THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REGRESSION THERAPY

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Regression therapy is one of the ways to access deeply hidden traumatic events that devastate the lives of millions of people worldwide.  By the application of “altered states of consciousness” we can havε access to the root trauma and accordingly we can alleviate symptoms and bring people back to a healthy and balanced life.

The mission of the International Journal of Regression Therapy is to further the professional and academic development of regression therapy around the world by following studying and publishing on the developments of the field. 

The International Journal of Regression Therapy is the annual peer-reviewed Journal, published since 1986. All these years the Journal published articles on the empirical effects and theoretical implications of regression therapy.

As of 2021 the Board of Editors has decided to give access to all articles that have been published in the last 35 years of the Journal. So in this new era where the Journal has come under the wings of the EarthAssociation for Regression Therapy – playfully called EARTh- interested researchers and therapists from all different approaches will have access to this wealth of information shared by the experienced pioneers of the field.Go the their website: www.regressionjournal.org to find more.  There is a wealth of articles that are based on academic research as well as personal stories of experiences with previous life memories.  

Below are additional articles that might be of interest, but which are not found on the Journal website. 

By Henry Bolduc

Question: What is past life regression and how does it reveal soul lessons?

Once upon a time you began an exciting and challenging adventure - it was called Life.  Each life is just such an adventure, with characters, scenery, stories within stories, plots and twists, good guys and bad guys, human error, mistakes and lessons or morals. Past life regressions are enlightening trips back through time, through these adventures, to explore your own spiritual roots or origins. These remarkable journeys are a deep inner quest to your center of truth.

Past Life Regressions are also called hypno-regression, time travel, or soul exploration. The goal is to learn more about the inner mind and the continuity of life. Regression is a scientific and humanistic approach to previously uncharted areas of the mind. It uses your soul's time line to seek out and explore the experiences and patterns that have been part of your past and present lives. Karmic patterns and debts are seen from a broader view, relationships and connections with others are seen from a spiritual perspective. Day to day experiences can be seen, in the context of the soul's journey, as the great adventures that they truly are.

The belief in past lives is centuries old, but the methods of exploring and testing this belief are modern. Hypnosis is one commonly used method of moving beyond the ego/body awareness into the altered state of consciousness, the realm of the subconscious mind. It helps access memory imprints from long-term memory banks, deep within.  The inner mind is likened to an immense library where all knowledge is stored and available for use. It is as vast as eternity yet profound in its simplicity. While being in hypnosis has been likened to being asleep, in truth it is nothing at all like sleep. The body may appear, to an outsider, to be in sleep, but the mind has never been more clear and aware. 

Age regression is a powerful tool to:

* bring clarity and new insight to your present life

* address issues in relationships, life choices, spirituality

* recognize and embrace your eternal self

* uncover and understand the karmic patterns of your soul

* find purpose and meaning in your current life

* bring depth and insight to positive as well as negative experiences

* more fully appreciate your spiritual heritage, identity and destiny

Many people reject the idea of looking into a past lifetime for problems as they claim to have enough troubles in the present life. This sounds reasonable; however, in clinical practice, clients discover that present life conflicts and problems often stem from traumatic events in the past, often in past lifetimes. Past life memories may come to us in many forms: the de ja vu experience; recurrent dreams, either of a specific location, or of a frightening event; recall, either spontaneous or in meditation; a crippling phobia or unexplained, groundless fear. People who fear water, public speaking, or heights (to name just a few common phobias) often uncover the memory of a death by drowning, hanging or burning at the stake before a crowd, or falling from a high place. As these past life traumas are explored and resolved in therapy, the phobias cease to exist for the clients.

The process of past life therapy is being used effectively by mental health professionals in many countries. Through the emotional feelings and body sensations associated with an identified present life problem, the client is prompted to locate the source or cause of the problem. This leads to the discovery of a pain-filled memory in a past life. The client, in the personality of the past-life character, is guided through the traumatic episode in the lifetime, and finally through the death experience. The therapist assists the client in resolving any remaining emotional issues, any unfinished business in that life, and to integrate the experience into the present life situation. The past life character, as a spirit, moves away from the body and the death scene and fully into the light. The narrative is similar to descriptions of Near Death Experiences as they have been described to people like Kenneth Ring and Raymond Moody.  

Many emotional problems and conflicts are quickly and effectively resolved through past life regression therapy, usually in far fewer sessions than with conventional therapy. Many physical ailments are considered to be psychosomatic, and these conditions may begin to diminish or cease altogether through past life regression therapy.  

The process of exploring the soul

Here are the steps that are followed in a general age regression session. Each one flows into the next one in a natural rhythm. The depth of trance or hypnosis varies with each individual, as does the pace and timing. Each person responds with his or her own temperament, style, and experience.  

- Hypnosis: entering your own relaxed, receptive 100% natural level of mind.

- Present life regression: you are guided back to recall pleasant memories or events from  your current life.

- Prenatal regression: passing through your formative months.

- Gatekeeper & bridge: moving to the time in between lives

- Past life regression: utilizing all of your senses in the re-experiencing of stored memory.

- Processing the information: telling the story; open-ended questions like “what happened  next”? and    'what's happening now?' prompt a wealth of information and insight.

- Death experience: a safe and positive way to complete the life's memory. As an overview  you can detach and rise above the lifetime.

- Soul lessons: debriefing; what did you gain, what were the lessons, reasons, patterns, etc.

- Forgiveness: is possible on three levels - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Releasing and letting go bring forgiveness and healing.

- Return through the mists of time - bringing back with you something special like a lesson  learned or message received.

- Protective suggestions: make sure you will retain in your conscious mind only that which is important, beneficial and helpful. Passing through the veil of forgetfulness to let go of  is not needed anymore.

- Return to present: step firmly into the present in fullness and strength. Time  permitting, you may explore the spiritual destiny of the present life or even future events.

- Discussion and evaluation of session: this is most important. You are encouraged not to 

evaluate the information as it unfolds, but to be in the moment. Save all self-analysis for 

discussion after the session itself. This is an ideal time for sharing if in a group - it is 

called networking from the heart.

Results can often be seen immediately after using this mode of therapy. Many emotional problems and some physical conditions are eased or eliminated through past life regression therapy. Regression therapy is a profound experience for the therapist as well as the client. It is a gentle, loving, and transpersonal method of growing and healing.

Henry Bolduc was my first instructor in past life regression techniques.  I worked with in in 2000, in Wytheville, VA for a long intense week.  I went back a few more times to review and reconnect with my fellow trainees.  At one of those reunions Henry gave a "Come as You Were" party where we were all to dress up as a previous life personality.  Henry came as Bridey Murphy (see later article). It was the book about Bridey Murphy that inspired Henry to explore and master past life regression in the first place.  He was a man of slight stature and, dressed up as an old Irish lady, I did not recognize him at all!  He was a most excellent instructor.  Henry passed away in 2012, and he is missed, even today.  He wrote many articles and scripts and books.  He gave his students copies of all his books, and all his articles and scripts, and told us to use them, share them with our clients and pass it along.  Share the wisdom. Thank you, Henry.  

by Virginia R. Waldron, CH, CI 

This article was written in 2008 and was published in the Journal of the International Association for Regression Research and Therapy.  

In 1999 I went to see Thelma Freedman for several sessions to help me deal with a relationship issue in my current life. I was hoping to have a better relationship with two people in my life. We explored several lifetimes that involved the three of us. One of the first ones, however, had a surprise ending which neither of us expected. 

I found myself on a beach, not sandy but made of small stones and pebbles, round and smooth. I was with other women and children. Behind us was a low cliff. There was a path or trail that led up the cliff and back to our village. I was a young girl, in my early teens. My sense was this was in Japan hundreds of years ago. Maybe 400’s. I was with my mother and my 2 younger sisters. We were 'processing' fish that the men in the village had brought in that morning. It was our job to gut and clean the fish that the men brought in, and then put them out on racks made of driftwood to dry in the sun. This activity had been going on for many generations at this site.  Everything was covered with fish bits and innards, including us. You can imagine how we smelled! 

