The concept of rebirth is one of the basic ideologies of Sanathan dharma. It is strongly believed that one's present life is based on his past life karma. Today's topic is closely connected with rebirth, particularly a technique called "Prati Prasav" which talks about retrieving the past life memories. It is believed that one can enjoy happiness by shedding the burden of emotions incurred in past lives.
Before that, I request you to go through one of my previous articles regarding rebirth for better understanding.
QUICK VIEW :
| Key concept | Retrieving memories of past lives to address present day problems |
| Spiritual version | Prati Prasav, a technique described by Patanjali, the compiler of yoga sutras. Rebirth based on past life karma. The process of reliving in the past by going back in time by meditation. Addressing the present day problems by bringing the effect back to the cause. |
| Scientific version | Hypnosis and past life regression. Researches made in this field. Case studies and videos. Evidences of people recalling their past lives. |
| Others | An overview of the concept of "soul" according to scientific and spiritual view point. The different brain waves and their effect during meditation. A fun web link to know your past life.(!!!!) |
Prati Prasav - Past Life Regression :
"Past life regression" is a technique used in modern science, especially in the field of psychotherapy where hypnosis is used to retrieve the past life memories of a person.
This process of retrieving past life memories is what is meant by the sanskrit term "prati prasav" which literally means reverse birthing. Though there is a mention of this process in upanishads, it is in the yoga sutras of patanjali where this concept is referred as "Prati prasav" and discussed in detail. A soul is burdened by the accumulated impressions of past life karma and the technique Prati prasav is used to address the current problems in present life based on this past life karma.
It is worthy to note that our "Nadi Sasthra" also uses the same technique of addressing present day problems with past lives.
http://connectsciencetodivinity.blogspot.com/2014/12/nadi-shashthra-past-present-and-future.html
The existence of "Soul" - scientific view point :
Science is basically against the rebirth concept. It does not believe in the concept called soul. Science is always based on theories estimated with measurements and tangible evidences. Since "soul" is intangible and cannot be measured, it is disproved. According to science, human body is a kind of machine which runs on the supply of energy and when this energy wears out, the physical body encounters death. As simple as that. But science has no way to prove this either. It fails to provide convincing answers for birth and death questions. But the researches do continue and one among them is the past life regression.
Once a physician conducted a research by measuring the body before and after death to determine whether the "soul" has weight/mass but he could not come to a good conclusion.
"Soul" - According to spiritualism :
Sanathan dharma has no second thoughts about "soul" and rebirth. The process of rebirth is called "samsara", a continuous cycle where the soul is reborn again and again according to the law of action and reaction.
It also mentions a term called "moksha" which is the ultimate liberation from this on going cycle of birth and death. But this has to be realized only as an experience and no theoretical knowledge can give exact explanation of this bliss.
Some interesting books on soul and rebirth :
Past life and Rebirth - Few evidences :
And watch this video.......
And go through these links too.....
http://www.iisis.net/index.php?page=reincarnation-past-lives-evidence-case-studies
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/signs-of-past-life-brian-weiss_n_3613092.html
http://www.redbookmag.com/life/news/a20477/5-year-old-boy-says-he-was-a-women-who-died-in-a-fire-decades-ago-in-a-past-life/
http://paranormal.about.com/od/reincarnation/a/9-Signs-Of-Your-Past-Life_2.htm
Some memories just don't fade away. Even in our personal lives we might have experienced such strange things. Sometimes we get instant affection or hatred towards a person whom we are meeting for the first time and knowing nothing about them. Few people, even though they are not very close to us, come in our dreams frequently (I personally have this experience). Feeling familiar about places we have not gone before...... strange feeling that we have spoken the same sentence to the same person some other time etc are some clues. Are they just co incidences? or are they our past life memories? No clear answer can be given isn't it? But scientists are now conducting aggressive researches including thorough testing of evidences. For this testing, they use hypnotism which is called past life regression therapy.
Prati prasav - The procedure of retrieving memories of past lives :
Now let us go back to Prati prasav sadhana according to Ptanjali. The term "Prati" means again and "Prasav" means birth. As such, the term denotes being born again in terms of memory. In detailed terms, it means, bringing the effect back to the cause by going back in time and living that past life again in memory. Problem of any kind cannot be solved completely unless the root cause is known. Since rebirth is the result of past life karma, the cause and effect theory, the problems faced in this life are definitely attributed to past lives. Hence the effects cannot be solved unless they are forced back to the cause.
