|
Eternal Lives, Eternal Deaths
|
Chapter 7
|
Chapter Seven
Expansion of Consciousness
When I first delved into the study of reincarnation – driven, no doubt, by an allure of uncovering hidden knowledge – I was curious to determine whether reincarnation was real. Over time, I have come to understand that it is; reincarnation exists. Remarkably, however, I also learned that it would be equally true to say that it wasn’t. This conclusion may seem absurd or unsatisfactory, even bewildering, yet it conveys a higher multidimensional truth.
This paradox is related to the nature of paradigm shifts. With the emergence of a new paradigm, not only does science and the scientific method change but as it becomes more and more part of life, our reality changes with it. We can think back, for instance, to the medieval paradigm where knowledge came exclusively through the interpretation of the scriptures. Things that form integral parts of our lives and knowledge base today – like galaxies and black holes, evolution, bacteria, and viruses, air travel and computer technologies – would not exist for us if not for the materialist paradigm. Reality, as we know it, would be a lot more limited compared to the world today – or different. Now, we no longer have angels or demons, or as the song says, there’s ‘no hell below us, above us only sky.’ With the onset of the consciousness-based paradigm, a change in reality will occur yet again. We are literally bringing new phenomena into our reality, by allowing ourselves to have experiences such as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body travel, or remembering the karmic past.
Anthropologists of the 21st century talk about an ontological turn, embracing the idea that different cultures do not just interpret the same reality differently (that would be relativism) but may inhabit entirely different realities or ontologies (ways of being). A traditional shaman, who lives in the wild and visits multidimensional realities lives in a different reality than a mainstream office worker. An adventurous mountain climber lives in a different world than a pathologically obese individual unable to walk out of the house. A mystical scholar lives in a fundamentally different reality than a materialist scientist. Since they have different perceptions, different kinds of things occur in their respective realities.
By interpreting reality differently, through the corresponding change in consciousness a different reality unfolds. From the study of reincarnation sessions, various changes of this kind can be observed. Through the adoption of the reincarnationist world-view, consciousness begins to expand, notably in the following areas:
This paradox is related to the nature of paradigm shifts. With the emergence of a new paradigm, not only does science and the scientific method change but as it becomes more and more part of life, our reality changes with it. We can think back, for instance, to the medieval paradigm where knowledge came exclusively through the interpretation of the scriptures. Things that form integral parts of our lives and knowledge base today – like galaxies and black holes, evolution, bacteria, and viruses, air travel and computer technologies – would not exist for us if not for the materialist paradigm. Reality, as we know it, would be a lot more limited compared to the world today – or different. Now, we no longer have angels or demons, or as the song says, there’s ‘no hell below us, above us only sky.’ With the onset of the consciousness-based paradigm, a change in reality will occur yet again. We are literally bringing new phenomena into our reality, by allowing ourselves to have experiences such as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body travel, or remembering the karmic past.
Anthropologists of the 21st century talk about an ontological turn, embracing the idea that different cultures do not just interpret the same reality differently (that would be relativism) but may inhabit entirely different realities or ontologies (ways of being). A traditional shaman, who lives in the wild and visits multidimensional realities lives in a different reality than a mainstream office worker. An adventurous mountain climber lives in a different world than a pathologically obese individual unable to walk out of the house. A mystical scholar lives in a fundamentally different reality than a materialist scientist. Since they have different perceptions, different kinds of things occur in their respective realities.
By interpreting reality differently, through the corresponding change in consciousness a different reality unfolds. From the study of reincarnation sessions, various changes of this kind can be observed. Through the adoption of the reincarnationist world-view, consciousness begins to expand, notably in the following areas:
- Expansion of Self: from skin-encapsulated ego to consciousness as a singularity
- Expansion of Historical Time: awareness expanding back into mythical times
- Expansion of Future Meaning: from a simple state of being to the process of becoming
- Expansion into Other Life Forms: experiences as plants, animals, even alien life forms
- Expansion of Community: birthing of the collective superconscious
- Expansion of Reality: seeing the world as an intelligent, responsive feedback system
- Expansion into Multidimensionality: making the transcendent part of our lives.
The Expansion of Self
In therapy, we are often confronted with the question of the empirical truth of reincarnation. When a person in regression accesses apparent past life memories, the question about the nature of those narratives arises. Where do these past life stories come from? Do they really come from the historical past or are they simply expressions of the unconscious, like dreams or symbols? And if they do come from a past life, whose past life would that be? Who is it that gets reborn? The body and the brain of that bygone person are long disintegrated. Where is the continuity: in the psychosoma, the mentalsoma, or in something beyond the personal self, like the Higher Self? When children remember past lives, shall we take that as proof of reincarnation, or perhaps think that they are tapping into a collective memory field of humankind, such as the Akashic Fields?
Different therapists use different hypotheses or the same therapist may work with different premises for different clients. It can become quite an ‘intellectual nightmare’ to find the ‘right’ explanation for reincarnation until one realises that not only consciousness evolves but also our understanding of it. Reincarnation means different things at different stages of realisation. At each stage, the sense of Self expands. These are – roughly – the stages we can usually observe:
1. The Metaphorical Stage
At this baseline stage, reincarnation as a metaphysical reality is dismissed on rational grounds, in alignment with the current materialist paradigm. Past life regressions are viewed as metaphorical approaches that can help change behavioural patterns. If some issues are ‘too close for comfort’ to face directly, or a client may have a secondary gain attached to a problem, past life sessions can give the unconscious mind the opportunity to gradually bring these problems into awareness. Similarly, we can work with addressing fears or phobias at this stage. The session unfolds its positive therapeutic effect regardless of reincarnation: Visualising the fear-inducing stimulus in various contexts functions similarly to systematic desensitisation, teaching the mind – through repeated imagined exposure – to tolerate the stimulus without an adverse reaction.
2. The ‘Skin-Encapsulated Ego’ Stage
At this next stage of understanding, reincarnation is taken prima facie: Death is followed by a new birth, the personality or the ‘skin-encapsulated ego’ (using Alan Watts’ term) returns in a new form, in a new life. This understanding, as Grof pointed out, is superior to ignoring the evidence suggestive of reincarnation – but is psychologically not unproblematic. It may cause massive ego inflation or be just another attempt to escape the personal fear of death. In certain cases, however, otherwise incurable symptoms can be treated at this stage.
A remarkable case, published by Noordegraaf, concerned a 12-year-old Belgian boy named Ludovic, who suffered from incurable symptoms. He was always shaking and so afraid of falling that he used crutches. Doctors, not knowing what his condition was or where it came from, labelled it a ‘Minimal Brain Disorder’ and left it untreated. Past life regression revealed an uncanny memory of something coming from the sky, skin burning, body burning, Earth trembling, and finally: a great blackness. It turned out that Ludovic was apparently accessing a past life during which he died in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. After two regression sessions, his legs stopped trembling, and he no longer needed the crutches.
3. The ‘Higher Self’ Stage
At a higher level, where the evolutionary nature of the reincarnational process becomes more evident, a higher entity of consciousness – often called the Higher Self – is postulated. It is the Higher Self who collects and integrates the experiences of individual lives, like stringing beads onto a thread.
In therapy conducted at this level, issues from the past tie together with similar, relevant experiences of the present life (Stanislav Grof calls these related issues condensed experiences). Therapy sessions are used to find the path that connects all these experiences and leads to higher transpersonal meaning. That way, we can identify issues in the present that need healing, find the relevant energy in the past, and work with it in the present. We can see this in Eva’s case, who travelled the path of the sacred feminine – sometimes challenged, sometimes empowered – leading her to embody sacred sexuality and healing.
Eva: From Egyptian Priestess to Sacred Feminine Therapist
During her sessions, Eva had visited a number of past lives that highlighted both the challenges and learning experiences of her karmic past. She remembered attacks on the feminine – like having been sold, raped, overpowered by masculine power, even the loss of a lover burned at the stake – but also times of empowerment, for instance being an ancient priestess, learning to use her period as a powerful altered state of consciousness, sexuality to create fields of energy, and practising energy exercises with Anubis in Egypt. All these interconnected remembrances helped her to step into her modern role as a sacred feminine and sexual therapist. In her last session, she was put in touch with an ancient energy that would help her heal and overcome the primal pain (Urschmerz) of the past. She saw herself out in nature, on a rock at a campfire, where the ‘wise old woman’ (representative of her Higher Self) put a crescent-moon-shaped crown, ornamented with a golden Sun, on her head. This is how she described receiving it:
‘This is pretty mind-blowing. I can no longer feel my body, I feel outside of time and space – like in another dimension, my rational mind (Verstand) can no longer grasp this. Physical reality is becoming unimportant. I feel strong, like a bull and powerful.’
At last, her Higher Self gave her the anchor to tap on her forehead whenever she needed to step back into this energy.
The energy brought in from the multidimensional past is helping to step into one’s authentic power – a process which becomes possible through identification with more than one life, more than one identity.
Similar to the concept of the Higher Self is Jane Roberts’ Oversoul as a broader, collective consciousness linking together various incarnations and experiences.v It acts as a central hub for the integration and evolution of life experiences, carrying their energy. Identifying with the Higher Self or the Oversoul not only serves as an organisational unit, but the expansion of the individual Self towards universal consciousness.
4. Consciousness as Singularity
As the individual experiences more and more past lives, the consciousness learns to shift perspectives: from victim to perpetrator, from perpetrator to victim, and everything in between, from man to woman, from woman to man, and everything in between, moving between identities, ideas, and ideologies. Eventually, consciousness experiences all perspectives and all angles of every situation. It begins to reflect on every life, identify with every ‘player,’ and in the process, develops compassion and empathy for all life. At this level, the age-old maxim ‘do to others what you would have them do to you’ is no longer a mere moral doctrine but an empirical truth. Consciousness is realising itself as a singularity. All past, present, and future lives are seen as experiences of the one consciousness. ‘Only the I am incarnates,’ said Ken Wilber, expressing this sentiment.
The following example is a memory of experiencing this kind of oneness in the bardo state between lives.
Lina: Memory of Oneness
Lina, who had a near-death experience when she was two years old and who could communicate with light-beings until the age of five, always harboured an awareness of unity, a remembrance of how ‘we all are one.’ Death, she recalls as a homecoming, like ‘coming back to a larger part of myself. Like someone has taken my liver or my eye out of my body… and is now putting them back in. We’re all like… different parts of a body.’
‘At the end… I remembered… that we all are one. Different parts of one personality. We are all different parts of God.’
Seeing all lives and all beings not as separate entities, but all as emanations or parts of the same universal consciousness is in line with the Hindu concept of Brahman. Here, a singular, all-encompassing consciousness is seen as the creative power and source of all-there-is. All beings in the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth are emanations thereof. At this stage, consciousness no longer sees itself as an individual or as an individual trajectory, but as a process through time.
