Past Lives: The Basics (and, Regression do's and don'ts)

[norman]

I do think the risk of becoming a cargo cult goes way over into the red part of the dial if we push too hard into the unkown with a driving conviction we are on 'the right track'.

Think why those remote islanders created religious icons of US airoplanes and freight pallets. They put far too much cerebral conviction into what they observed.

[Foxie Loxie]

It sounds like we're all at different levels in this discussion! I know nothing!! It has been interesting to read the responses & learn! As I look back over my life I have come to the conclusion that I was SUPPOSED to be naive & gullible all my life & that has been accomplishing some purposes I know nothing of. I can say that because as I look back, there have been various "supernatural" happenings which, at the time, I was unaware of my contribution to the situation but could see it "after the fact"!

I feel as though I have been "guided", but not knowing who was doing the guiding! Still don't! I AM so thankful for having been guided to Avalon...that's for sure!! Thanks, Bill! I like the way Wade Frasier puts it: "Love is the answer & always has been. Love is the energy of Creation. We are here to develop our sentience & integrity."

[Omi]

Bill, thank you so much for this thread and your OP.

Lately I've been thinking a bit more about this as I've recently received a reading from Carol Clarke.
Among many things included some information on past lives.
(She'd also mentioned something about you too, Bill.)


I try not to ponder upon the past, nor focus so much on the present, nor think so far into the future. Everything co-exists together in one space, and has an impact on our lives in one way or another. Having good balance helps to live life more smoothly through its course. Moreover, one can possibly forget or rather let go of all past/ present/ future when the true meaning of unconditional love is understood, through experiences of human relationships and/or achieving individual spiritual knowledge, and by surrendering to the natural flow of the universal energy.

Apparently I'm one of the souls that have once reached higher consciousness aka enlightenment in one of my past lives, which was as a yogi in India. And it really feels to be this way, my current life remembers so well on all physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels, how to practice and teach yoga.

It seems there are few others here on PA and around the world who have also once reached higher consciousness, and have decided to come back at this time of earth's evolution, to carry out their missions in helping humanity.

My soul could have chosen to not come back to earth anymore, but has decided to return so to learn and experience the unconditional love through having particular human relationships, and to send out this message to humanity. It may take 2 or 3 more incarnations until my soul can achieve higher consciousness together with another soul, or it might be that it would miraculously happen in this life time, this I couldn't say. It depends on how our souls evolve, and we cannot force anything to go faster or slower. What I know at this moment is that sooner or later this will happen, and just knowing and accepting this itself brings me great joy and strength in living my current life.


I agree with Bill's OP - when there's something that's affecting the present life to the point where it's becoming a hindrance that's holding back from living life to its higher potential, attention needs to be brought to investigate what has happened in the past, to heal the pains and resolve the problems. Sometimes it could be a lot of work, which takes a good amount of time and effort. From my own experience it's been so worth it and rewarding of a much better, healthier life.

If past life regression is not necessary and someone feels they're not ready to know their past lives, then it's okay. No one is forcing anyone to take in information that they do not need or want at the moment. Everyone has their own pace in acquiring knowledge, for a good reason.


Edgar Cayce had thought of reincarnation as a continuation from the past life into the present. It makes no difference whether a memory is from this current life or a past life, it's all part of the whole experience that the soul has undergone within its continuity of life.

"Reincarnation is the belief that each of us goes through a series of lifetimes for the purpose of spiritual growth and soul development. The past merely provided a framework of potentials and probabilities, and an individual’s choices, actions, and free will in the present determines the actual experience lived this time around. Rather than being a fatalistic approach to life, it is much more one of nearly limitless opportunities. Within this framework of lessons that need to be learned as the soul strives to meet itself is the central idea that the soul is constantly experiencing the consequences of its previous choices. This concept is expressed in Biblical terminology as, “What you sow, you must reap” and is generally labeled “like attracts like” by students of reincarnation."

From Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. "The Reading's Approach to Philosophy and Reincarnation"
https://www.edgarcayce.org/the-readi...-reincarnation

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Justplain (here)
So, is there a way/method, that a normal person can use to remember past lives without paying for a regressionist? I would really like to remember to 'know' what's going on.

The short answer is no, I'm afraid.... one really does need another person there (either in person, or on a phone or Skype), who has some experience and understands the necessary protocols.

They need to guide the process. It's almost impossible to do on one's own.

[Catsquotl]

Well I have had quite a bit of luck in discerning particulars of "past life" experiencing using pendulums and visualizations.
It does take a few days or even weeks to bring up the right questions to verify, but once you've muscle-tested, penduloomed a few it does become more intuitive to know where to look and what to ask..

