldier and based the poetry below on these experiences
THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY
(1921)
Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.
In the form of many people
In all panoplies of time
Have I seen the luring vision
Of the Victory Maid, sublime.
I have battled for fresh mammoth,
I have warred for pastures new,
I have listed to the whispers
When the race trek instinct grew.
I have known the call to battle
In each changeless changing shape
From the high souled voice of conscience
To the beastly lust for rape.
I have sinned and I have suffered,
Played the hero and the knave;
Fought for belly, shame, or country,
And for each have found a grave.
I cannot name my battles
For the visions are not clear,
Yet, I see the twisted faces
And I feel the rending spear.
Perhaps I stabbed our Savior
In His sacred helpless side.
Yet, I've called His name in blessing
When after times I died.
In the dimness of the shadows
Where we hairy heathens warred,
I can taste in thought the lifeblood;
We used teeth before the sword.
While in later clearer vision
I can sense the coppery sweat,
Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery
When our Phalanx, Cyrus met.
Hear the rattle of the harness
Where the Persian darts bounced clear,
See their chariots wheel in panic
From the Hoplite's leveled spear.
See the goal grow monthly longer,
Reaching for the walls of Tyre.
Hear the crash of tons of granite,
Smell the quenchless eastern fire.
Still more clearly as a Roman,
Can I see the Legion close,
As our third rank moved in forward
And the short sword found our foes.
Once again I feel the anguish
Of that blistering treeless plain
When the Parthian showered death bolts,
And our discipline was in vain.
I remember all the suffering
Of those arrows in my neck.
Yet, I stabbed a grinning savage
As I died upon my back.
Once again I smell the heat sparks
When my flemish plate gave way
And the lance ripped through my entrails
As on Crecy's field I lay.
In the windless, blinding stillness
Of the glittering tropic sea
I can see the bubbles rising
Where we set the captives free.
Midst the spume of half a tempest
I have heard the bulwarks go
When the crashing, point blank round shot
Sent destruction to our foe.
I have fought with gun and cutlass
On the red and slippery deck
With all Hell aflame within me
And a rope around my neck.
And still later as a General
Have I galloped with Murat
When we laughed at death and numbers
Trusting in the Emperor's Star.
Till at last our star faded,
And we shouted to our doom
Where the sunken road of Ohein
Closed us in its quivering gloom.
So but now with Tanks a'clatter
Have I waddled on the foe
Belching death at twenty paces,
By the star shell's ghastly glow.
So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, -- but always me.
And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.
So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.
WIGGLERS
(1921)
You can't remember, dearest
For your memory fades too fast,
The beginning of our loving
In the warm and foggy past.
When vapor from the tepid sea
Hung ever in the air,
And rivulets of pinkish mud
Went trickling past us there.
No, you can't remember even
Of the later lukewarm time
When you and I were wigglers,
Wiggling in the pale gray slime.
When our mouths were all our reason
And our bellies all our soul,
When we bred and died and rotted,
By the billion on the shoal.
Yet for ever and forever,
As the cooling waters flow
Past the green of long dead coal fields
Past the continents of snow.
Yes, forever and as truly
As the waters changeless are,
Have I fought for, sought and found thee
As tonight beneath the star.
Ever fearing, ever hoping
Ever winning thee at last,
But to lose thee to regain thee,
In the present from the past.
General resources
Self-regression cassette and CD courses
Nowadays many CDs and tapes are available. Below is a selection of audio courses made available by some of the more prominent researchers in the field. While a well-trained past life regression therapist is almost certainly a better option, these audio course do have the advantage of allowing people the possibility to try some past life exploration inexpensively and in their own time.
MyPastLife.com by Andrew Parr. A very good induction with the choice between a very structured regression or a more free-format regression. The difference here is that as well as eing abl to order a CD, you can also order a much cheaper MP3 download which you can have within minutes. Recommended.
Past Life Regression by Dick Sutphen. A basic introductory regression plus a more advanced session where the listener chooses what to explore. (Available on CD and cassette.)
 Ultra-Depth
Past-Life Regression by Dick Sutphen. A deeper past life regression which has a 40-minute induction process. (Available on CD and cassette.)
 Exploring Your Past Lives by William Buhlman. A five-CD set comprising guided meditations, hypnosis and instructional discussions, presented in a home workshop format.
(Available on CD and cassette.)