The reality of life and death differs fundamentally at each of these stages of understanding, with each perspective holding its own truth. Within their framework, the materialists who assert that there is no reincarnation are correct: When the mind is untrained and unaware, all conscious memories will be lost in the bardo of death. From a practical standpoint, their claim that death marks the end of their identity is valid. If unusual circumstances – such as Ludovik’s strange symptoms – bring karmic memories to the surface, individual consciousness may shift and open up to the idea that they’ve lived before. Then, if the individual makes an effort to make the unconscious conscious, reincarnation becomes reality and evolutionary trajectories are integrated into the present experience. Interestingly, at the highest stage, where all consciousness is perceived as one, the concept of reincarnation becomes obsolete. If all lives are emanations of the same cosmic consciousness, there is no need to talk about my past lives or your past lives, rather about the evolving, revolving adventure of everything.
Through our individual lives the universal consciousness is realising itself. Life never ends but always changes, always transforms. Ultimately, we cannot hold onto our individual identities, we must let go, like the trees let go of their leaves in the autumn, so that a new cycle of growth can start in the spring. The cycle is not merely repetitive. Like in a spiral, with each turn, consciousness integrates evolutionary experiences into its current cycle of creation.
Different therapists use different hypotheses or the same therapist may work with different premises for different clients. It can become quite an ‘intellectual nightmare’ to find the ‘right’ explanation for reincarnation until one realises that not only consciousness evolves but also our understanding of it. Reincarnation means different things at different stages of realisation. At each stage, the sense of Self expands. These are – roughly – the stages we can usually observe:
1. The Metaphorical Stage
At this baseline stage, reincarnation as a metaphysical reality is dismissed on rational grounds, in alignment with the current materialist paradigm. Past life regressions are viewed as metaphorical approaches that can help change behavioural patterns. If some issues are ‘too close for comfort’ to face directly, or a client may have a secondary gain attached to a problem, past life sessions can give the unconscious mind the opportunity to gradually bring these problems into awareness. Similarly, we can work with addressing fears or phobias at this stage. The session unfolds its positive therapeutic effect regardless of reincarnation: Visualising the fear-inducing stimulus in various contexts functions similarly to systematic desensitisation, teaching the mind – through repeated imagined exposure – to tolerate the stimulus without an adverse reaction.
2. The ‘Skin-Encapsulated Ego’ Stage
At this next stage of understanding, reincarnation is taken prima facie: Death is followed by a new birth, the personality or the ‘skin-encapsulated ego’ (using Alan Watts’ term) returns in a new form, in a new life. This understanding, as Grof pointed out, is superior to ignoring the evidence suggestive of reincarnation – but is psychologically not unproblematic. It may cause massive ego inflation or be just another attempt to escape the personal fear of death. In certain cases, however, otherwise incurable symptoms can be treated at this stage.
A remarkable case, published by Noordegraaf, concerned a 12-year-old Belgian boy named Ludovic, who suffered from incurable symptoms. He was always shaking and so afraid of falling that he used crutches. Doctors, not knowing what his condition was or where it came from, labelled it a ‘Minimal Brain Disorder’ and left it untreated. Past life regression revealed an uncanny memory of something coming from the sky, skin burning, body burning, Earth trembling, and finally: a great blackness. It turned out that Ludovic was apparently accessing a past life during which he died in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. After two regression sessions, his legs stopped trembling, and he no longer needed the crutches.
3. The ‘Higher Self’ Stage
At a higher level, where the evolutionary nature of the reincarnational process becomes more evident, a higher entity of consciousness – often called the Higher Self – is postulated. It is the Higher Self who collects and integrates the experiences of individual lives, like stringing beads onto a thread.
In therapy conducted at this level, issues from the past tie together with similar, relevant experiences of the present life (Stanislav Grof calls these related issues condensed experiences). Therapy sessions are used to find the path that connects all these experiences and leads to higher transpersonal meaning. That way, we can identify issues in the present that need healing, find the relevant energy in the past, and work with it in the present. We can see this in Eva’s case, who travelled the path of the sacred feminine – sometimes challenged, sometimes empowered – leading her to embody sacred sexuality and healing.
Eva: From Egyptian Priestess to Sacred Feminine Therapist
During her sessions, Eva had visited a number of past lives that highlighted both the challenges and learning experiences of her karmic past. She remembered attacks on the feminine – like having been sold, raped, overpowered by masculine power, even the loss of a lover burned at the stake – but also times of empowerment, for instance being an ancient priestess, learning to use her period as a powerful altered state of consciousness, sexuality to create fields of energy, and practising energy exercises with Anubis in Egypt. All these interconnected remembrances helped her to step into her modern role as a sacred feminine and sexual therapist. In her last session, she was put in touch with an ancient energy that would help her heal and overcome the primal pain (Urschmerz) of the past. She saw herself out in nature, on a rock at a campfire, where the ‘wise old woman’ (representative of her Higher Self) put a crescent-moon-shaped crown, ornamented with a golden Sun, on her head. This is how she described receiving it:
‘This is pretty mind-blowing. I can no longer feel my body, I feel outside of time and space – like in another dimension, my rational mind (Verstand) can no longer grasp this. Physical reality is becoming unimportant. I feel strong, like a bull and powerful.’
At last, her Higher Self gave her the anchor to tap on her forehead whenever she needed to step back into this energy.
The energy brought in from the multidimensional past is helping to step into one’s authentic power – a process which becomes possible through identification with more than one life, more than one identity.
Similar to the concept of the Higher Self is Jane Roberts’ Oversoul as a broader, collective consciousness linking together various incarnations and experiences.v It acts as a central hub for the integration and evolution of life experiences, carrying their energy. Identifying with the Higher Self or the Oversoul not only serves as an organisational unit, but the expansion of the individual Self towards universal consciousness.
4. Consciousness as Singularity
As the individual experiences more and more past lives, the consciousness learns to shift perspectives: from victim to perpetrator, from perpetrator to victim, and everything in between, from man to woman, from woman to man, and everything in between, moving between identities, ideas, and ideologies. Eventually, consciousness experiences all perspectives and all angles of every situation. It begins to reflect on every life, identify with every ‘player,’ and in the process, develops compassion and empathy for all life. At this level, the age-old maxim ‘do to others what you would have them do to you’ is no longer a mere moral doctrine but an empirical truth. Consciousness is realising itself as a singularity. All past, present, and future lives are seen as experiences of the one consciousness. ‘Only the I am incarnates,’ said Ken Wilber, expressing this sentiment.
The following example is a memory of experiencing this kind of oneness in the bardo state between lives.
Lina: Memory of Oneness
Lina, who had a near-death experience when she was two years old and who could communicate with light-beings until the age of five, always harboured an awareness of unity, a remembrance of how ‘we all are one.’ Death, she recalls as a homecoming, like ‘coming back to a larger part of myself. Like someone has taken my liver or my eye out of my body… and is now putting them back in. We’re all like… different parts of a body.’
‘At the end… I remembered… that we all are one. Different parts of one personality. We are all different parts of God.’
Seeing all lives and all beings not as separate entities, but all as emanations or parts of the same universal consciousness is in line with the Hindu concept of Brahman. Here, a singular, all-encompassing consciousness is seen as the creative power and source of all-there-is. All beings in the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth are emanations thereof. At this stage, consciousness no longer sees itself as an individual or as an individual trajectory, but as a process through time.
The reality of life and death differs fundamentally at each of these stages of understanding, with each perspective holding its own truth. Within their framework, the materialists who assert that there is no reincarnation are correct: When the mind is untrained and unaware, all conscious memories will be lost in the bardo of death. From a practical standpoint, their claim that death marks the end of their identity is valid. If unusual circumstances – such as Ludovik’s strange symptoms – bring karmic memories to the surface, individual consciousness may shift and open up to the idea that they’ve lived before. Then, if the individual makes an effort to make the unconscious conscious, reincarnation becomes reality and evolutionary trajectories are integrated into the present experience. Interestingly, at the highest stage, where all consciousness is perceived as one, the concept of reincarnation becomes obsolete. If all lives are emanations of the same cosmic consciousness, there is no need to talk about my past lives or your past lives, rather about the evolving, revolving adventure of everything.
Through our individual lives the universal consciousness is realising itself. Life never ends but always changes, always transforms. Ultimately, we cannot hold onto our individual identities, we must let go, like the trees let go of their leaves in the autumn, so that a new cycle of growth can start in the spring. The cycle is not merely repetitive. Like in a spiral, with each turn, consciousness integrates evolutionary experiences into its current cycle of creation.
The Expansion of Historical Time
Ultimately, these cycles of life and death do not only recur on the individual but also on the collective, historic, and even cosmic level. Entire cultures, entire civilisations, entire universes can be born, thrive, and die – only to be reborn again. In Sanskrit literature, cycles of creation are known as the great cosmic yugas. Many other spiritual and indigenous traditions similarly hold the idea that history itself is recurring and we are descendants of previous, now forgotten civilisations. Legends of Atlantis and other sunken continents or kingdoms can be found worldwide and the most universal of all myths is that of the great flood. Cycles of history were advocated by classic philosophers such as Polybius. Cycles of civilisation set the basis for the Mayan calendar. The Aztecs held that various Suns had appeared and vanished in the past; in fact, they became so obsessed with ‘impeding or at least postponing the cataclysm which was to put an end to their Sun’ that they conducted extensive rituals of blood sacrifice to prolong their era.iv One way or the other, the idea of vanished worlds and civilisations seems deeply rooted in our racial memory. ‘The well of the past is deep’ wrote Thomas Mann and perhaps it is deeper still than contemporary history books make us believe.
New paradigm scientists are beginning to discover more about the real possibility of bygone civilisations. The research of Robert Schoch, the geologist, suggests that approximately 12,000 years ago a series of intense solar outbursts may have led to an abrupt ending of the last ice age as well as the collapse of a previous, advanced civilisation. The extreme solar activity may have forced human populations to seek shelter underground and build subterranean structures such as Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, Turkey or even intentionally bury their temples, like Göbekli Tepe. Other researchers also point at massive underground tunnel systems, ranging all across Europe, as potential examples of prehistoric refuge systems in conjunction with natural caves where today the real ‘archives of human history’ should be sought. Interestingly, we can find past life cases that suggest this may indeed be part of our racial memory.
The following excerpts are from clients who had such memories of a cataclysmic hiding or retreating underground.
Angela: Her Abandoned Underground Life
‘I’m underground. In tunnels or something. I’m hiding, also living here. The others are gone. I don’t remember… I’m scared. I’m just trying to survive. I’m scared most of the time.’
[Angela did not remember many details of this long-gone life, but the remembrance had a great emotional impact on her. It felt authentic to her and she thought it was relevant to her present life, yet she did not return for any more sessions concluding that past life regression was ‘too hard.’]
Linda: Ancestral Memory of Living in Caves
‘At one point, it was so bad on the surface, we had to go below it. I had to endure it once, to be in those caves but I don’t want to do it again.’
