Reincarnation and Learning From Past Lives

by Curt Remington

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Do we have past lives?

In performing psychic readings, I’ve viewed past lives from the caveman era, ancient civilizations, medievel Europe to 1970’s Boston. Looking at these lives has made it clear to me that we reincarnate countless times, working on many lessons. What would the alternative be? If we had only one life, we might spend it rich or poor, healthy or crippled, happy or miserable. Talk about the luck of the draw. With an eternity ahead of us, it makes far more sense that we’d experience and learn from all of these conditions. It also seems logical that we’d get lots of chances to “get it right.”

Last Saturday, there were hundreds of other people in Seattle that also believe in reincarnation. We all attended a fascinating past life regression workshop with Dr Brian Weiss, a psychiatrist, author and specialist in hypnotherapy. After the first group hypnosis exercise, 2/3 of the audience raised their hand to indicate they’d seen images from a previous lifetime. Along with more great exercises, Dr Weiss shared stories of people who’ve recalled visions of a prior life, then visited a place and found the details were just as they had seen them.

My clairvoyant training provided plenty of validating experiences. We looked at many lives for ourselves and each other. Occasionally, someone would give me specifics of a life that I had already seen for myself, with far too much detail to be coincidence. I’ve also seen boats or clothing, then gone to the internet and found that people really dressed like that in Morocco or used boats like that in Egypt around 2000 BC.

What can we learn from our past lives?

As a psychotherapist, Brian Weiss uses past-life regression to help people release health or emotional problems that are troubling them in this life. For instance, someone with severe claustrophobia may see themself buried alive in a tomb in ancient Egypt. Once they recognize where their fear originated, they can then quit worrying in this life.

For me, seeing many past lives, and how they fit together, has given me insight into the lessons I’m working on and why. At the workshop, I saw myself in buckskins with a muzzle loader, making my way home through woods, roughly 250 years ago. I came to my cabin and found my family killed by Indians. Full of anger and hate, I went too far in seeking revenge. Eventually, I found myself outnumbered and died from many arrows. In reviewing this life, I saw there were better alternatives. With less hate and anger, I might have done less violence and lived a longer life. With time and the support of friends living nearby, my grief would have lessened and I could have still found some happiness in that life.

In my next life, I was reincarnated as an indian and eventually became chief, seeing firsthand how terribly Indians were treated, lied to and forced onto poor reservations. I fought some in that life too, but soon realized the impossible odds. As chief, I worked on peace and on doing what I could for the tribe. Yes, I do believe in karma and that we learn from tough lessons.

Looking at these lives drove home messages about peace and about prejudice. We all are really one people, learning together, taking turns to experience different races and religions. If we could remember that, while we’re here, there would be a lot less fighting. By hating a group of people, you’re likely to come back as part of that group, in order to experience their point of view.

Learning the lessons you’re here to learn now will make your future lives easier and happier. If you don’t learn the lesson in this life, you may have to keep repeating it. My warrior lessons go back through many lifetimes. Apparently, I’m a slow learner, at least when it comes to being peaceful. You may have completely different lessons, like ones about generosity, bravery, compassion, love or countless others. The Michael Teachings website holds a wealth of information about life lessons and our spiritual progress through many lives. It also goes into soul age and characteristics that you carry with you from one lifetime to the next.

Have you already felt the effects of ancient memories?

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy

You may already have subtle memories of earlier lifetimes. Are you especially drawn to mountains, oceans or desserts? You may have had a wonderful life near one of these. Maybe you’ve taken a trip and felt deja vu or a special connection with that place. I sure felt that visiting ancient Roman ruins.

You may even have felt an instant connection with certain people in your life. I truly felt love at first sight, when I met my wife. I have since found that we’ve been married in many lifetimes, going back thousands of years. We’ve also played other roles in each others lives, such as good friends, siblings, parents and children. You’ve undoubtedly spent many lifetimes with some of the key people in your life too.Along with sharing many lifetimes with key people, we may also spend our time in the spirit world with them, between lives and after we quit reincarnating. Like I mention in my “Science and Heaven” article, Dr Michael Newton does similar work to Dr Brian Weiss, but he focuses on our time between lives.

How can we remember our past lives?

