About Paganism - Continued 2

Text Box: Reincarnation continued …. Reincarnation - Transmigration of the Soul: Author Unknown Reincarnation is an anglicised word of Latin derivation, meaning re-infleshment, the coming again into a human body of an excarnate soul. The repetitive re-embodiment of the reincarnating Human Ego in vehicles of human flesh - this being a special case of the general doctrine of re-embodiment This general doctrine of re-embodiment applies not solely to man, but to all centres of consciousness what-so-ever or to all monads whatsoever; where-so-ever they may be on the evolutionary ladder of life and whatsoever may be their particular developmental grade thereon. There are eight words used in the theosophical philosophy in connection with Re-embodiment, which are not all synonymous, although some of these eight words have almost the same specific meaning. They are: Pre-existence, Rebirth, Re-embodiment, Palingenesis, Metensomatosis, Transmigration and Reincarnation. Of these eight words, four only may be said to contain the four different basic ideas of the general doctrine of Re-embodiment and these four are Pre-existence, Re-embodiment, Metempsychosis and Transmigration. ANCIENT BELIEF SYSTEMS Reincarnation is a belief system that dates from the oldest known written and oral traditions of ancient people. Ancient Egypt The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions the travel of the soul into a next world without coming back to Earth. As it is well known, the ancient Egyptians embalmed their dead in order that the body might be preserved and accompany the soul into the next world. This rather suggests their belief in resurrection than in reincarnation. Likewise, in many cases of ancient tribal religions that are credited today with holding to the belief in reincarnation, it is rather a belief in the pre-existence of the soul before birth or its independent survival after death that is taught. This has no connection with the classic idea of transmigration from one physical body to another, according to the demands of an impersonal law such as karma. Hebrew The Kabala, the ancient mystical teachings of the Jewish faith is filled with references to reincarnation that are thousands of years old. Ancient Greece The ancient religions of the Mediterranean world developed quite different kinds of reincarnation beliefs. For instance, Plato recorded the pre-existence of the soul in a celestial world and its fall into a human body due to sin. In order to be liberated from its bondage and return to a state of pure being, the soul needs to be purified through reincarnation. In stating these beliefs Plato was strongly influenced by the earlier philosophical schools of Orphism and Pythagoreanism. The first important Greek philosophical system that adopted a similar view on reincarnation to Hinduism was Neo-Platonism, born in the 3rd century AD, under certain Eastern influences. Reincarnation and Karma in the Bible In Matthew chapter 11 vs. 13- 14 and chapter 16 vs. 13, Jesus asks his disciples “Whom do men say that I am the son of man” and the disciples answer “Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias and others Jeremiahs or one of the prophets”. How could Jesus have thought to be any of these except in a past life? Elias and Jeremiah lived centuries before. As for John the Baptist, since he had recently been put to death, there could not have been a reincarnation, but it seems that some people thought that his spirit could have inspired Jesus. If people could speak in this way they obviously contemplated reincarnation and shows that Jesus was aware of the doctrine of reincarnation as well. Jesus himself tells his disciples who John the Baptist really was in the past: “For all prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear let him hear.” (Matt. chapter 11 vs.13-14) So Elias, according to Jesus himself, came back to earth in the personality of John the Baptist. This is repeated or confirmed in Matt. chapter 17 vs. 12: “But I say unto you that Elias is come already and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the son of man suffer of them. The disciples understood that he spoke of John the Baptist. The third reference comes as a question concerning a blind man. The disciples ask Jesus: “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John chapter 9 vs. 2 - 3) How could a man sin before he was born, unless the sin was committed in another life? The apostles are not asking what kind of sin resulted in blindness, but *who* sinned, taking for granted that the act of sinning itself brought about this dire result. Furthermore, the sin could have been committed either by the man in a previous existence or by his parents. This implies both that the sins of the parents are visited upon the children, which is a biblical doctrine and that the soul exists and therefore pays for the transgressions of previous lives. Hindu / Vedic Beliefs In the beliefs of Eastern teachings like Hinduism and Buddhism, the Goddess Kali, the Mistress of life, death and rebirth, governs this wheel of becoming. This is the 