Case #6 Migraine and Past Life regression

The word Migraine is derived from the Greek word ἡμικρανία (hemikrania)  which means "pain on one side of the head" - ἡμι- (hemi-) "half" and κρανίον (kranion) "skull".

Medical professionals are still baffled by what causes migraines in the first place often attributing it to stress or even genetics. With tests and MRI scans usually coming back negative and medication only providing moderate relief, conventional treatments rely on lifestyle changes and pills yet many patients still struggle with the symptoms. 

For many years it was thought that these headaches were the result of a dilation of the blood vessels, caused by stress and tension. Present-day research now tends to favor alternative explanations. In some cases the emotional circumstances of the patient's life, past and present can influence the situation. Old memories or unresolved trauma can surface. Migraine headaches that stem from a past lifetime will cease to exist once the trauma is identified and resolved or removed through past life regression therapy.

Sushma* came to me with a case of extreme migraine which she had been suffering for the past 20 years.

On undergoing past life regression, she found herself in the year 1656 as a soldier on board a Spanish ship engaged in battle with the English. During the course of the battle he gets hit on the head and subsequently succumbs to his injuries and dies.

* Name changed to protect patient confidentiality

Journey of the soul to Moksha

Past life regression has its foundations in the belief of reincarnation, and consequently in the 'Law of Karma'. This is a theory which states that a soul is on a journey to merge with what is termed as  'Universal Consciousness' or 'Supreme Power'. On this journey, the soul takes on a physical form in a body, so that it can learn certain lessons along the way, and naturally, meets and encounters other souls on different stages of their cosmic journey. It interacts with these souls to create 'Karma'. This journey entangles the soul into the consequences of the actions and keeps bringing it back to interact with the same and different souls, again and again. Naturally, this means that the soul has to take on a physical form, again. Thus begins an unending cycle. The soul has to eventually understand that this cycle is endless, unless it breaks away totally and  merges into the Universe, never to be caught up in this cycle again. When this happens, the soul can then say to have attained 'Moksha' or 'Becomes Enlightened'. This theory also states that there are those evolved souls who choose once again to come back in a physical body so that they may guide others towards this knowledge. These bodies are termed as 'Enlightened Leaders' or 'Bodhisattvas'.

Case #5 - PLR and Pteromerhanophobia

Pteromerhanophobia  or fear of flying may be a distinct phobia in itself, or it may be an indirect combination of one or more other phobias related to flying, such as claustrophobia (a fear of enclosed spaces) oracrophobia (a fear of heights). It may have other causes as well, such as agoraphobia (especially the type that has to do with fear of open spaces). It is a symptom rather than a disease, and different causes may bring it about in different individuals.


The fear receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid.  A fear of flying may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends, and it can cripple the career of a businessperson by preventing them from traveling on work-related business.


The fear of flying may be created by various other phobias and fears: 
* fear of crashing which most likely result in death.
* a fear of closed in spaces (claustrophobia), such as that of an aircraft cabin
* a fear of heights (acrophobia)
* a feeling of not being in control
* fear of vomiting, motion sickness can make the person vomit, thus making flying hard.
* fear of having panic attacks in certain places, where escape would be difficult and/or embarrassing (agoraphobia)
* fear of hijacking or terrorism
* fear of turbulence
* fear of flying over water or night flying


A previous traumatizing experience with air travel or somehow connected to flying can also trigger a fear of flying. 


Rahul* a 13 year old young man was brought to me by his parents due to his fear of travelling in an aircraft. As the family was bases in U.S. and travelled to India at least once a year to look up  the aging elders, this travel initially was done by sedating Rahul, but as he started growing up was becoming a difficult proposition.


On being regressed, Rahul found himself in Europe in the year 1934 as a successful businessman, who used to travel a lot all  over Europe. During the course of one of these travels, he had to take a flight from London to Paris for concluding a business deal. However, the flight never reached Paris and crashed into the sea taking him and the other passengers down with it.


His parents subsequently a couple of months later called me to tell that Rahul now seemed to have got over his fear and could now travel by air without any problem.


*  Name changed to protect patient’s identity. 