With Love

[wnlight]

When I delve into the central question of this thread “Is it useful to study one’s past lives?” I get complex answers. For myself, there seems to be no reason to continue this study. Yet past life memory could be very important to others. It does seem to me that as people vary, so does the usefulness of this kind of knoledge. This might be the reason for so many different responses in this thread. So, perhaps the first question an individual should ask when commencing this study is “Is leaning my past lives a useful activity for me?”

I must confess that awareness of my most recent life has been important to me. Also it has been comfortable to know than some of my blood family and also my wife have been close to me in previous lives. So I WAS shocked to learn that there is no point in my continuing this quest.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Catsquotl (here)
Well I have had quite a bit of luck in discerning particulars of "past life" experiencing using pendulums and visualizations.
It does take a few days or even weeks to bring up the right questions to verify, but once you've muscle-tested, penduloomed a few it does become more intuitive to know where to look and what to ask..

Yes, I can see how that might work, as regards uncovering some basic information — like where one was, the roles one might have played, who one knew then that one might also know now, what may have happened, and so on.

But, you see, that's just information. (Important note! When I say 'just', I'm not belittling or devaluing anything at all. Really not. Please read on. )

The key part of this is that even if the info was correct, that's unlikely to accomplish any discharging of the very hard knots of emotion that can be connected with significant events. Those need specific processes to dissolve and heal them.

That's one of the issues with 'readings'. The three issues there are:

1. They may or may not be correct.
2. One doesn't 'own' the information oneself. It's merely what one's been told by another fallible human, even with the best of intentions, and then one chooses to believe it — or not. But one has no sovereign knowledge of one's own.
3. Even if the information is accurate, there's rarely anything that's constructively healing about it. It may satisfy one's curiosity, or even be profoundly interesting... but healing is something really rather different.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a few Skype sessions (three, in fact, though one of those was unnecessary) with an Avalon member to look more deeply at a significant past-life event which they already knew about. They already had much of the information. But there was a great deal of charge and attention locked up in that, which could not be released when introspecting. They definitely felt the emotion, but it was all kind of 'stuck'.

The analogy is very similar to when one might look back on an unhappy event in one's own current lifetime, which one remembers perfectly clearly. But, each time one looks back on it, it still hurts. Something else is needed here.

In the session I mentioned above, I was able to assist with a particular process, and all the emotion was discharged. It's early days yet, sort of (all remedial sessions like that need to be 'road-tested' for a while!), but the effect seems to have been life-changing. (And sometimes, it truly can be.)

[Noelle]

Posted by Justplain (here)
I havent remembered any past lives, but have been told of a couple. I would like to learn more as well as remember what has happened between lives, out of curiousity and for helping me deal with any 'historical' past life issues in this current life.

So, is there a way/method, that a normal person can use to remember past lives without paying for a regressionist? I would really like to remember to 'know' what's going on.

I think it's possible. One way, and it has worked for me, is by focusing your intent on it and then inducing an OBE to specifically experience a past life. I relived (probably not the best word) two lifetimes during one OBE. Meditation, with the same focused intent, probably would also work. I'm fairly certain too that we experience fragments of other lifetimes in dreams.

[Catsquotl]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
The key part of this is that even if the info was correct, that's unlikely to accomplish any discharging of the very hard knots of emotion that can be connected with significant events. Those need specific processes to dissolve and heal them.

I'd say the one does not exclude the other.

I think the need for healing or dissolving issues whether from "past life" experiences or this lives experiences need the same amount of work.
Usually what triggers a need for "past life" exploration or regression is a need to understand the particulars of a current issue that rears it's head. either for a first time or a recurring demon.

The need for a regression "therapist" is the same as for any therapist. Someone to help you navigate from here to where you want to go.
As such sometimes just being aware of what happened is enough. Another time more is needed.

Now I personally don't believe in past lives. I feel that what we call past lives are past experiences that we picked up along the way, They weren't our experiences, but we have agreed to help clear the accumulated karma if you will. Like I said sometimes it is enough to get the story straight. There pendulooming would be enough.
As for the visualizations. Well one can go as deep or as shallow into the experience like that as is needed.

My visualizations have sometimes been like remembering the scenes of a film. Sometimes a full on multidimensional experience that went deeper than mere information gathering.
Here I tend to agree with DNA such deeper explorations may bring up residual stuff that hadn't needed to surface again, and is a distraction from living here and now.

With Love

[pueblo]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Justplain (here)
So, is there a way/method, that a normal person can use to remember past lives without paying for a regressionist? I would really like to remember to 'know' what's going on.