'Wheel of Reincarnation'. Kali is considered the Great Mother that all must pass through to enter the afterworld. The origin of Samsara has to be searched for in Hinduism and its classic writings. It cannot have appeared earlier than the 9th century BC because the Vedic hymns, the most ancient writings of Hinduism, do not mention it, proving that reincarnation wasn’t stated yet at he time of their recording (13th to 10th century BC). I will therefore analyse the development of the concept of immortality in the major Hindu writings, beginning with the Vedas and Brahmanas. Immortality in the Vedic hymns and the Brahmanas: At the time the Vedic hymns were written, the belief was that man continues to exist after death as a whole person. Between man and Gods was stated an absolute distinction, as in all other polytheistic religions of the world. The concept of an impersonal fusion with the source of all existence, as later stated in the Upanishads, was far away. Here are some arguments for this thesis that result from the exegesis of the funeral ritual: 1. As was the case in other ancient religions (for instance those of Egypt and Mesopotamia), the deceased were buried with food and clothing necessary in the afterlife. More than that the belief of ancient Aryans in the preservation of personal identity after death led them to incinerate the dead husband together with his (living) wife and bow so that they could accompany him in the afterlife. In some parts of India this ritual was performed until the British colonization. 2. Similar to the tradition of ancient Chinese religion, the departed relatives constituted a holy hierarchy. The last one deceased was commemorated individually for a year after his departure and then included in the mortuary offerings of the monthly shraddha ritual (Rig Veda 10, 15, 1-11). This ritual was necessary because the dead could influence negatively or positively the life of the living (Rig Veda 10, 15 ,6). 3. According to Vedic anthropology, the components of human nature are the physical body, ashu and manas. Ashu represents the vital principle (different from personal attributes) and manas the sum of psycho-mental faculties (mind, feeling and will). The belief in the preservation of the three components after death is proved by the fact that the family addressed the departed relative in the burial ritual as a unitary person: "May nothing of your manas, nothing of the ashu, nothing of the limbs, nothing of your vital fluid, nothing of your body here by any means be lost" (Atharva Veda 18, 2, 24). Yama, the God of death (mentioned in old Buddhist and Taoist scriptures too) was sovereign over the souls of the dead and also the one who received the offerings of the family for the benefit of the departed. In the Rig Veda it is said about him: "Yama was the first to find us our abode, a place that can never be taken away, where our ancient Fathers have departed; all who are born go there by that path, treading their own" (Rig Veda 10, 14, 2). Divine justice was provided by the Gods Yama, Soma and Indra, not by an impersonal law such as karma. One of their attributes was to cast the wicked into an eternal dark prison out of which they can never escape (Rig Veda 7, 104, 3-17). The premise for reaping the reward of one¹s life in a new earthly existence (instead of the heavenly afterlife) appeared in the Brahmana writings (9th century BC). They stated a limited heavenly immortality, depending on the deeds and the quality of the sacrifices performed during life. After reaping the reward for them, man has to face a second death in the heavenly realm (punarmrityu) and therefore return to an earthly existence. The proper antidote against this situation came to be considered esoteric knowledge, attainable only during one¹s earthly existence. Reincarnation in the Upanishads The Upanishads were the first writings to move the place of one¹s "second death" from the heavenly realm to this earthly world, considering its proper solution the knowledge of the atman-Brahman identity. Ignorance of one¹s true self (atman or purusha) launches karma into action, the law of cause and effect in Eastern spirituality. Its first clear formulation can be found in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4, 4, 5): "According as one acts, according as one behaves, so does he become. The doer of good becomes good. The doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action." Reincarnation (samsara) is the practical way in which one reaps the fruits of his deeds. Therefore, the self is forced to enter a new material existence until all karmic debt is paid: "By means of thought, touch, sight and passions and by the abundance of food and drink there are birth and development of the (embodied) self. According to his deeds, the embodied self assumes successively various forms in various conditions" (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5, 11). There is a fundamental mutation in the meaning of afterlife in comparison with the Vedic perspective. Abandoning the desire to have communion with the Gods (Agni, Indra, etc.), attained as a result of