Reincarnation, Essay Example

Past life regression refers to the practice of people utilizing hypnosis in order to explore their past lives, which is why it is often dubbed hypnotic regression. Indeed, hypnosis is a potent mechanism that enables people to recover memories that have been suppressed from their previous lives. When an individual regresses into their past life, the memories and information that are conjured can give the individual under hypnosis quite an extraordinary experience (Miller, 2013). The concept of reincarnation is often invoked in discourses about past life regression. Reincarnation refers to a philosophical or religious concept and belief that the human soul begins a new life in another body once an individual has physically died or undergoes a so-called biological extirpation (Phillips, 2000). For many people who adhere to the Hindu or Buddhist faiths, as well spiritual individuals, reincarnation makes sense because humans live in a world that, to many, is unjust and unfair. Regressive hypnosis retains currency to those who believe in reincarnation because of its illuminating capabilities and the immediacy of its healing power. It is just the personal opinion of many whether or not reincarnation is a reality, and the concept itself prompts various questions including why certain individuals suffer in the face of injustice and cruelty while others always get the benefit of the doubt and live comfortably and happy. Reincarnation points to a progressive process in which the human soul is constantly evolving based on the lessons learned and gleaned from prior lies. Such a paradigm may explain the idiosyncratic contours of each individual’s life. While past life regression is a process that is engaged when a person endeavors a spiritual experience, usually within therapeutic settings, many of the proponents only loosely believe in the religious/spiritual tenet of reincarnation. Interestingly, religious and spiritual traditions surrounding reincarnation do not incorporate the notion of repressed memories of a soul’s past lives. As such, this practice developed seemingly as a product of modernity and human curiosity to understanding the human condition within the context of modernity.

References

Miller, L. (2013). Remembrances of lives past. The New York Times.

Phillips, D.Z. (2000). Recovering religious concepts: Closing epistemic divides. Basingstoke: Macmillan.