As we were working 3 men on horses came riding down to the beach. These men were wearing very unusual clothing, almost otherworldly to my village eyes, very colorful and bright! They had weapons and seemed fierce. I knew one owned our village. This meant he owned us, the fish, the boats, our lives. As he rode down towards us on the beach, it was obvious that he was repulsed by us, by how we smelled. I felt an intense wave of shame go through me at the look on his face, it made me feel ashamed of myself and my family.  

He told us that he was not getting as much out of us as he wanted. If we didn't provide more fish and more income for him, he would sell the village and everything in it to the other two men with him. He told us they didn't want us there, they just wanted the land the village was on. That meant the men had to spend even more time fishing and we had to work harder doing whatever we could to bring him more income.  

I was a girl, the eldest child. I was always trying to prove I was as good as any son would be because I knew my father was disappointed that there were no sons. I felt it was my duty to make that up to him. As the firstborn, I should have been a son. But there were rigid rules about male and female roles in the village. I was not allowed to go on the boats or to swim, to do anything but process the fish and help my mother and sisters. I adored my father and wanted to be like him and it was a constant ache that I was not able to be anything other than another girl.  

In the next scene the men were out fishing, even though a bad storm was brewing, and under normal circumstances they would not have risked going out in it. We were all too afraid of losing everything if they missed a day of fishing, so they went out. The storm came up and the boats could not get to shore. All the men and boys of the village had gone out on the boats, and the rest of us were on the beach, watching and weeping. The boats were there, we could see them, but the sky was black, the waves were crashing and tossing them like sticks, and we could not do anything. None of us could swim, there was no way to save them. I couldn’t just stand and watch my beloved father drown, I had to do something. So I tied a rope to an empty wooden barrel of some kind and wrapped the rope around my waist. I intended to tie the rope to the boat so we could draw it into shore. At one point the force of the water tore the rope away from me and I lost the barrel. As I sank into the deep water and drown I felt intense shame and guilt because I failed my father and my family.  

All the men drowned, all the boats were destroyed, everything was lost. The village and everyone in it was sold to the men. They took what they wanted, mainly the young girls, and threw everyone else out onto the road. My mother died on the road. My two younger sisters were taken and used by the men. I blamed myself for all that happened to them, as if my failure to swim out to my father’s boat was the cause of their fate. 

As we examined that young girl’s lifetime I saw that her two little sisters are the two people in my life today. Her father is a very dear friend. Amazingly enough, the man who owned the village is the man to whom I have been happily married for 30 years in this life. He and I have shared many lifetimes together, in many different ways, some loving and some not so loving. It was also interesting that one of the two men who bought the village is directly involved with the two people and is part of the cause of the problems between us. We started to talk about that and I found I could not share all the information with Thelma, as if it was not my burden to carry anymore. Just by finding the source of it, I release the sense of shame and guilt. And, I knew it was not my place to fix/heal.  

However, there turned out to be another side benefit that neither Thelma nor I expected. When I came back to full body awareness, one of the first things I said was “That is why I can’t stand fish!” Thelma was confused, so I explained. From my infancy I have had a deep aversion to fish, in particular the smell. I could not stand the slightest hint of the smell, even of fresh fish, it would make me gag. I was so sensitive that I could not stand being near anyone who had recently eaten fish. If I could smell it on them it made me gag. This was such a deep and unconscious part of me that it never occurred to me to ask about it or think that it might be otherwise. Obviously this was not what we had been focusing on for these sessions, but it became from that session onward, a side benefit. Being able to see the source of that issue, I was able to release the aversion including the physical response to the smell. I can eat fish now. I also enjoy sushi. No one could be more surprised as I am, and my husband Tim is delighted. He is of Norwegian background and grew up eating fish, but out of respect to my sensitivity he would eat it only at when he was on business trips staying from home. 

Tim is what I call a ‘show-me skeptic’. He thinks for himself, but if you can show him something is real, he is open minded enough to allow that it might be so. Sometime after I had set up my practice someone asked Tim what he thought of the work I was doing. He shrugged, in his very low key New Englander manner and said, “Well there must be something to it.” When I asked him to elaborate, he reminded me that I eat fish now. If you asked him if he believes in reincarnation or past lives he will say “Not really.” But, if you ask him if past life regression works, he will say there is something to it because he has seen it for himself.

This article is dedicated to Henry Bolduc, hypnotist, past life researcher and regressionist, author, and my first teacher. Henry was a great and kind person, a generous teacher, and a wonderful role model and mentor.

In 1952 Morey Bernstein used hypnosis to regress Virginia Tighe into what appeared to be a previous lifetime as an Irish woman named Bridey Murphy. Bridey was born in 1798 in County Cork in Ireland. She was the daughter of Duncan and Kathleen Murphy. When Bridey was 17 she married Sean Brian McCarthy and they lived in Belfast. During the many regression sessions details of Bridey’s life was brought out, including her death in 1864 from complications of a broken hip caused by a fall. She attended her own funeral, describing the tombstone and what it was like after death. 

During this time between lives, she said, the spirit waits for a new existence. While waiting the spirit can travel anywhere simply with the speed of thought. The case of Bridey Murphy brought a great deal of attention to the notions of past lives, reincarnation and the use of hypnotic regression to reveal hidden memories. 

Morey Bernstein used a technique known as hypnotic regression, or what we call Age Regression, during which the subject is gradually taken back to childhood. He then attempted to take Virginia one step further, before birth, and found he was listening to someone who called herself Bridey Murphy, who spoke with an Irish brogue, and seemed to be an entirely different person than Virginia Tighe. Virginia Tighe herself was born in the Midwest in 1923, had never been to Ireland, and did not speak with even the slightest hint of an Irish accent.Bernstein recorded the sessions and published the story in 1956 (in the book Tighe was referred to as "Ruth Simmons"). 

The Search for Bridey Murphy became a bestseller (and was made into a movie) and many people took the tale as proof of reincarnation. While many were impressed with the details of her memories, such details are not evidence of authenticity.Even though Tighe claimed she'd never been to Ireland, she provided an abundance of commonplace details of life in early 19th century Ireland. 

Unfortunately, there was not a lot of research done to check these ‘details’ before publication and this was used as evidence that the whole thing was a hoax. Several newspapers sent reporters to Ireland to investigate the story. What they found was that while some of the details were correct, many more were not. Several of the details of the 19th century life seemed to be mixed up with the 20th century, including language and names. Searches of the local Irish Church baptismal records, as well as other official documentation to prove Bridey existed, turned up nothing. 

However, historians note that because of carelessness and poor record keeping of the times, the documents of many known historical figures cannot be found either, so the lack of documentation could not be considered conclusive. A Chicago newspaper took it one step further. They made the claim that Virginia Tighe had lived across the street from an Irish woman named Bridey Murphy Corkell when she was a child, and she just brought up memories from her own childhood, stories from her neighbor. Consequently, the newspaper suggested that while under hypnosis Tighe was simply recalling stories she had heard from Corkell but had forgotten. This is what some would call ‘crypto amnesia’ - bringing up 1 memories that were so deeply buried in the subconscious mind that there was no awareness that they had ever been at the surface. This caused many to dismiss Bernstein and Tighe as frauds. 

That explanation, however, has since been proven to be somewhat fraudulent itself. The newspaper’s own credibility was called into question when it was revealed that Corkell had not actually spent any time with the Tighe family. Moreover, Corkell turned out to be the mother of the newspaper’s editor. Thus the Bridey Murphy case continues to be a classic head scratcher for those who study the paranormal.Despite the many holes in Bridey's story, it was still a remarkably detailed account of life in 19th century Ireland, information that was very unlikely to have come Virginia Tighe's way. 

