In the article Being Sensible about Past Lives, it was said –

“Be aware that the results of “past life regression therapy” are almost always a waste of time. Such techniques and procedures tend to give rise to little more than subconscious fantasies and delusions and to people picking up details from the collective unconscious or the “astral light” and mistakenly applying them to themselves when they could actually be the images and records of someone else’s past life. The amount of people around the world all “discovering” through regression that they were one and the same particular famous person from history (Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, George Washington, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe tend to be firm favourites!) is phenomenal. Serious reincarnation researchers almost entirely disregard the results of regression techniques and find that they are almost always unprovable, unlike spontaneously occurring recollections of past lives.”

This is not merely our own view on “past life regression” but is shared by the most highly respected researchers and scientific authorities on the subject of reincarnation, notably the famous Dr Ian Stevenson, who was almost entirely critical of the practice. Another reason why Theosophy does not specifically encourage or agree with the practice is that it has been known to cause lasting trauma or psychological damage for some people who have been regressed. This is why it is often said that it seems an act of kindness on the part of Karma that we do not generally remember anything from our previous incarnations, at least not until we reach a sufficiently high stage of spiritual development and inner evolution that all the memories come back naturally, accurately, and of their own accord.

Allowing oneself to be hypnotised in any way can also open the door to all sorts of undesirable influences on the astral or psychic level.

There have been a few cases, however, where the results of regression therapy have been possible to investigate further, sometimes with astounding consequences. Two of the videos on this page are of that nature. Anyone who doubts or questions the reality of reincarnation should watch these. The full length documentary at the bottom of the page is so powerful that it was apparently banned at one time, presumably at the instigation of either closed-minded atheists or bigoted Christians, those who prefer the narrow confines of their religious creeds to the freedom that comes from a knowledge and acceptance of fact and Truth.

The famous motto of the Theosophical Movement is “There is no religion higher than Truth.”

At one point in that video it is remarked that it seems that the subject’s mind has previously experienced life on Earth as another person. This is actually exactly right, for the mind is the soul and it is this part of us – which Theosophy calls the permanent individuality and the Reincarnating Ego – which incarnates and reincarnates in accordance with its Karma, which is its own self-created destiny. It is not the personal brain-mind which reincarnates, but the higher, enduring, and more transcendent aspect of the mind, of which the personal brain-mind in each successive lifetime is the Karmically shaped and imperfect product and reflection.

To quote briefly from “The Ocean of Theosophy” by William Q. Judge: “Manas, or the Thinker is the reincarnating being, the immortal who carries the results and values of all the different lives lived on earth or elsewhere. Its nature becomes dual as soon as it is attached to a body. . . . In Manas the thoughts of all lives are stored. . . . The inner Ego, who reincarnates, taking on body after body, storing up the impressions of life after life, gaining experience and adding it to the divine Ego, suffering and enjoying through an immense period of years, is the fifth principle – Manas – not united to Buddhi. This is the permanent individuality which gives to every man the feeling of being himself and not some other; that which through all the changes of the days and nights from youth to the end of life makes us feel one identity through all the period; it bridges the gap made by sleep; in like manner it bridges the gap made by the sleep of death. It is this, and not our brain, that lifts us above the animal. The depth and variety of the brain convolutions in man are caused by the presence of Manas, and are not the cause of mind.”

Later in that book he explains that “The whole mass of detail of a life is preserved in the inner man.”

This is perhaps why, when the outer or external aspects of the minds of the individuals featured in this documentary were temporarily paralysed, through entering a state of trance, details, information, and recollections from those previous lifetimes were able to come to the fore, even to the extent of the person temporarily re-becoming that former personality and re-living its thoughts and experiences as if they were present realities. Robert Crosbie in fact affirms this when saying that “in many cases the abnormal condition which hypnosis produces permits fugitive and unrelated experiences of past existences to be perceived, and adopted as present actualities. As the present cycle moves on, more and more of these and other psychological “mysteries” will become evident; these will always remain mysteries to present-day Western Psychology, but the Ancient Wisdom of the East solves them all.” (“Answers to Questions on The Ocean of Theosophy” p. 110-111)