The short answer is no, I'm afraid.... one really does need another person there (either in person, or on a phone or Skype), who has some experience and understands the necessary protocols.

They need to guide the process. It's almost impossible to do on one's own.

How does one go about selecting a reliable and trusted guide, if that's the right word? I presume, as in all walks, there are unscrupulous practitioners out there too.... Can someone describe the process of past life regression and what a session 'looks like'?

[Michelle Marie]

Posted by happyuk (here)
"Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now."

Sri Yukteswar

With the primary focus being in the present with creative brilliance towards the future, sometimes the past is revealed in the present as it is relevant.

It seems what Sri Yukestwar is saying, is to not focus on or dwell in the past.

Many healings have taken place through past life regressions or readings. This seems appropriate and beneficial. I have received readings at times in my life when past lives were brought forth. They helped me to gain insights that helped my present awareness and to overcome challenges at the time.

The primary direction of my attention is inward, onward, and upward!

Peace,
Michelle Marie

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by pueblo (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Justplain (here)
So, is there a way/method, that a normal person can use to remember past lives without paying for a regressionist? I would really like to remember to 'know' what's going on.

The short answer is no, I'm afraid.... one really does need another person there (either in person, or on a phone or Skype), who has some experience and understands the necessary protocols.

They need to guide the process. It's almost impossible to do on one's own.

How does one go about selecting a reliable and trusted guide, if that's the right word? I presume, as in all walks, there are unscrupulous practitioners out there too.... Can someone describe the process of past life regression and what a session 'looks like'?

Just set an intention and let them come to you.

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears."

Pardon me. I was answering a different question due to my own misunderstanding. I thought you were seeking a master or teacher, not a regressionist. This still may apply somewhat, though. You can intend for the right regressionist its for you to come into your life.

BTW...Michael Newman's books Journey of Souks and Destiny of Souls, as well as Life Between Life by Joel Whitten and Joe Fisher are excellent books for understanding soul evolution and choices.


Blessings,
MM

[we-R-one]

Posted by pueblo (here)
How does one go about selecting a reliable and trusted guide, if that's the right word? I presume, as in all walks, there are unscrupulous practitioners out there too.... Can someone describe the process of past life regression and what a session 'looks like'?

I highly recommend Robert Schwartz for past life regression sessions. He's not cheap, however he's well established and offers solid guidance...Even better, you can get a taste for his skill set by reading his books, an inexpensive investment and/or pulling up youtube videos of his interviews to see if he fits your needs.

http://yoursoulsplan.com/




"About Rob

For a very long time, and well before I wrote Your Soul's Plan, I had been searching, fruitlessly, for the deeper meaning of my life.
A Personal Turning Point

In 2003, my search took a new and surprising turn when I decided to consult with a medium. Although I had a strong belief in God, I had never (as far as I knew) directly experienced the metaphysical. I researched mediums and selected someone with whom I felt comfortable.

My session with the medium took place on May 7, 2003. I remember the exact date because on that day my life changed. I told the medium very little about myself, describing my circumstances only in the most general terms. She explained that each of us has spirit guides, nonphysical beings with whom we plan our lives prior to incarnation. Through her I was able to speak with mine. They knew everything about me—not only what I had done but also what I had thought and felt. For example, they referred to a specific prayer I had said to God some five years earlier. At a particularly difficult time I had prayed, “God, I can’t do this alone. Please send help.” My guides told me that additional nonphysical assistance had been provided. “Your prayer was answered,” they said. I was astounded.

Eager to understand the suffering I had experienced, I asked my guides about the major challenges I had faced. They explained that I had planned these challenges before birth—not for the purpose of suffering, but for the growth that would result. I was shaken by this information. My conscious mind knew nothing of pre-birth planning, yet intuitively I sensed truth in their words.

Although I did not realize it at the time, my session with the medium triggered a profound spiritual awakening for me. I would later understand that this awakening was really a remembering—a remembering of who I am as an eternal soul and, more specifically, what I had planned to do on Earth.
Traveling a New Road

I became obsessed with reading about spirituality and metaphysics. As I read I thought often about pre-birth planning. All my life I had viewed my challenges as nothing more than meaningless suffering. Had I known that I’d planned my challenges, I would have seen them rich with purpose. That knowledge alone would have greatly eased my suffering. Had I also known why I’d planned them, I could have consciously learned the lessons they offered.

During this period of intense study and inner exploration, I met a woman who is able to channel her soul and who agreed to let me speak with her soul about pre-birth planning. I had no knowledge of channeling and was taken aback when she went into a trance and another consciousness, one clearly distinct from hers, began to speak through her. I spoke with her soul for fifteen hours over the course of five meetings.