[In an in-between sessions discussion, Linda said the following about being in the caves:]
‘I think, this is ancestral memory. It reminds me of the Wind Cave in South Dakota that connects to thousands of generations. There are hand-print drawings and the frequency of time changes. At these places, the entire Earth can come together into a network. Once the network is connected, we will build community in new ways, and it won’t matter what the politicians do.’
In our current paradigm, human history is portrayed as a one-time occurrence. Civilisation, as commonly known, began ca. 5000 years ago with the emergence of city-states and written record-keeping. That, however, only accounts for less than 0.3% (!) of the time in which human consciousness was demonstrably present on the planet. Archaeologists found that tool-making by the genus Homo dates back ca. 2.6 million years, while anatomically modern humans have been around for at least 200.000 years. Have we not been more than chipping flint-stones during all those years? Did the pyramids really emerge without much of a transition from a primitive prehistoric age?
To stay a little longer on this train of thought, we can certainly say that culture goes back a lot further in time than written history. Australia was colonised about 55.000 years ago, which means that humans by then must have been developed enough to sail across the ocean. Recent archaeological theories also support that Columbus was the last to discover the American continent. According to Dr Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., even the Vikings were latecomers in crossing the Atlantic. Neolithic fisherman and (supposed) hunter-gatherers sailed across the ocean and settled in the East Coast of North America 18.000 years ago.
But culture reaches back many more years still. At the Shanidar Cave in Northern Iraq skeletons of Neanderthals were found, including that of a 40-year-old man, who had suffered serious injuries, yet all of them were treated and healed. This suggests that around 60.000 years ago our Neanderthal relatives already had some form of medicine as well as a sense of social concern for the sick. By the time written history – as we know it – began, successful brain surgeries (involving the opening and closing of the skull) were being carried out.
We have indices not only for the existence of prehistoric culture but potentially civilisation. There are archaeological structures frequently overlooked, as it tends to happen with scattered findings that don’t fit into any existing paradigm capable of accounting for their existence.
For instance, in the Andes Mountains in Peru, 9000 feet above sea level, stands the ancient city of Ollantaytambo. It is an important archaeological site, featuring a royal town of the Inka Empire. Locals still inhabit the town, erected by the Incas 1500 BC, using rough stones held together by adobe mud used as mortar. However, on site another, much more sophisticated architecture can also be found. A wall of six monoliths, each over 12 feet tall and weighing more than fifty tonnes, is engineered so precisely together that not a single sheet of paper can be inserted between them. We have no explanation how this technology – which can also be found in Cuzco and other Peruvian settlements – was mastered and by whom. On the other side of the world, at Baalbek in the Lebanon, stands a similarly enigmatic ruin. Baalbek is a standard Roman archaeological site, just as Ollantaytambo and Cuzco are standard inka sites. However, Baalbek was built on a massive megalithic ruin mound. Each of the megalithic blocks weighs up to 1.200 tonnes. We neither know the technology nor the people who erected them.
Mysterious megalithic sites remain an enigma all around the world. They can be seen at Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland but these are only the best known of thousands of megalithic structures in Europe ranging from Sweden to Malta, from Ireland to Portugal, from Ukraine to Turkey. A striking example among the prehistoric temples of Malta is the Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni, as it reaches three storeys deep into the ground. All around the world, we have megalithic stone structures at the most surprising sites, even underwater. Some precisely dressed large stone structures stand strong in the Caucasus, Russia, as well as hundreds of dolmens, menhirs, and enclosed structures in the Ural. Flying over Southern Africa in a helicopter, hundreds of complex-looking stone circles can be detected from the air, the age and purpose of which remain a mystery. We may also think of the iconic Moai Sculptures of the Eastern Islands: everybody knows of them, but their origin remains unknown.
This is the mystery of the ancient stones. We don’t know who built them and we don’t know their age, since stone edifices cannot be dated archaeologically, lacking the organic components that would be necessary for carbon dating. Yet, when we stand by these miraculous, old stones, centuries and millennia linger on around us in silence, talking to us in a voiceless whisper that our brain cannot perceive, only our souls can fathom. Their whisper says: ‘There is something much older than you are – much older than anything you have ever seen. Yet, that thing that is so old lives on inside of you.’
Until we may know more scientifically, the karmic memory of forgotten civilisations lives on within our subconscious – perhaps as remembrances of real, historic events, perhaps as archaeological layers of our psyche. Sometimes, as in Nathalie‘s case below, memories from mythical times want to emerge, in order to reconnect us with forgotten resources.
Nathalie: Remembrances From Lemuria
With Nathalie – who had a powerful NDE, through which she could experience divine realms full of ‘compassion beyond even love’ but that also led to a divorce – we were seeking new directions for her in life. During the session, a non-physical being was giving her a box of very vivid, indigo-blue colour that made her feel ‘heavenly.’ She experienced it as her own energy, the essence of her soul that was lost when she filed her divorce. She sensed the receiving back this soul energy, which was ancient, yet connected to the future, would serve as a catalyst for greater (spiritual) knowledge. The way into that future was through working with her third eye.
In the following, Nathalie was given some personalised intuition about how to awaken her third eye, using crystals and sound, involving rubbing sticks (stalactites) together, for them to make sounds like crystals. She called them ‘Lemurian singing crystals.’
The notion of sacred knowledge lost in the past is a recurring theme in memories concerning past civilisations. We remember Rosinda who had Memories of a Sacred Past where access to magical technologies, using music and chanting, was lost, because of a change of energy or vibration. In metaphysical literature, we find descriptions of legendary civilisations such as Atlantis collapsing due to flaws within their otherwise sophisticated cultures, such as the pride of leaders becoming ‘enamoured with their own spiritual powers and gifts.’ Therapeutically, this is a significant point. In past life regression we often encounter the archetypal moti of losing abilities due to debilitating karmic guilt, self-doubt, or fear. In such cases, reconnecting with those ancient energies can mobilise internal resources, like Nathalie reconnected with the energy of the ancient ‘singing crystals.’
In therapy, the focus is less on understanding the past as a historical reality but more on finding hidden resources from the past, so that they can be liberated and applied meaningfully in the present and future. For as our sense of the past expands, so do our possibilities for the future.
New paradigm scientists are beginning to discover more about the real possibility of bygone civilisations. The research of Robert Schoch, the geologist, suggests that approximately 12,000 years ago a series of intense solar outbursts may have led to an abrupt ending of the last ice age as well as the collapse of a previous, advanced civilisation. The extreme solar activity may have forced human populations to seek shelter underground and build subterranean structures such as Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, Turkey or even intentionally bury their temples, like Göbekli Tepe. Other researchers also point at massive underground tunnel systems, ranging all across Europe, as potential examples of prehistoric refuge systems in conjunction with natural caves where today the real ‘archives of human history’ should be sought. Interestingly, we can find past life cases that suggest this may indeed be part of our racial memory.
The following excerpts are from clients who had such memories of a cataclysmic hiding or retreating underground.
Angela: Her Abandoned Underground Life
‘I’m underground. In tunnels or something. I’m hiding, also living here. The others are gone. I don’t remember… I’m scared. I’m just trying to survive. I’m scared most of the time.’
[Angela did not remember many details of this long-gone life, but the remembrance had a great emotional impact on her. It felt authentic to her and she thought it was relevant to her present life, yet she did not return for any more sessions concluding that past life regression was ‘too hard.’]
Linda: Ancestral Memory of Living in Caves
‘At one point, it was so bad on the surface, we had to go below it. I had to endure it once, to be in those caves but I don’t want to do it again.’
[In an in-between sessions discussion, Linda said the following about being in the caves:]
‘I think, this is ancestral memory. It reminds me of the Wind Cave in South Dakota that connects to thousands of generations. There are hand-print drawings and the frequency of time changes. At these places, the entire Earth can come together into a network. Once the network is connected, we will build community in new ways, and it won’t matter what the politicians do.’
In our current paradigm, human history is portrayed as a one-time occurrence. Civilisation, as commonly known, began ca. 5000 years ago with the emergence of city-states and written record-keeping. That, however, only accounts for less than 0.3% (!) of the time in which human consciousness was demonstrably present on the planet. Archaeologists found that tool-making by the genus Homo dates back ca. 2.6 million years, while anatomically modern humans have been around for at least 200.000 years. Have we not been more than chipping flint-stones during all those years? Did the pyramids really emerge without much of a transition from a primitive prehistoric age?
To stay a little longer on this train of thought, we can certainly say that culture goes back a lot further in time than written history. Australia was colonised about 55.000 years ago, which means that humans by then must have been developed enough to sail across the ocean. Recent archaeological theories also support that Columbus was the last to discover the American continent. According to Dr Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., even the Vikings were latecomers in crossing the Atlantic. Neolithic fisherman and (supposed) hunter-gatherers sailed across the ocean and settled in the East Coast of North America 18.000 years ago.
But culture reaches back many more years still. At the Shanidar Cave in Northern Iraq skeletons of Neanderthals were found, including that of a 40-year-old man, who had suffered serious injuries, yet all of them were treated and healed. This suggests that around 60.000 years ago our Neanderthal relatives already had some form of medicine as well as a sense of social concern for the sick. By the time written history – as we know it – began, successful brain surgeries (involving the opening and closing of the skull) were being carried out.
We have indices not only for the existence of prehistoric culture but potentially civilisation. There are archaeological structures frequently overlooked, as it tends to happen with scattered findings that don’t fit into any existing paradigm capable of accounting for their existence.
For instance, in the Andes Mountains in Peru, 9000 feet above sea level, stands the ancient city of Ollantaytambo. It is an important archaeological site, featuring a royal town of the Inka Empire. Locals still inhabit the town, erected by the Incas 1500 BC, using rough stones held together by adobe mud used as mortar. However, on site another, much more sophisticated architecture can also be found. A wall of six monoliths, each over 12 feet tall and weighing more than fifty tonnes, is engineered so precisely together that not a single sheet of paper can be inserted between them. We have no explanation how this technology – which can also be found in Cuzco and other Peruvian settlements – was mastered and by whom. On the other side of the world, at Baalbek in the Lebanon, stands a similarly enigmatic ruin. Baalbek is a standard Roman archaeological site, just as Ollantaytambo and Cuzco are standard inka sites. However, Baalbek was built on a massive megalithic ruin mound. Each of the megalithic blocks weighs up to 1.200 tonnes. We neither know the technology nor the people who erected them.
Mysterious megalithic sites remain an enigma all around the world. They can be seen at Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland but these are only the best known of thousands of megalithic structures in Europe ranging from Sweden to Malta, from Ireland to Portugal, from Ukraine to Turkey. A striking example among the prehistoric temples of Malta is the Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni, as it reaches three storeys deep into the ground. All around the world, we have megalithic stone structures at the most surprising sites, even underwater. Some precisely dressed large stone structures stand strong in the Caucasus, Russia, as well as hundreds of dolmens, menhirs, and enclosed structures in the Ural. Flying over Southern Africa in a helicopter, hundreds of complex-looking stone circles can be detected from the air, the age and purpose of which remain a mystery. We may also think of the iconic Moai Sculptures of the Eastern Islands: everybody knows of them, but their origin remains unknown.
