'You are Just Imagining Past Life Memories'

[Mr. Mike]

Hello again everyone:

I have been reading everything related to reincarnation and past lives that I can get my hands on and of course, had to check out what skeptics thought of the idea of past lives. Generally, the answers seem to fall into two camps: 1) people who believe in past lives are delusional, scam artists or mentally insane or 2) people who claim past lives are just fooled by their ordinary imagination. Since I consider 1) to not be worth responding to, I'm curious as to how YOU know that you are not just making past lives up in your mind.

There are two conflicting thoughts I have on this one. On one hand, I have had many vivid dreams where I re-visit the same places over and over again. I recognize them as real life places I've never visited (like Winnipeg in Canada and Melbourne in Australia) but I know they are nothing like they are in real life. However, these aren't just a series of random images: no matter how many times I visit these places, they look the same and I could even draw a map of these 'cities' since they are much smaller than in real life. They have all the usual things you would see in a city and could easily pass as a real life place. There are roads, cars, traffic lights, malls, offices and houses. In fact, I would go so far as to say it can be hard to tell if I'm dreaming or not and it can take a few minutes to realize it was just a dream. It follows that I can conclude that any 'memories' from such places are simply the result of an overactive imagination since we can look at pictures of the actual cities and any such memory has no basis in reality.

Having said that, I still find it very hard to dismiss the memories I had as a kid as an overactive imagination. I can't remember much now as an adult, but I still remember being on a farm in a small town or rural setting. All the items in the building look like they came from the 50's or 60's and while it feels like the house was in the USA, it was in an area where it wasn't a big deal (my gut instinct would say either Iowa or Nebraska, both places I've never been). I remember crying myself to sleep night after night and feeling like I had lost something, even though I came from a very loving family. I also felt very strong emotional connections to drive-in theatres, diners and motels, even though I'm not a fan of any of them. Recently, I have come to learn that all three of these places were very popular in the United States in the 1960's and have drastically declined since. The more I look at history, the more it seems to confirm that my memories match up with life at that time.

To further suggest these are real memories and not made up, I also can point to a similar emotional attachment that turned out to be correct. There was a large mall not far from where I grew up and an older part of the mall had a narrow hallway that had a doctor's office. I always had felt a very strong attachment to that doctor's office even though our doctor was in an office on the other side of the city. I recently found out that my doctor WAS in that mall location and moved when I was a baby!

I'm interested to hear what leads you to believe that your memories are genuine past life experience and not a case of coming from your imagination or from a place like TV?

 

[dking777]

I'm interested to hear what leads you to believe that your memories are geniune past life experience and not a case of coming from your imagination or from a place like TV?

I am recalling meeting my cousin when I was in 1st grade. We had shared memories of being in different bodies and knowing one another in a different life time. He had memories that matched my own. So we were able to validate the memories from a source outside our own minds. Our family members knew of this and came up with all sorts of theories to discount and discredit it as products of over-active imaginations. Of course - he and I knew better.


This repeated itself in 6th grade when I met a classmate. He had memories independent of my own mind and they matched my own mind's visions of the very same scenes.


This was repeated again in 8th grade when my family moved and I met a neighbor who was my age. Once again - memories that were the same - but coming from two different minds.


The only two people who knew the 'true reality' of the visions we shared - where the other person involved. everyone else would try to explain it away with logic and reason.


When you know - you know. When people don't know - it is easier for them to look at it the way they see it. Through their imagination.


DK

 

[deborah]

HI Mr Mike,


Good question and interesting answer dking777.


Mike, you might enjoy reading this thread titled Imagination vs Fantasy. I look forward to reading others responses.

 

[stardis]

Hi Mr. Mike.


I have always remembered living and dying in the Mediterranean area a very long time ago. When I was a small boy, we did not have television or books that I could have been influenced by. Neither did my parents tell me any stories that would have made me think that I had lived before in that part of the world, unless you might think Bible stories would do that.


I think that many of our imaginative wanderings may have some basis in fact. However as we grow older, our ability to recognize who we truly are (or who we were) is lost amid the bustle of daily life. Developing a quiet mind through meditation (or other means) is one way to filter out the dross and find what is worth keeping as genuine memory. Now, some things that may come to the quiet mind are messages and teaching that are valuable as guidelines as to what our purpose in this life is and it is important to recognize the value of that.