The case was studied by psychiatrists and psychologists, who had used hypnosis in treatment for many years. Many subjects, in deep hypnosis, can be highly suggestible and will act on the slightest hint given to them, seeking to supply the answer they subconsciously believe the hypnotist wishes to hear. A subject can even quote verbatim from a long-forgotten childhood book. Bernstein admitted that, while she was under hypnosis, he did tell Virginia Tighe what he wanted and that it was then that she became Bridey Murphy.

Most skeptics are satisfied that everything Virginia Tighe said can be explained as a memory of her long-forgotten childhood, that details of nineteenth-century Irish life were available to Tighe, and she was simply creating, probably unintentionally, a story that Bernstein wanted to hear. Yet, there are still others who continue to insist that she really did live a former life as Bridey Murphy and reincarnate in the 1920’s as Virginia Tighe.

This story demonstrates why it is so important, when working with hypnosis or Age Regression, to work with a practitioner or facilitator who is experienced and trained to avoid leading the subject in any particular direction, and can keep their own agenda or expectations out of it. I cannot say whether the story of Bridey Murphy is a true example of a past life regression or not, since I was not observing Bernstein’s methods or behavior at the time. I will, however, offer that since there are so many true details that could not have come to Virginia Tighe in a normal day’s experiences, that there could easily be some truth to it. Even the blending of 19th century Irish and 20th century American can be explained by the fact that even while in a deep trance state, the conscious ego mind is still aware and engaged, and if there are gaps in the memory/story, the conscious mind can and might supply some of the details. Therefore some bits and pieces will get mixed up. 

This is something a professional regressionist watches for, notices. Past Life Regression cannot be considered a valid method of historical documentation, nor is it proof that past lives are real. It is, however, a powerful healing modality, as well as a fascinating way to explore and learn about self, the inner realms, the higher being, the evolution of the Soul. 

Do you ever ponder engaging in past life regression therapy? If so, what possibilities spring to mind? Will you recall being a wealthy business magnate in nineteenth century America or a dirt-poor serf in medieval Europe? Will you have been a well-known historical figure or—more likely—an obscure person forgotten by history? Maybe you’ll remember all the above—along with many other previous lives. 

But past life regression does not necessarily mean you’ve actually lived previous lives. There are many working theories of what might be happening when people experience a past life in hypnotherapy. Whatever the theory, the interesting part is that past life regression work can provide therapeutic benefits going beyond the novelty of recalling a past life. Here are some theories explaining past lives:

• Your subconscious records historical information from books, conversations, lectures, and other exposures to facts. These facts emerge from your subconscious in hypnosis and you interpret them as a past life.
• Your imagination creates past life experiences the same way that your imagination creates dreams. Proponents of this theory believe you can work with past life experiences the way you can work with dreams and glean important patterns, insights, and understanding of your current life.
• Your past lives represent archetypes or metaphors. The archetypes you embodied in past lives help you work with the core issues and life roles you’re experiencing during your present life. For instance, if you’re driven to fight for the underdog or under-privileged, you may have past life experiences of being a benevolent leader or a revolutionary. The overlaying of the archetype of a past life may help identify present life's weaknesses and strengths.

·       Your past lives are the consequence of reincarnation. This is the most popular and widely accepted theory of past lives. Most major world religions, including early Christianity, believe the soul is reborn into multiple lives to work through lessons and grow in consciousness. This cycle continues until there is an experience of enlightenment, or a complete remembering that we are divine and an expression of God, the Tao, the creator, or whatever the belief of the ultimate source.

With various theories explaining past life memories, it is clear you do not have to believe in reincarnation, or even in past lives, to engage in past life therapy and gain benefits in this lifetime.

Past life regression has proven effective for many kinds of issues that people work through in therapy: phobias, feeling stuck in patterns, relationship issues, questions of life purpose, grief and loss, death and dying, physical issues and illness. 

The following examples show how past life regression provides therapeutic benefits. To maintain anonymity, we’ve changed certain details.

Holly worked with a woman who was the only one in her family who never went into the ocean during their Hawaiian vacations because of a deathly fear of the water. During a past life regression, she remembered she was drowned as a witch during the Middle Ages. After the regression, she realized her fear had nothing to do with her current life and was able to overcome it. 

Bill knew a young woman who was always the life of the party and unable to slow down. During a past life regression, Bill recalled a past life where both the woman and he were monks living a cerebral life divorced from the outside world. He suspected the woman’s present choices were influenced by the maxim, “been there, done that, try something new!” As it turned out, she, too, had independently recalled the life of a monk and started to bring more balance into her life. Another interesting aspect of regression work is that we tend to have “traveled” in previous lives with people we’re connected to in this life.

These examples hint at spiritual effects from past life regression, particularly when you recall multiple past lives. As you reflect on various lives, you may see how the actions taken in one life can have a cause and effect on another life—that you sow what you reap. Such a broader perspective can create an awareness that you’re creating lessons for yourself through different lives to provide opportunities for spiritual growth. You may come to see that you are not just your body, or an individual preoccupied with your own wellbeing, but comprehend something greater—a sense of oneness and understanding that life is for loving, learning, and conscious evolution. 

In line with biology and physics are the following additional past life regression theories which can also lead to an expanded world view and a feeling of connectedness:

·       Your past life experiences tap into your DNA and the genetic memory of your ancestor’s lifetime. In western Newtonian “show me” culture, this genetic theory of past lives is popular with some regression therapist.

·       Your past lives tap into the quantum field. Within the realm of quantum theory, some believe that you are one and part of a unified field. Since there is no time or space in the quantum reality, all past lives are happening simultaneously as parallel lives.

If you are interested in experiencing a past life regression, you can choose a self-guided process available on CDs—although the skill and guidance of a well-trained regression therapist is recommended.

The International Board for Regression Therapy’s website at IBRT.org lists good choices for regression therapists. A well trained regression therapist uses non-directive language and asks open-ended questions to ensure the client is generating their own past life content uninfluenced by the therapist.

If you have questions or comments, please reach out to us via the contact information on our websites: Holly at hypnotherapytraining.com or Bill at bill@billyarborough.com.

During an evaluation of a new IBRT applicant's taped past-life sessions the other examiners and I began a debate concerning exactly what comprises a past-life regression. The focus of our debate was the issue of the use of re-scripting and reframing in a past-life session. (See Russ Davis' article on Reframing in the 1997 APRT Journal) Through our discussions I rediscovered that I have some definite opinions on the issue and decided to offer them as a part of the APRT Journal for future discussion. 

I have been using regression therapy in some form in my private practice since 1981 and have been training hypnotherapists and past-life therapists through HCH, a state-licensed institute since 1986. I have a strong background in NLP and use reframing and re-scripting techniques primarily while working with habit control and current-life inner child work. I find reframing and re-scripting profoundly transforming in these areas. In past-life work, however I consider reframing and re-scripting unnecessary and dishonoring of the soul journey and soul lessons; not only of the client, but of all other souls involved in the past-life events and soul experiences. The discussion that follows will explain my thoughts on these important clinical issues. 

If the client requests inner child work I spend time asking what he wants and expects from present-life regression therapy. A detailed discussion follows which outlines the therapist and client's responsibilities in doing present-life regression therapy. I explain that we can focus on current presenting issues with pragmatic goals as the outcome. The present-life regression work becomes a means to an end, not an end in itself. Because of the legal limits of the use of hypnosis in California, I make sure my client has informed consent and understands that any information he accesses in a hypnotic state is not admissible in a court of law nor can it be used in a deposition for testimony. I make sure my client has his own healing and wholeness as the focus of the work and that he understands that uncovering memories does not necessarily prove that what was remembered is factual. The client is informed that the inner child work is a process to which one must commit in his own time and way, but that the present-life regression work, itself, is just the beginning of the process. 

