Do You Believe in Reincarnation?

Do you believe in reincarnation?

Souls don’t represent all that is pure and good about a body or they wouldn’t be incarnating for personal development. Souls come to Earth to work on their own shortcomings. – Michael Newton

Nobody told me but I’m pretty sure I was Napoleon in a previous life!

What if, it could actually be possible? (though very unlikely)

I should start this article by saying that I’m not a particularly religious person. Neither do I consider myself as superstitious.

At the same time, my personal research lead me to believe in spiritual enlightenment (see my articles on enlightenment) as well as in the existence of a higher consciousness that science has yet to explain. Still, until very recently reincarnation is absolutely not something I was taking seriously, to say the least.

A while ago, when my friend told me he was reading a book on people’s past lives, my reaction was to instantly reject that kind of “new edge woo-woo” thing . In this particular book, the author, a hypnotherapist, argues that people when put into a very deep state of hypnosis are able to recall past lives.

It is only later on, when I came across a book that mentioned the very same author that I decided to have a closer look at reincarnation out of curiosity.

Destiny of souls

The book I’m referring to is Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton. Michael Newton worked on about 7,000 cases. He regressed his patients into past lives and discovered the richness of the life between lives or « spirit world » that he described in length in his book.

It is true that hypnosis is generally not recognized as a scientific proof but I would like to bring to light several interesting points:

  • It was performed on a large scale. Michael Newton hypnotized thousands of people and he is not the only one to perform life between lives hypnosis.
  • Similarities between patients’ stories are striking. Patients’ recalling of their life between lives are very similar from a patient to another. They all mention having a guide, a group of souls they are closely bonded with and a soul mate that often reincarnate with them on earth. They also mention in details the process they go through in the spirit world, from meeting with their guide to choosing their future body to name a few.
  • Making up a story seems unlikely. Patients were able to talk for hours and in great details of the life between lives and each session was recorded. It seems unlikely that they could all be making up a story.
  • There are numerous cases that show that the person the client incarnated in a past life actually existed

I believe that the elements mentioned above appear convincing enough to take the phenomenon of reincarnation more seriously.

To add to these facts I should mention Stevenson’s work on reincarnation. Stevenson was a psychiatrist who worked for the University of Virginia School of Medicine for fifty years. He carefully analyzed many cases of reincarnation among children.

Indeed, in certain cases, it seems to be possible for small children to remember their most recent previous life with a surprising accuracy. However, as they grow older they generally forget everything.

Implications of reincarnation in our lives

If reincarnation were to be real, then it would have huge implications on our life:

  • We would all have a clear purpose. We reincarnated in our present life for a reason. Newton’s patients explained that they chose their present body for a particular reason, that is: to improve a certain aspect of their personality.
  • We would have to be totally responsible for our life. Michael Newton wrote: “Souls voluntarily select less than perfect bodies and difficult lives to address karmic debts or to work on different aspects of a lesson they have had trouble with in the past.” If we did choose our current body to achieve a certain objective in this life, then, no matter how hard our current life is, we know that we chose it and thus need to keep moving forward and improve ourselves.
  • Relying on our intuition would be more important than we think. Once reincarnated, unfortunately, we are unable to remember anything from our previous life except for certain very rare cases. Our intuition may then be crucial to help us stay on track with the real purpose we set to ourselves before entering our current body.
  • There would be no need to be afraid of death. If reincarnation is real, then our soul never die until it is purified. Knowing that can bring us a certain peace of mind!
  • Materialistic things wouldn’t be important. If we reincarnate again and again, it is certainly not to become more and more materialistic each time; it is to become more tolerant, more caring for others and more selfless. Making money or acquiring materialistic things would be even less relevant than we might think.
  • There would be no need for feelings of inferiority or superiority. In the spirit world, souls are divided into different levels but according to clients report, there is no sense of superiority or inferiority. If we are indeed trying to purify our soul there is no need to disrespect or belittle others in our current life as it is unlikely to help us in our quest.

Need for further scientific studies

Reincarnation is certainly hard to believe and raises more questions than it brings answers. However, I believe there are a lot of things that could be done to assess in a more scientific way whether reincarnation might be real or not. It is true that hypnosis might not be recognized as a scientific method but the following studies, if conclusive, would make it hard for “rational” minds to ignore the possible existence of reincarnation.

1.Hypnotize people from the same “soul group” and cross-check their stories. In his book Michael Newton explains that his clients all belongs to a group of about 5 or 6 souls that tend to reincarnate together as friends or members of the same family. Whenever possible, it would be interesting to hypnotize members of the same soul group and cross-check their stories while making sure no information has been shared between them.

2. Hypnotize the same person using different hypnotherapists and cross-check the story. Sessions generally last about 3 or 4 hours and it might be very difficult for patients to give the same amount of details in a different session with another hypnotherapist. For instance, we could imagine a study where a patient would be hypnotized by three different hypnotherapists; no communication would be allowed between them. The following things could be checked:

  • Whether the name of the spiritual guide remains the same
  • Whether the patient’s soul group members are still the same
  • Whether the patient remembers the same past lives

3. Hypnotize the few people who were able to remembered their most recent past life when they were children. We could start with people who were featured in books like “Children Who Remember Previous Lives” by Ian Stevenson.

Of course, a committee of scientists should be in charge of designing and supervising the study to ensure its validity. If the results were highly congruent, even scientists would have to recognize the possibility that reincarnation may actually exist. It is quite surprising that such a study hasn’t be done yet, or if it has, that we haven’t heard about it.

If you know of such kind of studies, please let me know 🙂

What about you? Do you believe in reincarnation? Who do you believe you were in your previous life?
Leave me a comment below to share your thoughts with me.

Recommended readings:
Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Live, Michael Newton
Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Michael Newton (more like a manual for hypnotherapists)
Science and the Afterlife Experience: Evidence for the Immortality of Consciousness, Chris Carter

Finally, for those who want to learn more about LBL (Life Between Lives) hypnotherapy, become a LBL hypnotherapists themselves or look for LBL therapists in their area, check The Newton Institute’s homepage.
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The 5 Commandments of Personal Development

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