Reincarnation - Echoes Of The Journey Of The Soul

Many people in our modern times have what they describe as memories of having lived past lives.

Remembering a past life has a potential profound healing effect on one's health, relationships, life work,

spiritual understanding and sense of Self. A past life memory can also be an opening for one's spiritual

evolution and growth. I know because I have remembered many of my own past life experiences and I

have facilitated thousands of people while they were in a hypnotic state as they remembered their past

lives.

Both spiritual traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism, have versions of reincarnation in their theologies. In

both traditions there is a belief that the soul is eternal and that it takes different forms through out the

process of birth, death and rebirth. In each tradition there is a belief that the incarnate form and life

experiences one has is the effect of past lives. The concept of Karma, cause and effect, is also universal

to these traditions. It is interesting to me that in the class readings reincarnation is never addressed as a

part of the spiritual precepts or beliefs. In both spiritual traditions reincarnation is a basic component of

the theology. The ultimate expression of spiritual growth is moving beyond the cycles of death and

rebirth, to a state of re-emergence with the divine.

Hinduism

Sacred Hindu texts use the term atman to refer to the spiritual essence of a human being. The atman is

one's true self because it connects each individual soul to one Source or Supreme Reality - Brahmin. In

Hinduism life is a journey which takes each individual soul back to the oneness of Brahman from which

everything is born. On this journey we human beings tend to forget the truth of who we are: we tend to

fall into samsara the seemingly never-ending cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Humans are destined to

reincarnate over and over again until our atman, or spiritual essence as a human being, can remember

that we are Brahman. Lifetimes give us on-going opportunities to reach a state of awareness called

moksha or liberation. We can only reach this state by realizing that we are not our personalities and

simply material beings. We must follow a path of dharma, a path or moral and ethical conduct to

become one with spirit.

The Hindu perspective on reincarnation also includes the concept of transmigration of the movement of

the soul from mineral, vegetable and animal forms before becoming human. After going through the

many human forms to samsara the soul evolved to become angelic. Some Hindus believe that

transmigration can also be reversed: that the human soul can also become animal in its next life if the

soul needs to experience the karma of de-evolving.

The Hindu practices follow the teachings in the Vedas which are believed to have been composed

between 1200 BCE and 1000 BCE. The Bhagavad- Gita, a Vedic text, is the story of prince Arjuna and his

charioteer Krishna, who turns out is the reincarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu, the Lord of the

Universe. In the Gita , Krishna explains how spiritual knowledge is attained. Knowledge is attained

through the playing out of karma, living out one's dharma, or spiritual duty, and through the perfection

of one's soul's and learning through reincarnation. The experience of life and all of its teachings is so

vast that it is unlikely that in one life time the soul can move into perfection.

The concepts of Karma and reincarnation are woven throughout the Bhagavad-Gita and are more than

dogma to Hindus. In an article that appeared in India's Illustrated Weekly (September 26, 1971) is the

statement, "Karma and reincarnation are to them [Hindus] more than dogma, they are like the air that

they breathe. And Hindus cannot help themselves feeling that they are a part of a cosmic scheme that is

perpetually in a whirl. As Krishna says in the Gita, 'All worlds up to that of Brahma are subject to rebirth

again and again.'"

In past life regression therapy a client has the opportunity to directly experience the effects of karma or

cause and effect in one's own present and past lives. Through the life stories that unfold and through

the associated state in the body, time and place of the past life, the client experiences direct emotions,

sensations and soul awareness of the "hows" and "whys" of the past life in relation to current

circumstances in one's present life.

An example is from my own regression therapy work. I grew up with a physically and emotionally

abusive alcoholic mother. By the time I was an adolescent I had given up on getting my mothering needs

met by her and I lived with resentment and fear. I rejected my mother with the same passion I felt with

which she rejected me until I accessed a past life memory when my mother was a child and I was her

stepmother. I had the image and sensation of being angry and resentful toward my stepdaughter and

beating her as she crouched in a corner. I experienced that I beat her often and that I was relentlessly

emotionally cruel to her. I had the realization that in my current life my mother and I carried the soul

memory of the past relationship and that karmically we were balancing out the drama by reversing the

roles.

This experience explained to me so clearly why I was the one out of four daughters she abused. In an

instant not only did I understand the cause and effect of her abuse, but I also came to a place of

forgiveness of my mother this life time and for myself in the past. Our relationship changed dramatically

after this regression. The anger and resentment were gone. I was able to accept her and my relationship

with her with more compassion. Understanding the karma between my mother and myself supported

my ability to accept what is and to come to a place of peace and healing. I have no way of knowing to

what degree this healing of my relationship with my mother has supported my spiritual evolution. I do

know, however, that in this life time I feel more able to be present with what is and I felt less reactive

and judgmental where my mother is concerned.

I have also committed to the dharma of helping others to come to a more accepting and compassionate

place in their lives through understanding the "why me?" of difficult situations in their lives. When one

comes to the karma of the "why me?" as it is related to the past life connection to current life effects,

awareness shifts and healing takes place. Past life regression work can help one do the spiritual work of

Chanda in the Hindu tradition: " This is the wholesome desire of Chanda- to be free, the desire to relieve

suffering, to be healthy, to promote well-being." Past life regression therapy brings into the current life

the spiritual practice of liberation, and basic self-esteem and equality with others.

Buddhism

Reincarnation is also a basic part of the theology in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha, Siddhartha, at

his moment of enlightenment saw all of his past incarnations as he looked into his reflection in the river.

One effect of enlightenment is that the wheels of karma are broken and one no longer must reincarnate

to perfect one's Being. A Boddhisattva, however, is one who reaches enlightenment or Nirvana and

chooses to incarnate to assist all others incarnated in reaching nirvana through teaching how one can

release suffering and attachment. Reaching perfection is the goal of Buddhists and perfection is reached

by incarnating over and over again to experience and learn how to let go of all attachment and suffering

created by the mind. The schools of Mahayana and Zen Buddhism hold the belief in personal

reincarnation and those who practice these forms of Buddhism are focused on stopping the karmic pull

that bring us back into a body in human form.

The original Buddhist scriptures, known as the Pali Canon, were recorded several hundred years after

Buddha's death. The most celebrated of these is the Dhammapada. Here Buddha plainly speaks of two

selves within the human being, the lesser self and the greater self, the former being perishable and the

later enduring from life to life. Here is a selection from the Dhammapada: "I call him Brahmana [a true

Brahmin] who has destroyed his doubts by knowledge and had plumbed the depth of the Eternal....Him I

call a Brahmana who knows the mystery of death and rebirth of all beings, who knows his former lives,

who is a sage of perfect knowledge and who has accomplished all that needs to be accomplished."

In the Diamond Sutra the opening paragraph refers to a past life of the Buddha when he was born a

king's son and his raging father cut the infant into pieces:

When the king of Kalinga cut my flesh from every limb, at that time I had no perception of self, of being

a soul, or a person. And why? If at that time I had had a perception of self, I would have had a

perception of ill-will....With my superknowledge I recall that in the past I have for five hundred births led

the life of a sage devoted to patience.

In the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is chosen because of his ability to remember certain

objects and spiritual teaching from a prior lifetime as a Dalai Lama. He is put to tests to prove the

authenticity of his reincarnational heritage before he is accepted into the role as the new Dalai Lama.

His ability to remember is a sign of his advanced spiritual state. The Tibetan Buddhists want to honor the

past learnings and wisdom of their spiritual leader; he can pick up where he left off in a prior life time.

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