We should clarify, however, that in pointing this out, we are in no way trying to endorse or recommend past life regression therapy, since as we said at the start, it is seeming almost always a waste of time (and often money!) and that hypnotism is a risky process which can prove dangerous. But we do not agree with those Theosophists who make sweeping statements about all forms of hypnotism under all circumstances being black magic and psychic malpractice. We would suggest anyone holding such views read the last five questions and answers in H. P. Blavatsky’s article “Hypnotism, and Its Relations to other Modes of Fascination.” They may be very surprised and will find out that HPB herself did not hold such an uncompromising view of hypnotism, despite the fact that she warned of its abuse. It is also worth noting that the Australian practitioner in the documentary below (Peter Ramster) is not a hypnotist, nor is he practising hypnotism in the video, but rather hypnotherapy, which it would be misleading to take as a mere synonym for hypnotism. Hypnotherapy is perhaps a sort of mid-point between hypnosis and mesmerism, mesmerism being something viewed positively in Theosophy.

One theory suggested towards the end of the documentary is nevertheless unsatisfactory to the Theosophist. That is the idea that reincarnation occurs simply because the human mind is unable to shut itself off after death and thus automatically ends up living again, as someone new. In one sense this is true but it seems a rather cold and typically scientific view of the matter and evades the more metaphysically important questions, such as “Why did we begin reincarnating in the first place?” “What is the actual source of our being?” “Will there ever be an end to reincarnation?” “What is the great goal towards which we are all slowly and gradually progressing?” and “Why is it that each individual’s experience of the heaven state between lifetimes seems so specific and unique to themselves, rather than one general experience shared by all?”

The answers to all these questions and more can be found in the Esoteric Philosophy of Theosophy, in the teachings of H. P. Blavatsky, William Judge, and the Eastern Masters who sent Blavatsky into the Western world at the end of the 19th century to present and promulgate the timeless truths of Theosophy, including the central teaching of the Law of Karma and reincarnation. It was through her and the modern Theosophical Movement which she founded that the teaching of reincarnation was introduced – or rather reintroduced – to the West, nearly 1,500 years after it was forcefully suppressed and declared heretical by the Christian Church.

If everyone could be shown these various videos and also be introduced to the Theosophical teaching and explanation of reincarnation at the same time, a real change would surely take place in this world. If you should decide to share any of these videos with others (and hopefully you will!) please consider sharing one or more of our articles alongside it at the same time, such as A Right Understanding of Reincarnation, Death and the Afterlife, Reincarnation and Christianity, Questions about Karma, A Right Understanding of Karma, and When We Die. You may also wish to read “My Law” – Theosophy in a Poem.

Alternatively, you could just share the link to this page so that your friends can see and read all of this for themselves.

Some students of Theosophy may object to the accounts in these videos on the grounds that “they cannot be legitimate, seeing as we only reincarnate 1,000 to 1,500 years after death.” We would recommend reading How Soon Do We Reincarnate? which presents the bigger and more accurate picture of what the original Theosophical teachings actually present on this point.

THE FAMOUS REINCARNATION CASE OF SHANTI DEVI IN INDIA

JAMES LEININGER: THE MOST PUBLICISED REINCARNATION CASE OF MODERN TIMES

EVIDENCE OF REINCARNATION

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR REINCARNATION – DR IAN STEVENSON

BEYOND CHANCE: THE CASE OF ROBERT SNOW

REINCARNATION (1981) – FULL LENGTH AUSTRALIAN DOCUMENTARY

“In considering any question of experience we have first of all to take into account the Law of Karma – action and re-action, or sowing and reaping; this on the face of it cannot be anything else but exact justice. Reincarnation is the result of karmic action, and also offers the opportunity to set better causes in motion. If selfishness rules in any one life, evil causes are set in motion the results of which must be adjusted either in that life or a following one.” – Robert Crosbie, “Answers to Questions on The Ocean of Theosophy” p. 102

~ BlavatskyTheosophy.com ~