Past Life Regression and Hyonotherapy

In the 1988 movie Altered States a research scientist (played by William Hurt), dives deep into his subconscious and genetic roots. In doing this, he not only relives ancient experiences of his ancestors but actually changes on the biological level.

This film was reportedly based on the real-life research of prominent psychologists and medical researchers of the 1960s and 1970s who used isolation tanks and pharmacological triggers to access deep DNA memories and experiences, which they claimed were real.

While these ideas are similar to the concepts of past lives and reincarnation, this line of thinking focuses on the previous lives that are based on genetic memories, encoded on the DNA helix within us.

My own first experience with past life regression was also my first experience with hypnosis. I was invited by a psychotherapist friend to attend a weekend workshop on hypnosis. During that weekend the leader of the workshop ask that we all participate in a group past life hypnosis session. That was many many years ago and I now look on that weekend as a turning point in my life.

I was always an observer of human behavior and as an observer had asked myself these questions many times:

* What is the cause of the inequality that exists among mankind?
* Why should one person be brought up in the lap of luxury, endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery?
* Why should one person be a prodigy and another an idiot?
* Why should one person be born with saintly characteristics and another with criminal tendencies?
* Why are some so linguistic, artistic, mathematically or musically inclined almost from the very cradle?
* Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf, or deformed?
* Could past life theories explain the idiot savant?

With the theory of past lives I had an answer that gave meaning to such seeming injustices in life...be it DNA memory or ancient reincarnation theory, our stations and problems in life were not he result of an unjust “God”.

Reincarnation, the belief that the soul of a man or woman who has died will later be born again into another physical body, is an ancient doctrine, ancient even at the time of the Greek and Roman empires. Plato (c. 428–348 B.C.E.) Cicero's (106–43 B.C.E.) Plotinus (205–270 C.E.) the great Greek philosophers all allude to reincarnation in many of their essays.

Reincarnation is accepted as a reality in the Hindu and Buddhist religions, as well as certain mystical sects in Judaism and Islam. However, reincarnation is not an approved doctrine in any of the orthodox Christian, Islamic, or Judaic religions, which all hold fast to the belief that there is but one lifetime, one Day of Judgment, and a heavenly resurrection of the body for the righteous.

However, in the early days of Christianity even the Church's greatest leaders, such as St. Clement of Alexandria (150–215 C.E.) and the Christian philosopher St. Augustine (354–430 C.E.) stated their beliefs in the soul's pre-existence

It can also be argued that even the Bible speaks of reincarnation: the most well known passages establish that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah:

"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before
me. Then suddenly the LORD you are seeking will come to his
temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will
come," says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:1

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and
dreadful day of the LORD comes." Malachi 4:5

But the angel said to him "do not be afraid, Zechariah; your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John…And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:13,17

And in these verses Jesus assures his disciples that John the Baptist was Elijah returned:

"But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him
everything they wished, just as it is written about him." Mark 9:13

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if
you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come." Matt 11:13-14

"But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not
recognize him…" Then the disciples understood that he was
talking to them about John the Baptist. Matt 17:12-13

In "Religion and Immortality", G. Lowes Dickinson presents his view that reincarnation offers "…a really consoling idea that our present capacities are determined by our previous actions and that our present actions again will determine our future character." Such a philosophy, Dickinson observes, liberates people from the bonds of an external fate and places them in charge of their destiny: "If we have formed here a beautiful relationship, it will not perish at death, but be perpetuated, albeit unconsciously, in some future life. If we have developed a faculty here, it will not be destroyed, but will be the starting point of later developments. Again, if we suffer…from imperfections and misfortunes, it would be consoling to believe that these were punishments of our own acts in the past, not mere effects of the acts of other people, or of an indifferent nature over which we have no control."

Certainly not all reincarnation theories attribute one's position in this life to Karma (cause and affect). Some who accept reincarnation hold an alternative view, they believe our soul chooses each lifetime's obstacles and limitations so that it can learn, grow and evolve by enduring them, overcoming them and learning from them.

And this brings us back to how I began...another possible explanation is that ancestral memory can be transmitted genetically in our DNA. The idea that our memories are stored in our genes is a very recent and controversial one. It has been accepted since the experiments of Wikder Penfield back in the 1950's, that hidden away in each of us is a permanent record of our past.

In the therapeutic setting the great value of past life exploration is that valuable insights can be gained into current behavior patterns. A significant amount of healing may result from releasing blocked emotions and from forgiveness. A turning point in the current life direction is made when a client understands and appreciates how unconscious past life and/or genetic memories may be shaping their present life.

However, a belief in the existence of reincarnation is not a necessary prerequisite for past life work to be successful. An imagined story created by the unconscious while in hypnosis can offer valuable insights to an individual.

As a result of this the client finds it easier to let go of entrenched beliefs and behavior patterns. Once past behavior patterns (which operate unconsciously, compulsively, negatively and rigidly) are understood and released, the client has the opportunity to experience freedom from the past and to finally live their life...their way...as master of their own destiny.

Past life recall can give us valuable insights into our past, present, and future lives. The knowledge of how we lived before can help us overcome present obstacles, understand phobias, and resolve relationship issues. It can be exciting to see full scenes of an imagined former lifetime flash before you in your mind’s eye as if you were watching a movie. But while looking back at your past lives can be exciting and enlightening it's important to remember that the answers you are seeking in this life can only truly be found by living it. Look to your past to see where you’ve been and how that is affecting you in the present but remember, the life that matters most is the one that you are living now.