 

[tanguerra]

Yes, people often think it is either a delusion or a falsehood to recall past lives. I often get that reaction if I mention it to random people. Even my friends who know me well and know I am neither nuts nor a liar are mostly just 'humouring' me when they hear one of my stories.


However, there are just too many stories that check out historically for it all to be a coincidence. The experiences are just too powerful, emotionally, to be mere daydreams. This phenomenon is very ancient and very widespread in human history. I really don't see how it can simply be dismissed by anyone who really knows anything about it.

 

[Truthseeker]

Hi Mike. Well, I can say that I am not a scam artist or crazy. I wrestle with these questions myself. I am a rational person and think about things critically. I have spent a lot of time looking into reincarnation and whether or not it should be taken seriously. In my search, I have found that there is just too much evidence out there for it to be ignored. Too many people have memories that have been varified by facts, and too many have memories that are shared by other people, like dking.


As for my personal memories, at first I was convinced that it was all my imagination. However, when a couple of validations that came up that literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, I started to change my mind. There were bits of information that I did not consciously know before that turned out to be completely acurate. It's what motivated me to seek out this forum to begin with.

 

[Mr. Mike]

Thank you for your responses. I certainly do not want to leave the impression that I am doubting anyone's honesty, but at the same time I've run into many people who were 100% sure of things that were wrong.


Let me back up a minute so you can see where I'm coming from. Even with the memories that seemed past life related, I had an experience at the age of 6. We stopped by a cemetery and I suddenly thought to myself "After this life is over, that's it.... forever." I was basically paralyzed with fear and was afraid to live but even more afraid to die. I didn't think about it too much until October of 2001. While I was really sad and upset for the first few days after 9/11 and like most people I got over it relatively quickly and went on as normal. Suddenly, I was at University and without much warning had a near complete breakdown. Making things worse with the fact that nobody seemed to understand or was able to help me. At the time, I couldn't go on living but at the same time I was petrified to die. I was also afraid to talk to anyone because was scared someone else would see the horrible truth and I wouldn't wish my experience on anyone. I was in a state of nearly overwhelming depression for about two weeks.


That led to me setting off at age 19 to find the truth once and for all, no matter what. Being a very inquisitive person I needed proof; anecdotal evidence would not cut it. I started by reading the Bible and was shocked to read about 'God'. I went to church as a kid and this was not how God was presented to me. I was also quickly turned off by how it did not make sense and contradicted both my knowledge and what I was taught. In fact, the notion of a God that would sentence decent people (like me) to eternal pain and suffering made me even more depressed and fearful.


I was quickly getting more depressed seeing that nobody could give me a reason that life had any meaning or purpose until I was reading some material by Bruce Moen. His Engineering background and struggles with many doubts led me to believe this might not be it after all and this eventually led me here. I have to say I still consider myself skeptical, but I seem to be leaning more to the side of belief every day. I continue to search for absolute, undeniable proof and if I find it I will shout it from the rooftops because I will be one of the hardest people to convince.


In spite of that, most skeptics will still dismiss my evidence as 'wishful thinking' due to my horrible depression and probably say that made this stories up as a self-defence mechanism to keep from going completely insane. As of right now, I cannot prove beyond any doubt that they are incorrect.


I hope this gives you a little more context about where I have come from.

 

[dking777]

Being a very inquisitive person I needed proof; anecdotal evidence would not cut it.

Accounts of direct personal experience are commonly equated to anecdotal evidence where this form of evidence is not one of the above categories of anecdote, hearsay or conclusion deduced from generalisation. Unlike anecdotal evidence the reliability of accounts of personal experience is normally capable of assessment for legal proceedings.
Source: Wikipedia

The image of the scientific community has somewhat tarnished in the eyes of many thinking people during the past few decades. This is completely justified. Orthodox scientists, as a whole, are always the last to recognize or accept (if they ever do) any unusal fact or realty that does not fit comfortably into the picture of the universe as they see it. This is the case, regardless of the any proof or evidence made available to them.
For ages the vanguard of the status quo of science has ruthlessly persecuted any legitimate pioneer who has tried to introduce a new idea or made a discovery, which might question the validity of any established concept.


