A past life regression, like all forms of hypnotic regression, uses
hypnosis to help someone retrieve forgotten memories. For example,
regressions are often used to help a client remember a traumatic past
event which remains unresolved in the subconscious mind and results
in anxieties or phobias which seem to have no apparent cause.
When the forgotten memory is made conscious and brought to the level
of understanding the phobia or anxiety often disappears. In the case
of past life regressions it is held that memories which precede
the current life but belong to a common soul can be retrieved. It
is also believed that most if not all souls are reincarnated in multiple
lives and that memories of these many lives can be restored through
hypnosis much in the manner that hypnotic regressions can restore the
memories of a present life. How can past life regressions be possible?
Are they real or fantasy?
Hypnotic past life regressions have been
made popular in recent decades by practitioners and writers such
as Richard Sutphen, Brian Weiss and others, and also through the
growing interest in near death experiences (re. Raymond A. Moody's
Life After Life) and paranormal phenomena in general. But
the history of past life regressions begins early in the twentieth
century, and Albert de Rochas may have been the first to use
hypnosis for the purpose of inducing past life regressions.
However, "PLR dates back to the 4th century BC when
Patanjali, the ancient Indian philosopher who codified yoga,
instructed how past lives can be recalled through meditation."
(ref. Anupama Bhattacharya, at
http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/personal-growth/past-life-
therapy/past-life.asp).
The argument that past life memories are--at least in some
cases--more than mere fantasies ought not be casually dismissed.
This is not only because great spiritual, religious, and
philosophical traditions (e.g.. Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah,
Pythagoreanism) have posited the reality of reincarnation, but
also because the circumstantial evidence is sometimes not easily
discounted or refuted. In fact, arguments which dismiss incredible
incidents of past life memory and/or transmission of knowledge can
appear at least as improbable as the argument that the past life
memory is in fact real. How does one explain past life memories
which can be documented by meticulous historical research so
arcane that it is unreasonable to suppose that they could have
been available to the person "remembering" particular
events or persons. Or how do young children suddenly begin
speaking foreign languages or languages that are no longer spoken?
Situations such as these have been documented and it would require
a dogmatic positivism to reject them out of hand.
If past life memories are real, we can engage in metaphysical
speculation about their specific nature. Discussions of past lives
generally are cast in terms of reincarnation and the life of the
soul after death. However, this may be only one of a number of
alternative explanations for past life memories. One possibility
is that souls can simultaneously occupy different persons so that
the soul's education is accelerated. This could perhaps account
for the psychic connections between certain persons. Another
possibility, and one that I am at times drawn to, is that past
life memories are actually memory fragments of collective
conscious experience. This notion ties into the belief in the
Akashic Records, a concept that is generally thought of in terms
of reincarnation but in my view does not necessarily require the
postulation of souls and their continued existence after death.
The speculation that a universal "library" of
consciousness and of past lives does not necessarily require the
existence of the soul. But as is the case with all metaphysics,
these thoughts are only speculations and it is important that they
be put into the context of what is meaningful to living
persons.
While the outright rejection of the possibility of past lives
reflects scientific dogma, it strikes me as equally dogmatic to
take a completely non-skeptical approach to this subject such as,
for example, the belief that every past life regression taps into
the memories of the past lives of actual persons. The subconscious
mind has long been thought of as being the seat of creativity and
imagination as well as the link to spiritual and psychic
dimensions (e.g.. Thomson Jay Hudson, The Law of Psychic
Phenomena, 1892.) If the subconscious does in fact have this
dual role then it would not be unreasonable to suppose that
creative imagery and past life memories might at times become
confused or intertwined. It is possible that past life regressions
may reflect information about both actual past lives and
creative solutions to difficulties and challenges of the current
life. Having made this distinction, however, it can be argued that
in most cases it really does not matter whether the past life
"memory"
is real or only creative fantasy. In either case, information is
being discovered which has profound importance to the hypnotic
subject who is experiencing a past life regression. Past life
regressions and the images of our souls in terms of different lives
even if these images are imaginary can be the ultimate life reframing
experience. They show patterns of behavior, challenges,
anxieties, problems and successes which shine light
on present day life. If reincarnation is concerned with the
working out of karmic tensions, then past life regressions are
part of that process regardless whether the memories are accurate
or imaginative. In this sense, past life regressions are highly
consistent with what is the primary goal of much of hypnotherapy:
the uncovering of persistent patterns which obstruct or even
sabotage personal growth and self-realization.