Addiction and Past Life Regression Therapy

Addiction is the state of being abnormally craved to or being dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. It means badly yearning for something and be prepared to go any extents for doing or having a particular thing. The term addiction encompasses those activities or behavioral habits that are hard to resist or do away with. Doctors roughly classify addiction into two kinds – object addictions and event addictions. Object addictions are those which deal with addiction on any particular external object or substance, like narcotics, fancy costumes, chocolates, women, alcohol etc.  Event addictions are those that involve addiction on performing a particular activity like gaming, watching television, shopping, gambling etc. In certain cases, object or physical additions lead to event addictions. For example, if a person addicted to a particular item or person and doesn’t get to enjoy it, he could switch to drinking or taking drugs and get addicted to it.

Deep-lying wounds that dwell in the mind due to horrific events in the past are one of the major reasons for being addicted to drugs and alcohol. The addicted person obtains a feeling of solace as the mind forgets all the worries and sad moments of the past. This forgotten feeling is temporary as the hypothalamus region of the brain becomes anesthetized by use of drugs or prolonged use of alcohol. Once the effect of the drug or alcohol wears off, the sadness begins to haunt the victim until the next doze. This forms a vicious cycle and engulfs the person into addiction.

Rarely is smoking addiction only about smoking. To simply say “just stop smoking,” won’t solve the unconscious reasons of this addiction, and superficial attempts at quitting may result in transference to another vice. If panic, anxiety, and confusion are present at the time of death, the same feelings are continued in the next incarnation. This may include the unconscious attraction to an overly anxious mother or father and life experiences that encourage ailments, drugs, and unease, until confusion isn’t necessary to feel alive.

There are a multitude of reasons that individuals smoke, ranging from self-medicating for anxiety to serving as a pseudo-friend that keeps them company when they’re feeling alone. Smoking or other drug usage is usually an attempt at managing as opposed to dealing with unresolved pain and/or anger. Instead of pain or anger management, one must feel the discomfort in their body and direct it to its source in past life therapy.

The Past Life Regression Therapist assists in taking the person to one of their past lives, where perhaps lies the problems or worries that led to the addiction. Once the source is identified, the therapist will try to eradicate the link between the problem of that life and the addictive feeling in this life for rehabilitation.

The deep unconscious mind has a crucial influence on the person’s behavior and when properly directed, can work wonders in getting the person out of addiction.

 

Reincarnation

The word "reincarnation" derives from Latin, literally meaning, "entering the flesh again". The Greek equivalent metempsychosis (μετεμψύχωσις) roughly corresponds to the common English phrase "transmigration of the soul" and also usually connotes reincarnation after death. Reincarnation may be said to be a repertoire of states of consciousness which guides our behaviour in productive adaptive ways.

Some southern European Christians believed in reincarnation until the Council of Nice banned such beliefs in 553 A.D. In The Republic, Plato described souls about to be reborn as choosing their future lives. Schopenhauer took it seriously, and Voltaire's observation that it is no more surprising to be born twice than once is well known. In Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, Carl Jung wrote that as a boy he remembered in great detail being a very old man in the eighteenth century. Yet most scientists nowadays do not believe in survival after death. Presumably Darwinian ideas contributed to a sort of dethroning of the soul.

However, more than half the world’s people believe in reincarnation. What is the basis of this belief? Is it rooted in delusions or wishful thinking? Or, is there a tangible basis for such ideas?

The philosopher David Hume said, in his essay ‘Of the immortality of the soul’  – Metempsychosis is …. The only system of this kind that philosophy can hearken to. Some philosophers, psychologists and thinkers admit that reincarnation is a very sensible idea, because it would answer so many questions and problems about human existence.

Charles Darwin had concluded that that human facilities are a result of their evolutionary history. Neurotheologists have further expanded on this, saying - If reincarnation is true and Darwin right, then isn’t reincarnation evolutionary adaptation that contributed to the survival of our species.

A human being has a bio-plasma body, which the evidence tells us must contain a structure of consciousness - the soul. The soul has structured the bio-plasma by recording the essence of a person’s life experience. Because bio-plasma is a property of living matter an unborn child would also have a bio-plasma, but would not yet have had any concrete experiences that would form a soul structure in the bio-plasma. At a certain stage the unborn human child, in short, does not yet have a soul. Therefore, when a person dies, their soul must be transmitted to an unborn child, which then structures the bio-plasma of the child with the bio-plasmic pattern of the dying person’s soul. The death and transfer are part of the method of the evolution of consciousness.