These conversations were thrilling. They verified and complemented my reading and study. Her soul told me in detail about her own pre-birth planning: the various challenges that had been discussed and the reasons some were selected. Here I had direct, specific confirmation of a phenomenon of which very few people were aware. Because the pain in my life had made me extremely sensitive to—and intensely motivated to relieve—the suffering of others, I was excited by the potential healing an awareness of pre-birth planning could bring to people. I knew that the information I had discovered could lighten their suffering and imbue their challenges with new meaning and purpose. As a result I decided to devote my life to writing and speaking about the subject of life plans.
Writing the Books

Working closely with several mediums and channels, I have now explored the pre-birth plans of many, many people. I have learned that the events in their lives are neither random nor arbitrary, but rather part of a wisely conceived and intricate plan—a plan they themselves bravely designed. I have learned, too, that souls often select very different challenges for similar reasons. You may therefore hear the motivations of your soul in the story of someone whose life is, at least on the surface, very different from your own. In Your Soul's Plan and Your Soul’s Gift I offer to you the life stories and pre-birth plans of twenty-two courageous souls.

These stories speak, I believe, to our heartfelt, universal yearning to know . . . why?"

[Ron Mauer Sr]

I wonder ... if we had clear memory of some past lives and the soul's plan for this lifetime, would we consciously avoid some experience wanted by the soul?

If feeling good is our current goal, perhaps "in the now" feelings outweigh the grander goals of the soul?

[Catsquotl]

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)

Posted by happyuk (here)
"Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now."

Sri Yukteswar

With the primary focus being in the present with creative brilliance towards the future, sometimes the past is revealed in the present as it is relevant.

It seems what Sri Yukestwar is saying, is to not focus on or dwell in the past.

Many healings have taken place through past life regressions or readings. This seems appropriate and beneficial.

I hope that was what he was saying. I fear though that he meant the down side of bringing up stuff from the past.
If one can release the old stuff that's great, healing and beneficial and stuff.

But what of the unknown or allready worked through stuff that comes up and opens a pandora's box of shame, guilt and downright evil as part of ones ancestry.
Some real damage can be done by bringing those experiences to the fore..

But what do I know.

With Love

[Ernie Nemeth]

Those that do not know their past are doomed to repeat it...

Going by that quote I would say it is important to understand one's past. My problem is how can I be responsible for another life when I barely understand this one? It certainly doesn't seem fair. How many levels of confusion must we wade through?

I have absolutely no past life recall. No incidents or fantasies even. I have seen the 'true' world. And I have seen the future. But the past seems closed to me. It may just be an intellectual bias, since logic is linear, with clear cause and effect relationships. Past lives throws a wrench in that.

My best friend always wished he lived in the wild west, and he thought he might have in another life. I always said I don't want to live in the past and I certainly don't want to live in this crappy society. I always wished I lived in some far-off future, where righteousness and honor rule.

I wonder, do my opinions protect me from past life bleed-through?

[Michelle Marie]

Posted by Catsquotl (here)

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)

Posted by happyuk (here)
"Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now."

Sri Yukteswar

With the primary focus being in the present with creative brilliance towards the future, sometimes the past is revealed in the present as it is relevant.

It seems what Sri Yukestwar is saying, is to not focus on or dwell in the past.

Many healings have taken place through past life regressions or readings. This seems appropriate and beneficial.

I hope that was what he was saying. I fear though that he meant the down side of bringing up stuff from the past.
If one can release the old stuff that's great, healing and beneficial and stuff.

But what of the unknown or allready worked through stuff that comes up and opens a pandora's box of shame, guilt and downright evil as part of ones ancestry.
Some real damage can be done by bringing those experiences to the fore..

But what do I know.

With Love

Interesting you said "bringing stuff up from the past" as opposed to allowing it to surface. We bring along fears and tendencies along our journey of evolution. It seems one intuitively knows whether to delve into it or not. If a soul goal is to overcome a fear or tendency, it may choose this form of healing.

I like (and already use) your term of soul goals, Ron Mauer, Sr! Good question. It probably depends on which aspect of self or Self you have controlling your consciousness and attention.

In appreciation,
MM

[Cardillac]

I just believe that any psychic/clairvoyant/past life regressor who charges a set fee (money) is (as one says in German) "to be enjoyed with caution"-

the venerable psychic Edgard Cayce never charged a cent; he welcomed donations, but never demanded them-

I had a past life/lives regression/viewing (I was not hypnotized) by an Irish psychic here in Germany in the early 80's; it was extremely beneficial in helping me to understand my present life's situation but she demanded no money from me/no set fee- I did give her a small donation and she was very humbly appreciative-

beware of psychics who charge a set fee- being opened to spirituality should not require money-

be well all-

Larry

[Catsquotl]

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)
Interesting you said "bringing stuff up from the past" as opposed to allowing it to surface.

