To understand Past Life Therapy we must first examine what we refer to as reincarnation. Reincarnation is the belief that the purpose of our existence in the physical is to spiritually evolve so that we may eventually be re-united with the source. This source takes on many identities, depending on one’s religious or spiritual beliefs. The source represents the creator in all religions regardless of name or gender. The belief is that we spiritually evolve by living many lives and experiencing life from every aspect and perspective.
The belief in Karma, the law of moral causation, of cause and effect, underpins the whole concept of reincarnation. Every action we take has a consequence not just for us but for the whole world at large and for every creature that exists within the world. What these consequences are depends on whether the action taken was positive or negative. The soul strives for positive consequences based on positive actions. It is the soul’s host body that often lets the soul down and so receives negative consequences as a result of negative actions taken. The soul must undertake to overcome these tendencies by working with, and integrating with, each of its host bodies over many lifetimes, assisting them so that the desired outcome is eventually arrived at.
For a soul to eventually reach self-realisation and cease the constant rounds of life, death and rebirth into the physical, the scales of Karma must be fully balanced. This for some souls may take hundreds of lifetimes, and for others, thousands. It is down to the individual to make the most and best of each lifetime, to identify and overcome the spiritual challenges offered whilst minimising any harmful impact to those around them and indeed the rest of humanity and all creation.
This may seem like a colossal task and the constant worry for the individual as to whether he or she is doing the right thing or not appears overwhelming indeed. However, what the laws of Karma address is not so much our acts but our intentions whilst carrying out such acts. Was our intention at the time of the act to heal or to harm? We are all architects of our own fate. We have the power within us to create our own personal heaven or hell while on earth.
The belief in re-incarnation is that when we die, it is only the physical part of us, the host body, that actually dies. The soul and mind live on, returning to the spirit world for some time before deciding to return to the physical to be born again. To the soul the world is a wonderful and colourful learning ground, a school or college that it must eventually graduate from. The soul is not interested in mediocre results for when it does graduate; it will be with first class honours and nothing less. The soul brings to the new host body, the memories of all its previous incarnations. These memories remain buried deep within the subconscious but continue to have subtle and sometimes strong effects as they filter information into the conscious of our everyday world.
We may feel drawn to a certain location, a sudden feeling of familiarity with a certain stranger, a sense of déjà vu, a flair for a certain talent or skill, closer to some family and friends rather than others, a natural affinity with animals or children etc. However we may also have unexplained fears or phobias, chronic health conditions that defy all forms of treatment or diagnosis and even repetitive relationship issues. We generally take for granted that this is just who we are and must learn to live with it. But what if the causes of these either apparent positive or negative issues had nothing to do with who we physically are now, but have their root or origin in one of our soul’s previous incarnations or past lives? It appears that it is those events, traits, conditions, people, issues and traumas in previous lives that leave the strongest imprint on the soul and mind, and so, can either help or hinder future incarnations.
Before we are born or incarnate, we, in our spirit form with the help of our guides, decide which body type, which environment and which challenges will best serve us in our quest for spiritual evolution or self-realisation. We do not arrive at random into our particular family with its particular history, social class, relatives, neighbours or friends. On the contrary our individual arrival has been perfectly orchestrated and like a well cast movie or play, every person has a role to play in our story line, and likewise, we too will have a role to play in theirs. These roles and interactions can have both positive and negative impacts on our journey. It may appear to us at times that we have been either blessed or blighted by our circumstances or by the effects of the people around us. We may find ourselves in constant conflict with some (thorns in our side) or inspired and supported by the friendship and love of others. Both these positive and negative aspects are equally important in our journey to self-realisation or spiritual evolution. The pivotal issue here is how we deal with each situation. Special attention needs to be given to those conditions and people in our life that we find most challenging and difficult, for it is in these that the key to our spiritual quest is most likely to be found. It is in these that we may be able to trace karmic debts that need to be paid or addressed before we can move forward on our spiritual journey.
From the moment we enter this world, our internal movie director calls ‘action’. The drama starts to unfold and in our ‘lead Star’ role, we must remember our lines, our queues and also recognise our fellow actors and understand the roles they play. The difficulty in all that is expected of us is the slight issue of spirit induced amnesia at birth. If we entered this movie set allowed to hold and read from the prepared script, with no effort on our part, there would be no test and challenge in it for us. We would know all the nasty things that were going to befall us and would make every attempt to sidetrack them ducking and diving as we nervously made our way through this movie called ‘Life’. This ‘test’ has been preset by no one other than our self. No matter how hard the test may be, we have no one to blame but our self. We have actively chosen this life with all its ups and downs in order for us to overcome certain issues or very importantly to balance out any shortcomings from a previous life (karma). We have memorised and rehearsed the script several times in the spirit world. The script however, is left behind in the spirit world as we make our outward journey, and so we must struggle to remember our lines, what role we are to play in this life and most importantly why.
If we make a success of this movie, remember our lines, the plot – and play our role in truth and conviction, we may be rewarded by starring in an even better movie the next time round. However if we experience stage fright, forget our lines, lose track of the plot becoming wishy-washy in our role, we may need to work on these shortcomings by starting all over again. The movie and script may be different next time round. Indeed the cast of characters may be jumbled up with different roles to play but you can be assured that the challenges to overcome, will feel terribly familiar.
When it comes to reincarnation, there appears to be several boxes that need to be ticked in each lifetime. If we do not succeed in this during a particular incarnation then we will be given the opportunity to tick them again in another life. The belief is that when all these so-called boxes are ticked, the master plan is complete and we achieve a state of parinirvana, self-realisation and bliss. We no longer need to incarnate and identify with the physical for we are returned to the source, the fountain of all life, the pinnacle of spiritual evolution. We have learned our lessons, overcome our shortcomings and connected with humanity in joy and love. The Karmic scales are balanced once and for all.
Copyright © 2006-2012 Vivien Ní Dhuinn
Truly Teach Me Tarot 