This is the mystery of the ancient stones. We don’t know who built them and we don’t know their age, since stone edifices cannot be dated archaeologically, lacking the organic components that would be necessary for carbon dating. Yet, when we stand by these miraculous, old stones, centuries and millennia linger on around us in silence, talking to us in a voiceless whisper that our brain cannot perceive, only our souls can fathom. Their whisper says: ‘There is something much older than you are – much older than anything you have ever seen. Yet, that thing that is so old lives on inside of you.’
Until we may know more scientifically, the karmic memory of forgotten civilisations lives on within our subconscious – perhaps as remembrances of real, historic events, perhaps as archaeological layers of our psyche. Sometimes, as in Nathalie‘s case below, memories from mythical times want to emerge, in order to reconnect us with forgotten resources.
Nathalie: Remembrances From Lemuria
With Nathalie – who had a powerful NDE, through which she could experience divine realms full of ‘compassion beyond even love’ but that also led to a divorce – we were seeking new directions for her in life. During the session, a non-physical being was giving her a box of very vivid, indigo-blue colour that made her feel ‘heavenly.’ She experienced it as her own energy, the essence of her soul that was lost when she filed her divorce. She sensed the receiving back this soul energy, which was ancient, yet connected to the future, would serve as a catalyst for greater (spiritual) knowledge. The way into that future was through working with her third eye.
- Was at any time your third eye open?
- Yes.
- When?
- In Lemuria.
- How was it when it was open?
- It was a way of life. Everything was known: a person’s energy… we could communicate immediately… there were no agendas. Not everyone had this knowledge. There were places, where the whole community knew – but at other areas people had to come for help.
In the following, Nathalie was given some personalised intuition about how to awaken her third eye, using crystals and sound, involving rubbing sticks (stalactites) together, for them to make sounds like crystals. She called them ‘Lemurian singing crystals.’
The notion of sacred knowledge lost in the past is a recurring theme in memories concerning past civilisations. We remember Rosinda who had Memories of a Sacred Past where access to magical technologies, using music and chanting, was lost, because of a change of energy or vibration. In metaphysical literature, we find descriptions of legendary civilisations such as Atlantis collapsing due to flaws within their otherwise sophisticated cultures, such as the pride of leaders becoming ‘enamoured with their own spiritual powers and gifts.’ Therapeutically, this is a significant point. In past life regression we often encounter the archetypal moti of losing abilities due to debilitating karmic guilt, self-doubt, or fear. In such cases, reconnecting with those ancient energies can mobilise internal resources, like Nathalie reconnected with the energy of the ancient ‘singing crystals.’
In therapy, the focus is less on understanding the past as a historical reality but more on finding hidden resources from the past, so that they can be liberated and applied meaningfully in the present and future. For as our sense of the past expands, so do our possibilities for the future.
The Expansion of Future Meaning
At a congress for new paradigm consciousness studies, in May 2015, in Alentejo, Portugal a fascinating theory regarding the future was presented. DiCorpo and Vannini proposed the existence of syntropy as a counterflow to entropy. We know entropy as the tendency of closed physical systems to move towards increased levels of chaos. Syntropy, as its counterflow, moves towards increased levels of harmony. If entropy governs physical systems, syntropy can be seen as a quality of life or consciousness. And if, so the suggestion, entropy increases in time, i.e. moves from the past towards the future (causality), syntropy presupposes attractors from the future (retrocausality). First, the idea sounded like science fiction: something in the future of such organising power that it can influence the present. Then, considering it psychologically, I realised how true it was.
Think, for instance, of an athlete who swims six hours a day. When we go and ask him, why he is doing that – along with eating a specific diet and keeping a performance-optimised schedule – he replies that he is training for the Olympic Games. The Olympics are in the future – and it is this future goal which caused him to live at a much higher level of organisation (harmony) than the average person. Viktor Frankl, the father of logotherapy – drawing on his personal experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps – taught that the orientation towards a meaningful future goal is the ultimate motivator in a human life. Even during the cruellest circumstances, those who maintained a sense of purpose and held on to a future goal were psychologically the most resilient and most likely to survive.
For reincarnation work to unfold its full potential, we must not only work with the challenges and the resources of the past but also reorient towards the future. It is evolutionary work. The individual, as well as all their strengths and weaknesses, are not seen as something static, but as a process. Situations, good or bad, are equally seen as impermanent, which can always be improved by individual choices. In Mel Schwartz’s words: ‘The paradigm of simply being burdens and constrains our lives as it deprives us of a fuller and richer participation with life. It is absent the deeper meaning to be found in the evolving worldview of becoming.’
The following excerpt is from a session with Jack, a larger-than-life adventurer, who completed missions and amazing projects worldwide, until a near-death experience resulting from an aeroplane crash completely changed his outlook on life. He remembered many lifetimes in war and living in accordance with the ‘warrior’s code.’ In this session, taking him 10 years into the future, we asked about the future of the warrior.
Jack: The Future of the Warrior
‘This is a process, not a problem’ is a wonderful way to summon up the evolutionary thinking inherent in the reincarnationist world-view. It is not only true for the individual but the fate of human consciousness – both have the potential to develop beyond their present form.
During sessions, we sometimes get information about individual evolutionary markers, at other times, even glimpses into futuristic worlds that have already evolved into greater manifestations of love and connectedness. Here are some examples of clients glimpsing into the future (sometimes their individual future, sometimes future on a larger scale):
Jess: Learning to be More Helpful
‘After these heavy lives... fighting to meet my basic needs... it is now time to evolve into my purpose. My present life is the evolution. Even after I met my goals for family, career, and stability, I noticed that something was missing. There was this feeling of emptiness and boredom. However, when I’m helping, for example a friend, I no longer feel empty. I’m learning to be more helpful, instead of just thinking of what I want or what I need.’
Lina: Not the Human Kind of Love
‘I see Beings incarnated on another planet. They aren’t bogged down in our social issues and rules. They have love but it is not the human kind of love, which is twisted. They have that love for everything. They open up their perception, and I can perceive it through them. They see everything as perfect. Everything I now see as an expression of love, even speed signs have the purpose to make sure not to hurt each other.’
Liam: Expanding Energy
‘This place… in a new time... is like a planet, but not quite physical – almost like a spectrum of light. Human eyes could not see it as inhabited, but would more perceive it as a ball of gas. Yet, there are many here, like me, who have had many incarnations, now learning about spiritual energy flow. Our task here is to conduit and further expand the energy into the physical world, like light expanding into darkness or the sperm seeking an egg…I can see now, what an expansive time there is in front of me, no end in sight for growth! I still have far to go, but the journey is sweet and much better lives await us than we could ever have here on Earth.’
Tia: The Übermensch
‘During the Nazi times, the idea of the Übermensch was terribly abused and we were guilty of causing terrible suffering by applying it in the wrong way. We believed that only the Aryans should evolve, this racism and exclusivity was the root of the system’s evil. I learned inclusion by being reborn in Israel, seeing the world through the eyes of our persecuted. Now, I believe in the Übermensch in a way that is free from racism. I believe in the evolution of consciousness and that it should occur to the benefit of all human beings, in fact, to the benefit of all sentient beings.’
Through the reincarnational process, we can see not only where we came from and who we are in the present but who we are becoming. It is a world-view that holds tremendous potential for redemption and does not waste any efforts. Even the gravest misdeeds of the past can be turned into a valuable contribution towards evolution and enlightenment. The life of the Tibetan saint Milarepa serves as an archetypal example that this transformational power is in all of us. In his youth, Milarepa is known to have murdered dozens of his family members by collapsing a house on them, as well as bringing hailstorms on their crops by means of magic – all at the request of his mother, who sought revenge on their relatives for seizing her inheritance. But later, he ‘repented and turned to Dharma’ and after ‘initiation, empowerment, and instruction’ he ‘practiced with strong determination.’ The mass murderer turned himself – through tough trials and disciplined determination – into Tibet’s most revered mystic, poet, and spiritual teacher. In mythical terms, the black magician turned white. Such a powerful transformation is not only possible for each and every one of us, it is the very essence and meaning of human life. Perhaps of life itself.
Think, for instance, of an athlete who swims six hours a day. When we go and ask him, why he is doing that – along with eating a specific diet and keeping a performance-optimised schedule – he replies that he is training for the Olympic Games. The Olympics are in the future – and it is this future goal which caused him to live at a much higher level of organisation (harmony) than the average person. Viktor Frankl, the father of logotherapy – drawing on his personal experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps – taught that the orientation towards a meaningful future goal is the ultimate motivator in a human life. Even during the cruellest circumstances, those who maintained a sense of purpose and held on to a future goal were psychologically the most resilient and most likely to survive.
For reincarnation work to unfold its full potential, we must not only work with the challenges and the resources of the past but also reorient towards the future. It is evolutionary work. The individual, as well as all their strengths and weaknesses, are not seen as something static, but as a process. Situations, good or bad, are equally seen as impermanent, which can always be improved by individual choices. In Mel Schwartz’s words: ‘The paradigm of simply being burdens and constrains our lives as it deprives us of a fuller and richer participation with life. It is absent the deeper meaning to be found in the evolving worldview of becoming.’
The following excerpt is from a session with Jack, a larger-than-life adventurer, who completed missions and amazing projects worldwide, until a near-death experience resulting from an aeroplane crash completely changed his outlook on life. He remembered many lifetimes in war and living in accordance with the ‘warrior’s code.’ In this session, taking him 10 years into the future, we asked about the future of the warrior.
Jack: The Future of the Warrior
- What does your warrior evolve into?
- On the day of his death, the warrior can give his best. That is his legacy: that is how we have to live our lives. With that much passion, the past is dust.
- What part of the warrior’s being remains in the future?
- Commitment to purpose, never giving up, being ruthless, if someone is holding you back. Also the ability to act without desire and removing yourself from the equation. The evolution is moving from the third chakra to the fourth, the heart. But I’ll always be a warrior, this is a process, not a problem.
‘This is a process, not a problem’ is a wonderful way to summon up the evolutionary thinking inherent in the reincarnationist world-view. It is not only true for the individual but the fate of human consciousness – both have the potential to develop beyond their present form.
During sessions, we sometimes get information about individual evolutionary markers, at other times, even glimpses into futuristic worlds that have already evolved into greater manifestations of love and connectedness. Here are some examples of clients glimpsing into the future (sometimes their individual future, sometimes future on a larger scale):
Jess: Learning to be More Helpful
‘After these heavy lives... fighting to meet my basic needs... it is now time to evolve into my purpose. My present life is the evolution. Even after I met my goals for family, career, and stability, I noticed that something was missing. There was this feeling of emptiness and boredom. However, when I’m helping, for example a friend, I no longer feel empty. I’m learning to be more helpful, instead of just thinking of what I want or what I need.’