If child psychologists and psychiatrists, as well as paediatricians, family doctors, and parents, would listen to children and observe them with reincarnation in mind, they would make valuable discoveries. Children often seem to express memories of previous lives in their play and sometimes in their drawings.

Dr. Ian Stevenson, an academic psychiatrist, led the study of reincarnation in the United States until his death in 2007. The lab, which later became known as the Division of Perceptual Studies, focuses on examining children who remember former lives, near-death experiences, apparitions and after-death communications, out-of-body experiences and deathbed visions.

Dr. Stevenson, who often called reincarnation the "survival of personality after death," saw the existence of past lives as a potential explanation for the differences in human condition. He believed past experiences plus genetics and the environment could help elucidate gender dysphoria, phobias and other unexplained personality traits.

To sum it up, the question often asked is, if rebirth is possible, is there any scientific basis for believing in rebirth? Since time immemorial, man has been struggling to find a solution to this mystery but conclusive evidence has thus far eluded him. Can science uphold the belief in rebirth? It is beyond the current tools of science to definitively prove the general theory of reincarnation to a sceptical public. Likewise, it is also beyond the tools of modern science to disprove it.

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.

Case No.4 - PLR and Topophobia

Phobia , derived from the Greek word  φόβος - Phóbos, meaning  fear  is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer goes to great lengths in avoiding.  In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress.

It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external traumatic events  and internal predispositions. Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age. It is believed that the brain chemistry combined with life-experiences is one of the factors playing a major role in the development of phobias.

Among the various types of phobias, is Topophobia, which represents the fear of certain places or situations. The origin of the word topo is Greek- meaning place.

Sheila* a young mother, came to me with an affliction towards Taj Mahal. Though she had so far never visited the place, the mere thought of it used to cause her immense discomfort, and she was interested in knowing the reason for this.

On being regressed, she found herself as a young man in the year 1632 in Agra, where she was one of the labourers brought in from various surrounding places, Jhansi in her case, for the construction of the Taj Mahal. Through the next fifteen years all she did on a daily basis was carry huge stone in the construction site. That to suffering immense misery and pain throughout the period of her stay. Finally, when she was incapable of doing any meaningful labour, she was sent back where she found the rest of her family since dead. Subsequently she also died a short while later.

*name changed to protect patient confidentiality.

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.

PLR - Goal and Methodology

The goal of past life regression is to heal blocks from your past lives that are interfering with your present day physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual well being. Just as people carry the pain they suffered earlier in their current life to their later years, people carry unresolved pain with them from one life to another.

In Past life regression, people can recall past life memories regressing into past life experiences, a process that is similar to hypnotism. Learning about a past life can be an amazing process. Is it really possible to have lived before, and for the soul to still carry at least some of those burdens into your current incarnation?

At one point, the subject of past lives and past lives stories were the stuff of a skeptic's dream. However in recent years, this controversial subject has seeped into what Carl Jung termed "the collective unconscious", to the point where even Dr. Brian Weiss, a respected therapist, was featured on Oprah to discuss the topic.

While there are many ways that you can recall past life memories, the number one factor, common to almost all methods, is relaxation. In order to let your mind wander deeper into the past, your body must be as relaxed as possible so that you are not physically or mentally distracted by your present carnation.

The second factor is to not over analyze or stress about what you might possibly experience. Over analysis prevents you from relaxing completely, and it also causes you to judge your past memories. At this point, you are simply observing past events and are unable to change them. It is important to avoid judging past life experiences if you want to learn anything new from them.

The third factor is to open your mind to the possibility that what you are seeing is true. If you begin seeing flashes of memory, but automatically dismiss them, what's the point? In order to make any progress in past life regression, you need to be open to what you see and prepared to take it seriously.

 

Past Life Regression - Cause and Effect

Our mind is divided into two main parts: Conscious and Sub-conscious. The Conscious mind is the reasoning, thinking, logical and creative mind that we use all the time when we are awake. The Sub-conscious mind is a repository of all our experiences and memories of all lifetimes. It is part of the core of the human being, and hence survives after death, taking with it every memory of that lifetime.