Source: The Awesome Life Force

I have come across a great site (In Another Life: Reincarnation in America) that has tons of recent documentation and streaming videos with scientists and other who are searching for answers to this question as well. I particularly enjoyed listening to Philosophy professor Dr. Robert Almeder of Georgia State University discuss reincarnation and societal reactions, focusing especially on the work of the late Dr. Ian Stevenson.


DK

 

[dking777]

I thought I would touch on the story again because I feel it touches on a simple truth. I had tons of 'direct experience' with reincarnation issues when I was teenager prior to 18. At 18, I had amnesia and couldn't remember any of it. I was having dreams and much like Mr. Mike, I didn't have answers any more. I just had profound questions. I couldn't see or recall anything about past lives but I was having 'strange dreams' at the time about it. I didn't know what to think about it with my 'then current' young mind. (I was 21 at the time.) I didn't want to tie up my adult mind believing in or hoping in some sort of fallacy coming to me in a dream - so - I prayed on the matter. What I was told to do in a dream sort of astonished me but - I did it.


I had a friend who was the biggest cynic, critic, skeptic and disbeliever of reincarnation. This 'dream' laid out a plan to ask him if he could - would he want to remember his past lives. This was 'spirit guided and inspired' - so I had no idea how it was done on a conscious level. But I set up a scene where he faced forward away from the clock. One minute it was 4:00 PM and when he looked around at the clock again it was 5:00 PM. He had no memory of what we had talked about during that hour. I guess it could be looked at as a form of hypnosis. To me - it was putting his 'conscious mind' to sleep for a hour - so his 'heart' or 'spirit' could speak through his conscious mind.


That young guy (17) went on for an hour about all sorts of past life memories. There was no doubt in his mind all of it was true. But at the end of the hour - he was begging, pleading, and moaning - to forget it again. He had seen enough to know that too much was too much. I asked him to do me a favor and with full sight of all his past lives - why was he choosing to forget it. He told me,


"It will interfere with my current life. I can't live like I am meant to live this life with all these memories in my head. It will drive me insane."


After 5 PM - he buried it all and it was as if it had never happened. Denial. It serves a purpose. That is all I knew. I didn't worry about proving anything to myself after that and just took him as an example. I felt I must have came to the same conclusion some where in my past. I felt the truth to the matter was buried in my own heart and when my own mind was ready to deal with that sort of 'deep and mystical truth' - then my heart would let me know only when my current mind was ready for it.


So - I walked away from it. When the time is ready and the 'mind' is the student that needs that teaching - then the heart will open up and reveal it's secrets to you. The truth and proof is hidden within.


All the scientists in the world - are not going to be the teachers who bring you the lesson that only your heart can provide.


So if your heart is telling you 'not to believe' then follow your heart and let it be your guide. Maybe your mind is not ready for the load and burden that sort of truth is to the mind.


Taking the advice from my 17 year old friend (from 1981) that sort of burden could drive a person crazy if it isn't prepared to deal with it properly.

• Our necessities never equal our wants. ~ Benjamin Franklin
  
• Reality means you live until you die. The real truth is nobody wants reality. ~ Chuck Palahniuk
  
• Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it. ~ George MacDonald
  
• Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self. ~ Michel de Montaigne
  
• The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever. ~ Anatole France
  

Just food for thought.


DK

 

[Truthseeker]

Hello again Mike. I think you and I are of similar minds. I was raised in a strict Catholic environment. As an adult I have fallen away from the Church. There were many reasons why. For starters, I could not accept the belief that God loves you unconditionally, and created you with a free will, but if exercise your free will and fail to do exactly what you're told you will burn in Hell for all of eternity. I could go on and on discussing religious teachings, but I don't want to hijack the thread with it, nor do I want to disrespect anyone's religious beliefs. Basically, I believe that pretty much all the major religions have spiritual truth to them. However, there is a lot of man-made garbage to dig through. There is where the problem lies.


I may have chosen to no longer be a religious person, but I am still a spiritual person. I have worked hard to seek out the truth (hence my screen name). I don't want to spend my life going through the motions of performing rituals and believing in superstitions. I want to know the truth. To be honest, I pretty much stumbled across reincarnation on accident (not a part of Christian dogma) but the more I learned about it it was the first spiritual belief that I came across that made complete sense to me. Maybe it is "wishful thinking," but I don't think so. Is there undeniable proof? None that I know of, but there is a lot of interesting evidence in favor of it. It is also a very old belief that predates Christianity and Islam. In fact, it was commonly believed in by early Christians until it was removed from Christian teachings at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.

