Remembering your past lives

[niranjan]

The Indian spiritual master, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (founder of the 'Art of Living' foundation) has created a technique called the 'Eternity Process' , a meditation technique through which one is able to remember the memories of one's past lives stored in the subconscious mind. Many of my friends and others have gone through this technique , and in the process , have realised the memories of their previous births.

 

The Indian religions believe in the theory of karma or 'cause and effect'. This theory finds ample expression in the fact that those who have gone through the 'Eternity Process ' found that their inborn ,innate talents can be traced back to training in a previous birth.

 

This technique is getting increasingly popular, and according to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar , it is now being practiced in a few psychiatric clinics as well.

In order to do this technique , one ought to contact the nearest 'Art of Living ' centre and get in touch with an 'Art of Living ' teacher trained in this technique.One ought to be 21 years of age to do this technique.

 

All my friends , who have done this technique, found it to be very interesting and illuminating. I wish you the same.

[Avinash]

You have written that some of your friends have got the memories of their previous births. Did any of them verify that memory through some other means to make sure that what he learned from the technique was really what happened to him in previous birth? I am not saying that the technique has some fallacy. But I got this question in my mind and, therefore, decided to ask.

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Is this art of living tech. specifically for remembering past lives, or is that just incidental? And as another member asked, how can one be sure that the memory, whatever that is, relates to past life, and NOT to some other deep-rooted experience.

[Guest guest]

And further ... what would be the benefit of remembering such things? What for example, if one was a dog in the previous life?

 

The 'art of living' have introduced some nice yoga exercises for mind relaxation and health. There is definitely great benefit from these kinds of exercises. But I fail to see what benefit one could achive from remembering previous lives.

 

 

You have written that some of your friends have got the memories of their previous births. Did any of them verify that memory through some other means to make sure that what he learned from the technique was really what happened to him in previous birth? I am not saying that the technique has some fallacy. But I got this question in my mind and, therefore, decided to ask.

Thanks.

[brajeshwara das]

(since this topic is posted twice, I guess I'll answer twice ;-) )

 

 

I have always felt it was some great mercy that I can't remember my past lives, with all the offenses I likely committed. It's also a great mercy I don't remember most of them from this life. The burden would be huge!

 

I have gotten glimpses of past lives before, like I spoke Chinese without knowing Chinese once (very complex sentence in perfect Mandarin according to the Chinese present! "you don't need to eat, you are too fat!" is what I said, I thought I was just speaking in English. No spiritual enlightenment was involved, I definitely had the consciousness of a dog or worse). That built up my faith in the transmigration of the soul and I though I believed in 'God' in a nebulous form already that really moved me to investigate eastern religions. So I see some value maybe in building the faith of total beginners but for those already having faith and practicing? I don't know.

 

Personally I think it is better to focus on surrendering to Guru and doing service now than to remember your past lives. It seems self-serving and indulgent to me. "How is it helping in my service?" is what I think I would need to have answered. Is it for the glorification of the Lord or is it my own separate interest at play? It may even be detrimental to spiritial growth. Remember that demons even seek this sort of information.

[theist]

 

The Indian spiritual master, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (founder of the 'Art of Living' foundation) has created a technique called the 'Eternity Process' , a meditation technique through which one is able to remember the memories of one's past lives stored in the subconscious mind. Many of my friends and others have gone through this technique , and in the process , have realised the memories of their previous births.

 

"Eternity Process" strikes me as a misnomer for a process that concentrates on discovering one's temporary and false designations of the past. The real self, the real you and I, are actually composed of eternity knowledge and bliss so what we need is a process that will put us in touch with the eternity portion of ourselves.

 

A genuine Eternity Process would be one that has the potency to reveal who we really are in eternity and not who we were not in the past.

 

 

The Indian religions believe in the theory of karma or 'cause and effect'. This theory finds ample expression in the fact that those who have gone through the 'Eternity Process ' found that their inborn ,innate talents can be traced back to training in a previous birth.

 

The basic idea here makes sense. We certainly do carry talents gained in past lives with us into our present life. We all take birth with baggage, good or bad, gained through our past experiences. We see a similar phenomena at work just within this one life. Talents and lessons from childhood come with us into adulthood to be further enriched or neglected by the soul.

 

We do not reaquire a speacial training technique to discover this however. Anyone who accepts reincarnation simply needs to further their knowledge on how that process works. There is ample knowledge in most Indian schools of thought already on the process of transmigration and this would classify as one of the most preliminary lessons.

 

 

This technique is getting increasingly popular, and according to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar , it is now being practiced in a few psychiatric clinics as well.

 

This is a proper place for such understanding. A few people in the West and I suspect many more in the East are including past life regressions using hypnosis in their therapies to help souls from dropping unneed and burdonsome baggage that we still may carry in the form of deep rooted samskaras from the past.

 

For example someone who drowned in their past life may develop a debilitating phobia of water in this life. Such pratices are part of the mundane medical field of pyschology and not actually spiritual in the true sense of the word.

 

For sure the medical field would progress greatly by their investigation and employment of such techiniques, and as such they have their place, albeit temporary and not eternal, within human society.

[Guest guest]

Anyone can remember their past lives and access the Akashic records of their soul stream thru consistent meditation practice. Many of us who meditate know this to be true. Remembering Past Lives and Gaining Awareness of our soul's evolution through the physical and astral worlds comes to us as we advance on the path of Self-Realization. Greater Knowledge and Awareness and access to our Causal Memory databank, is not something you even have to overly strive for, it just comes to you in your meditations.

 

I am not familiar with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's technique.. but it is nice to hear he is helping so many people on the path of Self-Realization and Greater Awareness. There are many so people who do not believe in reincarnation because there is no proof, or they were raised in a religion that teaches reincarnation is false.. but actually remembering a past life has changed many skeptics into believers. And when they are then faced with the reality of reincarnation, they then start to ask the big and important questions. Like how do I end this cycle of death and rebirth. That's where the teachings and practices of Yoga come in...