 

Upon rebirth, this core reincarnates, bringing with it memories both good and traumatic of all the lifetimes in its repository. These memories ultimately manifest themselves at various levels of our current existence and cause problems which could be either physical, psychological or both combined resulting in among other things, blocks in relationships, business, financial and spiritual growth.

 

Past Life Regression allows us to retrieve these past life memories, and in so doing address the current life problems. Through Past Life Regression, the sub-conscious mind goes back in time and accesses the origins of old patterns or emotions thus enabling release and healing. Past Life Therapy helps in clearing emotional blocks and bringing a greater sense of inner peace. It also assists in unraveling the deep mysteries that can lie within and simply explain the sometimes inexplicable.

 

Past Life Regression Therapy is most effective in cases of:

 

Physical problems where the medical tests do not reveal the cause and no traditional medical procedures work.

Problems that the traditional medical world may consider untreatable.

Behavioral problems, like obsessive-compulsive behavior, which have no diagnosable cause in the current life.

Fears & phobias that have no known origin in the current life.

Relationship problems which are totally unexplainable.

Spiritual likes or dislikes (usually extreme cases).

Weight reduction problems.

Cases of stammering or stuttering. - These cases always involve a trauma in childhood, in the current life, where the child wanted to say something but was so afraid that he could not talk.

Past Life Recall

At birth, you had the gift of two types of memory, current life and past life. You also had the gift of having a veil dropped over the past. That veil can be lifted, should you choose to do so.

 

Perhaps it is easy for children to recall past lives because their minds are not cluttered by confronting the lessons and challenges of their current lives. By the time children reach adulthood, they will have experienced many things that might cloud past-life memories, including admonishment by some adults that those memories are only creative imagination. A wise parent who realizes that a child is recalling past life memories can provide encouragement by asking the child to make up a bedtime story. Your child's reaction can be surprisingly straightforward. Your child might ask, "Do you remember when I was the mommy (or daddy) and you were little like me?" In a playful way, s/he might describe a past-life event as a personal story. By talking with your child just before sleep, you can learn much about the past-life experiences that went into the making of that soul's character--your little child.

 

Parents who punish their child for play-acting what the child believes to be real could damage or stunt the emotional and spiritual life of that child who is simply remembering the past. Such an unwise approach on the part of the parents could cause serious problems to develop later as the child develops and must deal with issues rooted in a past life. The freedom to remember is essential. 

Past Life Regression

Past Life Regression Therapy involves going back to a person's past in order to find healing or to find reasons for current behavior and thinking patterns. Perhaps you are one of the people who think that it is unnecessary to 'dig around in the past'. In many cases you would be quite right. However, very often it is the one thing that will bring about the most permanent healing, simply because we carry the scars of our past around with us until they are dealt with.

In counseling and psychotherapy therapists will dig around in a client's past to find the root of their problems. This information is then dealt with at a cognitive (conscious) level. Hopefully the client is eventually able to move on with a different and more positive outlook. There is no doubt that healing at this level can, and does, take place.

One thing that psychotherapy cannot do, however, is to find those memories which have been buried deep in the psyche and are no longer remembered by the client. The subconscious mind protects us in numerous ways. Firstly, it will protect us by burying a painful experience so that it's memory no longer causes conscious pain. Secondly, it protects us by helping us to avoid being hurt in the same way again. A problem occurs when this 'avoidance' is no longer appropriate and is preventing us from living whole, healthy lives, or from having fulfilling relationships.

This is where Past Life Regression Therapy, comes into the picture. Whilst the client is relaxed and in a perfectly safe environment, we are able to access the root of their current problem. Imagine having a small splinter in a tender part of your body. Now imagine that splinter being ignored and left to fester. Eventually there is a large infected area. You can treat that area as much as you like, but until the original little offending splinter is removed, there will never be complete healing. Regression therapy allows us to go directly to that little splinter, without painfully digging around it. Unlike psychotherapy, we don't have to spend years digging for the root causes. We ask the subconscious to show them to us immediately, and there is usually instant healing.