Some people easily remember a past life, while others may find it a struggle. At the workshop, many people saw glimpses of a life immediately, during the group hypnosis. For others, it takes a lot of practice, especially for those of us that like to analyze everything. I’ve, at times, had the same problem, in performing psychic readings. It’s important to let images and information flow. Save the analyzing for later.

I included a meditation exercise for you to try. I also highly recommend Brian Weiss’s CDs, which you can find at Hay House or at Amazon. Seeing images on your own is a great way to experience your past, although it can take a good deal of meditation and practice. If you’re impatient or are having difficulty, a good psychic can tap into your past lives and give you key information. My wife and I have looked at past lives for a variety of people. I forgot to mention it on my psychic readings page, but there is general information on readings.

Past Life Meditation

Every time I sit down to meditate, I start bygrounding and running my energies. These two meditation exercises will help you relax and clear out other thoughts and interfering energies. Using these exercises every day will eventually make everything else easier, like staying calm, being nice, becoming psychic and lots of other wonderful stuff.
Anyway, once you’re in a calm, clear meditative state, with your eyes closed, have the intention of tuning into a past life. You can even specify a time period or a particular type of life, like a life with someone you’re close to or a life that you were rich, brave, poor or whatever. With that intention, wait and see what comes up. Maybe you’ll get a sense of something, like feeling great space and dry dessert air around you. Images might start taking shape, like woods or an ancient city, possibly a snowy tundra. Relax and try to explore. A good first step is to look down at your shoes or bare feet. They may give you a good clue as to the era. Can you see what else you’re wearing? Is someone with you? Do you sense that you also know them in this life? If all you’re seeing is the back of your eyelids, relax and enjoy your calm meditative state. This may take practice.
If you are getting good pictures, try moving forward in time and see what happens. What lessons did you learn in this life? If you feel up to it, you can even move to the end of that life. There can be important messages in how our lives ended and in any life review we may have done. Once you come out of your meditative state, more questions may come up, like how the lessons in that life may pertain to the life you are in now. Did you have a trauma in that life, that is causing you trouble in this life? Take the time to look at these, and try this technique again later. The more that you do it, the easier it will get.

Our Spiritual Path: Science & Heaven

by Curt Remington

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Psychic and spiritual experiences are hard for many people to accept. Science, and our perception of reality, has been based on solid matter, made of atoms and molecules. We believe in what we can see, even though visible light is only a narrow band of the many types of energy around us.
Quantum physicists have discovered that solid matter, molecules and atoms, actually consists of much smaller particles (quarks, leptons, etc.), and that these particles are a form of energy. Not only is matter actually made of energy, but this energy/matter fills all the empty space around us. According to the Fermilab’s (part of US Department of Energy) website, astronomer’s have studied how galaxies spin and have calculated that “ordinary matter containing atoms makes up only four percent of the energy-matter content of the universe.” The rest of it is made up of other forms of energy-matter that we still know little about.

Scientists do know that this matter can behave in strange ways. Subatomic particles can be in more than one place at a time. They react to thought, acting like an energy wave most the time and like a particle when observed. In other words, the fact that someone is observing them causes a change in their structure. They seem to communicate instantaneously and are linked on some level beyond space and time. In our four-dimensional world, that would make no sense, but quantum physicists now believe there may be up to 11 dimensions, which they still know little about. Many people are still clinging to a viewpoint based on old science, consisting of a world made of solid matter with lots of empty space in between.

This old perception isn’t working. It can’t explain quantum mechanics, thousand of near-death and out-of-body experiences, miraculous healings, past life regressions, telepathy, mediums and countless other phenomena that people experience. These experiences are explained by a vast field of this mysterious energy that surrounds and connects us all. Heaven (the spirit world) is also made of this energy, on a higher vibrational energy frequency than our physical world.

Although current science can’t accurately describe heaven (the spirit world), there are other sources that can and that describe heaven very similarly, providing validation for each other. These include near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences,spiritual regressions and the work of psychics and mediums. My own experiences, communicating with spirits, talking to other psychics and my out-of-body experiences confirm a heaven very much as described in Destiny of Souls by Dr. Michael Newton. He is a psychologist and hypnotherapist that developed a technique for allowing people to vividly remember their experiences in heaven between lives and before their current life. Yes, you had a soul before you were born and you’ve probably reincarnated many times. Using this spiritual regression technique with over 7000 clients, he has learned a great deal about heaven and our purpose here.