 Spiritual Progress Through Regression by Brian L Weiss, M.D.. The author of the best-selling book "Many Lives, Many Masters" and Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Bryan Weiss is a leading name in past life regression. He has various audio courses containing guided meditation and past life regression available for a reasonable price at his site linked above.
Books on reincarnation
There are so many books about reincarnation and personal stories of past life memories that it would be impractical to try to list them all. Below are some of the more significant works available (listed in no particular order).
 Practical Guide To Past-Life Memories by Richard Webster. A book withan excellent range of do-it-yourself past life rgression techniques.
 How to Uncover Your Past Lives by Ted Andrews (part of Llewellyn's How To Series). An inexpensive but excellent book covering the general concepts of reincarnation and karma and contains in-depth techniques for past life meditation, self-hypnosis, dowsing for past lives, etc. Very well recommended and has a 5-star rating at Amazon.com. (Also at least one person who submitted a past life experience to this site said that the techniques in this book really worked for them.)
 The Journey of Rainsnow: One Man's Past-Life Journey
by J Rainsnow. Perhaps the best and deepest exploration of an individual's past lives ever put in print. J Rainsnow has regressed himself back to many previous incarnations and recounts his experiences in an touching and beautiful style. Quite a large book at 600 pages, but a wonderful read.
 Someone Else's Yesterday: The Confederate General and Connecticut Yankee, a Past Life Revealed
by Jeffrey J. Keene. A journey of self-discovery as the author, a present-day Assistant Fire Chief in affluent Westport Connecticut, discovers his past life as Civil War Confederate General John B. Gordon who died on January 9, 1904. (Especially recommended for Civil War buffs.)
Reincarnation: Amazing True Cases from Around the World
by Roy Stemman. An excellent introduction to the concept of reincarnation and brimming with an extremely wide variety of cases from around the world.
 Many Lives, Many Masters
by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. The story of how the author, who was once firmly entrenched in a clinical approach to psychiatry, finds himself reluctantly drawn into past-life therapy when a hypnotized client suddenly reveals details of her previous lives.
 Children's Past Lives : How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child by Carol Bowman. A memoir of Carol's discoveries after she witnessed past life memories in her own two children, and a guidebook for parents. Since 1997 it has been widely available in the United States and in nine foreign editions. (In 2001 she published a follow-up book, Return from Heaven, which explores cases of children's past life memory in the same family.) Click here for excerpts.
 Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust
by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom. More than just a sequel to Beyond the Ashes, this book completes the saga begun in the first book by presenting us with fifteen testimonies of people who have found extraordinary healing through past-life memories, visions, and dreams with Holocaust themes. Some of the amazing stories contained in this book include a Jewish woman who remembers healing the souls of her people in the afterlife, a Canadian goat farmer who located a clock from a past life, and a Swedish woman who actually confirmed her memories by visiting the site of Buchenwald.
 From Ashes to Healing: Mystical Encounters With the Holocaust: Fifteen True Stories
by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom. His first book on that topic, published in 1992, which has become the definitive text on Holocaust past-life trauma for therapists, patients, and the public.
 And the Wolves Howled by Swedish author and former child-prodigy poet, Barbro Karlen - who sincerely believes she was Anne Frank in a past life. Click here to read an extensive and article written about the book by Jewish reincarnation authority, Rabbi Yonassan Gershom.
 Children Who Remember Previous Lives : A Question of Reincarnation by Dr Ian Stevenson. The revised edition of Dr. Stevenson's 1987 book, summarizing for general readers almost forty years of experience in the study of children who claim to remember previous lives. New material relating to birthmarks and birth defects, independent replication studies with a critique of criticisms, and recent developments in genetic study are included. The work gives an overview of the history of the belief in and evidence for reincarnation.
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation by Dr Ian Stevenson. This book is a detailed exposition of 20 cases from India, Ceylon, Brazil, Alaska and Lebanon of children who demonstrated early knowledge of the lives of individuals who had died previously.
Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect by Dr Ian Stevenson. In his research of over 2600 cases, Dr Stevenson has found that birthmarks or other physiological manifestations have related to experiences of the remembered past life, particularly violent death. This book summarizes his findings which are presented in full in the multi-volume work Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects.
Across Time and Death: A Mother's Search for Her Past Life Children by Jenny Cockell. For as long as she could remember, the author felt she had lived a former life as Mary Sutton. Finally, Jenny acted on her intense need to find her lost family. After years of painstaking searching, she finally reunited with family members from her previous lifetime. This is her true story.