Lina: Not the Human Kind of Love
‘I see Beings incarnated on another planet. They aren’t bogged down in our social issues and rules. They have love but it is not the human kind of love, which is twisted. They have that love for everything. They open up their perception, and I can perceive it through them. They see everything as perfect. Everything I now see as an expression of love, even speed signs have the purpose to make sure not to hurt each other.’
Liam: Expanding Energy
‘This place… in a new time... is like a planet, but not quite physical – almost like a spectrum of light. Human eyes could not see it as inhabited, but would more perceive it as a ball of gas. Yet, there are many here, like me, who have had many incarnations, now learning about spiritual energy flow. Our task here is to conduit and further expand the energy into the physical world, like light expanding into darkness or the sperm seeking an egg…I can see now, what an expansive time there is in front of me, no end in sight for growth! I still have far to go, but the journey is sweet and much better lives await us than we could ever have here on Earth.’
Tia: The Übermensch
‘During the Nazi times, the idea of the Übermensch was terribly abused and we were guilty of causing terrible suffering by applying it in the wrong way. We believed that only the Aryans should evolve, this racism and exclusivity was the root of the system’s evil. I learned inclusion by being reborn in Israel, seeing the world through the eyes of our persecuted. Now, I believe in the Übermensch in a way that is free from racism. I believe in the evolution of consciousness and that it should occur to the benefit of all human beings, in fact, to the benefit of all sentient beings.’
Through the reincarnational process, we can see not only where we came from and who we are in the present but who we are becoming. It is a world-view that holds tremendous potential for redemption and does not waste any efforts. Even the gravest misdeeds of the past can be turned into a valuable contribution towards evolution and enlightenment. The life of the Tibetan saint Milarepa serves as an archetypal example that this transformational power is in all of us. In his youth, Milarepa is known to have murdered dozens of his family members by collapsing a house on them, as well as bringing hailstorms on their crops by means of magic – all at the request of his mother, who sought revenge on their relatives for seizing her inheritance. But later, he ‘repented and turned to Dharma’ and after ‘initiation, empowerment, and instruction’ he ‘practiced with strong determination.’ The mass murderer turned himself – through tough trials and disciplined determination – into Tibet’s most revered mystic, poet, and spiritual teacher. In mythical terms, the black magician turned white. Such a powerful transformation is not only possible for each and every one of us, it is the very essence and meaning of human life. Perhaps of life itself.
The Expansion into Other Life Forms
In our modern world, we are accustomed to equating life with human life and consciousness with human consciousness. Biologically speaking, we acknowledge that animals and plants are living beings – living things, as they are often referred to – but their lives are routinely regarded as inferior to our own. A lot of unethical, deeply immoral conduct arises from this world-view, leading not only to the abuse of animals raised for slaughter or used in experiments but also to the devastation of the ‘environment.’ I put the word into quotation marks, because calling the ecosystem Earth our environment, is already a sign for alienation, of not feeling part of it. It is a symptom of our anthropocentric distortion of reality, where humans see themselves as aloof and perched atop a hierarchy, rather than as an integral part of the living, intelligent system of life.
Participants of past life regression sessions sometimes reconnect with the ancient, indigenous wisdom that could see the beauty and interconnectedness of all life. Once upon a time, it was part of the shaman’s work to invite animal helpers and even shape-shift into the consciousness of non-human life forms. That ability to imagine and meaningfully include other life-forms into our world-view is now re-emerging on a higher level of the evolutionary spiral. In hypnotic sessions, some of my clients could visit and identify with all sorts of life forms: animals, plants, even rocks, elemental or alien beings.
As our understanding of consciousness deepens, these experiences will presumably be of great value. As we move towards a systems theory of consciousness and as more and more discussions about artificial intelligence will arise, we may need to revise our definition of life. That new definition will likely shift away from the biological description of carbon-based organisms that grow, reproduce, respond to stimuli etc. – instead, will centre around organisational criteria such as entropy reduction or the creation of increased levels of complex harmony and love.
The following samples from hypnotherapy sessions shall demonstrate the richness and variety of different forms of consciousness a human mind can slip into. The first excerpt is from Sandra, whose existential program calls her to become an environmental protection activist, and who was hence curious to experience the energy and consciousness of a plant.
Sandra: Connecting to Plant Energies
Sessions during which a subject remembers non-human lives, are relatively rare. If they are not induced on purpose – like in the above case where Sandra, as an environmental activist, wanted to find out how it feels to be a plant – they still might come up as a surprise during past life visits.
From a therapeutic perspective, I tend to treat these narratives just as any other past life experience, trying to find insights and relevant connections to their present life, possibly about their archetypal value. Examples of animal or animal-type lives that came up in my sessions include: monkey, panther (see Gavin), and twice seal – with two different subjects (one was a seal in the wild, the other in a zoo). Interesting was the case of Valerie, who remembered flying like a falcon, only to realise that she was a shaman with the ability to shape-shift into a falcon. The following summary is from a case, where the memory of a mermaid-like life marked the breakthrough in Shala’s life, who felt torn between her need to be taken care of by her man, and the calling of fully stepping into her power and evolutionary purpose.
Shala: The Mermaid
In her session, Shala began to perceive herself as a being of the ocean. She could see the grey, stony beach, with some beautiful, blue stones scattered. She felt ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ as she felt on her own body a long, fish-like tail. Only later, she ‘grew legs’ and walked into a village, where she became an integral part of the community’s life. There, she brought for her friends fish, coconut, papaya… and prepared food for them.
During the session, this setup did not make much sense, until we looked at it from an archetypal perspective. In Jungian psychology, tales of human/animal hybrids that inhabit two worlds – like the mermaid being a creature both of the deep sea as well as the human realm – signify a connection with the wild soul. They contain an invitation to find one’s true Self that lives in the depths of the sea (emotions, soul, subconscious). When Shala became aware of this meaning of her vision, she felt deeply moved and touched by the Matriarch, an internal, divine energy that called her to stand in her own power, regardless of what her partner or others were doing. She promised her that with time, as Shala fulfils her calling to support and unite women in their personal and spiritual development, ‘you will grow into me.’
Seals, mermaids, elementals, aliens, even pure energy forms are all existences we can step into. Narratives involving life forms that are very different from what we are accustomed to seem to express higher callings or memories from multidimensional realms. With a wise and integrative approach, we can use these sessions to uncover insights about the person’s life purpose and developmental level. Certain individuals who have had spiritually significant experiences, such as NDEs, seem especially predisposed to visit realms in-between lives or even existences as pure energy. They may not speak much during the session yet experience profound shifts on an energetic level. When this occurs, it is useful to anchor the positive energies from that experience into the body (for example, by bringing them into the heart), ensuring they remain accessible.
In the examples below, both Betty and Étienne experienced unusual past lives which pointed towards their soul’s origin in non-human realms. Whether we interpret such memories literally or metaphorically, they form a crucial part of their personal mythology, explaining who they are and their purpose.
Betty: From Another Planet
Étienne: Existence as Energy
My sense of being is energetic. It’s a dream-like state in a subtle body. Reality is subtle… greater than just being connected. In this energetic body we can also sense future energies. There is no past or future separation. We can hold both and we can relate to both. The present moment serves as a tool to process the past and create the future.
Both Betty and Étienne experienced these visions as part of their journey toward better serving their communities. While their visions may seem abstract, they hold very practical, life-enhancing power when integrated into everyday life. Betty runs a school for small children, and Étienne facilitates spiritual workshops which serve as frameworks to bring higher-level, non-human energy into our daily existence.
The individual traits we develop throughout our evolution are ultimately meant to serve the greater good. For example, traits inherent in the ‘warrior’s code’ (as remembered by Jack) – such as commitment to purpose or the ability to ‘remove the ego from the equation’ – reveal their true potential when applied not only for personal benefit but also in service of others. As one Buddhist teacher wrote to a disciple: ‘Freeing only yourself, there is no greater shame.’v Buddhists worldwide dedicate their practice to the benefit of all sentient beings. Indeed, evolution does not occur in a vacuum, and as it leads to higher levels of harmonic organisation, the creation of genuine community becomes essential.
Participants of past life regression sessions sometimes reconnect with the ancient, indigenous wisdom that could see the beauty and interconnectedness of all life. Once upon a time, it was part of the shaman’s work to invite animal helpers and even shape-shift into the consciousness of non-human life forms. That ability to imagine and meaningfully include other life-forms into our world-view is now re-emerging on a higher level of the evolutionary spiral. In hypnotic sessions, some of my clients could visit and identify with all sorts of life forms: animals, plants, even rocks, elemental or alien beings.
As our understanding of consciousness deepens, these experiences will presumably be of great value. As we move towards a systems theory of consciousness and as more and more discussions about artificial intelligence will arise, we may need to revise our definition of life. That new definition will likely shift away from the biological description of carbon-based organisms that grow, reproduce, respond to stimuli etc. – instead, will centre around organisational criteria such as entropy reduction or the creation of increased levels of complex harmony and love.
The following samples from hypnotherapy sessions shall demonstrate the richness and variety of different forms of consciousness a human mind can slip into. The first excerpt is from Sandra, whose existential program calls her to become an environmental protection activist, and who was hence curious to experience the energy and consciousness of a plant.
Sandra: Connecting to Plant Energies
- How is it to be a plant?
- It’s dark. I’m not thinking of anything. It’s a stable, serene feeling. There’s a lot of feeling of wholeness. If an animal chews a leaf off, it’s not nice, like a part of you is gone.
- Are you trying to do something about it?
- No.
- If someone is trying to send you energy, how does it feel?
- Feels good. I grow bigger.
- Do you have the desire that someone would be sending you energy?
- Not sure what is desire… I’m not expecting it but it makes me happy. A group of people is moving nearby who are aware of energies. Feels like I have company and grow much better.
- Can you sense the energies of animals and people?
- Yes, very well. If a negative person is approaching, that’s not nice, I want to close. If a positive person comes, that is much nicer. Animals are much easier to sense than humans.
- What is your evolutionary goal as a plant?
- To observe the world.
Sessions during which a subject remembers non-human lives, are relatively rare. If they are not induced on purpose – like in the above case where Sandra, as an environmental activist, wanted to find out how it feels to be a plant – they still might come up as a surprise during past life visits.
From a therapeutic perspective, I tend to treat these narratives just as any other past life experience, trying to find insights and relevant connections to their present life, possibly about their archetypal value. Examples of animal or animal-type lives that came up in my sessions include: monkey, panther (see Gavin), and twice seal – with two different subjects (one was a seal in the wild, the other in a zoo). Interesting was the case of Valerie, who remembered flying like a falcon, only to realise that she was a shaman with the ability to shape-shift into a falcon. The following summary is from a case, where the memory of a mermaid-like life marked the breakthrough in Shala’s life, who felt torn between her need to be taken care of by her man, and the calling of fully stepping into her power and evolutionary purpose.
