JRT Topic: Reincarnation

Following DNA – Diba Ayten Yilmaz (Is.21)

by Diba Ayten Yilmaz

Abstract

As we speculate about much of the mechanics of the reincarnation process we often wonder and actively search out clues as to the how, when, where, and why we incarnate. It seems that an important aspect of this search and research is the acceptance of the scientifically inclined. Yilmaz presents one recently discovered method of tracing and linking an incarnate client with her past lives using her DNA. She gets help with this from two world renowned organizations that do not yet know they are providing this help: National Geographic and IBM.

Introduction

From the National Geographic Society (NGS) website:

The National Geographic Society, IBM, geneticist Spencer Wells, and the Waitt Family Foundation have launched … Read the rest

1 May 2007

Honoring Pythagoras: Reincarnation Ideas in Classical Greece – Hans TenDam (Is.20)

by Hans TenDam

 A doctoral thesis at Princeton University Press in 1948, documents carefully and scholarly that Greek reincarnation ideas came from no other than Pythagoras; not from his teacher Pherecydes, the Orphics, Egypt, the Celts, or the Thracians. And as two of the most important doctrines associated with metempsychosis appear first in Greece, and only then in India, any transmission would have rather been from Greece to India than the reverse. It is also likely that the Celts acquired the doctrine from the Greeks.  In the Pythagorean view, metempsychosis is an ethical development and memories of past lifetimes are possible. We can still live with that.

Reincarnation or rather metempsychosis ideas were already known in classical Greece. Orphic and … Read the rest

1 December 2005

Reincarnation, Quantum Physics, and Spirituality – Todd Hayen (Is.20)

by Todd Hayen

Reincarnation has never been taken very seriously by the scientific community due to the insistence of our current scientific model that all events in the natural world take place within the confines of the Newtonian paradigm. Quantum physics has changed all of that, as we are just beginning to see the physical world in an entirely different light. Several eminent scientists of today suggest that it is just possible we have been looking at the problem from the wrong perspective. From the world-view of quantum theory, a new model of reincarnation has been developing. Combining these theories with the idea that time and space may simply be a human construct, reincarnation becomes not only plausible, but a … Read the rest

1 December 2005

Evidence for the Thesis that Souls Repeatedly Incarnate and that Individuals Have Composite Souls from Multiple Past-Lives – Esther M. Iseman and Roger E. Spitzer (Is.18).

by Esther M. Iseman, M.S., D.C.H. and Roger E. Spitzer, M.D.

Abstract
Past-life regression of a single individual has revealed 500 sequential years of repeated soul incarnation between two lineages of soul mates. In addition, the existence and function of “helper souls” has been delineated. In each lifetime, including Columbus’ voyage, the Civil War, Post Reconstruction, The Indian Wars, World War I and World War II, soul mates have bonded only to be separated and required to return to a subsequent life in order to restore their love. Verification of these stories was obtained by war records and independent regression of both soul mates in the present to the same past lifetimes leading to identical stories.

Introduction
It … Read the rest

31 December 2000

Did They Hide the Bodies? The Population Problem – Erik Youngberg (Is.17)

Erik Youngberg

Erik Youngberg, an author new to the Journal, discusses the familiar “population problem” and presents surprising new findings that turn the problem on its head. As well as neatly solving the population dilemma, his article reminds us all to look with a skeptical eye on any “conventional” assumptions.

You might already hate for skeptics to ask this question: “How can reincarnation be possible? More people are alive now than have died since humanity began.” They have asked it for over two decades, and it is the most devastating argument against reincarnation there has ever been. As many people have noted, ordinary theories of rebirth become impossible because there are not enough past-life bodies to go around. Of course, … Read the rest

1 December 1999

Researching Past Lives: Facts or Subjective Experience? – Wade Bettis (Is.16)

 Wade Bettis, J.D.

The author asks; “What is the best way to examine past-life regressions?” He discusses in depth two careful studies; Venn (1986) and Tarazi (1997). Although these studies are impressive, Bettis finds them both incomplete in the lack of value placed on the subjective experience of the clients. Only the factual data was analyzed. Bettis suggests that more sensitive methodologies would have revealed the deeper meanings to the clients of their past-life narratives.

Introduction

The question of whether or not the past lives that people produce in altered states of consciousness are real reincarnation memories or fantasies is an intriguing one and has not been answered yet. One common approach to the question is to research the … Read the rest

1 December 1998

A New Understanding of Reincarnation through Past-Life Recall – Rabia Lynn Clark (Is.15)

Rabia Lynn Clark, Ph.D.

Rabia Clark briefly discusses cultural and religious reincarnation beliefs and examines what past-life therapists say they have found in past-life therapy as well as what Stevenson has found in his researches into the spontaneous past-life memories of children.

Reincarnation is a belief found in many cultures and religions: Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Huna, and others. But recent past-life memories have brought us to a new understanding about reincarnation. The work of Ian Stevenson, M.D., and the relatively new field of past-life therapy have both made contributions in confirming some old beliefs while adding new insights.

Concepts about an afterlife and reincarnation are very diverse in different religions and cultures. They offer models to deal … Read the rest

1 December 1997

Past-Life Therapy, Astrology, and the New Quantum and Space-Time Physics – Dianne Seaman (Is.15)

Dianne Seaman, B.S., C.P.L.T.

Dianne Seaman explores possible relationships between astrology, the new physics of quanta and space-time, past-life phenomena, and transpersonal experiences. As she notes in her article, her explorations raise more questions than can be answered, but her findings are provocative and she links these areas together thoughtfully.

Astrology, quantum physics and past-life phenomena are all complex subjects in and of themselves. Here I am attempting to show links among all three and how a more thorough understanding of each can be gained from exploring the other two – an even more complex undertaking. I am coming to realize that this is a lifelong project, and as I delve deeper into these matters, more questions are raised … Read the rest

1 December 1997

The Other Eastern Religion: Reincarnation in Modern Jewish Thought – Thomas G. Shafer (Is.15)

Thomas G. Shafer, M.D.

Dr. Shafer, a psychiatrist, addresses potential difficulties Jewish and Christian clients and patients may have dealing with the possibility of reincarnation suggested by past-life therapy. He surveys past and modern Jewish concepts of Gilgul or reincarnation and posits that this belief system may make PLT more acceptable to clients from strictly monotheistic religious traditions.

I’ve been personally active in past-life regression therapy for a little more than a year. I find it a fascinating and highly effective modality, but in our Judaeo-Christian Western culture there is one major problem: the underlying concept. Survival after death is, of course, a commonly held belief. But what do we do with survival before birth? This implies some form … Read the rest

1 December 1997

Two Notions: Snugging Into Paradigms – Thelma B. Freedman (Is.14)

by Thelma B. Freedman, M.A.

In this article, Thelma Freedman speculates on ways in which past-life narratives, if real reincarnation memories, might fit within already established models of the world. Her interest is to stimulate conservative model-making based on what we really know.

Past-life therapy is at a decisive moment in history, both its own history and the history of humanity. Past-life therapy is not about to move into the mainstream: It is already on the march, as we see more therapists every day discovering this magical approach to healing. That is all to the good. We also see that more and more people are accepting reincarnation as their personal belief system, and that is probably a good thing, … Read the rest

1 December 1996