bringing good sacrifices, the Upanishads came to consider man¹s final destiny to be the impersonal fusion atman-Brahman, attained exclusively by esoteric knowledge. In this new context, karma and reincarnation are key elements that will mark from now on all particular developments in Hinduism. Reincarnation in the Epics and Puranas In the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata, reincarnation is clearly stated as a natural process of life that has to be followed by any mortal. Krishna says: "Just as the self advances through childhood, youth and old age in its physical body, so it advances to another body after death. The wise person is not confused by this change called death (2, 13). Just as the body casts off worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so the infinite, immortal self casts off worn out bodies and enters into new ones (2, 22)." In the Puranas the speculation on this subject is more substantial and therefore specific destinies are figured for each kind of sin one performs: "The murderer of a Brahmin becomes consumptive, the killer of a cow becomes hump-backed and imbecile, the murderer of a virgin becomes leprous - all three born as outcastes. The slayer of a woman and the destroyer of embryos becomes a savage full of diseases; who commits illicit intercourse, a eunuch; who goes with his teacher¹s wife, disease-skinned. The eater of flesh becomes very red; the drinker of intoxicants, one with discoloured teeth.... Who steals food becomes a rat; who steals grain becomes a locust... perfumes, a muskrat; honey, a gadfly; flesh, a vulture; and salt, an ant.... Who commits unnatural vice becomes a village pig; who consorts with a Sudra woman becomes a bull; who is passionate becomes a lustful horse.... These and other signs and births are seen to be the karma of the embodied, made by themselves in this world. Thus the makers of bad karma, having experienced the tortures of hell, are reborn with the residues of their sins, in these stated forms (Garuda Purana 5)." Similar specific punishments are figured by The Laws of Manu (12, 54-69). Who or what reincarnates in Hinduism? According to the Upanishads and Vedanta philosophy, the entity that reincarnates is the impersonal self (atman). Atman lacks any personal element, which is why the use of the reflexive pronoun "self" is not quite right. Atman can be defined only through negating any personal attributes. Although it constitutes the existential substrata of man¹s existence, atman cannot be the carrier of one¹s "spiritual progress", because it cannot record any data produced in the illusory domain of psycho-mental existence. The spiritual progress one accumulates toward realising the atman-Brahman identity is recorded by karma or rather by a minimal quantity of karmic debt. According to one¹s karma, at (re)birth the whole physical and mental complex man consists of is reconstructed, all that pertains to the world of illusions. At this level, the newly shaped person experiences the fruits of "his" actions from previous lives and has to do his best to stop the vicious cycle avidya-karma-samsara. As a necessary aid in explaining the reincarnation mechanism, Vedanta adopted the concept of a subtle body (sukshma-sharira), attached to atman as long as its bondage lasts, which actually records the karmic debts and transmits them from one life to another. However, this "subtle body" cannot be a form of preserving one¹s personal attributes, as it does not offer any actual data belonging to previous lives to the present conscious psycho-mental life. All this kind of data is erased, so that the facts recorded by the subtle body are a sum of hidden tendencies or impressions (samskara) imprinted by karma. They will materialize unconsciously in the life of the individual, without giving him any hint for understanding his actual condition. There is no possible form of transmitting conscious memory from one life to another, because its domain belongs to the world of illusions and dissolves at death. In the Samkhya and Yoga darshanas, the entity that reincarnates is purusha, an equivalent of atman. Given the absolute duality stated between purusha and prakriti (substance), nothing that belongs to the psycho-mental life can pass from one life to the other because it belongs to prakriti, which has a mere illusory relation with purusha. However, in the Yoga Sutra (2, 12) is defined a similar mechanism of transmitting the effects of karma from one life to another, as was the case in Vedanta. The reservoir of karmas is called karmashaya. It accompanies purusha from one life to another, representing the sum of impressions (samskara) that could not manifest themselves during the limits of a certain life. In no way can it be a kind of conscious memory, a sum of information that the person could consciously use or a nucleus of personhood, because karmashaya has nothing in common with psycho-mental abilities. This deposit of karma merely serves as a mechanism for adjusting the effects of karma in one¹s life. It dictates in an impersonal and mechanical manner the new birth (jati), the length