I was rather in two minds about including this page. You can
find plenty of books on the subject better than I can write here. On the other
hand, maybe it will help if you want to make a start.
There is a quick way to suspend the conscious mind, it is called hypnosis, and it is no coincidence that overwhelmingly most research into past lives today is done by hypnotherapists. But there is another way, through meditation.
In meditation you may discover many things; most strikingly memories, impressions, skills and knowledge which you know could not have come from your present life. Your ego will jump in with all sorts of explanations, keep those to one side and continue asking questions, there will be time for judgement later. Work to assemble these impressions, see if they make a testable picture.
Why should you have impressions which do not come from your present life? The answer is again simple. If some part of you survives death what will that part of you do when the body has died? Human beings are full of attachments to life; loves, appetites, concerns about unfinished business, the list of what binds us to physical existence is endless. It is natural we should return to it, and so we wait for the generation of a suitable new body, we re-incarnate and repeat the whole process, life after life.
That is the theory, it is for the metaphysician (and I hope this site will be of interest to metaphysicians) to explore and weigh the evidence.
If you want to be a medium, and contact spirits other than your own, you have to learn to distinguish thoughts feelings and impressions which are not your own, which must therefore have come from some other spirit. Understanding this distinction is a knack and a skill which can be developed, it is a good thing to do in any case, but it is rather less necessary if what you want is simply your own past; just remember, not everything in your head is your own past. Are you likely to pick up other lives than your own? Actually, if you are aware of the possibility, it really is not hard to distinguish.
So how do you meditate?
Really, I only try to give a first taste here, there are many good books about it well worth reading, but the quick answer is to do anything which distracts the conscious mind. Perhaps the first thing you could do is look at yourself steadily in the mirror, eventually your eyes will lose focus and the image before you will start to change; the same thing works with looking at a photograph or a candle flame, many people use these with great success; and it is also the basis of ‘scrying’ with a crystal ball.
Relaxing every muscle in your body, one at a time, starting with the extremities, is a good exercise in itself and will distract the mind. It is important to be as relaxed as you can be, and clear your mind of the stream of thoughts which usually run through it; it is not helpful if you are preoccupied by what to have for your next meal, or the pain in your big toe.
When I empty my mind it tends to stay empty, so what thought should you bring to your meditation? The answer is whatever brought you to reading this, to thinking about reincarnation, were you struck by the seeming familiarity of a strange place or a strange person? What sticks from the past is strong emotion, relationships, or, perhaps, the experience of your own death; are you afraid of water or fire or heights? Mediate on these, asking for the cause.
If you just sit quietly and let your mind follow the thoughts, impressions, photographs, music, words - anything you have chosen - without demand or expectations, simply taking notice of what comes into your head, you may be amazed at the results.
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your
table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has
no choice,
it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
— Franz Kafka
Ego will tell you whatever comes into your head is imagination, maybe it is not the truth. Suspend disbelief until your mind has thrown up facts which you can check. Check them; use the Internet, ask people who may know, visit the library. You will be amazed how often imagination gives you the truth – once you have taken the “I” out of your thinking.
Next week I shall conduct an experiment on exactly this, with a group of people who are interested in spirit but who have never investigated their past lives - I shall bring you the results.
As with all practical work, remember to be safe, proceed gently and stop if you feel uncomfortable. It should not need to be said, do not meditate while driving a motor car! Choose a quiet secure place, where you will not be disturbed, do not enter any imagined scene too deeply, experiencing your own death, amongst other memories, can be unpleasant. If there is any psychological or medical reason against it, don’t meditate in search of your past lives. On the other hand, do not be discouraged if your best efforts give little return, it may well take persistence, and there are never any guarantees.
There is a quick way to suspend the conscious mind, it is called hypnosis, and it is no coincidence that overwhelmingly most research into past lives today is done by hypnotherapists. But there is another way, through meditation.
In meditation you may discover many things; most strikingly memories, impressions, skills and knowledge which you know could not have come from your present life. Your ego will jump in with all sorts of explanations, keep those to one side and continue asking questions, there will be time for judgement later. Work to assemble these impressions, see if they make a testable picture.
Why should you have impressions which do not come from your present life? The answer is again simple. If some part of you survives death what will that part of you do when the body has died? Human beings are full of attachments to life; loves, appetites, concerns about unfinished business, the list of what binds us to physical existence is endless. It is natural we should return to it, and so we wait for the generation of a suitable new body, we re-incarnate and repeat the whole process, life after life.
That is the theory, it is for the metaphysician (and I hope this site will be of interest to metaphysicians) to explore and weigh the evidence.
If you want to be a medium, and contact spirits other than your own, you have to learn to distinguish thoughts feelings and impressions which are not your own, which must therefore have come from some other spirit. Understanding this distinction is a knack and a skill which can be developed, it is a good thing to do in any case, but it is rather less necessary if what you want is simply your own past; just remember, not everything in your head is your own past. Are you likely to pick up other lives than your own? Actually, if you are aware of the possibility, it really is not hard to distinguish.
So how do you meditate?
Really, I only try to give a first taste here, there are many good books about it well worth reading, but the quick answer is to do anything which distracts the conscious mind. Perhaps the first thing you could do is look at yourself steadily in the mirror, eventually your eyes will lose focus and the image before you will start to change; the same thing works with looking at a photograph or a candle flame, many people use these with great success; and it is also the basis of ‘scrying’ with a crystal ball.
Relaxing every muscle in your body, one at a time, starting with the extremities, is a good exercise in itself and will distract the mind. It is important to be as relaxed as you can be, and clear your mind of the stream of thoughts which usually run through it; it is not helpful if you are preoccupied by what to have for your next meal, or the pain in your big toe.
When I empty my mind it tends to stay empty, so what thought should you bring to your meditation? The answer is whatever brought you to reading this, to thinking about reincarnation, were you struck by the seeming familiarity of a strange place or a strange person? What sticks from the past is strong emotion, relationships, or, perhaps, the experience of your own death; are you afraid of water or fire or heights? Mediate on these, asking for the cause.
If you just sit quietly and let your mind follow the thoughts, impressions, photographs, music, words - anything you have chosen - without demand or expectations, simply taking notice of what comes into your head, you may be amazed at the results.
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your
table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has
no choice,
it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
— Franz Kafka
Ego will tell you whatever comes into your head is imagination, maybe it is not the truth. Suspend disbelief until your mind has thrown up facts which you can check. Check them; use the Internet, ask people who may know, visit the library. You will be amazed how often imagination gives you the truth – once you have taken the “I” out of your thinking.
Next week I shall conduct an experiment on exactly this, with a group of people who are interested in spirit but who have never investigated their past lives - I shall bring you the results.
As with all practical work, remember to be safe, proceed gently and stop if you feel uncomfortable. It should not need to be said, do not meditate while driving a motor car! Choose a quiet secure place, where you will not be disturbed, do not enter any imagined scene too deeply, experiencing your own death, amongst other memories, can be unpleasant. If there is any psychological or medical reason against it, don’t meditate in search of your past lives. On the other hand, do not be discouraged if your best efforts give little return, it may well take persistence, and there are never any guarantees.
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Here is an Internet radio show, an episode of Reincarnation, the Secrets of Past Lives, hosted by Mike Voyce and Christine Voyce, with a contribution by Doug Kelley, founder of Metaphysical Church of Humanistic Science.
It specifically talks about how to discover past lives. |
You are welcome to listen or download the file
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