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Monday 26 January 2015

Past Lives and Reincarnation

Since ancient times, humans have believed in an afterlife - whether that was because they were promised such by some religious authority or because they just "knew", from personal evidence and from testimony of people close and trusted.

Along with thoughts of an afterlife, we must consider the possibility of a life preceding this one. Indeed, a whole series of lives as described by Eastern philosophies. So, the idea of having lived before becomes part and parcel of the whole concept of reincarnation.

Note that I carelessly used the word "series". If we are to take on board the logic and evidence for reincarnation we still need to ask ourselves how it works. For example, do we really live out a sequence of lives, perhaps progressing from undeveloped "young soul" to enlightened "old soul"? Or is it more complicated than that. We don't really understand the nature of time. Even scientists admit to that. What if linear time is an illusion? What if we live thousands of lives but they all exists simultaneously, in ways we can hardly imagine? Is each life lived by the same spiritual being who left the previous life behind? Do we spend some time in-between lives, "convalescing" from the last one and preparing for the next? These are the traditional ways of imagining reincarnation. But are they merely convenient metaphors for what really goes on?

Some time ago, after reading the Seth material, I was convinced that reincarnation was the best explanation for the evolution of the soul. I didn't give a great deal of thought to the "how" of reincarnation - only to the why, which I considered to be self-evident. But something troubled me. Seth maintains throughout that he only uses terms like past and future lives because that is how we, as humans, are used to perceiving events. In reality, however, all the lives happen simultaneously and are interconnected. "Past" lives can influence "present" and "future" lives and vice-versa. So do we, in the between life stage, prepare for the next life and then immerse our "self" into a new physical body, effectively wiping out memories of any past lives? That, to me, just didn't compute with the simultaneous lives concept.

I was drawn to considering other possibilities. Seth also talks of the soul being a gestalt: a holistic entity including all of the individual personalities or incarnations, past and future. Thus, perhaps, each life is unique, as in the physical vehicle is inhabited by a new spiritual entity, yet is also a constituent part of a larger self, or soul. The memories of the whole may be shared by the many parts but, by necessity, are somewhat restricted while living the physical life.

I have to say that I'm far from convinced that this model is correct and I strongly suspect that I'm over-simplifying some of it or, more likely, just don't have the necessary perspective - looking at it from "down here", as it were. Our Meetup Group founder, Ian Lawton, had similar misgivings which he addresses in his book, Supersoul, which describes something similar to the gestalt entity mentioned above.

Evidence

And so, on to the evidence. I would have trawled through my usual YouTube haunts and compiled a list of interesting videos (and texts) on the subject but am somewhat relieved to find that Dave Haith has done all that and more, so it just remains for me to present his diligent seek-and-find results here. Enjoy!

Dave Haith's contribution: in his own words.

UPCOMING MAIN MEETING NEXT THURSDAY JAN 29 - PAST LIVES

It seems to me we've discussed this many times before as part of general chit chat about the paranormal.

As most of you will know some of us into Seth etc and discussed by Ian Lawton when this group started, lean towards the idea that all time is simultaneous, so in some strange way many different lives are being led at the same time and there may be other concepts such as group souls or fragmented souls, which might explain why I can talk to my dead grandfather through a medium when part of his soul, if you like, has reincarnated back on earth

But to keep it simple, I have  found many links to this subject as it is widely understood - that of linear lives.

Bruce Greyson

Excellent but long lecture by NDE esearcher Dr Bruce Greyson who gets into reincarnation half way through with good evidence from researcher Ian Stevenson.





Peter Ramster

I reckon this next item is the most convincing documentary on the web about reincarnation because it features four strong cases of past lives remembered with clues followed in real time to locations to confirm the accuracy of the memories - often aided by regression ...from Australian therapist Peter Ramster.

It's an old film which in a way adds to its authenticity because it was made long before Google searches, so trivial information about places are that much more valuable.

Below I'll post links to the film which is in four sections on YouTube and definitely well worth finding the time to watch before Thursday's meeting.








Or you watch the documentary (split into several more parts) on the website of Ian Lawton founder of this group here:  http://www.ianlawton.com/rsvideos.htm

James Leininger 




[Note: this Leininger Update video below added by David Chamberlain]


The Ghost Inside My Child

There's a series running on US TV with the spooky title The Ghost Inside My Child.
I watched one of these and although they're not evidential enough to satisfy sceptics, they are still fascinating.

Here are links to some episodes I tracked down followed by an appeal from a UK paranormal researcher looking for new cases.


The Ghost Inside My Child S01E01 by ghostvid


The Ghost Inside My Child S01E02 by ghostvid


The Ghost Inside My Child S01E03 by laracroftbk

Past Life Evidence Documentary



Three year old remembers his past life and identifies his murderer


Other Links


9/11 Baby?

Chilling Reincarnation Stories: Meet 3 Children Who Lived Before

Which includes this statement from the University of Virginia study by Ian Stevenson:

Close to three quarters of the cases investigated by the team are “solved,” meaning that a person from the past matching the child’s memories is identified. In addition, nearly 20 percent of the kids in the UVA cases have naturally occurring marks or impairments that match scars and injuries on the past person. One boy who recalled being shot possessed two birthmarks—a large, ragged one over his left eye and a small, round one on the back of his head—which lined up like a bullet’s entrance and exit wounds.

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