of life (ayu) and the experiences that must accompany it (bhoga). Ancient Rome Reincarnation was a basic tenant of the Catholic Church until the fourth century AD when the Roman Emperor Constantine decided to tailor it to his specifications. Rome, having been the dominant military leader was on the verge of change. The Christians had been a cult that had been persecuted for over 300 years a time when the law of the land was throwing the Christians to the lions. The ancient religions of the Gods were slowly disappearing, since the extraterrestrial contact that had caused them in the first place was no longer apparent. Gaul had broken away from the Empire. Rome saw its power slipping and the rise of another star coming. The Roman Emperor Constantine married his way into power. His wife mysteriously disappeared. His second wife was his ticket to the throne. Then he had her killed. His third wife was a prostitute who had risen to the throne in the same diabolical ways Constantine had and who lived to have a devastating effect on the belief in reincarnation. She feared that her sins would follow from lifetime to lifetime which infuriated her. She did not like the idea of Karma. Her life was filled with lies and treachery. She was not interested in advocated any religion that would demote her in another life. She therefore helped persuade Emperor Constantine to remove reincarnation from Christianity. Constantine, for all reports was vain and fearful for his many sins. He considered himself on one hand to be the incarnation of the Gods Apollo, Mytha, Jupiter and Christ. On the other hand he was afraid that when he died he would anger these Gods in heaven. He was the first Roman Emperor to support complete religious freedom of all faiths so that when he got to heaven no God would want to take vengeance on him personally. Buddhism Buddhism denies the reality of a permanent self, together with all things pertaining to the phenomenal world. The appearance of human existence is generated by a mere heap of five aggregates (skandha), which suffer from constant becoming and have a functional cause-effect relation: 1) the body (material form and senses), 2) sensation (product of the senses), 3) perception (built on sensation), 4) mental activity and 5) consciousness. All five elements, as well as the whole assembly they construct, are impermanent (anitya), undergo constant transformation and have no abiding principle or self. Man usually thinks that he has a self because of consciousness. But being itself in a constant process of becoming and change, consciousness cannot be identified with a self that is supposed to be permanent. Beyond the five aggregates nothing else can be found in man. However, something has to reincarnate, following the dictates of karma. When asked about the differences between people in the matters of life span, illnesses, wealth, etc., the Buddha taught: Men have, O young man, deeds as their very own, they are inheritors of deeds, deeds are their matrix, deeds are their kith and kin, and deeds are their support. It is deeds that classify men into high or low status (Majjhima Nikaya 3, 202). If there is no real self, who inherits the deeds and reincarnates? Buddha answered that only karma is passing from one life to another, using the illustration of the light of a candle, which I s derived from other candle without having a substance of its own. In the same manner there is rebirth without the transfer of a self from one body to another. The only link from one life to the next is of a causal nature. This is without doubt the weirdest definition of reincarnation ever stated. In the Garland Sutra (10) we read: “According to what deeds are done Do their resulting consequences come to be; Yet the doer has no existence: This is the Buddha¹s teaching.” The Yogachara and Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism) schools of Mahayana Buddhism consider that there actually is an entity that reincarnates, namely consciousness (one of the five aggregates), thus having the same function as the atman of Vedanta. The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes in detail the alleged experiences one has in the intermediary state between two incarnations, suggesting that the deceased keeps some personal attributes. Although it is not clear what actually survives after death in this case, there is mentioned a mental body that cannot be injured by the visions experienced by the deceased: When it happens that such a vision arises, do not be afraid! Do not feel terror! You have a mental body made of instincts; even if it is killed or dismembered, it cannot die! Since in fact you are a natural form of voidness, anger at being injured is unnecessary! The Yama Lords of Death are but arisen from the natural energy of your own awareness and really lack all substantiality. Voidness cannot injure voidness! (Tibetan Book of the Dead, 12) Whatever the condition of the deceased after death might be, any hypothetical personal nucleus vanishes right before birth, so there can be no psycho-mental element transmitted from one life to another. The newborn