Past lives – fact or fiction? Are they really a thing – or just made up? In this article we’ll explore everything you need to make your own mind up.
It’s easier to imagine life with the internet and other technological advances today. Not long ago, there were no social media, apps, or other technological conveniences. Twenty years ago, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok did not exist, nor did smartphones and apps. There were even fewer technological gadgets 30 years ago than today, and electricity wasn’t even available then.
Understandably, you might wonder how people survived without modern technology, let alone electricity. It was all they knew, so they did it. Once upon a time, you learned what life was like without electricity during medieval times. Is it possible to have dreams where you live in different eras as different people? Are past lives real?
There might be dreams that you frequently have about living on a farm or in a British castle. Perhaps these are down to memories of past lives. But are you also prone to deja vu? What if you have repulsion from something you’ve never experienced or love, something you’ve never encountered – in this lifetime? For instance, you hate swimming, and you did not have a bad experience with swimming when you were small. Perhaps this all stems from your experiences in your past lives.
So why do you hate it? Or you may get a glimpse of why you hate swimming so much if you are in a dream state. Do you have memories of past lives when those things occur? Is that possible? Let’s talk about whether or not there is such a thing as past lives.
Is There Such a Thing as Past Lives?
As reincarnation is an unproven phenomenon, there are many views about past lives! The thing is, here’s what’s going on regarding that. For example, how can you explain having specific skills as a child without an explanation? How would you feel if you were four years old and could cook gourmet meals to the best of your ability, given your age?
Like having an unknown fear of swimming, have you ever had a bad experience with snakes if you have a phobia of them? If you cannot recall having an encounter with a snake, but expressed fear of them when you were a child, then it makes you think. In contrast, is it possible to have an unexplained affinity to a particular European country you felt at a young age despite never being there? Answering those questions makes you wonder if reincarnation and past lives are true.
The most important thing to remember is this. The matter is energy, and you can’t ruin energy. Life is matter, and energy is energy. Because your soul is energy, it moves to another realm after your physical body dies. Souls never change, unlike physical body parts. Could your soul have lived in different bodies as different people over the centuries?
Each lifetime brings new perspectives, so you wonder if you are incarnate to balance karma and keep learning. However, there has yet to be a concrete scientific answer since none is available.
Past Lives Are Believed By Many Religions And Cultures
Reincarnation is believed to exist in many cultures and religions, notably Buddhism and Hinduism. West Africans and East Africans also believe in reincarnation and past lives. There is then a question that needs to be asked. If such a thing exists, does reincarnation always lead to becoming human again? For example, do you reincarnate as an animal? In some cultures and religions, such as Jainism, you will return as an animal if you commit a lot of evil deeds.
That brings you food for thought, and if there is truth to that, you have to wonder how many times you have to keep coming back. Is there a limited amount of time you would reincarnate? Do you have a limited number of lives to keep living? Or is that up to your soul, and there are no limitations on how often you choose to come back?
Regardless of whether or not there are rules for how many times a soul can return, what is the purpose of reincarnation anyway?
Past Lives – The Purpose Of Reincarnation
The soul keeps coming back to gain new perspectives. It is also the soul’s desire to evolve. Once the soul grows, it eventually reaches a point where it remains in the Heavens or the higher planes. A soul can keep developing through experiences in different bodies, other challenges, and good karma.
Nevertheless, as the soul ages, it experiences more hardships and handles them better than younger souls who share them. This is because older souls have lived many past lives and acquired wisdom through their experiences. Therefore, although they experience sadness and heartbreak, they tend to bounce back and cope better than younger souls who experience hardship.
It is, however, possible to determine how many times an individual has reincarnated when comparing two individuals. For example, one individual has mostly coasted through life but has experienced one extremely traumatic event and struggles to cope with it – while another individual has suffered heartache since they were children but seems to be coping well and has a positive outlook – then the latter is a much older soul than the other individual who cannot cope with one traumatic experience.
Even if you are an older soul, you may stomp your feet and insist that you never plan to return. However, even old souls have egos, and the ego is not happy with the experiences on Earth. The soul, however, is eager to evolve, so even though your ego says you are finished with returning, your soul will not agree. Your soul is the boss, and you must remember that. Just because you insist you will never reincarnate again does not mean your soul is on the same page.
Then you have more past life experience than your sibling or friend if you wonder how difficult you compare your life to theirs. People with whom we have karmic ties also play a significant role in our life lessons, whether positive or negative. A soulmate encourages you, but a karmic partner teaches you.
Past Lives – Karmic Partners, Soul Groups, and Soulmates
You’ve likely heard the terms soul group, soulmate, and karmic partner. You will reincarnate with your soul group around the same time and for generations to come, and you will resonate mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually with them. In addition to you, those in your soul group have been on the earth plane for longer. You indeed share a powerful bond with those in your soul group, but you also have a spiritual connection to them. Your soul family is also known as your family of origin.
You may not understand that fact when you have a fierce enemy in your soul group. How is that possible when this enemy has hurt you and caused you trauma? In the soul group, karmic partners play an essential role. Being incarnated with your soul family does not necessarily mean you will get along with everyone and even know the physical world. However, you will likely meet some of the members of your soul family during your incarnation.
However, an enemy, or someone who caused you a lot of heartaches, an abusive partner, an abusive teacher, parent, or even a child, is in your soul group, but they are karmic. So, for example, a friend you once had who turned into a fierce enemy is likely a karmic partner. So that means you have karmic debt with the soul that caused you much pain in this incarnation.
But their purpose is to help you evolve as you balance your karmic debts that involve them, which is always tricky to handle. So you will refer to anyone as the ones who caused you a lot of heartache, and if they caused you PTSD, and if their names trigger you, then those are your karmic partners or karmic soulmates.
Although you have karmic partners, you also have soulmates and don’t just have one. If you are having a challenging incarnation, soulmates are there to encourage and support you so you don’t give up. It can be a partner who loves and cherishes you, but it can also be a best friend who has always supported you, a neighbor who has always looked out for you, a teacher who has changed your life for the better and encouraged you, or even a parent you have always been close to.
Your karmic partners, soulmates, and other soul group members are there to help you learn, evolve, and grow, which is what your soul desires. As you develop, you will become enlightened to the point where returning to the Earth plane is no longer necessary unless you return solely to help someone else. Likewise, you would likely only stay on Earth briefly in such a situation. The Earth, however, is a school where souls are taught and evolve, and lessons are always painful for the ego.
Once again, that is also why your ego is bent out of shape whenever there is ever a discussion about ever reincarnating again. But the good news is, unless you pass as a child, you will likely stay in the astral planes to rest before you even consider returning.
Suppose you are looking for some excellent reading material on reincarnation and past lives. In that case, Dr. Michael Newton has several books, including Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, Wisdom of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, and has an audiobook if you want to attempt to remember your past lives, Life Between Lives.