 

[Nightrain]

The imagination/fantasy vs. legitimate memory issue is something that I struggle with on a daily basis these days. Even actual memories from this current life are often vague and sometimes flawed; and, nothing appears to me like watching a movie as some describe their own experiences. One thing I would tend to trust, however, would be one's memories of a farm in Nebraska, when one's actual life has been spent in Nova Scotia.

 

[Mr. Mike]

The imagination/fantasy vs. legitimate memory issue is something that I struggle with on a daily basis these days. Even actual memories from this current life are often vague and sometimes flawed; and, nothing appears to me like watching a movie as some describe their own experiences.

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but I have a near photographic memory of my pre-teen years. I feels like it happened both yesterday and a very long time ago if that makes any sense. For example, I remember details of visiting areas that I haven't seen since I was very young. Having checked pictures online recently, my memories are nearly 100% accurate.

One thing I would tend to trust, however, would be one's memories of a farm in Nebraska, when one's actual life has been spent in Nova Scotia.

The only major reason I should be skeptical would be because I watched a lot of American TV growing up. Having said that, I had zero interest in farming, have always lived in suburbs and Nebraska and Iowa aren't exactly what Atlantic Canadians think about when it comes to the USA. I also felt drawn to Baseball and Churches (as a non-religious person) as a small kid, which would again fit in with the time period.


It just seems so arbitrary and random to me to just be a strange co-incidence. It's not like I'm remembering being in Manhattan or being a well known celebrity. Unfortunately, my memories are so vague now this is about all the detail I have left.

 

[tanguerra]

I think past life memories can sometimes seem like 'imagination' partly because in many ways our 'imagination' actually comes from the same wellspring as our past life memories. We all have thousands of years worth of memories, it's just that most of them are 'subconscious', so the way they bubble to the surface and reveal themselves can seem to be like the process of 'imagination'. However, in our culture, we will usually assume that we must be 'imagining things' if we get something popping into our head that does not seem to 'belong' there.


When I was small, I used to have lots and lots of what I know realise were probably past life memories. I used to 'just know' things that I had no reason to know in the conventional wisdom of our society, which is that we are born as a blank slate. Various things would pop into my head. When I saw the butcher in the butcher shop once I could just 'see' him in a period costume from several hundred years prior, for instance. Why? Well, probably because I recognised him I would think now.


I would also spend a lot of time 'daydreaming' about the 'olden days' I guess would be how it would be described. This used to happen quite a bit. I remember sitting in the back of the car (probably bored) and by kind of 'squinting my eyes' I could see how streets looked filled with horse drawn carriages instead of cars back in the old days, that sort of thing. Various objects in antique shops would fascinate me and make me feel 'funny'. Why did this feel comforting to me? Well, perhaps because I was not imagining, but remembering?


We weren't allowed to watch much TV and I did not read very much at age 5 or 6 other than pretty basic picture books and such, so how did I 'just know' things about sword fighting or hunting or whatever other 'grown up stuff' it might be? Why would a 6 year old girl, growing up in suburban Australia in the 1960s even think about things like that? It makes no sense to our western paradigm, but it happens. Why do little children play games of 'war' and 'forts' and various other seemingly archaic things (sometimes much to the horror of their parents)? Saying this behaviour is 'innate' explains nothing, it merely describes it.


When I would mention various things like this my mother would say 'Oh, you have such an active imagination!' and I believed her of course. I assumed this was 'all just my imagination', because adults are always right of course!


After a while I began to just 'switch' that part of my brain off and ignore these 'imaginary' thoughts, because nobody understood what I was talking about or showed much interest anyway. Then in my teens I discovered a book about reincarnation and thought, of course! That's what that is! It's not my imagination at all! Nowadays, when some thought pops into my head, instead of automatically dismissing it as simply 'my imagination' I check it out and usually find it to be historically accurate enough alright. I find that I know an amazing amount of stuff that I have never studied or read about but which usually turns out to be pretty feasible, even if it might not have made it into a history book.


The sort of stuff I remember has usually never been shown in a movie and it certainly would not stir me emotionally the way it does even if it was from some film I had seen years ago but forgotten. Actually, when I see a film about a period that I remember living in I am usually faintly irritated about how inaccurate it usually is and how 'fake' it seems compared with my own images of that time.


Additionlly, past life memories are usually embued with deep and powerful emotions - feelings of nostaligia, joy, grief and so on. Imaginary daydreams are not.

 

[Nightrain]

After viewing one particular painting at an art gallery years ago, I felt tremendous pangs of nostalgia and happiness that I hadn't experienced in this way before. It was of a mid-nineteenth century scene of a narrow winding cobblestone street lined with tightly-packed houses in an American city, haphazardly built of different styles close to the street, where a boy with a stick was propelling an iron barrel hoop down the street.


At the time, I thought every guy could relate to such a scene as I had, but I found the reverse was true. Most were not even aware of such an activity. At the same time I realized that nothing could be more boring these days than chasing an old barrel hoop, and I began to wonder why the scene meant so much to me. Gradually, through the years I began to realize what my subconscious already knew -- that I had once been in such a scene from that period.


I wonder how many other things we take for granted, which belong to specific unique events in lives past. Maybe a game of marbles alongside a stable, or watching a blacksmith stoke a searing fire. Perhaps, we have buried deep in our memories, very short glimpses of carefree childhood activities that are no longer known or understood. Riding with one's father in a freight wagon on a lonely New England road at dusk, or watching the girls, as they giggle and oooh over the black and white pictures in the latest Sears catalog.


What may seem mundane to us now, could have been such a meaningful moment from a past life. Perhaps we don't have to look for just the tragic moments, which lie deeply buried in our psyche. Maybe there are happy memories right there under our noses, waiting for us to notice.

 

[Mr. Mike]

Additionlly, past life memories are usually embued with deep and powerful emotions - feelings of nostaligia, joy, grief and so on. Imaginary daydreams are not.

I suppose that this the best way of describing why I'm leaning towards belief. I've had plenty of amazing dreams in realistic looking places, but I feel no connection to them upon fully awakening. These other memories (of the 60's era house) feel familiar to the point where I have to convince myself I haven't actually lived there.


If it was just 'genetic' memory, why the mid-west US of all places? My ancestors were (and until a few years ago are) extremely insular since arriving in North America and I don't feel the least bit related to any of them.

 

[tanguerra]

Interesting Nightrain! Yes, strange and wayward feelings of nostalgia are certainly something I am familiar with!


Yes, Mr Mike emotion is the main marker between a past life memory and a 'fantasy' in my opinion. Powerful emotions and lots of other tiny details such as buttons, cracks, crumbs, dirt, and so on. Usually 'fantasy' does not engage all the senses with smells, sounds, heat, dust, cold, wind, physical discomfort, the feeling of clothes on your body the way past life memories do. Imagination usually only engages sight and sometimes sound for the very gifted.


Quite often too, there is a feeling of knowing what it was you were thinking at the time and what had just happened moments before. Sometimes it is jerky - only one moment at a time and often lacking a coherent narrative, whereas when people make up stories it is usually all narrative and not as much minute detail.


You can have a powerful imagination and imagine yourself being on a spaceship or a pirate ship, or a hot air balloon or whatever. You can imagine having all kinds of adventures, you can even work really hard at imagining the tiny details of your pirate ship - but it is unlikely that these 'fantasies' will stir you emotionally the way that a past life memory will. Unless, of course, what you think you are 'imagining' or 'inventing' is something you are actually remembering of course!


Rule of thumb - if it makes you feel like crying, there is probably a reason for that even if you don't fully understand why. Usually even only one powerful moment from a past life will make you feel more emotion than you will feel by watching a 90 minute movie, no matter how great a movie it might be.


What is 'genetic memory' supposed to be? It sounds like an attempt to come up with a 'scientific explanation' for past life memories to me!

 

[Lawyer Daggett]

I fully accept that what I have dreamed and experienced under hypnosis may be the result of a fertile imagination, although under hypnosis I experience smell and feel as well as sight- something I never experience in dreams- which seem restricted to sight.


However, research involving children who claim to be someone else and who can identify people in other cities as family members I believe defies any rational explanation other than reincarnation.

 

[dking777]

..... although under hypnosis I experience smell and feel as well as sight- something I never experience in dreams- which seem restricted to sight.

This is one of the things that impressed my family when I spoke of my experience at the age of 14. I would describe the food along with the taste and smell of it. As a 14 y/o - I greatly disliked the smell and taste of it. (Also the fact that they didn't use eating utensils and used their hands.) I told them I didn't want to go back in time again because they had rotten food.


DK

 

[tanguerra]

... and no central heating either!

 

[Charles Stuart]

Hi Mr Mike,


I believe it must seem clear, based on all the replies you have received, that you are not alone in your thoughts and feelings. I think pretty much all of us here who have undergone anything similar have also undergone your doubts and feelings towards it.


It is almost impossible for a "personal experience" to become a strong enough evidence that might convince others, and all of us who believe in reincarnation, I also believe, need to learn to accept that.


In my own personal case, I had memories triggered in childhood by my father singing me a song that was composed for Bonnie Prince Charlie, and in my own case the fact that they should relate to "memories" of a famous personality have done nothing towards contributing towards others also believing in it. Quite on the contrary, of course...


One such "mental vision" that I had was on an entrance to a small town in Scotland. I could "see" myself riding upon a dark horse ahead of a troop of Scottish soldiers heading down a road towards this small town, and this "memory" remained in mind ever since. It was only when I was 37 or 38 years old, when my father took me to Scotland to get to know the town where I was born, that, upon driving to Edinburgh, we passed by a small town called Biggar that was EXACTLY the same as the vision of the town in my childhood vision.


My father and I stopped at the town for a pub lunch, and I enquired with the pub owner if he knew anything about the history of the town. He gave me a pamphlet with information about Biggar, and in it I read that Prince Charles Stuart had indeed camped with his army in the outskirts of the town in 1746 after his army's retreat from Derby.


Could this be enough to convince any skeptic? Of course not...


In my own case, much of the evidence that came to me came via mediumnic means. At age 15, in my first spiritual encounter, I was told I had been Prince Charles Edward Stuart (the same name I have now) in a past lifetime. At age 30, therefore 15 years later, this was confirmed to me again in another mediumnic spiritual encounter with absolutely no association to the first. An impossibe coincidence that practically blew my mind; and like you, rather than having felt happiness over such a discovery, I fell into a deep depression which lasted for at least two weeks.


Having undergone so many similar personal experiences, including dreams, to me personally reincarnation is no longer a belief, but a knowledge. The best that I have found myself capable of doing regarding it, however, has been to participate here in this forum over all these years, and to have written a book in which I tell of such experiences; but as I say in the introduction of the story I have written, I cannot presume to convince, but to share, and inevitably I have to let each one draw their own conclusions as one may...


BTW, if anyone here may have happened to purchase my book, I am forced to apologise for some misprints in its first format. I only received my hard copy for revision this week, and have already provided the necessary corrections for the next editions.


Charles

 

[katrien]

Very good post and very true.

That young guy (17) went on for an hour about all sorts of past life memories. There was no doubt in his mind all of it was true. But at the end of the hour - he was begging, pleading, and moaning - to forget it again. He had seen enough to know that too much was too much. I asked him to do me a favor and with full sight of all his past lives - why was he choosing to forget it. He told me,


"It will interfere with my current life. I can't live like I am meant to live this life with all these memories in my head. It will drive me insane."


After 5 PM - he buried it all and it was as if it had never happened. Denial. It serves a purpose. That is all I knew. I didn't worry about proving anything to myself after that and just took him as an example. I felt I must have came to the same conclusion some where in my past. I felt the truth to the matter was buried in my own heart and when my own mind was ready to deal with that sort of 'deep and mystical truth' - then my heart would let me know only when my current mind was ready for it.


So - I walked away from it. When the time is ready and the 'mind' is the student that needs that teaching - then the heart will open up and reveal it's secrets to you. The truth and proof is hidden within.


All the scientists in the world - are not going to be the teachers who bring you the lesson that only your heart can provide.


So if your heart is telling you 'not to believe' then follow your heart and let it be your guide. Maybe your mind is not ready for the load and burden that sort of truth is to the mind.


DK

 

[Charles Stuart]

Hi Mr. Mike,


Just wanted to make a slight correction of what I believe is an important piece of information regarding how and when the concept of reincarnation was eliminated from Christian teachings. This is from the story I have written. Has anyone ever made a "quote" of oneself? It's a 1st for me...

It is certain that many of the early Christians held at least a vague knowledge of reincarnation and that many (if not most) held this notion as part of their beliefs. In the year 553 AD, however, the concept was declared “heretic” at the Council of Constantinople, assembled by the Roman Emperor Justinian, because his wife, Theodora, who had formerly been a prostitute, feared the then current belief that a person would have to expiate, in a future life, for that which they had been and done in their previous existences. In view of her peers, in particular her once “colleagues of profession”, she far favoured the concept by which she would be totally forgiven for her sins once she converted to the religion and repented for her sins.
Virgilius, who was then the Roman Catholic Pope, opposed this council, and was for this very reason violently dragged out by his hair and beard by Roman soldiers from the church in which he had been hiding and placed under arrest. After the Council, Pope Virgilius, who had been excomungated by the bishops gathered at the Council for not having participated in the meeting, was forced to sign the Council document in order to regain his position and avoid permanent excomungation.


It was rigorously in this way that the Roman Catholic Church put an end to the study of reincarnation and determined it as “heretic”. The theme was then totally abolished and persecuted during the 600 years of the Holly Inquisition. With the Protestant Reform, in the 16th century, the new Christian movement inherited the traditional concepts, doctrines and dogmas established at the Council of Constantinople, which are still in practice to this day.

According to accounts, there is, unfortunately, a dimension that we could refer to as "hell" and another known as "purgatory". The good news is that no "hell" is eternal, for all Souls are given the opportunities to learn and progress... What Perfect God would condemn the children of His/Her creation to a lifetime of eternal suffering? :thumbsup:

 

[Reisender]

Mr. Mike


For some people is easy to discredit everything they don't understands.


Past life memories is something as private as the memories of your present life. So when you share them, you share a part of your life.


I dream the house of my present childhood often, in dreams, the house appears different in many details than it was in real life.


Unfortunately , the house no longer exist, but it doesn´t make it fantasy or imagination.


None of my dreams of childhood are in fact memories of past events, the trama of the dream are not memories per se, but the scenery is.


I believe the same happens with past lives dreams.


With a couple of exceptions, I do not dream past lives events, most of my memories are there since childhood, they are part of my consciousness since then.


Other memories came later through meditation.


However, through time I have had some validations that my memories have a high degree of authenticity, maybe not enough to convince a hard core skeptic, as if that were possible, but enough to convince me that I am not insane.


But at the end, it is you who decides what to do with your memories, not the mainstream.

 

[Charles Stuart]

Hi Reisender,

However, through time I have had some validations that my memories have a high degree of authenticity, maybe not enough to convince a hard core skeptic, as if that were possible, but enough to convince me that I am not insane.

And don't we all worry about that ???!!! Even worse is having others look at you as if you've gone completely off your socket when in fact it is they who do not know any better!!!!! #G^H

 

[Reisender]

Hi Reisender,
And don't we all worry about that ???!!! Even worse is having others look at you as if you've gone completely off your socket when in fact it is they who do not know any better!!!!! #G^H

Right!


That is one rason why is better not to share something too personal with people no open to this topic.


Still knowing that this forum is open and dedicated to this topic, I haven´t feel confident enough to share more of my memories yet.

 

[Mr. Mike]

Thank you again for sharing your stories. I suppose my main problem is that I'm a little too open minded and have set a bar that is nearly impossible to reach. There's isn't much to add but I wanted to touch on two points.

Yes, Mr Mike emotion is the main marker between a past life memory and a 'fantasy' in my opinion. Powerful emotions and lots of other tiny details such as buttons, cracks, crumbs, dirt, and so on. Usually 'fantasy' does not engage all the senses with smells, sounds, heat, dust, cold, wind, physical discomfort, the feeling of clothes on your body the way past life memories do. Imagination usually only engages sight and sometimes sound for the very gifted.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I experience very minute details in my fantasies/dreams. I'm an extremely observant person by nature so I tend to notice every tiny detail and this carries over to dreams. I'm not interested in going into long, drawn out details but I definately make use of all five senses and I've had some horrible things happen in my dreams (like my car getting stolen) that bother me immensely even for a few seconds after I wake up.


On the other hand, during my childhood, I would cry myself to sleep night after night. No matter what nightmares I had, I usually shook them off after an hour or so: not these memories. They felt just as real as my current memories of being a kid starting school. Again, I had zero reason to be upset. At the time, I was a very happy-go-lucky child!