That was on purpose..

Sometimes digging in the past stirs up **** that didn't need surfacing.
But then again everything serves a purpose and all is as it should be...
Or is it...

[WhiteLove]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

• That's because when you truly remember, you KNOW. If you're just told something, it's then always just another belief... and you never actually 'know' at all.

Very interesting observations Bill.

On a side note. My perspective is that there are connections between the future and the past where somehow future choices you made impacts the now. Absolute love has no limitations, it does what it needs to do and can use intelligence about the future and apply it on the now.

[Ewan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

............ that's unlikely to accomplish any discharging of the very hard knots of emotion that can be connected with significant events. ........

Oh boy did that trigger a memory. In Chiangmai, Thailand, around 2002 I rang a lady that had placed an advert offering to reveal your life's purpose. (Trying to stick to a short story and get to the point here).

I went to meet her with considerable scepticism which was only heightened when I saw the grand property she lived on. (Turned out that had all been bought with her 'farang' husband's money - never leap to conclusions Ewan).

Her process was, to this day, beyond my ability to understand. I believed I was incapable of being hypnotised but the events that unfolded found me in full conciousness yet unable to move - even if I had so desired, (Good God, I've just burst out in tears even at the memory of it), I was sort of slumped in the chair, aware of her moving around me making hand gestures in the air. I even remember thinking "This is a load of bo****ks!* and at the same time realising I couldn't get any of my muscles to work. She wasn't even talking, just hand gestures (some looked similar to cutting with scissors) that left me slumped and unable to participate physically, but I was in super-observational mode mentally as a result. That's what it was like for the next half hour or more, I was merely a disconnected witness. She sat opposite me, never asked me a single question, there could be no placing of directed answers or thoughts. She proceeded to read me like a book by going through my chakra points one by one, she hit so many nails on the head it was uncanny but there was no emotion, I just observed with near perfect clarity.

When she brought me back out of it, again with just a few hand/arm motions in the air, a great flood of emotion escaped me, (and the tears are full-on in my eyes again as I type), and I was literally wracked by sobbing. I can't even say it was particularly cathartic because I was so bewildered by what had just happened.

Finally I get to the point, (thank your lords I'm not verbose, eh?), she sat me through what was basically a debriefing on what had just occurred and she had me mentally picture going inside my body and 'seeing' the knots of emotion that were trapped within from both this life and previous life experiences. She wanted me to take hold of them and pull them out, throw them away. I went along with it, but the sceptic was back also. I couldn't see these knots she was talking about so I just had to invent them visually in my imagination and go along with her. I have no idea to this day if it had any effect.

-----------

Perhaps this is what I find strangest about my current state of awakening, sometimes I think my eyes are barely flickering open, other times I look at the 'sheep' and wonder how thay coud be so asleep. I was only 17 or so when I was attracted to books on meditation and other esoteric subjects. I remeber lying flat on my back and willing my arms to rise in the air with no conscious muscular action and they did! My arms floated upwards. Then at one point I found myself outside my body looking back at myself and I was so alarmed I snapped back in and to this day, sadly, I've never been able to get back out without external assistance.

I don't know if that event sent me back to sleep for a while, a long while, my next 'awakening, came in my 40's. (Brought about through the book some on here are highly wary of, The Course in Miracles). It seemed fear was keeping me locked in a prison, of my own making. When my kidneys went into failure I turned to an acupuncturist for assistance with fluid retention, (which was a remarkable experience in itself due to the success and one which the kidney Dr. visibly tried to ignore and dismiss), he (the acupuncturist) mentioned that the kidneys were connected with fear; too much of it, unresolved, place a great burden on the kidneys. Klaxxon's of recognition went off at this point, my life had been filled with fear from an early age. As a kid, a teen and even a young adult I attracted bully's like moths to a flame. I even remarked once to a close friend that it was as though I had an invisible sign above me saying 'Victim here'.

To this day I talk the talk, spiritually, but unfortunately I don't walk the walk. Despite the fact I now consider myself brave in physical terms, I would stand up to certain death if it was the right thing to do*, I'm still scared to ever approach that feeling I had when I was free from my body. I fear the unknown and yet that is such a stupid thing to be afraid of, logically, rationally even, it makes no sense.

*My reading from Carol Clarke suggested I had lost a previous life through standing up for the truth, so that kind of 'bravery' is not the problem here. I wish I knew what was.