I tell the client that it is my responsibility as the guide to ask open-ended questions and to allow the content of the experience to arise solely from himself. I explain that I will be a "tour guide" but that he is the "driver" of the experience. I empower the client to verbalize any needs that arise during the regression and to feel free to comment on any problems or concerns he may have while experiencing the hypnotic state. I inform him that accessing in hypnosis is a skill and suggest that by being open with me as the guide, I can help him learn how to access more easily while in the hypnotic state. I encourage the client to tell me if "nothing" is happening and assure him that "nothing" is "something" and is perfectly all right. 

I work to use impeccable language patterns which are non-directive and client empowering. ( See Russ Davis' article in 1997 APRT Journal and Henry Boldoc's article in 1998 APRT Journal) And NEVER do I tell the client what to create as a reframing or re-scripting of the childhood experience. Here's why: If I, as the therapist, tell the client what to experience or create, I am modeling that the client can't heal without an outsider's input. By my directing the content and/or by me becoming a character in the client's re-scripting I give the client the message :"You need me to rescue you from this memory and you need help outside of yourself to heal". I also know as a long-time recovering codependent people helper, that I need to stay out of the client's process and content so that I am not acting out my own "needs to be needed". The client's Higher Self is always used as the resource and the director of the reframing or rescripting. The content always comes from the client's Higher Self because the client can and will create a corrective and healing experience. There is no one else who could possibly know the child's needs or heal it better than the client himself! To support the client's Higher Self in doing the work I generally ask : "What does the child need?" The client's self-directed inner response is typically spontaneous. 

In psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, inner child work or present-life regression therapy has several purposes. The first is to free the subconscious from having to hold the lid of repression in place. This uncovering, in itself, can bring relief and free up psychic energy. Secondly, through present-life regression therapy a client can get new insight as to why and how he has developed the adult personality style and current defenses. The client can have a very conscious and direct experience of the long-term effects of unmet needs. Thirdly, in a present-life regression a client's childhood experience witnessed from the client's adult consciousness helps a client realize how as the child he often misinterpreted actual events and made decisions which are not based on the whole truths. (This is how I explain to clients that present-life memories can be "real" even if they are not based on facts.) In all these situations the child's needs which were never met at the time of the memory can finally be met through either reframing or rescripting of the incident. This creates a corrective emotional experience which allows the ego to heal and to move out of a negative experience which in some ways has the client "frozen" back in time and currently responding based on old perceptions or childhood "realities". The details of the work, however, must come from the client, NOT from the therapist. 

Past-Life work, from my perspective, has very different purposes and effects. Where present-life regression supports psychological healing, ego development and the ongoing sense of an emerging self, past-life regression therapy supports soul healing and the knowing of Self. Past-life therapy opens to the transpersonal realms of experience... an understanding that goes beyond the ego and personal self. It is my experience both as a client and a guide that it is common for a past-life experience to propel the experiencer into a greater understanding of the "why me?' and the cosmic purpose or soul lesson behind an experience. Once the lesson is gleaned there is an acceptance of the past-life event as a teacher of the lesson. The work in the interlife through which the client can know soul purpose really supports this spiritual and transpersonal level of understanding. 

Past-life therapy has the effect of disengaging the client's present-life identification with a past- life event by helping the client know from his own experience that there is continuity of consciousness through which much can be known and integrated of all of one's lives. From the transpersonal perspective the client has a direct experience in knowing that he is, in reality, none of the past-lives; nor is he, in reality, the present-life. He is a soul which takes on different roles each life to learn soul lessons; all of which are in support of the soul remembering who it is: a spiritual being having a human experience. 

If, in reality, we are not the experience of the past life, then why would we need to change the experience to heal it? In my opinion, healing the past-life is, in part, realizing that we have the life experience to learn lessons which support us in remembering who we are. Rather, I believe the healing is from the meta-consciousness or knowing that we, as souls, transcend identification with the suffering and the ecstasy of all human experience. Going through many experiences allows us to disidentify from the drama and attachment to all of life's ups and downs. 

Another area for discussion concerns the issue of karma. Many of the spiritual traditions profess that WE ARE ONE in spirit: that what affects one, also affects another. If this Oneness is truth in a cosmic sense, then when we heal ourselves, we heal each other. If there is no time and all past-lives are really concurrent and happening in other dimensions, then changing the outcome of a past life for ourselves will potentially change the outcome of that life for all other souls involved. When we, as the guide, make changes or ask the client to make changes in the client's past-life to make the outcomes better, happier and easier,, we are not necessarily making all the other souls' lives better, happier or easier. We are potentially karmically interfering with what is rather than supporting the client in accepting and understanding what is. 

Many of my clients experience that there are soul agreements with other souls which we choose in the interlife before incarnation. These agreements are related to lessons which our souls must learn. We need each other to play specific roles in each lifetime so that we can interface with experiences which provide the opportunities to learn the lessons. Changing the outcomes of past lives potentially affects all the souls involved in the event and dishonors the cosmic plan in which we agreed to participate. 

In my mind, in a past-life session the therapeutic time is best spent supporting the client in coming to his personal knowing of his soul's journey for the purpose of remembering who and what he is in the larger spiritual reality. Then, it doesn't matter whether a past-life turned out badly or not. The past-life turned out the way it did as a part of the perfection of the soul's journey to wholeness and remembering the truth of who it is. With this transpersonal view of the past-life events, a client will come to an acceptance of his own present and past and a greater understanding of the lives of others. It is the acceptance which brings us to the place of loving what is and understanding that all of life is spiritual. This understanding will support the client in his present life to live more fully in the moment with loving acceptance of the way it is and with the awareness that the way it is, is perfect. Part of a past-life healing is a higher understanding of one's experience and lessons which leads to forgiveness of self and others. Forgiveness usually clears the way to the experience of Love. 

In summary, I find the reframing and rescripting techniques very effective in supporting a client's ego development and in healing current life issues affecting the personal self. The personal self of the past-life is released in the death experience as the soul is re-absorbed by the light. It is the soul or Self which reincarnates. It is unnecessary, and perhaps undesirable from a karmic perspective, to use rescripting and reframing in the past-life therapy. Rather, it is more effective and a better use of the therapeutic time to support the client in coming to acceptance and understanding that all life experiences, both good and bad, are a part of a human journey which leads to wholeness and the direct experience of Self.

Mellen-Thomas Benedict is an artist who survived a near-death experience in 1982. He was dead for over an hour and a half and during that time, he "rose up out of his body and went into the Light." Curious about the universe, was taken far into the remote depths of existence, and even beyond, into the energetic Void of Nothingness behind the Big Bang.  Dr. Kenneth Ring has said, "His story is one of the most remarkable I have encountered in my extensive research on near-death experiences. "

THE ROAD TO DEATH

In 1982 I died from terminal cancer. My condition was non-operable. I chose not to have chemotherapy. I was given six to eight months to live. Before this time, I had become increasingly despondent over the nuclear crisis, the ecology crisis, and so forth. I came to believe that nature had made a mistake - that we were probably a cancerous organism on the planet. And that is what eventually killed me. Before my death, I tried all sorts of

alternative healing methods. None helped.

So I determined that this was between me and God. I had never really considered God. Neither was I into any kind of spirituality, but my approaching death sent me on a quest for more information about spirituality and alternative healing. I read various religions and philosophies. They gave hope that there was something on the other side.

I had no medical insurance, so my life savings went overnight on tests.Unwilling to drag my family into this, I determined to handle this myself. I ended up in hospice care and was blessed with an angel for my hospice caretaker, whom I will call "Anne." She stayed with me through all that was to follow. It lasted about eighteen months.