person doesn¹t remember anything from previous lives or trips into the realm of intermediary state (bardo). The Dali Lama Years ago a boy came forward who said he was the incarnation of the Dali Lama who is the head of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He has incarnated many times throughout the centuries reassuming his position from lifetime to lifetime. This tradition first began when this young boy first presented as the reincarnation of the first Dali Lama. He was accepted by the priests by way of many signs. He proceeded to miracles of knowing, telepathy, mind reading and ceremony to prove that claim. This process has allowed subsequent Monks to develop a system to rediscovery successive incarnations of the Dali Lama and others of high spiritual development in each age. Taoism Reincarnation is a teaching hard to find in the aphorisms of the Tao-te Ching (6th century BC), so it must have appeared later in Taoism. Although it is not specified what reincarnates, something has to pass from one life to another. An important scripture of Taoism, the Chuang Tzu (4th century BC), states: Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form that is the Portal of God (Chuang Tzu) Native American Ancient Shamans and tribal groups worldwide have long believed that a traumatic experience within the realm of our inner selves can serve as a catalyst for the truth seeker to move beyond the illusions of the little self and enter the unity of the greater whole. The skull: By stripping away the illusions of society and the egoist structure of the little self one experiences an inner death. Kali's skulls were the symbol of those who would risk this personal death and transformation only to be reborn in the image of the greater self. Thus she sees through us to our essential core as we pass through the doorway of life, death and rebirth. Transmigration of Souls Among many people the concept of reincarnation is not restricted to humans alone. It is viewed as part of the ever growing spiral of evolution that all sentient beings partake of. Animals are part of this. Some believe that eventually move up from animal into human. The Eskimos, the Greeks, the Hindus, all embrace this idea - know as transmigration. They say that the Goddess of Animals looks after all creatures large and small allowing them to progress in awareness like human beings. Shaman feel that life is endless. Many animals are far more aware than we realise. They are part of a collective group soul consciousness as much as we as humans are part of the consciousness of human kind. Animals are in some ways more aware than we are being far more attuned with nature and thus more attuned with divine energy. Like all things, they too spiral up. Becoming increasingly individuated and aware of themselves. Become self aware is what it is all about. Between lifetimes each of us at a higher level does chose the conditions of any particular lifetime before we come into it. We chose the body's overall strength, its appearance, its genetics so that it serves our life lessons the best. Sometimes when a body isn't suited to a soul's purpose it will result in a spontaneous miscarriage or infant death. Famous People Famous World War II General George Patton believed that he was the reincarnation of Julius Caesar. Sadam Hussein believed that he was the reincarnation of the ancient Babylonian King Nebakanether. Artistic Genius Some of the musical great of the last few centuries leave us wondering about reincarnation. Mozart was composing entire symphonies by the time he was six years old. Beethoven and Bach were similar. Genius in almost every art form has emerged at almost unbelievable ages showing a proclivity for talent far beyond any mortal logic and possibly an inherited talent from a past life. Research Research indicates that a person's previous incarnation can apparently shape certain aspects of their emotional dispositions as well as their physical body. For example Burmese children who now remember previous lifetimes as British or American air force pilots shot down over Burma during World War II. All of them have fairer hair and complexions than their darker coloured siblings. Some people still bear marks and scares from other lifetimes. Some people have fears and phobias as results of past life experiences. It is as if the template of the modern body remembered the experiences of the former body and reformed a new body with the old problems and physical markings. The Mystery of Past Life Recall Under hypnosis, numerous people recall the details of previous lives, even to the point of taking on the personalities of their former selves - and speaking in foreign languages! In 1824, a nine-year-old boy named Katsugoro, the son of a Japanese farmer, told his sister that he believed he had a past life. According to his story, which is one of the earliest cases of past life recall on record, the boy vividly recalled that he had been the son of another farmer in another village and had died from the effects of smallpox in 1810. Katsugoro could remember dozens of specific events about his past life, including