• In :
• Personal Growth

March 2010

By Akila Jaikumar

Past-life therapy, near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences are giving us concrete evidence that we are immortal souls and that there is life after death

Let me start with a quote given in the book, Messages From The Masters by Dr Brian Weiss. “We have debts that must be paid off. If we have not paid those debts, then we must take them into another life, in order that they may be worked through. You progress by paying your debts. Some souls progress faster than others. If something interrupts your ability to pay that debt, you must return to the plane of recollection, and there you must wait until the soul you owe the debt to has come to see you. And when you can both be returned to physical form at the same time, then you are allowed to return. But you determine when you are going back. You determine what must be done to pay that debt. There will be many lifetimes, to fulfil all of the agreements and all of the debts that are owed.”

This is a significant message that conveys what would have been considered to be a radical statement a few years ago but is today slipping into acceptability. We are not mortal bodies who die when the body dies, with no discernible purpose for living. We are souls who return again and again to the mortal coil. Yes, we are impelled by our debts, but the real purpose of human existence is to learn the lessons that will enable us to transcend the shortcomings that created these debts in the first place. Bit by bit, through lifetimes of learning, we finally reach that lofty place where no one and nothing can cause us to act in any way that is less than for the highest good of all. In freedom we act, and in this freedom we incur no debts. Free of karma we earn our emancipation from the vicious cycle of life and death. We return to the Source of which we are a part. In one fell swoop, the grand design of life becomes clear. We are spirit, not body and we are part of the Source of all creation. Our purpose for living is to return consciously to the Source by transcending the impurities that embodied existence has imposed on us. Such an understanding has transformed the thought processes of millions across the planet, thanks to the increasing popularity of past-life regression therapy (PLRT) near-death experiences (NDE) and out-of-body experiences (OBE). Medical advances have enabled thousands to return from the threshold between life and death with stories of passing through a tunnel, merging with a light emanating love, and being met by departed friends and family. Out-of-body experiences have testified to the existence of a separate state of being independent of the body. All these have turned upside down the illusions of the materialistic age we have been inhabiting and given us a broader and larger perspective of life. For millions this has been the portal to move into spirit.

Reincarnation tells us that we have lived before and will live again. Our present life is but a small interval in the continuum of time. We will meet again in other lifetimes. If we find something that is not to our liking today, maybe a health issue, a relationship issue, a fear or a phobia, could it have something to do with what we did or did not do in the past? Would it benefit us to go to the root cause in any previous lifetime to resolve the issue?

Modern medical science has now started to explore these mind-body linkages through meticulous documentation and research. Researchers like Dr Brian Weiss, Dr Ian Stevenson, Carol Bowman, Dr Morris Netherton, Dr Raymond Moody, Dr Elizabeth Kübler Ross, Dr Bruce Goldberg and Dr Newton Kondaveti, to name a few, have extensively investigated thousands of Near Death Experiences (NDEs), Out of Body Experiences (OBEs) and Past Life Regression Therapy (PLRT) sessions.

The therapy

A case described by Dr Brian Weiss in his book, Same Soul, Many Bodies, serves as an overview of how PLRT works. Michelle suffered severe pain in her knees, with associated cartilage damage, caused by a series of mishaps since childhood. Past-life regression sessions showed previous lifetimes where she had been hurt in her knees, but this knowledge did not alleviate her of her pain in the current lifetime. Subsequently, in one regression session, she saw herself as a warden in a prison, where she had delighted in inflicting severe damage to the prisoners on the knees, leading to acute suffering and in some cases death. While this recall of violence was disturbing to Michelle, it still needed another session to understand the karmic lesson of that lifetime. During this follow-on session, Michelle asked for grace and forgiveness from the souls of the prisoners. (This is entirely possible in PLRT, where the past action cannot be changed, but the individual can react at a spiritual level and take corrective action). This act of seeking forgiveness completely (not at an intellectual level), relieved her of the burden of guilt and she understood the importance of love and compassion, which she was able to integrate into her present life. After this session, Michelle’s medical condition improved and radiographic studies showed that her knees were completely healed.

The above example may seem like magic. Does every problem lend itself to PLRT for resolution? Is this really true or just a subject’s imagination? Can everyone undergo a PLRT session? The therapist functions solely as a facilitator, not influencing the subject. This is why when the subject finds the answers, it is his own higher wisdom guiding him, and he can feel it very deeply. The transformation is entirely possible, provided he integrates the messages received into his everyday life again. For example, a revengeful person may see a lifetime in which revenge has caused him immense sorrow. He may understand that forgiveness is a healing emotion and revenge and anger need not be harboured in one’s heart. He then has to work actively to choose forgiveness instead of revenge in his everyday life. For one individual, the change may be immediate, for others, it may take some months.

Dr Newton Kondaveti, a leading practitioner of past-life regression therapy in Hyderabad, who has done over 20,000 regressions in both group and individual sessions, shares his insights in this field. He says that PLRT sessions help people overcome their fear of death, understand the cause- effect relationship and realise the inherent interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all existence, of which we are a part. To the question on what changes he has seen in people undergoing PLRT or participating in workshops, Dr Newton responds:

• They begin to understand the root causes of their present life problems.

• They are able to heal themselves of most of their chronic illnesses, emotional problems and negative mental attitudes and overcome their fear of death.

• They begin to take responsibility for their lives and stop blaming others for their life situations.

• They realise the power of their own conscious thoughts, conscious and subconscious beliefs, and become more aware of how to use this power in the direction of what they really want in their lives.

• They become more open-minded.

• They become more loving and compassionate.

The opportunity

As a PLR therapist myself, I have witnessed the positive transformations the subjects undergo and the sometimes dramatic physical and emotional healing achieved, which cannot be explained by the techniques of modern medicine. PLRT is gaining popularity, as witnessed by TV shows, workshops and books on the subject today. More people are coming forward to understand the deeper, underlying causes of their problems through this therapy. Sometimes people use these sessions to find their life purpose.

As with any technique of healing, the opportunity is to internalise the learnings and intuitive wisdom that emerges from a PLRT session. Setbacks and illnesses are really a learning opportunity, and a PLRT session may reveal to us what that lesson is. We can change our deep prejudices against peoples of other races, religions or gender, knowing that we may possibly reincarnate and be placed in exactly the same situation ourselves, so that we experience it from the other side too. We may be in the other person’s shoes in the next life! We can handle the pain and loss of a loved one, since as eternal souls, we will meet again. We can understand the importance of relationships and learn to build happy ones. We can learn how to receive and give with love and kindness. We can cherish our short time on earth, knowing that there is an eternal timeline. The perspective of our own self-importance will diminish in the face of the larger relationship among all life on earth. We do not have to undergo another lifetime of suffering just to learn the messages of love, compassion and forgiveness. We can live with awareness and understanding now. We can create a better future for ourselves in this moment. It is up to us to make the right choice

Akila Jaikumar is Director (Technical Operations), Bodhtree Consulting Ltd, Hyderabad Contact: akilajaikumar@gmail.com