THE LIGHT OF GOD

I woke up about 4:30 am and I knew that this was it. I was going to die. I called a few friends and said good-bye. I woke up Anne and made her promise that my dead body would remain undisturbed for six hours, since I had read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to sleep.

The next thing I remember, I was fully aware and standing up. Yet my body was lying in the bed. I seemed to be surrounded by darkness, yet I could see every room in the house, and the roof, and even under the house.

A Light shone; I turned toward it, and was aware of its similarity to what others have described in near-death experiences. It was magnificent and tangible, alluring. I wanted to go towards that Light like I might want to go into my ideal mother's or father's arms. As I 

moved towards the Light, I knew that if I went into the Light, I would be dead. So I said/felt, "Please wait. I would like to talk to you before I go."

The entire experience halted. I discovered that I was in control of the entire experience. My request was honoured. I had conversations with the Light. That's the best way I can describe it. The Light changed into different figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna , mandalas, archetypal images and signs. I asked in a kind of telepathy, "What is going on here?"

The information transmitted was that our beliefs shape the kind of feedback we receive: If you are a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, you get a feedback loop of your own images. I became aware of a Higher Self matrix, a conduit to the Source.

We all have a Higher Self, or an oversoul part of our being, a conduit. All Higher Selves are connected as one being, all humans are connected as one being. We are literally the same being. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was like all the love you've every wanted, and it was the kind of love that cures, heals, regenerates.

I was ready to go at that time. I said "I am ready, take me. " the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. I saw that we are the most beautiful creations - elegant, exotic, everything. I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of human beings in an instant.

I said/thought/ felt, "Oh, God, I didn't realise." I was astonished to find that there was no evil in any soul. People may do terrible things out of ignorance and lack, but no soul is evil. What all people seek, what sustains them, is love, the Light told me. What distorts people is a lack of love.

The revelations went on and on. I asked, "Does this mean that humankind will be saved?" Like a trumpet blast with a shower of spiraling lights, the Light "spoke," saying, "You save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have and always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of the world."

In that instant I realised that WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN SAVED; this is what the

"Second Coming" is about. I thanked the Light of God with all my heart. The best thing I could come up with was: "Oh dear God, dear Universe, dear Great Self, I love my Life."

The Light seemed to breathe me in even more deeply, absorbing me. I entered

into another realm more profound than the last, and was aware of an enormous stream of Light, vast and full, deep. I asked what it was. The Light answered, "This is the RIVER OF LIFE . Drink of this manna water to your heart's content." I drank deeply, in ecstasy.

THE VOID OF NOTHINGNESS

Suddenly I seemed to be rocketing away from the planet on this stream of Life. I saw the earth fly away. The solar system, whizzed by and disappeared. I flew through the centre of the galaxy, absorbing more knowledge as I went. I learned that this galaxy, and all of the Universe, is bursting with many different varieties of life. I saw many worlds. We are not alone in this Universe.

It seemed as if all the creations in the Universe soared past me and vanished in a speck of Light. Almost immediately, a second Light appeared. As I passed into the second Light, I could perceive forever, beyond Infinity. I was in the Void, pre-Creation, the beginning of time, the first Word or vibration. I rested in the Eye of Creation and it seemed that I

touched the Face of God. It was not a religious feeling. I was simply at One with Absolute Life and Consciousness.

It would take me years to assimilate the Void experience. It was less than nothing yet greater than anything. Creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom, God is exploring God's Self. I saw everything as the Self of all. God is here. That's what it is all about. Everything is made of light; everything is alive.

THE LIGHT OF LOVE

I rode the stream directly into the centre of the Light. I felt embraced by the Light as it took me in with its breath again. And the truth was obvious that there is no death; that nothing is born and nothing dies; that we are immortal beings, part of a natural living system that recycles itself endlessly. I was never told that I had to come back. I just knew that I would. It was only natural, from what I had seen.

As I began my return to the life cycle, it never crossed my mind, nor was I told, that I would return to the same body. It did not matter. I had complete trust in the Light and the Life process. As the stream merged with the great Light, I asked never to forget the revelations and the feelings of what I had learned on the other side.

I thought of myself as a human again and I was happy to be that. From what I have seen, I would be happy to be an atom in this universe. An atom. So to be the human part of God ... this is the most fantastic blessing. It is a blessing beyond our wildest estimation of what blessing can be. For each and every one of us to be the human part of this experience is awesome, and magnificent. Each and every one of us, no matter where we are, screwed up or not, is a blessing to the planet, right where we are.

So I went through the reincarnation process expecting to be a baby somewhere. But I reincarnated back into this body. I was so surprised when I opened my eyes, to be back in 

this body, back in my room with someone looking over me, crying her eyes out. It was "Anne," my hospice caretaker. She had found me dead thirty minutes before.

We do not know how long I was dead, only that she found me thirty minutes before. She had honoured my wish to have my newly-dead body left alone. She can verify that I really was dead. It was not a near-death experience. I believe I probably experienced death itself for at least an hour and a half.

When I awakened I saw the light outside. Confused, I tried to get up to go to it, but I fell out of the bed. She heard a loud "clunk", ran in and found me on the floor.

When I recovered, I was surprised and awed about what had happened, I had no memory at first of the experience. I kept slipping out of this world and kept asking, "Am I alive?" This world seemed more like a dream than that one. Within three days, I was feeling normal again, clearer, yet different than ever before. My memories of the journey came back later. But from my return I could find nothing wrong with any human being I had ever seen.

Previous to my death I was judgmental, believing that people were really screwed up. Everyone but me.

About three months later a friend said I should get tested for the cancer, so I got the scans and so forth. I felt healthy. I still remember the doctor at the clinic looking at the "before" and "after" scans. He said, "I can find no sign of cancer now."

"A miracle?" I asked.

"No," he answered. These things happen spontaneous remission." He seemed unimpressed. But I was impressed, and knew it was a miracle.

LESSONS LEARNED

The Great Mystery of life has little to do with intelligence. The universe is not an intellectual process. The intellect is helpful; but our hearts are the wiser part of ourselves.

Since my return I have experienced the Light spontaneously, and I have learned how to get to that space almost any time in my meditation. You can also do this. You do not have to die first. You are wired for it already.

The body is the most magnificent Light being there is. The body is a universe of incredible Light. Spirit is not pushing us to dissolve this body. We don't need to commune with God; God is communing with us in every moment.

I asked God: "What is the best religion on the planet? Which one is right?"God said with great love: "I don't care." What an incredible grace. It does not matter what religion we are. 

Religions come and they go, they change. Buddhism has not been here forever, Catholicism has not been here forever, and they are all about to become more enlightened. More light is coming into all systems now.

Many will resist and fight about it, one religion against the next, believing that only they are right. When Godhead said, "I don't care," I understood that it is for us to care about, because we are the caring beings. The Source does not care if you are Protestant, Buddhist, or Jew. Each is a reflection, a facet of the whole. I wish that all religions would realise it and let each other be. It is not the end of separate religions, but live and let live. Each has a different view. And it all adds up to the big picture.

I went over to the other side with a lot of fears about toxic waste, nuclear missiles, the population explosion, the rain forest. I came back loving every single problem. I love nuclear waste. I love the mushroom cloud; this is the holiest mandala that we have manifested to date, as an archetype. More than any religion or philosophy on earth, that terrible, wonderful cloud brought us together all of a sudden, to a new level of consciousness.

What happens when we dream? We are multi-dimensional beings. We can access that through lucid dreaming. In fact, this universe is God's dream. One of the things that I saw is that we humans are a speck on a planet that is a speck in a galaxy that is a speck. Those are giant systems out there, and we are in sort of an average system. But human beings are already legendary throughout the cosmos of consciousness. . One of the things that we are

legendary for is dreaming. We are legendary dreamers. In fact, the whole cosmos has been looking for the meaning of life, the meaning of it all. And it was the little dreamer who came up with the best answer ever. We dreamed it up. So dreams are important.

