Paranormal Series #2: Is Past Life Recall Required for Psychological Wholeness?

While the Eastern half of the planet has embraced reincarnation as a given since time immemorial, it remains a questionable curiosity in the West, thanks to its effective suppression by the early Christian church as detailed in my novel, The Anathemas: a Novel of Reincarnation and Restitution.

Somewhat recently, the concept of reincarnation has re-surfaced in Western thought, earliest in literature (Wordsworth, Shelly, Blake), then in radical spiritual systems (Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, New Age), and more recently, although still speculatively, in the context of psychological therapy. In his last work, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, psychologist Carl Jung wrote: “I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had been born again because I had not fulfilled the task given to me.” Jung died before he could explore and explain this further, but this statement posits that some of his archetypes might well be viewed as deriving from individual past life material.

Actually, past life recall’s therapeutic potential was stated quite emphatically years before Jung by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, who said: “Only through insight into the law of destiny—karma—does it become comprehensible why ‘the good man has often to suffer, while the evil one may experience happiness.’ This seeming disharmony of the one life disappears when the view is extended upon many lives.” (Reincarnation and Karma)

And highlighting the benefits to be gained from enduring through the adversity resulting from past life misdeeds, the American philosopher Ken Wilber writes: “…the ‘bad things’ that are happening to you now actually indicate a good fruition—it means your system is finally strong enough to digest the past karmic causes that led to your present rebirth… .  Therefore, if you are undergoing some extremely difficult circumstances right now, and you can meet those difficulties with equanimity, wisdom, and virtue, then you are doubly lucky—the causes that led to your being reborn now are starting to surface and burn off, and you’re not generating any new karma while you burn them (as long as you meet them with equanimity and awareness).” (Karma and Illness)

The connection between psychological wholeness and consciousness of the pertinent past lives is stated as unconditional when Gary Zukav writes: “…Without awareness of the experiences of those lifetimes that bear directly upon the struggles of your personality, you cannot understand the extent of what is being healed through your experiences, or seeking to come to a conclusion. If your soul was a Roman centurion, an Indian beggar, a Mexican mother, a nomad boy, and a medieval nun… and if the karmic patterns that were set in motion within those lifetimes are in motion within you, you will not be able to understand your proclivities, or interests, or ways of responding to different situations without awareness of the experiences of those lifetimes.” (The Seat of the Soul)

Is it possible that Einstein’s dictum—We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them—applies to our view of the life span itself when it comes to those thorny challenges that will not yield to any logic, medicine, prayer or kindness? Should we be looking at the forest rather than the single tree? What if—and it still remains a hypothesis despite all the heavy hitters quoted above—what’s missing in the Western way of healing body, mind, and spirit is an elephant that got locked in the bathroom centuries ago: consciousness of our previous lifetimes and their unconscious impact on our current life?

Far fetched? If this line of reasoning sparks something within you, even if it is outrage, weigh in with a comment below.  And, hey, if it helped to explain that squeal and smell coming from your bathroom, let me know that too.

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