Shala: The Mermaid
In her session, Shala began to perceive herself as a being of the ocean. She could see the grey, stony beach, with some beautiful, blue stones scattered. She felt ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ as she felt on her own body a long, fish-like tail. Only later, she ‘grew legs’ and walked into a village, where she became an integral part of the community’s life. There, she brought for her friends fish, coconut, papaya… and prepared food for them.
During the session, this setup did not make much sense, until we looked at it from an archetypal perspective. In Jungian psychology, tales of human/animal hybrids that inhabit two worlds – like the mermaid being a creature both of the deep sea as well as the human realm – signify a connection with the wild soul. They contain an invitation to find one’s true Self that lives in the depths of the sea (emotions, soul, subconscious). When Shala became aware of this meaning of her vision, she felt deeply moved and touched by the Matriarch, an internal, divine energy that called her to stand in her own power, regardless of what her partner or others were doing. She promised her that with time, as Shala fulfils her calling to support and unite women in their personal and spiritual development, ‘you will grow into me.’
Seals, mermaids, elementals, aliens, even pure energy forms are all existences we can step into. Narratives involving life forms that are very different from what we are accustomed to seem to express higher callings or memories from multidimensional realms. With a wise and integrative approach, we can use these sessions to uncover insights about the person’s life purpose and developmental level. Certain individuals who have had spiritually significant experiences, such as NDEs, seem especially predisposed to visit realms in-between lives or even existences as pure energy. They may not speak much during the session yet experience profound shifts on an energetic level. When this occurs, it is useful to anchor the positive energies from that experience into the body (for example, by bringing them into the heart), ensuring they remain accessible.
In the examples below, both Betty and Étienne experienced unusual past lives which pointed towards their soul’s origin in non-human realms. Whether we interpret such memories literally or metaphorically, they form a crucial part of their personal mythology, explaining who they are and their purpose.
Betty: From Another Planet
- The planet I’m from is absolutely beautiful, like in the movie What Dreams May Come.iv There’s a sacred waterfall. Our planet is magnificent and so are the people: gentle, loving, and kind. Everyone is filled with intentions to help raise the vibrations.
- How was it to grow up here?
- I was born in the waterfall. It was very gentle. Here, the environment raises you, rather than parents, and the community. So loving and caring, it’s a natural way to be. There’s not much here to be angry about. You don’t need a lot. We can fly. […] From here, you can see other worlds, remotely, like on TV.
- What is the most significant event that happened in this life?
- The most significant event ever was the decision to leave this planet and to come to Earth. […] It was not only my decision, but a consensus of different people. It wasn’t against my will: I love exploring and discovering.
- Was there anything that prepared you to come to Earth?
- They reminded me to be me, to be real. The challenge will be to keep my ground. (Human beings are challenged if someone does not fit the mould.) […]
[From her Higher Self:] Live fearlessly! Now, that you remember, take time every day to meditate and connect to your planet.
Étienne: Existence as Energy
My sense of being is energetic. It’s a dream-like state in a subtle body. Reality is subtle… greater than just being connected. In this energetic body we can also sense future energies. There is no past or future separation. We can hold both and we can relate to both. The present moment serves as a tool to process the past and create the future.
- Are we meant to create the future?
- Yes. It’s not random. I’m receiving this instruction that it is beyond form. Anything that is related to a particular form, is insufficient. In the human life, the only way to move beyond form, is through symbols. It’s hard to describe how, but we can transform into another consciousness. It’s characterised by spaciousness, presence, and love. It’s beyond our (limited) imagination.
- Can we do anything to access it?
- Meditation. We can open up to it, even though we cannot imagine it. We can sit in this presence. The more you work towards it, the more you know. It’s an intuition, a feeling, a knowing.
- What is the best way for you personally to access it more?
- To continue walking. The image that came to my mind was of Santiago de Compostela. Even though I was never drawn to the ‘Camino’ because it’s like a vacation, but the idea is to keep moving, in a meditative way.
Both Betty and Étienne experienced these visions as part of their journey toward better serving their communities. While their visions may seem abstract, they hold very practical, life-enhancing power when integrated into everyday life. Betty runs a school for small children, and Étienne facilitates spiritual workshops which serve as frameworks to bring higher-level, non-human energy into our daily existence.
The individual traits we develop throughout our evolution are ultimately meant to serve the greater good. For example, traits inherent in the ‘warrior’s code’ (as remembered by Jack) – such as commitment to purpose or the ability to ‘remove the ego from the equation’ – reveal their true potential when applied not only for personal benefit but also in service of others. As one Buddhist teacher wrote to a disciple: ‘Freeing only yourself, there is no greater shame.’v Buddhists worldwide dedicate their practice to the benefit of all sentient beings. Indeed, evolution does not occur in a vacuum, and as it leads to higher levels of harmonic organisation, the creation of genuine community becomes essential.
The Expansion of Community
Community, in our current understanding, could mean any group that shares common interests, or even just geographical proximity like a town, neighbourhood, or apartment complex. Yet, in our study of the evolution of consciousness we came to see that a different form of community is on the rise. On the psychological level, a true community would be a safe, inclusive space which serves as a ‘laboratory for personal disarmament’ and a place for mutual development. As M. Scott Peck describes it, for a true community to build, a certain level of honest communication is required, which helps to overcome the stage of pseudo-community – when everyone seems like-minded and potential conflicts are avoided for the sake of group maintenance.i A genuine community is a space where the group can hold their mutual intent, throughout whatever challenges – intrapersonally or interpersonally – may arise.
Lina gave us an astonishing account of her multidimensional vision, in which she gained insight into a community of Star Beings who practised community building on the next level: communities based on shared intent.
Lina: Communities of Intent
This account is particularly interesting as it sheds light on an evolutionary stage we are moving towards. New paradigm biologist Bruce Lipton describes evolution in terms of living entities coming together to form new, more complex entities – such as cells coming together to form simple multicellular organisms. Then those multicellular organisms form organs within a yet again more complex, new organism. In his book The Biology of Belief, Lipton explores how cells in a complex, multicellular organism communicate and collaborate to bring forth and maintain harmony within a larger system. Similarly, humans come together as groups, first only necessity driven, but as they develop shared intent, their consciousness becomes focused and specialised as an organ of a new, greater organism. This implies nothing less than the possibility of evolving community as a superhuman organism in which each person maintains their individuality yet shares their consciousness towards a collective purpose.
We may recall Adele from Chapter 4, who remembered a tribal past, in which the prehistoric man was connected through feelings and emotions to other members of the tribe, as if they were limbs of his own body. There is suggestive evidence that not only could this ability be brought back, but experiences on a higher evolutionary level. It would be outside of the scope of this book to go into detail but some evidence suggests that the consciousness of individuals can be shared, as it becomes apparent in the areas of group dreaming, group consciousness, and the effects of group meditation, such as the Maharishi effect.
In his time, Jung famously proposed the existence of a collective unconscious. Parallel to Freud’s individual unconscious, he discovered a universal, shared layer of the psyche that connected all humans through archetypal content and primordial symbols. Even though Freud also spoke about an individual super-ego, Jung – interestingly – never postulated a collective super-ego or superconscious. I believe this is because it didn’t exist at his time. The collective superconscious is a phenomenon that will rise as we learn to apply our consciousness in interconnected ways, focus on shared intents, and create mutually helpful, global communities.
Lina gave us an astonishing account of her multidimensional vision, in which she gained insight into a community of Star Beings who practised community building on the next level: communities based on shared intent.
Lina: Communities of Intent
- I’m back with the Star Beings. They said, they were not in this universe, not in this dimension where we are. (They just want me to know that.)
- Ask them how they build communities.
- They don’t see communities as we do. When they build community, they do it on the basis of intent, not being. People are seen as separate parcels of intent. When they set intent, everything that comes and everyone who joins is seen as an answer to that intent. Houses, plants, animals, situations... all become part of the community. Even what seems unwanted is considered necessary and welcomed to that intent, even people that would not seem to fit into the community. They don’t see that person as a problem, it’s our perception. Everything is the answer.
- How do they set the intent?
- First, they look inside themselves, and find a desire and longing for something. Then they expand energetically, according to their intent and notice becoming bigger – but some part is not expanding. That part they feel is ‘missing.’ Everything that happens subsequently, is seen as part of the solution, for expanding towards that missing part.
This account is particularly interesting as it sheds light on an evolutionary stage we are moving towards. New paradigm biologist Bruce Lipton describes evolution in terms of living entities coming together to form new, more complex entities – such as cells coming together to form simple multicellular organisms. Then those multicellular organisms form organs within a yet again more complex, new organism. In his book The Biology of Belief, Lipton explores how cells in a complex, multicellular organism communicate and collaborate to bring forth and maintain harmony within a larger system. Similarly, humans come together as groups, first only necessity driven, but as they develop shared intent, their consciousness becomes focused and specialised as an organ of a new, greater organism. This implies nothing less than the possibility of evolving community as a superhuman organism in which each person maintains their individuality yet shares their consciousness towards a collective purpose.
We may recall Adele from Chapter 4, who remembered a tribal past, in which the prehistoric man was connected through feelings and emotions to other members of the tribe, as if they were limbs of his own body. There is suggestive evidence that not only could this ability be brought back, but experiences on a higher evolutionary level. It would be outside of the scope of this book to go into detail but some evidence suggests that the consciousness of individuals can be shared, as it becomes apparent in the areas of group dreaming, group consciousness, and the effects of group meditation, such as the Maharishi effect.
In his time, Jung famously proposed the existence of a collective unconscious. Parallel to Freud’s individual unconscious, he discovered a universal, shared layer of the psyche that connected all humans through archetypal content and primordial symbols. Even though Freud also spoke about an individual super-ego, Jung – interestingly – never postulated a collective super-ego or superconscious. I believe this is because it didn’t exist at his time. The collective superconscious is a phenomenon that will rise as we learn to apply our consciousness in interconnected ways, focus on shared intents, and create mutually helpful, global communities.
The Expansion of Reality – The World as a Responsive Feedback-System
At the beginning of this book, discussing Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, we chose for the new paradigm the assumption that the fundamental basis of reality is consciousness. This is akin to saying that the world is idea-based, god-based, or information-based. The perceivable, outer reality is not seen as something pre-existing but as the product of a cosmic mind that brings forth material phenomena. We stated this as an assumption, not a scientific fact, chosen for its usefulness in studying mental phenomena. However, in our modern times, something within the old, materialist paradigm is emerging that could – unexpectedly – demonstrate the validity of this perspective. Ironically, the snake is about to bite its own tail, as materialist thinking may return to a point where the mind-based nature of all phenomena becomes apparent. The field where this demonstration emerges is information technology.
The ancient idea of the world being Maya (illusionary appearance) and the Buddhist idea of all things lacking inherent existence (shabhava) is now returning in the form of the simulation hypothesis.
Twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi woke up one morning from a dream in which he was a butterfly and asked aghast: ‘How can I know whether I really am the philosopher who dreamt he was a butterfly – or perhaps I am the butterfly now dreaming that I am the philosopher?’
Currently, with the emergence of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, computer scientists are beginning to ask: If the exponential growth of computing power could lead to the creation of ultra-realistic simulations indistinguishable from reality, how do we know that this has not already happened? A high number of ‘ancestor simulations’ could exist and we may already be living in such a virtual world.
The simulation hypothesis – once only science fiction or a fringe idea of science – is gaining considerable momentum in academic and public debate. The idea that reality as we perceive it may be a sophisticated computer-generated immersion, is no longer so outlandish as we are witnessing the advances in virtual and augmented reality technologies. Even though we may not yet have the full computing power necessary to create a virtual reality, the stages of progressing towards such a simulation point can already be detected.iv Even a leisurely visit to Disneyworld’s The Void – where a fully interactive digital environment blends with the physical room – can leave the visitor not just entertained but pondering the question: What is reality? Is it a collection of atoms and molecules that can be objectively studied or is it something akin to… information?
In the simulation hypothesis, consciousness is assumed to be substrate independent, i.e. not seen as dependent on ‘carbon-based biological neural networks inside the cranium’ but regarded as transferable, for instance, to silicon-based processors inside a computer.v ‘The world’ (as we perceive it through the simulation) is designed as a participatory system, programmed to respond to the decisions of the participants who are moving towards a meaningful goal (like players in a purpose-driven video game).
In his book, The Simulation Hypothesis, MIT computer scientist Rizwan Virk brings examples of actual phenomena observable in our reality that are indicative of such a responsive system. His examples range from quantum physics (in particular, the double-split experiment, where the presence of an observer seems to influence the behaviour of wave-particles) to the anthropic interpretation of cosmology (according to which the properties of the universe are not random but seem to be uniquely suited to support the existence of conscious observers).vi He also quotes the Global Consciousness Project, the results of which suggest that mass human consciousness reacting to global events, such as the 9/11 attacks, can have a direct impact on (otherwise) random number generators.
The suggestion that reality may be a sophisticated (virtual) simulation has triggered not only intense public debate but also – justified – criticism. The simulation hypothesis has been regarded impracticable and impossible to prove or disprove, hence not suitable as a scientific question. This is a valid point, chiefly on the ground that any attempt to verify or falsify an illusion would be part of the illusion itself. Rupert Sheldrake calls this the ‘the illusion of objectivity’ which is inherent in any system where consciousness plays a fundamental role, as it would in a virtual simulation. Furthermore, even if one level of simulation could ever be proven, the search for a simulation of the simulation or the original simulator would create an infinite regress akin to the ‘problem of the first cause.’
Therefore, the main value of the simulation hypothesis lies in its use as a thought experiment. If one day our computer scientists and programmers really create a virtual reality that is indistinguishable from reality, we will have a demonstration that the world is made up of information. It is a mind-based, a consciousness-based construct. Even before that, in the computer world, we have a theoretical model of a system that is responsive to every choice that we are making.
That is the main difference, psychologically speaking, between a materialist and a consciousness-based worldview. The latter grants us, as individual consciousnesses, participatory status in the shaping of the very foundations of reality. Like karma, the life we experience is not random; it results from the choices we have made and the intentions we have set in the past. The cycles of life and death we undergo provide continuous feedback.
We can see feedback in life reviews. The newly deceased person is ‘confronted with the consequences of their actions – good or bad – and can feel the effects that their actions have had on others.’ Although the life review, sometimes accompanied by a supportive presence – is non-judgemental in nature, the person experiencing it may feel deep regret or joy over their behaviour. They can also think and feel the thoughts and feelings of those affected. In this way, life reviews instil an overwhelming sense of responsibility, by allowing a direct experience of how every decision we make impacts others – and ultimately, ourselves.
We can see feedback in synchronicities – paying attention to the signs that synchronistic events provide in our lives. Those who had deep experiences with synchronicity, see it as a ‘communication from a greater depth of intelligence or consciousness beyond the human ego-mind.’ I had clients who remembered that in the bardo state in-between-lives they have set themselves ‘signposts’ that would guide them through life. Those could for instance be a setback as a warning sign or meeting a certain person as support. While they might not consciously remember the exact meaning of those signs, intuitively it would stir them in the right direction.
Most importantly, we can see feedback in existential euphoria and existential melancholy. The completion of one’s existential program or life mission is generating an increasing feeling of contentment, peace, and happiness with life. On the contrary, the incompletion of the good life task produces a sense of melancholy and lingering depression even despite favourable circumstances (the ‘miserable millionaire’). This is not to say that those completing their existential task never experience sadness or other negative emotions – that is still part of human life – but their overall sense of contentment is growing and they find access to inner peace. This growing inner peace and euphoric energy serves as guidance for making decisions and finding the high path.
The ancient idea of the world being Maya (illusionary appearance) and the Buddhist idea of all things lacking inherent existence (shabhava) is now returning in the form of the simulation hypothesis.
Twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi woke up one morning from a dream in which he was a butterfly and asked aghast: ‘How can I know whether I really am the philosopher who dreamt he was a butterfly – or perhaps I am the butterfly now dreaming that I am the philosopher?’
Currently, with the emergence of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, computer scientists are beginning to ask: If the exponential growth of computing power could lead to the creation of ultra-realistic simulations indistinguishable from reality, how do we know that this has not already happened? A high number of ‘ancestor simulations’ could exist and we may already be living in such a virtual world.
The simulation hypothesis – once only science fiction or a fringe idea of science – is gaining considerable momentum in academic and public debate. The idea that reality as we perceive it may be a sophisticated computer-generated immersion, is no longer so outlandish as we are witnessing the advances in virtual and augmented reality technologies. Even though we may not yet have the full computing power necessary to create a virtual reality, the stages of progressing towards such a simulation point can already be detected.iv Even a leisurely visit to Disneyworld’s The Void – where a fully interactive digital environment blends with the physical room – can leave the visitor not just entertained but pondering the question: What is reality? Is it a collection of atoms and molecules that can be objectively studied or is it something akin to… information?
In the simulation hypothesis, consciousness is assumed to be substrate independent, i.e. not seen as dependent on ‘carbon-based biological neural networks inside the cranium’ but regarded as transferable, for instance, to silicon-based processors inside a computer.v ‘The world’ (as we perceive it through the simulation) is designed as a participatory system, programmed to respond to the decisions of the participants who are moving towards a meaningful goal (like players in a purpose-driven video game).
In his book, The Simulation Hypothesis, MIT computer scientist Rizwan Virk brings examples of actual phenomena observable in our reality that are indicative of such a responsive system. His examples range from quantum physics (in particular, the double-split experiment, where the presence of an observer seems to influence the behaviour of wave-particles) to the anthropic interpretation of cosmology (according to which the properties of the universe are not random but seem to be uniquely suited to support the existence of conscious observers).vi He also quotes the Global Consciousness Project, the results of which suggest that mass human consciousness reacting to global events, such as the 9/11 attacks, can have a direct impact on (otherwise) random number generators.
The suggestion that reality may be a sophisticated (virtual) simulation has triggered not only intense public debate but also – justified – criticism. The simulation hypothesis has been regarded impracticable and impossible to prove or disprove, hence not suitable as a scientific question. This is a valid point, chiefly on the ground that any attempt to verify or falsify an illusion would be part of the illusion itself. Rupert Sheldrake calls this the ‘the illusion of objectivity’ which is inherent in any system where consciousness plays a fundamental role, as it would in a virtual simulation. Furthermore, even if one level of simulation could ever be proven, the search for a simulation of the simulation or the original simulator would create an infinite regress akin to the ‘problem of the first cause.’
Therefore, the main value of the simulation hypothesis lies in its use as a thought experiment. If one day our computer scientists and programmers really create a virtual reality that is indistinguishable from reality, we will have a demonstration that the world is made up of information. It is a mind-based, a consciousness-based construct. Even before that, in the computer world, we have a theoretical model of a system that is responsive to every choice that we are making.
That is the main difference, psychologically speaking, between a materialist and a consciousness-based worldview. The latter grants us, as individual consciousnesses, participatory status in the shaping of the very foundations of reality. Like karma, the life we experience is not random; it results from the choices we have made and the intentions we have set in the past. The cycles of life and death we undergo provide continuous feedback.
We can see feedback in life reviews. The newly deceased person is ‘confronted with the consequences of their actions – good or bad – and can feel the effects that their actions have had on others.’ Although the life review, sometimes accompanied by a supportive presence – is non-judgemental in nature, the person experiencing it may feel deep regret or joy over their behaviour. They can also think and feel the thoughts and feelings of those affected. In this way, life reviews instil an overwhelming sense of responsibility, by allowing a direct experience of how every decision we make impacts others – and ultimately, ourselves.
We can see feedback in synchronicities – paying attention to the signs that synchronistic events provide in our lives. Those who had deep experiences with synchronicity, see it as a ‘communication from a greater depth of intelligence or consciousness beyond the human ego-mind.’ I had clients who remembered that in the bardo state in-between-lives they have set themselves ‘signposts’ that would guide them through life. Those could for instance be a setback as a warning sign or meeting a certain person as support. While they might not consciously remember the exact meaning of those signs, intuitively it would stir them in the right direction.
Most importantly, we can see feedback in existential euphoria and existential melancholy. The completion of one’s existential program or life mission is generating an increasing feeling of contentment, peace, and happiness with life. On the contrary, the incompletion of the good life task produces a sense of melancholy and lingering depression even despite favourable circumstances (the ‘miserable millionaire’). This is not to say that those completing their existential task never experience sadness or other negative emotions – that is still part of human life – but their overall sense of contentment is growing and they find access to inner peace. This growing inner peace and euphoric energy serves as guidance for making decisions and finding the high path.
Reconciling Paradigms – Expansion into Multidimensionality
The worldview that emerges from the consciousness-based, reincarnationist paradigm does not invalidate what we have previously learned about the world. It does not invalidate the laws of mathematics, physics, or biology. In fact, it does not invalidate the results of materialist science or make the materialist thinking obsolete. It adds to it.
Taking glimpses into multidimensional realities is like being lifted out of a single street in which one has lived their entire lives. From above, one can see the whole town, the whole country, the whole continent that tiny street is part of. From the reincarnationist perspective, we can see the whole system of life: how the past is connected to the present and to the future, and how human life is embedded in a larger web of consciousness. We can begin to investigate why we are born different (a disability at birth could, for instance, go back to previous trauma, wrongdoing, or be part of a challenge that consciousness is to undertake), what the mission of our individual and collective lives are, and why things unfold in a certain manner.
The consciousness-based paradigm should win not over materialist science, but by securing its place alongside it. Human capacities will become much stronger if we can keep our faculty of reasoning, deduction, experimentation, and gathering evidence, while we open new senses into new dimensions.