details about his family and the village where they lived, even though Katsugoro had never been there. He even remembered the time of his death, his burial and the time he spent before being reborn. The facts he related were subsequently verified by an investigation. Past life recall is one of the most fascinating areas of unexplained human phenomena. As yet, science has been unable to prove or disprove its genuineness. Even many who have investigated claims of past life recall are unsure whether it is an historical recollection due to reincarnation or is a construction of information somehow received by the subconscious. Either possibility is remarkable. And like many areas of the paranormal, there is a propensity for fraud that the serious investigator must watch out for. It's important to be sceptical about such extraordinary claims, but the stories are nonetheless intriguing. Past life recall generally comes about spontaneously, more often with children than adults. Those who support the idea of reincarnation believe this is because children are closer to their past lives and that their minds have not been clouded by society’s disbelief. Adults who experience past life recall often do so as the result of some extraordinary experience, such as hypnosis, lucid dreaming or even a blow to the head. Here are some outstanding cases: Virginia Tighe / Bridey Murphy Perhaps the most famous case of past life recall, is that of Virginia Tighe who recalled her past life as Bridey Murphy. Virginia was the wife of a Virginia businessman in Pueblo, Colorado. While under hypnosis in 1952 she told Morey Bernstein, her therapist, that over 100 years ago she was an Irish woman named Bridget Murphy who went by the nickname of Bridey. During their sessions together, Bernstein marvelled at detailed conversations with Bridey, who spoke with a pronounced Irish brogue and spoke extensively of her life in 19th century Ireland. When Bernstein published his book about the case, The Search for Bridey Murphy in 1956, it became famous around the world and sparked an excited interest in the possibility of reincarnation. Over six sessions, Virginia revealed many details about Bridey's life, including her birth date in 1798, her childhood amid a Protestant family in the city of Cork, her marriage to Sean Brian Joseph McCarthy and even her own death at the age of 60 in 1858. As Bridey, she provided numerous specifics, such as names, dates, places, events, shops and songs - things Virginia was always surprised about when she awoke from the hypnosis. But could these details be verified? The results of many investigations were mixed. Much of what Bridey said was consistent with the time and place, and it seemed inconceivable that someone who had never been to Ireland could provide so many details with such confidence. However, journalists could find no historical record of Bridey Murphy - not her birth, her family, her marriage, nor her death. Believers supposed that this was merely due to the poor recordkeeping of the time. But critics discovered inconsistencies in Bridey's speech and also learned that Virginia had grown up near - and had known well - an Irish woman named Bridle Corkell and that she was quite likely the inspiration for "Bridey Murphy." There are flaws with this theory, too, however, keeping the case of Bridey Murphy an intriguing mystery. Monica / John Wainwright In 1986, a woman known by the pseudonym "Monica" underwent hypnosis by psychotherapist Dr. Garrett Oppenheim. Monica believed she discovered a previous existence as a man named John Ralph Wainwright who lived in the south western U.S. She knew that John grew up in Wisconsin, Arizona and had vague memories of brothers and sisters. As a young man he became a deputy sheriff and married the daughter of a bank president. According the Monica's "memory", John was killed in the line of duty - shot by three men he had once sent to jail - and died on July 7, 1907. Sujith / Sammy Born in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Sujith was barely old enough to speak when he began to tell his family of a previous life as a man named Sammy. Sammy, he said, had lived eight miles to the south in the village of Gorakana. Sujith told of Sammy's life as a railroad worker and as a dealer of a bootleg whiskey called Arrack. After an argument with his wife, Maggie, Sammy stormed out of his house and got drunk and while walking along a busy highway was struck by a truck and killed. Young Sujith often demanded to be taken to Gorakana and had an abnormal taste for cigarettes and arrack. Sjuth's family had never been to Gorakana and hadn't known anyone that fit Sammy's description, yet, being Buddhists, were believers in reincarnation and therefore not completely surprised by the boy's story. Investigations, including one conducted by a professor of psychiatry from the University of Virginia, confirmed as many as 60 of the details of the life of Sammy Fernando who indeed had lived and died (six months before Sujith's birth) just as Sujith had said. When Sujith was introduced to Sammy's family, he surprised them with