After dying and coming back, I really respect life and death. In our DNA experiments we may have opened the door to a great secret. Soon we will be able to live as long as we want living 150 years or so, there will be an intuitive soul sense that you will want to change channels. Living forever in one body is not as creative as reincarnation, as transferring energy in this fantastic vortex of energy that we are in. We are actually going to see the wisdom of life and death, and enjoy it. As it is now, we have already been alive forever. Here's to life!

Remember that we are all divine beings, placed here for exquisite purposes we may not completely understand. LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT

Divine and Pure Love is unconditional and it keeps expanding. It never contracts. - SAI BABA

Many people in our modern times have what they describe as memories of having lived past lives. Remembering a past life has a potential profound healing effect on one’s health, relationships, life work, spiritual understanding and sense of Self. A past life memory can also be an opening for one’s spiritual evolution and growth. I know because I have remembered many of my own past life experiences and I have facilitated thousands of people while they were in a hypnotic state as they remembered their past lives. 

Both spiritual traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism, have versions of reincarnation in their theologies. In both traditions there is a belief that the soul is eternal and that it takes different forms through out the process of birth, death and rebirth. In each tradition there is a belief that the incarnate form and life experiences one has is the effect of past lives. The concept of karma, cause and effect, is also universal to these traditions. In both spiritual traditions reincarnation is a basic component of the theology. The ultimate expression of spiritual growth is moving beyond the cycles of death and rebirth, to a state of re-emergence with the divine. 

In this paper I will discuss the concept of reincarnation from two spiritual traditions: Hinduism, and Buddhism . I will weave into the discussion the phenomenology of personal experiences from my twenty-three years experience as a psychotherapist who specializes in past life regression therapy, and as a client of past life therapy. And I will discuss how doing regression therapy can assist the spiritual practice of people who follow the spiritual paths of Hinduism and Buddhism. 

Hinduism 

Sacred Hindu texts use the term atman to refer to the spiritual essence of a human being. The atman is one’s true Self because it connects each individual soul to one Source or Supreme Reality – Brahman. In Hinduism life is a journey which takes each individual soul back to the oneness of Brahman from which everything is born. On this journey we human beings tend to forget the truth of who we are: we tend to fall into samsara, the seemingly never-ending cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Humans are destined to reincarnate over and over again until our atman, or spiritual essence as a human being, can remember that we are Brahman. Lifetimes give us on- going opportunities to reach a state of awareness called moksha or liberation. We can only reach this state by realizing that we are not our personalities and simply material beings. We must follow a path of dharma, a path or moral and ethical conduct and do a spiritual practice to become one with spirit. 

The Hindu perspective on reincarnation also includes the concept of transmigration of the movement of the soul from mineral, vegetable and animal forms before becoming human. After going through the many human forms to samsara the soul evolved to become angelic. 

Some Hindus believe that transmigration can also be reversed: that the human soul can also become animal in its next life if the soul needs to experience the karma of de-evolving.1 

The Hindu practices follow the teachings in the Vedas which are believed to have been composed between 1200 BCE and 1000 BCE.2 The Bhagavad- Gita, part of the Mahabherata Epics, is the story of prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna, who is the reincarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu, the Lord of the Universe. In the Gita , Krishna explains how spiritual knowledge is attained. Knowledge is attained through the playing out of karma, living out one’s dharma, or spiritual duty, and through the perfection of one’s soul’s and learning through reincarnation. The experience of life and all of its teachings is so vast that it is unlikely that in one lifetime the soul can move into perfection. 

The concepts of karma and reincarnation are woven throughout the Bhagavad-Gita and are more than dogma to Hindus. In an article that appeared in India’s Illustrated Weekly (September 26, 1971) is the statement, “Karma and reincarnation are to them [Hindus] more than dogma, they are like the air that they breathe. And Hindus cannot help themselves feeling that they are a part of a cosmic scheme that is perpetually in a whirl. As Krishna says in the Gita, ‘All worlds up to that of Brahma are subject to rebirth again and again.’”3 

In past life regression therapy a client has the opportunity to directly experience the effects of karma or cause and effect in one’s own present and past lives. Through the life stories that unfold and through the associated state in the body, time and place of the past life, the client experiences direct emotions, sensations and soul awareness of the “hows” and “whys” of the past life in relation to current circumstances in one’s present life. 

An example is from my own regression therapy work. I grew up with a physically and emotionally abusive alcoholic mother. By the time I was an adolescent I had given up on getting my mothering needs met by her and I lived with resentment and hate. I rejected my mother with the same passion I felt with which she rejected me until I accessed a past life memory when my mother was a child and I was her stepmother. I had the image and sensation of being angry and resentful toward my stepdaughter and beating her as she crouched in a corner. I experienced that I beat her often and that I was relentlessly emotionally cruel to her. I had the realization that in my current life my mother and I carried the soul memory of the past relationship and that karmically we were balancing out the drama by reversing the roles. This experience explained to me so clearly why I was the one out of four daughters she abused. In an instant not only did I understand the cause and effect of her abuse, but I also came to a place of forgiveness of my mother this life time and for myself in the past. Our relationship changed dramatically after this regression. The hate and resentment were gone. I was able to accept her and my relationship with her with more compassion. Understanding the karma between my mother and myself supported my ability to accept what is and to come to a place of peace and healing. I have no way of knowing to what degree this healing of my relationship with my mother has supported my spiritual evolution. I do know, however, that in this life time I feel more able to be present with what is and I felt less reactive and judgmental where my mother is concerned. I have also committed to the dharma of helping others to come to a more accepting and compassionate place in their lives through understanding the “why me?” of difficult situations in their lives.

 1.   Dury, Nevill, Reincarnation, p. 14. 

2  Cole, W, Owen and V.P. (Hemant) Kanitkar Hinduism p.103. 

3  Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams, Reincarnation: A New Horizon in Science,  Religion, and Society, 

     p.233.
4 Matt, Hana, Hinduism, p.115. 

When one comes to the karma of the “why me?” as it is related to the past life connection to current life effects, awareness shifts and healing takes place. Past life regression work can help one do the spiritual work of Chanda in the Hindu tradition: “ This is the wholesome desire of chanda- to be free, the desire to relieve suffering, to be healthy, to promote well-being.”4 Past life regression therapy brings into the current life the spiritual practice of liberation, and basic self-esteem and equality with others. 

Buddhism 

Reincarnation is also a basic part of the theology in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha, Siddhartha, at his moment of enlightenment saw all of his past incarnations as he looked into his reflection in the river. One effect of enlightenment is that the wheels of karma are broken and one no longer must reincarnate to perfect one’s Being. A Boddhisattva, however, is one who reaches enlightenment or Nirvana and chooses to incarnate to assist all others incarnated in reaching nirvana through teaching how one can release suffering and attachment. Reaching perfection is the goal of Buddhists and perfection is reached by incarnating over and over again to experience and learn how to let go of all attachment and suffering created by the mind. The schools of Mahayana and Zen Buddhism hold the belief in personal reincarnation and those who practice these forms of Buddhism are focused on stopping the karmic pull that bring us back into a body in human form. 5 Also the goal in one’s current life is to liberate oneself from suffering: freedom from tanha, the causes of suffering: attachment, addiction, aversion, denial, dullness and delusion. 

