Exploring Reincarnation - Part 2
August 20th, 2007 by John Wolfe
Reincarnation has many critics that consider it to be a far fetched and controversial subject, especially when exploring it through second hand accounts, but when someone actually experiences something, first hand, it can shift into a plausible possibility. The most common (well, maybe not common, but most direct) way for someone to have an intentional experience with what are said to be past life memories, is through a process known as past life regression. Regressions are usually performed in the presence of a qualified therapist/hypnotherapist.
The therapist slowly takes the client into a deeply relaxed meditative/hypnotized state. Some may claim regression is an extremely deep hypnotized state; however I have been meditating for a number of years and can see major similarities between the states I achieve and the states achieved with the aid of a therapist. However, it’s not just the state but the visualization techniques that are employed, during a professional regression, that aid in unlocking memories from the distant past.
One argument against using regressions as a tool for deciphering past life experiences centers around some of the therapist’s methods. It is believed that they may be (unintentionally) planting suggestive ideas and phrases, prompting the client into remembering things that aren’t true. While some may do this, my sessions used no “subliminal” suggestions, outside of relaxation and the intent to explore within my consciousness. Everything was recorded and I was able to play it back, after the session was over, to check for any elements of coaxing or coaching on the therapist’s part.
Now, before I venture into the regression, I’d like to point out that I didn’t have any strong expectations about what might show up when I first started participating in these sessions. The regressions took place over seven years ago, at a time when I wasn’t really thinking much about reincarnation. I wasn’t a reincarnation advocate or opponent- I was basically neutral on the subject. It was similar to my situation with out of body experiences (OBEs). I didn’t have any interest or opinions on OBEs, until I accidentally stumbled upon them through my own personal experiences.
So, after undergoing the prolonged relaxation techniques, during my session, I found myself gravitating toward images, which actually had a strange familiarity to them. The landscape appeared to be something similar to Holland or the Netherlands and as I ventured further into it, my awareness shifted from watching it from above to actually seeing it through the main character’s eyes (my eyes).
I looked down and was able to decipher my clothing and could even see the individual cracks and rough surfaces on a cobblestone like street, beneath my feet. The regression continued to unfold, before me, as I began interacting with people that I recognized as friends and loved ones. These interactions were not just being acted out like a movie or play though- I was actually feeling highly charged emotional responses when coming into contact with these familiar faces. The amazing thing was how natural it all felt, as if we were picking up our lives like they were never put “on hold.”
There were moments during the regression that seemed to play out in real time and then there were moments, which flashed by rapidly. I experienced, love, anger, joy, rage, fear and almost every other emotion you would expect, if you were actually heavily involved in the human drama. At one point, I was able to view the death experience within this particular life, which was somewhat agonizing- until I released and allowed myself to move my attention away from the physical body.
I then experienced states that could be considered life between lives, until incarnating once again on the physical plane- where I encountered a life as the son of a blacksmith and then later, a farm life in the Midwest. I don’t feel the intimate details of these lives are nearly as important as the heavy emotional ties that accompanied the experiences though. I found myself completely wrapped up in the stories that were unfolding, more so than any book, movie, or television show I’ve ever read or watched.
For all intents and purposes, the people in my regressions were total strangers to me, yet I could identify with every single one of them. I could see how each of us touched one another’s lives in some way and I could feel how my words and actions directly affected them- because I was afforded a broader vantage point by using the regression. I could either view the experience through my eyes, or pull back and watch it from a different perspective, and sometimes I could do both simultaneously.
Now, I’m not going to try and convince anyone that these experiences were absolutely my own individual past lives. I ended my post: Exploring Reincarnation: Part 1, by discussing how interconnected we all are. Maybe this interconnection is what’s at the heart of reincarnation- we are all from the same single piece of conscious energy- whether you call it god, source, all that is, or whatever.
Every incarnation that has ever been or that ever will be is mine and it’s yours, at the exact same time- because separation is one of the greatest myths ever dreamt up by our fear driven human brains. Yes, we have our own unique individual perspectives and ways of being, yet we are still that one piece of unified conscious energy. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say there is only one single point of awareness in this entire Universe and it’s my point, right now as I write this, yet it’s also your point, right now, as you read these words.
It’s possible the children with past life memories, that I mentioned in my Part 1 post, are actually accessing memories that are held in the collective consciousness of our source energy and it’s also possible that I was doing the same during my regressions. However, that doesn’t mean those memories aren’t our past lives. We may just need to change our definitions of reincarnation by getting away from the idea of every life on this earth being separate from every other life. By doing that, we would in turn change our perspective on human existence.
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