his familiarity with them and his knowledge of their pet names. This is one of the strongest cases of reincarnation on record. Hypnosis isn't the only method by which past lives are recalled. A British woman was distressed by a recurring dream in which she, as a child and another child with whom she was playing, fell from a high gallery in their home to their deaths. She vividly remembered the black and white checked marble floor on which they died. She repeated the dream to several of her friends. Sometime later, the woman was visiting an old house that had a reputation for being haunted. With its black and white marble floor, the house immediately was recognised by the woman as the scene of the deaths in her dreams. She subsequently learned that a small brother and sister really had fallen to their deaths in the house. Was she recalling a past life or had she somehow psychically tuned in to this dramatic history? Graham Huxtable / Arnall Bloxham Another fascinating case of past life regression took place in Wales where Graham Huxtable, a mild-mannered swimming instructor, was placed under hypnosis by hypnotist Arnall Bloxham. In a trance, Huxtable not just recalled a past life, he seemed to actually become a man named Ben, a boisterous gunner on an 18th century British frigate called Aggie. While inhabited by the personality of Ben, Huxtable would call out orders to the men on the ship in a heavy accent and use obscure nautical terminology. He even relived every moment of a battle in which he eventually suffered an injury to his leg. Bloxham had difficulty bringing Huxtable out of trance, but when he did, the man complained of a pain in his leg. And when Bloxham replayed a recording of the session, Huxtable was astonished at what he heard, recalling nothing of his experience under the trance. Although experts could verify the terms and language that "Ben" used, they could not find records of a ship named Aggie nor of the ship's captain he had named. Past life recall.. or a case of multiple personality? T.E. / Jensen Jacoby In 1958, a woman who in this case was identified only as T.E., underwent hypnosis by her husband, a medical doctor and experimenter with past life regression. Once in a trance state, T.E.'s voice deepened to one that was distinctly male and she declared in broken English that she was a farmer named Jensen Jacoby who lived in the 17th century. T.E.'s speech was peppered with Swedish words, a language that she and her husband swore she did not know. After six hypnotic sessions, T.E. was talking exclusively in Swedish, even conversing fluently with several Swedish persons that her husband had brought in to witness the phenomenon. These native Swedes confirmed that she was speaking a somewhat archaic form of Swedish that would have been spoken at the time Jensen said he had lived. These are just a few of the more well-known examples of past life recall. Those who practice past life regression therapy today, claim that it has certain benefits. They say it can shed light on present life personal issues and relationships and can even help to heal the wounds suffered in a past life. Reincarnation has also been one of the central tenets of many Eastern religions and one can return to this existence in a new physical form, whether it is human, animal or even vegetable. The form one takes, it is believed, is determined by the law of karma - which the higher or lower form one takes is due to one's behaviour in the previous life. The concept of past lives is also one of the beliefs of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology, which states that "past lives are suppressed by the painfulness of the memory of those former existences. To restore the memory of one's whole existence, it is necessary to bring one up to being able to confront such experiences." Is It Just Crytomnesia? Many in the scientific community suspect that most cases of past life recall is in fact a phenomenon known as cryptomnesia. This is an instance of abnormal or extraordinary memory. In these cases a person, usually under hypnosis, is able to recall with astonishing detail something he or she has read, seen or heard for even the briefest of moments. It's as if the brain has taken a photograph of that moment and stored it in the subconscious. In one documented case, a psychiatrist's patient was amazed when his hypnotized patient began writing a passage in an old form of Latin. An investigation revealed that the patient had overseen the passage in a book that someone sitting next to him in a library was reading. A few Famous Believers in Past Lives General George S. Patton believed that he had been a soldier in many previous lives, including in the service of Alexander the Great. Benjamin Franklin may have been professing his belief in reincarnation when he wrote that he would return "in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the author". Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were contemporaries and both professed believers in past lives. Edgar Cayce, the American psychic, believed that he was a resident of Atlantis in one previous life.