Past Life Regresssion through the ages

The belief of Reincarnation and Past Life has existed for centuries in various civilizations and faiths .Oral traditions and written legends around the world make it evident that reincarnation has been an integral part of human worldviews from the early days of civilization. 

Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) wrote ‘My life often seemed to me like a story that has no beginning and no end.  I had the feeling that I was a historical fragment, an excerpt for which the preceding and succeeding text was missing.  I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had been born again because I had not fulfilled the task given to me.’

In Tibetan Buddhism’s Bardo Thodol or Book of the Dead which was said to have been  written  by Padma-Sambhava, an Indian mystic who introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century, it is stated that a soul passes through many nonphysical worlds before reincarnation on earth.

The main difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is that Buddhism feels there is no permanent soul, just a pulsating subconscious that goes from life to life learning lessons until enlightenment is reached. In Buddhism, there exist three fires of craving, ill will, and ignorance which cause rebirth. To achieve nirvana these fires must be extinguished. Hinduism on the other hand believes in a permanent soul.

Spain was a great center of philosophy, and Solomon ibn Gabirol  שלמה בן יהודה אבן גבירול or Avicebron(1021 – 1058), a Spanish Jew, brought Plato's teachings (who believed in a soul) to the European thought.

 In Egypt, transmigration was the accepted mechanism of reincarnation. After a person died, he or she would reincarnate as an animal for as long as 3000 years until purified. Only then, would he or she return to the human form. The Books of Hermes states "From one soul of the Universe are all souls derived. The soul passes from form to form".

Elsewhere, in ancient Greece, Orpheus (Ὀρφεύς) the founder of Greek theology was used by both  Pythagoras and Plato as a source for their own philosophies. Pythagoras (582-507BC) stated and recalled many memories of his soul's incarnations (in Troy etc.). Plato (427-347 BC) stated every soul is immortal. In every succession of life & death you will do and suffer what like fitly may suffer at the hands of like.

The Roman poet Ennius introduced Karma to the Romans. In his "Annals", he tells how Homer appeared to him in a dream and told him their two bodies had the same soul. Virgil (70-19 BC) in the Aeneid says, "All souls return again into living bodies".

According to these teachings all human souls have a common origin from Adam Kadmon. Adam's original sin brought higher and lower souls into confusion. As a result every soul passes through a series of incarnations before returning to God. Ancient Jews believed that Moses was the reincarnation of Abel, the Son of Adam. The Messiah was the reincarnation of Adam himself, who had already come a second time as David.

 

Karma cont...

Karma does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both past and present deeds. Hence in one sense, we are the result of what we were; we will be the result of what we are. In another sense, it should be added, we are not totally the result of what we were; we will not absolutely be the result of what we are. The present is no doubt the offspring of the past and is the present of the future, but the present is not always a true index of either the past or the future; so complex is the working of Karma.

Just as every object is accompanied by a shadow, even so every volitional activity is inevitably accompanied by its due effect. As we sow, we reap somewhere and sometime, in this life or in a future birth. What we reap today is what we have sown either in the present or in the past. Karma is a law in itself, which operates in its own field without the intervention of any external, independent ruling agency.

Thus on the one hand, one could infer that if the present life is totally conditioned or wholly controlled by our past actions, then it could be said that Karma is tantamount to fatalism or determinism or predestination. If this were true, free will would be an absurdity. Life would be purely mechanistic, not much different from a machine. Being created by an Almighty God who controls our destinies and predetermines our future, or being produced by an irresistible Karma that completely determines our fate and controls our life’s course, independent of any free action on our part, is essentially the same. The only difference lies in the two words God and Karma. One could easily be substituted for the other, because the ultimate operation of both forces would be identical.

However, from a Buddhist point of view, our present mental, moral intellectual and temperamental differences are, for the most part, due to our own actions and tendencies, both past and present. Although Buddhism attributes this variation to Karma, as being the chief cause among a variety, it does not, however, assert that everything is due to Karma. The law of Karma, important as it is, is only one of the twenty-four conditions described in Buddhist Philosophy. Thus refuting the view that "whatsoever fortune or misfortune experienced is all due to some previous action".

Every mainstream religion teaches us about the consequences of our actions. The explanations may differ, but does it really matter in the end whether the law of karma causes us trouble or God himself in his final judgement?

When we meet with big problems; disease, loss of family or friends, getting trapped in a war or natural disaster. At those times, we suddenly wonder: "Why me?" The law of karma does not look for a reason outside ourselves for our good or bad fortune, it simply explains our own suffering as a result of our negative deeds towards others, and our happiness as a result of our actions to help others.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Karma cont....

When people are happy and contented, they tend to take life for granted. It is when they suffer, when they find life difficult, that they begin to search for a reason and a way out of their difficulty. They may ask why some are born in poverty and suffering, while others are born in fortunate circumstances. Some people believe that it is due to fate, chance, or an invisible power beyond their control - Karma. In this world nothing happens to a person that he does not for some reason or other deserve. Usually, men of ordinary intellect cannot comprehend the actual reason or reasons. The definite invisible cause or causes of the visible effect is not necessarily confined to the present life, they may be traced to a proximate or remote past birth.

The Pali term Karma literally means action or doing. Any kind of intentional action whether mental, verbal, or physical, is regarded as Karma. It covers all that is included in the phrase "thought, word and deed". Buddhism teaches that one's present condition, whether of happiness or suffering, is the result of the accumulated force of all past actions or karma.

Karma is the law of moral causation. It is action and reaction in the ethical realm. It is natural law that every action produces a certain effect. So if one performs wholesome actions such as donating money to charitable organizations, happiness will ensue. On the other hand, if one performs unwholesome actions, such as killing a living being, the result will be suffering. This is the law of cause and effect at work. In this way, the effect of past karma determines the nature of one's present situation in life.

It is a concept in Hinduism which explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth. The causality is said to be applicable not only to the material world but also to our thoughts, words, actions and actions that others do under our instructions. When the cycle of rebirth comes to an end, a person is said to have attained moksha, or salvation.

 

The theory of karma harps on the Newtonian principle that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. Every time we think or do something, we create a cause, which in time will bear its corresponding effects. And this cyclical cause and effect generates the concepts of samsara, birth and reincarnation. It is the personality of a human being - with its positive and negative actions - that causes karma.

According to Buddhism, rebirth takes place at the end of this life. Rebirth is regarded as a fact. There is evidence that each person has lived many lives in the past and will continue to live more in the future. Rebirth therefore for the Buddhist is a reality although one may not be aware of it. Those who have developed their minds through meditation have confirmed the existence of past lives. Meditators who have attained powers of concentration have been able to recall their previous lives in great detail. In the same trend, Buddhism teaches that birth, death and rebirth are part of the continuing process of change. This is similar to the continuous process of growth, decay and replacement of cells in one's body. According to medical experts, every seven years, all body cells are replaced.

At the moment of death, when this life is over, and the body can no longer survive, the mind is separated from the body. At that time, the craving for life causes one to seek a new existence, and the previous karma determines the place of one's rebirth.

Every person is responsible for his or her acts and thoughts, so each person's karma is entirely his or her own. Occidentals see the operation of karma as fatalistic. But that is far from true since it is in the hands of an individual to shape his own future by schooling his present. Hindu philosophy, which believes in the doctrine that if the life after death, holds karma of an individual is good enough, the next birth will be rewarding, and if not, the person may actually devolve and degenerate into a lower life form. Therefore in order to achieve good karma it is important to live life according to dharma or what is right.

We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate.