by Roger Woolger

The notion that physical and psychological illnesses may be derived from the psychic residues of events in previous lives is accepted in a great many non-western cultures. The opening lines of the classic Buddhist text, the Dhammapada, sums up this view succinctly: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” It hardly need be added that in the Buddhist world view, earlier thoughts can most certainly belong to earlier incarnations.

In the West, however, such an idea has never been seriously entertained by orthodox science or by the orthodox versions of Christianity and Judaism (McGregor, 1978 and Langley, 1967) in recent history. On the other hand fully articulated doctrines of karma and reincarnation … Read the rest