©1999 Janet Cunningham, Ph.D.
Published in two parts of American Healing Arts Alliance, Inc., spring/summer and fall/winter 2002.
1. The belief that past lives are "in the past."
Consciousness research in the field of past life therapy indicates that past life memories are stored in the mind field and higher (finer) vibrational subtle energies. Past life memories are not in the past-they are here, now; we carry the memories and the effects of those lives in our energy field today and unconsciously act out of those stored beliefs and experiences.
2. All past life memories are "equal;" i.e., they are the same, and must be "real" or "fantasy."
Why would one assume that past-life information coming from one's unconscious mind is comparable to everyone else's. We do not make that assumption when discussing recall of current life experiences. The clarity of one person's mind is not dismissed due to to the lack of clarity or ego involvement of another person's mind; all client experiences do not draw the same conclusions.
The mind is capable of perceiving many levels of consciousness; one of those levels is fantasy and imagination. One's ability to reach a past-life memory depends upon the ability to bypass his or her ego and conscious mind to let deeper information from the unconscious to come forward. To date, hundreds of thousands of people have recalled past lives through regression therapy, spontaneous recall, and other methods, adding to a growing body of evidence that the mind is capable of recalling actual events from a previous incarnation.
3. Everyone who believes in past lives thinks they were a famous person.
This is a common statement by someone who has no knowledge of past-life therapy. In my experience of over 17 years in the field, the large majority of people recall very ordinary lives, and remember highlights such as work, relationships, loves, marriages, births, separations, and deaths. Just as these events stand out in one's current life, it is true that these or similar highlights are memories of one's past life.
4. People need to focus on this life-past lives, if they exist, don't have anything to do with now.
Nothing is further from the truth and reality of regression therapy. Past lives are not in the past-they are here, now, in one's mind field. Just as we are a product of every experience from birth to the present time, so it is true of the soul's journey. We are a product of all the energies of memory and experience that have gone before-we carry our soul energy with us, and cannot separate from it. It is who we are. The purpose of past life therapy is to clear the energy field (unconscious mind) from negative patterns of the past which continue to interfere with the person's life now.
5. A person can't make any real life changes through past life therapy.
This is incorrect. When a person discovers the root cause of an issue, whether it comes from one's current life or a past incarnation, he or she can then begin to take steps to change a pattern or behavior that has been blocking one's life from greater peace, happiness, and joy.
6. All past life memories under hypnosis are due to the suggestions of the therapist or hypnotherapist.
Any well-trained and qualified past-life therapist does not give suggestions under hypnosis, other than to direct the client to the root cause of an issue, or the memory of the client's presenting problem.
7. Past life therapy can be done by anyone.
So can surgery, but you wouldn't want to take that chance! It is important to go to someone who is trained and experienced in the field. In addition to checking credentials and experience, the trust level and comfort of the client with his or her practitioner is essential to one's ability to reach deep information in the unconscious.
8. If past lives were "real," we would remember them.
In many ways, we do; sometimes it occurs spontaneously. Other times, memory rises while visiting a foreign country for the first time and knowing where a building or road is...or meeting a person for the first time and having an immediate feeling of knowing him/her at a deep level, or feeling a lack of trust for the person. There are many ways that situations in this life trigger our memories. Most of us, however, are accustomed to ignoring those subtle intuitive messages.
We also need to acknowledge that we have "real" childhood memories in this life of being in a family structure, in a particular home, etc., and yet do not always have clear recall of those experiences.
9. A therapist doesn't need to believe in past lives to do regression work or counseling.
A therapist's attitude, experience, and abilities with concepts of the soul's journey can have a positive, negative, or limited influence in counseling. Current consciousness research indicates that the energy field of the client is affected by the therapist-and one's energy field (in this example, the therapist's) contains one's thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. Past life regression work needs to be conducted by a trained practitioner whose belief system is compatible with the concept of past lives.
The subject of past lives is not a religious belief, however it involves a belief system that affects the therapist's energy field if a client recalls what may be a past life memory. The therapist must at least be open minded to this concept. If the therapist has unresolved programming, or strict religious beliefs that are not open to the possibility of past lives, he or she could affect the success of a client's regression. Not only a therapist's religious beliefs, but also the therapist's fears can affect a regression. For example, if the therapist is uncomfortable with the client's reaching a painful emotional experience, he or she may avoid that experience, guiding the client to move beyond the memory or to view the experience only from an objective viewpoint.
10. How can you tell if a past life regression is real?
I do not believe that every past life regression that a person recalls is real. As indicated above, some memories may be fantasy, some may be a metaphor from the unconscious, some memories may be tapping what Carl Jung referred to as the collective unconscious, and some memories may be actual recall of one's past life. It is also quite easy for overlays of one's current life (and also overlays of one incarnation over another) to filter into the memories of past life recall.
There are many ways of knowing truth. One way is through scientific study that is objective and can be replicated by others; in the case of one's past life memory, this is not possible. Many people have been able to document the existence of one's former life through researching to see if the person did, in fact, live and if the circumstances of the life fit one's memories. This does not prove that the person was that soul, however. Outstanding scholarly research in reincarnation has been conducted for over 30 years by Professor Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia. He has written extensively in professional journals and books on the results of his research. People who comfortably hide behind the word skeptic have dismissed all his research. In similar manner, a study of the esoteric traditions of all the major world's religions, including Christianity, is easily dismissed by the person who is not willing to investigate further.
In one's explorations of past lives, who we were is of little importance. The issues that we are working on in this life is where the value lies. Time is one determiner; when the memories recalled during a regression remain solid with continued exploration and processing over the years, it brings a subjective truth. Release is another determiner; when the issue or pattern is no longer affecting one's life (e.g. a phobia from a past life that was affecting the person), it brings a subjective truth and knowing.
Past life therapy works with the deep unconscious-with memories of the soul that, according to esoteric traditions and current consciousness, are not carried in the brain, but in the energy field or subtle bodies of higher vibrational energies that are eternal. To try to simplify the subject of past lives into who I was or trying to prove reincarnation is to keep the discussion of past lives at the level of the personality and ego-that is not the level of consciousness where this work and exploration can be done.