In one of the sutras, Patanjali says. "The sources of the five afflictions (pancha klesha) can be abolished by resolving them backwards to their origin". The five afflictions are "Avidya" - lack of awareness , "Asmita" - The feeling of ego, ""Raga" - desire, attachment and addictions, "Dvesha" - repulsion, aversion and "Abhinivesha" - fear of death or lust for life. In short, the root cause is "lack of awareness" and effect is "fear or death or lust for life". Hence by going back to the root cause, by being aware of the real nature of self, including the past births, all problems can be addressed and solved.
Prati prasav sadhana is an intensive meditation technique which aids in retrieving the past life memories. Once retrieved, the next step is to shed the emotions by reliving again in the past life. The process is quite complicating but with intense practice, it is said that it can be achieved. Please take a look how our brain functions and reacts during meditation. It is also worthy to note that most of us are only in the Beta level during our entire life time. This shows the intensity of practice needed, to reach the higher levels in meditation.
In the modern era, this therapy has been developed since 1950's by psychiatrists and psychologists and even mediums. This belief slowly gained credibility due to the legitimate credentials encountered during the research.
A study conducted in the year 1976 showed that 40% of hypnotizable subjects described new identities and used different names when given a suggestion to regress past their birth. In 1990s a series of experiments undertaken by Nicholas Spanos examined the nature of past life memories. Descriptions of alleged past lives were found to be extremely elaborate, with vivid, detailed descriptions
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_life_regression
In 1988, Brain weiss, an american psychiatrist, deployed this past life regression therapy using hypnosis on his patient. Later, he published the best selling "Many lives, Many masters based on his experiences in this process.
This therapy is now widely used and many discoveries are being made. It is an important step in science as it paves the way to get clear views about birth, death and what life is all about..... Just look at one of the hypnosis sessions in this video....
In one of the sutras, Patanjali says. "The sources of the five afflictions (pancha klesha) can be abolished by resolving them backwards to their origin". The five afflictions are "Avidya" - lack of awareness , "Asmita" - The feeling of ego, ""Raga" - desire, attachment and addictions, "Dvesha" - repulsion, aversion and "Abhinivesha" - fear of death or lust for life. In short, the root cause is "lack of awareness" and effect is "fear or death or lust for life". Hence by going back to the root cause, by being aware of the real nature of self, including the past births, all problems can be addressed and solved.
Prati prasav sadhana is an intensive meditation technique which aids in retrieving the past life memories. Once retrieved, the next step is to shed the emotions by reliving again in the past life. The process is quite complicating but with intense practice, it is said that it can be achieved. Please take a look how our brain functions and reacts during meditation. It is also worthy to note that most of us are only in the Beta level during our entire life time. This shows the intensity of practice needed, to reach the higher levels in meditation.
Past life regression - Modern hypnosis therapy :
In the modern era, this therapy has been developed since 1950's by psychiatrists and psychologists and even mediums. This belief slowly gained credibility due to the legitimate credentials encountered during the research.
A study conducted in the year 1976 showed that 40% of hypnotizable subjects described new identities and used different names when given a suggestion to regress past their birth. In 1990s a series of experiments undertaken by Nicholas Spanos examined the nature of past life memories. Descriptions of alleged past lives were found to be extremely elaborate, with vivid, detailed descriptions
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_life_regression
In 1988, Brain weiss, an american psychiatrist, deployed this past life regression therapy using hypnosis on his patient. Later, he published the best selling "Many lives, Many masters based on his experiences in this process.
This therapy is now widely used and many discoveries are being made. It is an important step in science as it paves the way to get clear views about birth, death and what life is all about..... Just look at one of the hypnosis sessions in this video....
Use this just for fun to know your past life :
Please use this link to know your past life. Just enter your birth date, month and year to get the details. Ha ha....yes, it is only for fun purposes and need not be relied.
http://www.dossier.net/relax/pastlife/english.html
Both religion and science are in constant search for ultimate truth. Though the paths are different, the goal is the same. But life always holds many mysteries for which normal human brain is not able to find answers. The enlightened masters in the spiritual field usually do not reveal their experience, as it is not advisable and each person is destined to get that enlightenment on his own. On the other hand, science is ready to reveal the facts based on evidences but unfortunately, certain mystical aspects cannot be measured and some mysteries are beyond the purview of science. Will science be able to decode all the mysteries some time in the future? Only time can answer....... But our ancient Rishis never fail to fascinate us by their advanced multidimensional wisdom.
Can you explain how to practise the prati prasav technique at home?
ReplyDeletePrati Prasav, the decoding of the brain to retrieve past memories, is a captivating concept. Anime Watch Way It offers a deeper understanding of our cognitive abilities and the complexity of memory storage.
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