Michael Newton

As I mentioned earlier, much of Dr. Michael Newton’s work has been studying our Life Between Lives, which is also the name of his most recent book. Another specialist in hypnotherapy, Dr Brian Weiss has done similar work, focusing more on our lives here on Earth, rather than our time between lives. He has used past-life regression to help many patients remember a past life to treat issues that are troubling them in this life. In his most Recent book, Same Soul, Many Bodies, he looks at how our behavior in this life can change the course of our future lives.

So, what is heaven like? It’s a place of love and learning, where souls are working to advance in their spiritual enlightenment. Since the spirit world consists of energy on a higher vibrational frequency than here, spirits and their surroundings are less solid than our physical world and more readily controlled by thought. Much of what’s been created in heaven bears a strong resemblance to life on earth, including beautiful parks, lakes, forests, mountains and a variety of buildings, including pyramids, domes, crystal cathedrals and a vast library, the Akashic Records.

Upon arrival in heaven, souls rejoin other spirits that they’ve known since long before they were born, including loved ones that have already passed over and others that they’ve known and will recognize once they get there.

There are classes and work specialties, like teaching or designing environments. Did you really think you just sat on clouds all the time? There is also fun, joking and recreation, like art, dancing, music and games. Time is spent reviewing what was learned in the last life. Spirits also look at options and prepare for their next life, reincarnating until all their lessons on earth are learned.

As a lighter form of energy, spirits can look any way they choose. I’ve seen spirits that may appear in a way most recognizable to their loved ones, then they may change to a younger, more favored appearance. They may also choose an appearance that best gets their message across, like the wisdom of an indian chief or the protective appearance of a warrior. I’ve also seen spirits that looked like traditional angels (wings and all) and some that looked like cartoon characters, temporarily taking that appearance to remind someone to have fun.

Emotionally, souls leave this world shedding much of their hate, anger and jealousy. In heaven, they experience more love, bliss and a feeling of being more alive. That is not to say that spirits are perfect, once they leave this plane. I’ve encountered a few stuck spirits that still have some of the same problems they had on Earth, and there are spirits that like to cause trouble. There are spirits at all levels of advancement, many of which never had a life on Earth. Some of these may have had lives on other planets, or they may have already been advanced before Earth became habitable. There are some that may not yet be ready for the rigors of such a life, or they may be on another spiritual path. Although spirits vary greatly, the vast majority are very kind and good.

Everyone goes to the same heaven, regardless of behavior or religious beliefs. There is no traditional hell. Criminal or bad behavior does have consequences though. The concept of karma does apply, so if you are particularly mean to someone in this life, you may be looking at a dose of your own treatment in the next. If a soul is especially cruel over a number of lives, they may face something harsher, like many years in solitaire. This is not considered a punishment, but a chance to examine their behavior and learn from it. For most souls, the worst that they will face is their own potential disappointment in any shortcomings, when reviewing their life. Most spirits find heaven to be very supportive and forgiving.

Becoming aware of heaven and our spiritual path can help enrich our lives here. Some of the day-to-day issues that we stress over seem less important. Caring for each other, and enjoying life may become more important, while material possessions become less important. Death becomes much less scary. You may feel a greater sense of spiritual connection, knowing that we truly are connected and are learning here together. It’s also nice to know where our dearly departed have gone, and that we will be going to a wonderful place filled with loving spirits that we’ve known for a very long time.

References

Arntz, William; Chasse, Betsy & Vincente, Mark. (2007) What the Bleep Do We Know!?

Buhlman, William. (1996) Adventures Beyond the Body

Fermilab, Office of Science/US Dept of Energy. (2001) The Science of Matter, Space and Time, (11/12/2003) Press Room & (4/28/200) The Search For Extra Dimensions. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from http://www.fnal.gov/

Goswami, Amit interviewed by Hamilton, Craig. (1997) Scientific Proof of the Existence of God. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from http://www.wie.org/j11/goswami.asp

Newton, Michael, PH.D. (2000) Destiny of Souls

Wolf, Fred Alan (1988) Parallel Universes