The marriage of the materialist and the consciousness-based paradigms would allow us to investigate both the external and internal causes of events and phenomena. The physical as well as the multidimensional worlds would equally be taken into consideration, and we, as human beings, would work at developing ourselves as much as developing our houses and our economies. Recognising that much of the world’s suffering comes from within, meditation would become a school subject as important as mathematics. While engineers would continue building bridges and designing airplanes, when things become more complex, there would be spiritual technologies to look at the depths of things. Sometimes, as the following story will illustrate, something like this is already happening, bringing forth results that many consider miraculous.
In the summer of 2018, an event – that would become the greatest internationally broadcasted rescue mission of all time – united the world’s attention. In Thailand, twelve members of the Wild Boars football team, aged 11-16, and their young assistant coach got trapped inside a cave, when floodwaters unexpectedly filled its corridors. The situation looked absolutely dire. The boys have been missing for more than a week, miles deep in the Tham Luang cave, cut away from the world by narrow, flooded dark tunnels, full of tricky bends and choking points, almost impossible to penetrate even for professional divers. When the Thai Navy SEALS went in searching for the boys, they could not find them neither alive nor dead – and one of their super-fit volunteers even lost his life in the attempt. A billion litres of water was pumped out of the cave, destroying all the crops of nearby farmers, yet it just kept raining more and the boys or their remains were still nowhere in sight.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, a whole rescue village was forming. Thousands of people arrived, bringing diverse knowledge and expertise, including multidimensional and meditation skills. Rituals were performed, and the children's parents and relatives made vows, seeking to appease whatever unseen forces lingered within the mountains. Various offerings were presented as magical assistance, effigies to substitute the thirteen trapped, betel nut and banana leaf worshipping trays, as well as a soul retrieval or soul-calling ritual was performed and a collective oath taken by the parents promising that they will have their children ordained for nine days if they returned safely. When a faraway lady shared a dream she had on social media, it was being taken seriously. In her dream, the female spirit of the cave gave her the message that she would keep the boys hostage in the Tham Luang cave, until a certain Buddhist monk called Khuva Boonchum comes and dispels her negative karma. Natives associated the spirit of the cave with the mythical princess Nang Norn, who, once upon a time, fell in love with the stable boy only for him to be killed by her father’s soldiers. Today, the shape of the mountain today resembles a fallen, pregnant woman, and the tragic event, now shrouded in legend, still reverberates through the landscape.
We may never fully grasp what happened here in the multidimensional world, but fact is that the Buddhist monk Khuva Boonchum did arrive at the cave. Locals saw in the revered monk the reincarnation of the princess’ loved one. He performed the necessary rituals and predicted that the boys would be found alive in a day or two and brought out safely. His intervention marked the positive turn of events. ‘I believed what Kruba told us, that the boys are safe there’ one of the parents said.
The rain stopped, and British divers, John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, could penetrate deeper than before into the flooded, pitch-dark corridors of the cave. They were neither Navy SEALs nor members of any official, governmental organisation but divers of passion, whose life program involved penetrating into crazy, narrow passages where no one had been before. They were the ones who found all the thirteen Wild Boars, holding on to life on an elevated rock terrace about 4 km deep inside the flooded tunnels. The boys were emaciated, yet in good spirits, both mentally and physically surprisingly healthy.
For these last 10 days, inside the darkness of the cave, the boys have not been merely sitting around waiting to be rescued or to die – they have been actively generating a positive field. Under the guidance of Coach Ek, also a former Buddhist monk, they meditated. They began digging a tunnel, a quite hopeless undertaking that nonetheless kept their spirits high by concentrating on a positive goal. Day after day, the boys visualised getting out, looting the nearby orange groves, and cycling home for their favourite meals.
Yet, the boys, smiling and full of hope, were still in their death trap. For them, diving through the hazardous underwater terrain was an impossibility. (A couple of rescue workers, who had to be dived out over a very short section of the cave near the entrance, nearly drowned due to panic. The boys were facing a five-hour trip.) At last, the divers’ crazy-brilliant idea of medically sedating the boys was implemented. The divers wrapped up the fully unconscious boys like mummies and brought them out like packages. Against the odds, all of them survived.
All of them were rescued.
The rescue of the Wild Boars, in many ways, is a story from the future. It is from a time when both external technologies – be it medical anaesthesia, water pumps, helicopters, or diving equipments – and internal techniques – meditation, rituals, dreams, and karmic work – are utilised. As Thai scholar Kanya Wattanagun pointed out, the success in this case was a manifestation of an ‘inclusive mindset that appreciates the operation of the mechanical world but does not dismiss its mystical aspects.’
We may not understand what exactly happened in the multidimensional realm, as we may not fully understand the sources and impacts of our past lives, dreams, and visions either. By adopting the reincarnationist, consciousness-based worldview, we are entering vast realms of possibilities, highs and lows of experiences that sometimes might be too much for a human mind to fully grasp. Yet, it is precisely this open-mindedness and the willingness to venture into the unknown, even the unknowable, that makes this new pioneering field so valuable.
For if we think the unthinkable, the miraculous – the previously thought impossible – might just happen.
Taking glimpses into multidimensional realities is like being lifted out of a single street in which one has lived their entire lives. From above, one can see the whole town, the whole country, the whole continent that tiny street is part of. From the reincarnationist perspective, we can see the whole system of life: how the past is connected to the present and to the future, and how human life is embedded in a larger web of consciousness. We can begin to investigate why we are born different (a disability at birth could, for instance, go back to previous trauma, wrongdoing, or be part of a challenge that consciousness is to undertake), what the mission of our individual and collective lives are, and why things unfold in a certain manner.
The consciousness-based paradigm should win not over materialist science, but by securing its place alongside it. Human capacities will become much stronger if we can keep our faculty of reasoning, deduction, experimentation, and gathering evidence, while we open new senses into new dimensions.
The marriage of the materialist and the consciousness-based paradigms would allow us to investigate both the external and internal causes of events and phenomena. The physical as well as the multidimensional worlds would equally be taken into consideration, and we, as human beings, would work at developing ourselves as much as developing our houses and our economies. Recognising that much of the world’s suffering comes from within, meditation would become a school subject as important as mathematics. While engineers would continue building bridges and designing airplanes, when things become more complex, there would be spiritual technologies to look at the depths of things. Sometimes, as the following story will illustrate, something like this is already happening, bringing forth results that many consider miraculous.
In the summer of 2018, an event – that would become the greatest internationally broadcasted rescue mission of all time – united the world’s attention. In Thailand, twelve members of the Wild Boars football team, aged 11-16, and their young assistant coach got trapped inside a cave, when floodwaters unexpectedly filled its corridors. The situation looked absolutely dire. The boys have been missing for more than a week, miles deep in the Tham Luang cave, cut away from the world by narrow, flooded dark tunnels, full of tricky bends and choking points, almost impossible to penetrate even for professional divers. When the Thai Navy SEALS went in searching for the boys, they could not find them neither alive nor dead – and one of their super-fit volunteers even lost his life in the attempt. A billion litres of water was pumped out of the cave, destroying all the crops of nearby farmers, yet it just kept raining more and the boys or their remains were still nowhere in sight.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, a whole rescue village was forming. Thousands of people arrived, bringing diverse knowledge and expertise, including multidimensional and meditation skills. Rituals were performed, and the children's parents and relatives made vows, seeking to appease whatever unseen forces lingered within the mountains. Various offerings were presented as magical assistance, effigies to substitute the thirteen trapped, betel nut and banana leaf worshipping trays, as well as a soul retrieval or soul-calling ritual was performed and a collective oath taken by the parents promising that they will have their children ordained for nine days if they returned safely. When a faraway lady shared a dream she had on social media, it was being taken seriously. In her dream, the female spirit of the cave gave her the message that she would keep the boys hostage in the Tham Luang cave, until a certain Buddhist monk called Khuva Boonchum comes and dispels her negative karma. Natives associated the spirit of the cave with the mythical princess Nang Norn, who, once upon a time, fell in love with the stable boy only for him to be killed by her father’s soldiers. Today, the shape of the mountain today resembles a fallen, pregnant woman, and the tragic event, now shrouded in legend, still reverberates through the landscape.
We may never fully grasp what happened here in the multidimensional world, but fact is that the Buddhist monk Khuva Boonchum did arrive at the cave. Locals saw in the revered monk the reincarnation of the princess’ loved one. He performed the necessary rituals and predicted that the boys would be found alive in a day or two and brought out safely. His intervention marked the positive turn of events. ‘I believed what Kruba told us, that the boys are safe there’ one of the parents said.
The rain stopped, and British divers, John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, could penetrate deeper than before into the flooded, pitch-dark corridors of the cave. They were neither Navy SEALs nor members of any official, governmental organisation but divers of passion, whose life program involved penetrating into crazy, narrow passages where no one had been before. They were the ones who found all the thirteen Wild Boars, holding on to life on an elevated rock terrace about 4 km deep inside the flooded tunnels. The boys were emaciated, yet in good spirits, both mentally and physically surprisingly healthy.
For these last 10 days, inside the darkness of the cave, the boys have not been merely sitting around waiting to be rescued or to die – they have been actively generating a positive field. Under the guidance of Coach Ek, also a former Buddhist monk, they meditated. They began digging a tunnel, a quite hopeless undertaking that nonetheless kept their spirits high by concentrating on a positive goal. Day after day, the boys visualised getting out, looting the nearby orange groves, and cycling home for their favourite meals.
Yet, the boys, smiling and full of hope, were still in their death trap. For them, diving through the hazardous underwater terrain was an impossibility. (A couple of rescue workers, who had to be dived out over a very short section of the cave near the entrance, nearly drowned due to panic. The boys were facing a five-hour trip.) At last, the divers’ crazy-brilliant idea of medically sedating the boys was implemented. The divers wrapped up the fully unconscious boys like mummies and brought them out like packages. Against the odds, all of them survived.
All of them were rescued.
The rescue of the Wild Boars, in many ways, is a story from the future. It is from a time when both external technologies – be it medical anaesthesia, water pumps, helicopters, or diving equipments – and internal techniques – meditation, rituals, dreams, and karmic work – are utilised. As Thai scholar Kanya Wattanagun pointed out, the success in this case was a manifestation of an ‘inclusive mindset that appreciates the operation of the mechanical world but does not dismiss its mystical aspects.’
We may not understand what exactly happened in the multidimensional realm, as we may not fully understand the sources and impacts of our past lives, dreams, and visions either. By adopting the reincarnationist, consciousness-based worldview, we are entering vast realms of possibilities, highs and lows of experiences that sometimes might be too much for a human mind to fully grasp. Yet, it is precisely this open-mindedness and the willingness to venture into the unknown, even the unknowable, that makes this new pioneering field so valuable.
For if we think the unthinkable, the miraculous – the previously thought impossible – might just happen.