The original Buddhist scriptures, known as the Pali Canon, were recorded several hundred years after Buddha’s death. The most celebrated of these is the Dhammapada. Here Buddha plainly speaks of two selves within the human being, the lesser self and the greater self, the former being perishable and the later enduring from life to life. Here is a selection from the Dhammapada: “I call him Brahmana [a true Brahmin] who has destroyed his doubts by knowledge and had plumbed the depth of the Eternal....Him I call a Brahmana who knows the mystery of death and rebirth of all beings, who knows his former lives, who is a sage of perfect knowledge and who has accomplished all that needs to be accomplished.” 6 

In the Diamond Sutra the opening paragraph refers to a past life of the Buddha when he was born a king’s son and his raging father cut the infant into pieces: 

When the king of Kalinga cut my flesh from every limb, at that time I had no perception of self, of being a soul, or a person. And why? If at that time I had had a perception of self, I would have had a perception of ill-will....With my superknowledge I recall that in the past I have for five hundred births led the life of a sage devoted to patience.7 

In the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is chosen because of his ability to remember certain objects and spiritual teaching from a prior lifetime as a Dalai Lama. He is put to tests to prove the authenticity of his reincarnational heritage before he is accepted into the role as the new Dalai Lama. His ability to remember is a sign of his advanced spiritual state. The Tibetan Buddhists want to honor the past learnings and wisdom of their spiritual leader; he can pick up where he left off in a prior lifetime. Bradford Smith of Colombia University writes: 

When the previous Dalai Lama dies, wise men who had gone to seek the new holy one, had found a little boy who recognized things that had belonged to his predecessor and could pick them out unerringly from among similar objects....So here is a religion where an infant is born obscurely, recognized by wise men and worshipped: where a holy man prophesies that he will return from the dead......In Tibetan Buddhism, with its firm faith in the rebirth of the soul, not only of the Dalai Lamas but of all, and of a progress based upon behavior during past lives, this impulse is dramatically present.8 

The Dalai Lama speaks of the effects of karma and reincarnation in a poignant way in a discussion of the sad state of Tibet where suffering has been inflicted upon the people, and where the Chinese are attempting to stamp out every vestige of Buddhism. One may wonder how the Dalai Lama views all this in the light of reincarnation. An answer is given in an interview with the Lama as reported in the New York Times (November 12, 1967): 

As a Buddhist he said that he believes that the present events are determined by intricate sets of causes stretching back into the previous lives of those who are affected by them. “Thus”, he said, “it was only an ‘outward appearance’ that the Tibetans were suffering today because of the Chinese aggression. The aggression must have come because we did something bad.” “Similarly”, he went on,” it is only an ‘outward appearance’ that Chinese rule in Tibet is now permanent. The chain of causes that will eventually undermine it, must already be lengthening, even if it cannot be seen.” “Cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect, “ he said cheerfully in English, his fingers darting in the air to join the links of an imaginary chain. “There will certainly be change.”9 

The Dalai Lama speaks of the effects of karma and reincarnation in a poignant way in a discussion of the sad state of Tibet where suffering has been inflicted upon the people, and where the Chinese are attempting to stamp out every vestige of Buddhism. One may wonder how the Dalai Lama views all this in the light of reincarnation. An answer is given in an interview with the Lama as reported in the New York Times (November 12, 1967): 

As a Buddhist he said that he believes that the present events are determined by intricate sets of causes stretching back into the previous lives of those who are affected by them. “Thus”, he said, “it was only an ‘outward appearance’ that the Tibetans were suffering today because of the Chinese aggression. The aggression must have come because we did something bad.” “Similarly”, he went on,” it is only an ‘outward appearance’ that Chinese rule in Tibet is now permanent. The chain of causes that will eventually undermine it, must already be lengthening, even if it cannot be seen.” “Cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect, “ he said cheerfully in English, his fingers darting in the air to join the links of an imaginary chain. “There will certainly be change.”9 

Past life therapy is a spiritual process through which you can remember the Self and the truth of who you are as a spiritual being. Through direct experiences of emotions, body sensations and events one can come to a profound understanding and acceptance of the way it is. One has a direct experience of karma and the bigger picture of the spiritual lessons that come through the process of karmic experiences of cause and effect. 

Sixteen years ago a man came to see me to do a past-life regression around his lack of ambition and success in the field of music. The minute he walked into my office I was struck with a deep and profound recognition of him. This man is now my husband of fourteen years. Through out our life and spiritual work together, I have come to understand so much about our connection and our karma. In a past life we shared in Ancient Egypt, Paul, my husband now, was a man of spiritual responsibility. He was to watch over the Priestess virgins who were to be sacrificed whenever a pharaoh died. The Priestess spirits would accompany the dead pharaohs into the afterlife to protect them and care for them. I was chosen to be sacrificed. He chose me to die because I was the most evolved of the priestess. This choice infuriated me. We had fallen in love and I wanted to be free to be in relationship with him. This was not possible since I was a well- guarded virgin priestess. I was furious that he would choose his spiritual responsibility to sacrifice the highest priestess over our personal love and that I was the victim of a spiritual ritual that I knew was based on superstition, not on the reality of the power of love. When I died I was angry at the stupidity of personal religious sacrifices when I knew that love was the most important healing force in the universe. 

Well, in this lifetime we get to be together to explore personal and spiritual love. I feel that Paul is very dedicated to exploring the experience of personal and spiritual love with me. And I am exploring more lessons about personal sacrifice: what it is and when it feels appropriate and inappropriate. We have both moved beyond religious dogma and adopting external authority where our spiritual life is concerned and we both are involved with the dharma of supporting others in being in relationship with their own spiritual power. We are consciously working on freeing ourselves from the karmic wheel that keeps us caught up in the suffering and entrapment of mind. As stated by the Buddhist scholar Bassui Tokusho: 

If you would free yourself of the sufferings of samsara [rebirth], you must learn the direct way to become a Buddha. This way is no other than the realization of your own Mind. Now what is this Mind? It is the true nature of all sentient beings, that which existed before our parents were born and hence before our own birth, which presently exists, unchangeable and eternal. So it is one’s Face before one’s parents were born...When we are born it is not newly created, and when we die it does not perish. It has no distinction of male or female, nor has it any coloration good or bad. It cannot be compared to anything, so it is called Buddha nature.... 

Should your yearning be too weak to lead you to this state in your present life time, you will undoubtedly gain Self-realization easily in the next, provided you are still engaged in this questioning at death, just as yesterday’s work half done was finished easily today.10 

Past life therapy is a tool that will support the soul’s spiritual work in moving towards finishing... in moving towards one’s Buddha-hood, today. Past life therapy can give one the direct understanding and experience of cause and effect and can help one to more consciously choose thoughts and actions that will support the lessening of personal and planetary suffering. Through doing the work of past-life therapy one can realize more fully that we are all Buddhas in the process of Self-realization.

1. 5  Freedman, Thelma, PhD, Soul Echoes, pp. 4-6 
2. 6  Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams, Op. Cit, p.239 
3. 8  Cranston, Sylvia, Op. Cit., p. 99. 
4. 9  Cranston, Sylvia, Op. Cit. p. 101.

             10. 10 Cranston, Sylvia, Op. Cit., p. 89-90. 

Through work with past life regression and life between life regression we have found that our karmic scripts are often designed with considerable room for improvisation. One of the interesting details is that less-developed or “younger” souls seem to benefit more from very detailed karmic blueprints, while more developed “older” souls prefer more room for improvisation in order to respond more creatively to challenging situations.

If we engage our life tasks with courage and resolve, we can actually complete our allotted karmic assignment and then have the option of moving plans tentatively scheduled for our next life into our current life. Some refer to this level as Grace - we have moved beyond the expectations of our original karma and we can choose to rest, or pick up another round of tasks. For those who are deeply committed to their own evolutionary progress, it is possible to accomplish many lifetimes of work in a single lifecycle.  

