The idea of immortality has always been very controversial, an idea which is easily traced back to its Indian origins, particularly in Hinduism. According to reincarnation, the soul moves from one body to another upon death and the cycle continues as the soul decides to be born repeatedly out of desire. The technique to revisit these past lives is through what is called the past life regression (PLR) and is achieved through hypnosis.
A Brief History
There are very limited accounts on PLR in history. The more substantial writing is that of Patanjali, a Hindu scholar, who said that the soul is always burdened by its karma and thus introduced prati-prasav or reverse birthing. This is a technique where the subject revisits memories to address present issues. Prati-prasav is currently being practiced in yoga.
PLR was revived through the efforts of Madame Blavatsky. She is the co-founder of the Theosophical Society and her studies have re-introduced the concept in the west. The practice was further developed in the 1950′s when credible medical practitioners began their advocacy on PLR as an instrument to improve mental health. In 1967, Dr. Denys Kelsey was the first to use regression as a type of therapy.
The Practice of Past Life Regression
Studies made on religions believing in reincarnation did not take into account nor accept the idea of repressed memories. The practice of PLR is usually done to simply experience this spiritually and therefore, be able to venture into the unknown. To draw information on the subject’s past life, practitioners would use hypnosis and ask their subjects a series of questions.
With the use of bridging, the unearthed memories are brought to consciousness. This is very important for both the doctor and patient as unresolved issues in past lives are believed to be significant in healing the present issues of the patient. However, they are not always easily dealt with as in most cases; the memories are of a negative nature.
Past Life Regression on Television
Oprah featured Past Life Regression last May 2008, with the help of Dr. Oz and Dr. Brian Weiss, who have been studying Past Life Regression for many years. Their subject named Jodie, sought the help of Dr. Weiss to find out why she has such a compulsive fear of dolls.
Fear Of Dolls
Then it was described how Jodie got to see her dead grandfather shortly after entering the state of hypnosis and minutes later, she began describing what she thought of as a car accident she got involved in, then she began to cry. Apparently, she had died unexpectedly in her past life, leaving her children to grow up without her and this resulted in her fear of dolls which is a metaphor for her inability to care for her children.
Healing Through Past Life Regression
Months later, Jodie saw Oprah featuring the Osmond family where Marie Osmond handed her an Oprah-doll. She reiterates that had it not been for Past Life Regression, she would have immediately turned off the TV because of her fear of dolls. But what’s good to know is that after the session, it seemed that she was already able to deal with looking at one.
There are many practitioners of PLR in the United States and more studies are being conducted as of this writing. Accounts of reincarnation and repressed memory studies are present in the history of man, and his natural curiosity would only encourage him to know more about past life regression. Many movie stars like Shirley MacLaine have also delved into this realm and I do believe she wrote a book about her experiences
Man’s Desire to Learn from Mistakes – Past or Present Life
Whether traveling through time to relive the lives we left behind is legitimate, that remains a question yet to be answered and perhaps today, no form of science can produce concrete evidence about past life regression or the past lives’ existence. However, the moral of these presumptions could easily be traced into man’s desire to learn from what mistakes he has committed – whether in this life or in the past.
