When we run past life regressions it seems to be just our imagination at work (although, as in dreaming, we are not controlling the unfolding of events). Are regressions truly representative of past lives and reincarnation? Or is it just a glorified form of daydreaming? The same question arises with regard to shamanic journeying: how much value is there in doing in these sorts of exercises? Is the information they contain real? Since it is possible to interpolate events at will into regressions, how much credence should be given to the idea that these are factual past lives unfolding? Moreover, the person in the regression ? ostensibly oneself ? does not act and react in the way one actually would in that situation. So, in what sense can it be said that this person is oneself?
The answer is, of course, who knows? There?s no way of proving or disproving it; although there certainly are well-documented cases of past life memories which actually occurred (which materialists dismiss as ?anecdotal evidence?). However, running past life regressions can be of enormous help in understanding one?s present situation in life. The important part of a past life regression is the feelings which the person ? oneself ? in the regression is feeling. There are definite echoes, poignant moments of recognition, which mean something personally, even if they can?t be put into words. In other words, there is a lot more going on in a past life regression than the bare sequence of events. People known in this present lifetime ? particularly people for whom one has strong positive or negative feelings ? can be recognized in regressions by those feelings. Understanding how one feels about certain people in past lives can help to understand how one really feels about them in this life. For example, in practically all of the past lives I have had with my ex-wife, one of us murdered the other one. Besides that karma which we brought into our marriage in this lifetime, there are other little themes which run through our reincarnation together, such as that in practically every lifetime together she loved me more than I loved her. And so on. Now, whether these past lives actually occurred as advertised or not, they obviously reflect on one?s present life situation. When you run a lot of past life regressions you begin to notice certain themes which tend to recur from life to life, even though the circumstances of the different lives ? and the type of person one is ? are completely different.
It?s the feeling of past life regressions which is primarily important. Therefore, the question of whether they are real or not is irrelevant (although my guidance tells me that they are as real as this present lifetime). There is a lot of subconscious material which surfaces in past life regressions, whether reincarnation is at work or not. And this material can help to get a grip on what is going on now. For example, one can see that the reason a certain person is hurting or pestering in this lifetime is because in a previous life the shoe was on the other foot. Or, one can understand that the attraction of certain places or countries; or the love of a particular art or hobby; has its roots in another lifetime. It?s also possible to see that many ?irrational? fears, hopes, attractions, and joys have a basis in reincarnation, and are actually not so irrational at all.
Bob Makransky
Author Bio
Whether past life regressions are ?real? or not is beside the point. Apart from reincarnation, the regression technique can help give a new slant on one?s situation in this present lifetime.