From the concepts of heaven and hell to belief in karma and reincarnation, there is a keen desire in the human mind to believe that some part of us remains after we leave the physical body. Knowing, through meditation, faith, or the books I have mentioned, takes us one step further into awareness that we exist beyond the body, that the physical reality we deal with on a daily basis is only one aspect of who and what we are, and we each have a purpose, a plan, a reason for being. We are exactly where we are supposed to be, and doing what we need to be doing, even the bad stuff, even the scary stuff, is exactly what is supposed to be going on. No matter how difficult or seemingly inexplicable our lives may be, everything in them is there for our own benefit.

Even though it seems, sometimes, like random chaos, there is a meaning and a purpose to the universe, and to everything and to everyone. This is a common thread throughout all the past life memories that have been documented. In Near Death Experiences, it is the same thing, profound insight into the significance of individual experiences as well as the universe itself being in its rightful place. 

Near Death Experiences

The Near Death Experience is essentially a spontaneous experience that can often serve as a catalyst for spiritual awakening and development, according to authors like P.M. Atwater, Kenneth Ring and Raymond Moody. It is a long and challenging road to understanding and accepting, depending on how the experiencer’s story and information about the spiritual realms are received.  

There are many personality changes after a NDE. They bring back a deep motivation, a purpose in life, a definite direction and an overwhelming conviction that there is a reward a point to everything, even dying. They have a thirst for spiritual understanding and a passionate desire to see the world improve. 

Based on the research that has been done, the Near Death Experiences brings the individual into a new and more authentic sense of self as well as to help actualize inner potentials. Not so much that there is a new personality as the real one is finally allowed to come through;. This kind of experience also brings about major changes in behavior. One of the most important kinds of changes a Near Death Experiences induces, and one that is consistent with the personality transformation, is changes in values. People who undergo something like a Near Death Experience tend to have more appreciation for life and more concern and love for their fellow human beings, while their interest in personal status and material possessions wanes. Many of them have lost all fear of death itself.  

I have also published on this page an article written by Mellen-Thomas Benedict, who had an NDE and has not only written about it, but has shared the wisdom and insight on his website, on DVDs, and seminars. I have also included an article I wrote about my training in LBLs and my own experience doing one (as part of the training). It is a life changing experience for sure! Last is a page of suggested reading materials if you want to learn more about this subject.  

Finally, the original question - where are we when we are not in a physical body - can be answered simply by We are Home. Home in its purest and most ideal definition. When we are Home we are with Family, in its truest and purest sense, Family that loves and accepts us unconditionally. Each life story is only a moment in our Soul’s Journey. It is the Soul’s journey to enlightenment and Divinity that motivates us to move along the path of each incarnation.We leave behind fear and materialism as we become what we truly are, pure spirit energy.  We don’t need to wait until our death to awaken to this self-knowledge. Awakening to our divinity is the ultimate goal of all the lives we journey through here on EarthSchool. The method of awakening is varied and less important than the willingness to trust self enough to look beyond the physical realms and into the inner knowing of the Soul Mind. Awakening allows us to raise our consciousness to what is sometimes called Christ Consciousness, in order that we can see beyond the world around us to the world within us.

The last week in October of 2004 I drove down to Virginia Beach, to the Association for Research in Enlightenment (A.R.E.) Edgar Cayce's foundation, to learn this very specific regression technique based on the work of Dr. Michael Newton in his books Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls. I will try to explain what Dr. Newton examines in his books and what I learned during the training program, but I strongly suggest you read his books for yourself. 

We are all spiritual beings on a physical path. If you have thought about or wondered where we are when we are not in this body on this planet, living this life, perhaps these books might be worth reading! Life between lives is a way of exploring the realms of the spirit, our true selves, and the path we created for ourselves to walk on this earth plane. According to Dr. Newton it offers a potential for exploration of the Soul mind, where we contact and communicate with our spirit guides, our soul groups, meet our council of elders, and find out about life selection and the purpose of our current life. In a very deep trance state we move into the Superconscious mind, where we travel on an amazing journey of self exploration, inner knowledge and wisdom. 

Dr. Newton wrote the first book, Journey of Souls, in 1994, based on his work taking regression clients beyond the concept of past lives to the realm of Spirit. Once you have gone through this process you are more likely to call it Home. That is what it feels like while you are there, and that is how you remember it when you return to your physical body. The first book examines the basic process, defines the kinds of experiences one encounters and how it can bring powerful healing and enlightenment to the clients. His next book, Destiny of Souls came out in 2000. In that book he further examines the different places we experience in the realm of spirit, in greater depth and detail, places such as Healing Rooms, reconnecting with our soul groups, Life review, Council of Elders, and Life Selection. I first encountered Dr. Newton's work in 2002 and I instantly knew I had to have that experience, both as a client and as a facilitator! It is fascinating stuff and I wanted very much to learn more about it. 

In his books Dr. Newton explains that when we are born we combine our Soul energy and consciousness with the physical body that is to be our host body for that lifetime. The Soul character is heavily influenced by the mental processes, emotional temperament, and biological systems of the body and the brain. The character of the immortal soul and temperament of the body and brain create the personality after birth. The motivations, fears, self-image and goals of an individual's conscious mind are greatly influenced by the physical, emotional, and mental make-up of the body in which we reside. Our insight, intuition and conscience are from the Soul Mind. And the permanent character of the Soul Mind is influenced, also, by the many karmic experiences of previous lifetimes with other bodies. He also tells us that this level of inner work enables us to see the Big Picture - it helps us to identify who we really are and thus empower ourselves. Many of Dr. Newton's clients have gone to worlds other than Earth, and even other dimensions. 

He tells us that 

while Earth-school is a powerful place to incarnate and learn important lessons, it is not the only place we choose to go nor are we the only beings that live here. 

Exploring the spirit realm gives you an opportunity to see your life and yourself from a new and different perspective. It helps you review what you have done and where you have been without blame or guilt, taking responsibility for yourself because you see yourself as the being of spirit, of light and love that you are. From there you can see the patterns in the relationships, the lessons, the challenges of your life as opportunities to learn and grow, to move to higher levels of wisdom and connection. It also gives you a chance to see just how beautiful the physical world truly is, how amazing and vulnerable each one of us are, how we are all unique individuals yet deeply connected at the same time. You will find a greater sense of compassion and forgiveness for self and for others and you learn to appreciate all your mistakes and mishaps as lessons and opportunities to learn, to be humble and to show courage. Reading Dr. Newton's books gives you a sense of how rewarding it is to be human, to live upon this planet, this earth school, and how each lesson moves us forward on our own personal path. 

In terms of self-growth and understanding a life between lives (LBL) session brings opportunities for healing and transformation that are very real. It also brings a level of wisdom and insight that is hard to define but will stay with you the rest of your life. During these sessions individuals will gain insight regarding mistakes and successes from the past that can be integrated into their current life. When self-destructive patterns are approached within the context of higher wisdom and insight the Soul mind can over-ride the fears and issues of the ego mind and the attitudes that are harmful and destructive and realize the lessons and purpose of each choice that was made. Primarily, this kind of work enables an individual to recognize their true identity. When a client can relate their past lives to their life between lives and to their current life, this gives the Soul identity with the body and a new found sense of purpose. 

I have worked with several clients since that week in October, and some have gone by the book, including one who hadn't yet read the books, and then there are others who take off and go into other dimensions, other realms. We are human and we are spirit and we are powerful and we are meant to live in light and joy! This is our birthright and our gift to us and to each other. The world of Spirit, the Spirit Realm is our home. It is a world with incredible order and purpose. Everything happens for a reason and in its own good time and there are lessons in everything we experience here in earth-school. We are immortal beings and this kind of work helps bring harmony and balance into our current lives. 

If you are interested in learning more about this, read his books. If you think you would like to experience this work personally, contact me to set up an appointment. Go to Dr. Newton's web site (www.TheNewtonInstitute.org) to learn more about it there. I also have a page on LBL on my own website at gatekeeperguidance.com or you can email me at gatkepr@dreamscape.com.