 Echoes from the Battlefield : First-Person Accounts of Civil War Past Lives by Barbara Lane - a well recommended book on regressions which appeared to uncover past lives in the American Civil War.
Internet Resources
Personal past life memories on the web
A very interesting site is the excellent Past Life Memory Bank which holds many people's past life memories - including amongst other things:
Holocaust past life memories
World War II past life memories
Titanic past life memories
Animal past life memories
Another index of past life memories is at healing.about.com where memories are again sorted into categories like nationality, profession and historical era.
The Axis Past Life Homepage is one of the stranger past life memory repositories, where people who have past life memories mainly from the German side of World War 2 relate their experiences and feelings including:
A Waffen-SS Panzer-corps officer on the Russian front
A woman's journal of how she discovered her past life as a high ranking Nazi party official, and how it affects her present life
A woman's memories of being a German Red Cross field nurse
Feelings of being a Wehrmacht officer on the Eastern Front
Memories of being Josef Mengele - battlefield surgeon then later concentration camp doctor
Rittmeister's Past Life Site - many
detailed past life memories as a German fighter pilot in World War I, who has since found other people who recall past life incidents from the same era.
Multiple past life memories - from Babylon, China, France and England (click the Next button to move between pages).
Ebionite slaughter - Allan Cronshaw's vivid memory of the slaughter of his Ebionite community by Roman troops in the 4th century.
Leutnant's Memories -
past life memories of being a German fighter pilot in World War I (hosted on the Rittmeister's website).
Boelcke.org -- The Page from the Past -
where history and reincarnation meet face to face. Journals of her past lives as 1st Sgt.
James Butler, one of Custer's troopers; and Capt. Oswald Boelcke, a WWI German fighter ace.
Including links to help you understand reincarnation and historical events as well.
Titanic's designer reincarnated -
excerpts from Williams Barne's book about his memories of being Thomas Andrews in his previous life, plus a
review by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom.
General John B. Gordon/Jeffrey Keene - an Assistant Fire Chief's journey to discovery of his past life as a senior confederate figure - who was also involved in fire-fighting.
Ann C Barham's personal past life experience.
She is a certified regression therapist.
An American Indian's mystical experiences - a near-death experience plus memories of a past life as an SS officer.
I Was In the Civil War by Robert M Stone.
Silent Guns - A Civil War Past Life Memory by Ivan Granger
Rob's Civil War past life memory triggered during Cranio-Sachral balancing
Related links
The Rainsnow Project - many articles on reincarnation (and other topics) by past life researcher and all-round good guy, J Rainsnow.
Reincarnation and the Holocaust FAQ
maintained by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom - contains Frequently Asked Questions regarding his work with people who believe
that they died in the Holocaust during World War II and have been reincarnated.
The Shoah Dream Project -
this site is a collection of (often recurring) dreams which people have about the Holocaust. While not
specifically citing reincarnation as a cause, these dreams are similar to the ones had by many people
who claim to remember a past life in the Holocaust.
Researchers working in the field of reincarnation
Dr. Ian Stevenson,
Director of Personality Studies at the University of Virginia, has devoted
the last forty years to the scientific documentation of past life memories
(without hypnosis) of children from all over the world - and has over 3,000
cases in his files.
Professor Erlendur Haraldsson,
Professor of Psychology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik. Has written many
articles on the subject of reincarnation for the Journal of the Society for Psychical
Research,
Journal of Scientific Exploration amongst others.
Dr Antonia Mills, Associate
Professor, University of Northern British Columbia. Author of
Amerindian Rebirth: Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit
Dr. Adrian Finkelstein M.D.,
author and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
at UCLA (Los Angeles area) with 20 years of research and therapy
in the field of past, present, inter- and future lives
exploration to heal body and soul, individually and in groups.
Organisations
Internation Association for Regression Research and Therapies (IARRT) - the largest professional organization for regression practitioners.
On-line Discussion Groups
 www.reincarnationforum.org - currently the largest general reincarnation forum on the internet, with sub-forums covering past lives, children's past lives, regression, healing, etc.
 Unlocking the Door - Holocaust Reincarnation - A safe and supportive place for those who had past lives during and were victims of the Holocaust. You do not have to be Jewish (in this life or the past) to join, but the general slant of the group will be Jewish in nature.
Outside Looking In - A group for people who have experienced past life memories of being on the German side of World War 2. OLI is neither a political nor a religious group and people with extremist views are definitely not welcome.
Back to Richard Holmes's homepage
This page was last updated in April 2006
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