Hi Mr. Mike,
Just wanted to make a slight correction of what I believe is an important piece of information regarding how and when the concept of reincarnation was eliminated from Christian teachings.

I remember as a kid I was absolutely shocked to find out that the church taught that you only get one life. How unfair! Not everyone got a decent middle class unbringing like I did and I was horrified that 'God' was so cruel. I guess you can imagine what I thought when I found out that many believe there is a place of never ending suffering! I've always used this quote as a great truth detector:


Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true. -Thomas Paine

 

[tanguerra]

Yes, dreams can seem very real sometimes, but they usually fade pretty quickly upon waking for most people unless there is something very significant about them.


Past life memories are different, certainly in my experience. Many, many years after I have had a 'memory' it will stay as fresh as the day I first remembered it.


Do you remember what it was made you cry so much when you were a child Mr Mike? Maybe it is only a vague feeling or maybe there was a specific longing of some sort? If so, it could certainly be past life related.

 

[Mr. Mike]

Do you remember what it was made you cry so much when you were a child Mr Mike? Maybe it is only a vague feeling or maybe there was a specific longing of some sort? If so, it could certainly be past life related.

Unfortunately I don't. All I can remember was a vague feeling of missing something or someone. I'd almost describe it as a homesick feeling when in reality, I hadn't been anywhere. I certainly wasn't unloved and while I did have some really rough times growing up, they wouldn't come until many years later.

 

[hydrolad]

Not too long ago (say maybe seven years ago) I remember waking up early one morning at home, and vividly remembered having had a dream, so vivid that I could describe to you the house, the rooms and a lady telling me that my room mate would be along shortly, and I got the feeling in the dream that he was my "soul mate" (or someone who had shared many lives with me).


And I remember thinking once I awoke that it felt like heaven (or some place I would go to when I die) and I laid there trying to go back to sleep, because I wanted to experience the same dream again, but never could; and of all the dreams that I have had, this was the most vivid dream that I have ever had, surpassing even the PL dreams I had as a child.


For those of you that have read the Bible (and I don't wish to offend anyone's beliefs or belief system), but I remember reading as a child the following verse:


Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions"


And I find as I get older, it seems that lately (since I became disabled) that I am dreaming more and more, but nothing earth-shattering, like the dream I mentioned earlier, or prophetic dreams, and what I'm asking might be hard to understand, but I wonder if I (and others) having more and more dreams, portends an event yet to come in our current lives?

 

[Nightrain]

And I find as I get older, it seems that lately (since I became disabled) that I am dreaming more and more, but nothing earth-shattering, like the dream I mentioned earlier, or prophetic dreams, and what I'm asking might be hard to understand, but I wonder if I (and others) having more and more dreams, portends an event yet to come in our current lives?

There is a growing belief among "New Agers" that the different prophesies of 2012 are announcing some kind of dawning in which enough humans will supposedly reach such a point of psychic awareness, that the rest of the world will follow suit into a more enlightened existence. This concept was largely popularized by the book, "The Celestine Prophesy". Believers have also used reported observations which are said to show that when 100 monkeys acquire a learned skill, the rest of their related population will suddenly appear to acquire the same skill by means of telepathy. More information can be found here. Bear in mind that this wikipedia article may reflect extreme skepticism on the part of Wikipedia's editors, because similar behavior has been observed among other animals involving a variety of learned behaviors by many different scientists over the years.


Continued media coverage of 2012 signaling various versions of physical, cosmic and social upheaval has helped to create a general feeling that something is going to happen between now and then. In all probability, these predictions will follow other previous end-of-the-world scenarios into their own oblivion.


However, it is becoming obvious that technology has helped to connect most of the world to knowledge in a way that is unique to our present time. In this manner, perhaps, some kind of change could be gradually taking place at this very moment, which could help to increase the general hysteria.


Although I personally doubt that December 21st, 2012 signals anything out of the ordinary; I tend to believe that spiritual awareness is expanding exponentially because of the internet. Now that we have access to many scientific proofs of a Quantum world, as well as to the many observations of paranormal evidence; our Newtonian view of a purely physical world is beginning to fall away, and our awareness of the spiritual or paranormal world is becoming mainstream. People are dreaming more, meditating more, and realizing the existence of a less physical world right next to us.