Reincarnation & Past Life Regression

[Marisa]

Here is a link to an article that discusses past life regression and reincarnation. I liked what the author had to say regarding hypnosis and past life regression.

http://www.comparativereligion.com/reincarnation1.html


Feel free to discuss the article and subject matter here.

M.

[caleb]

That read about hypnosis and past-life was quite interesting.

I don't think much about past-lives and reincarnation. For some reason the subject has never really interested me that much.

But the kinds of things it says about hypnosis are quite interesting - specifically the accountability of the hypnotherapist in possibly creating memories and even completely new personalities in a subject.

Marisa - given that you work in this area are you ever concerned about things like this? Do you think it's possible for you to create fake memories in your clients for example that actually damage them going forward?

I had never intended gaining any skills in hypnosis for the purpose of treating other people and I've never intended to be hypnotised by someone else. I haven't even intended to use pre-prepared scripts that can be purchased on the web. I've only wanted to prepare my own scripts.

Regards
Caleb

[Marisa]

Hi Caleb,

That read about hypnosis and past-life was quite interesting.

I don't think much about past-lives and reincarnation. For some reason the subject has never really interested me that much.

I always figured that if we do reincarnate, the reason why we don't remember a past life is because our focus should be on this life. Whether reincarnation exists or not is irrelevant to this life, even if one is a Buddhist, because we should be honorable and do good for our selves and others not because we want a favorable rebirth or because we want to get into heaven but because we want to. That's my spiel.

But the kinds of things it says about hypnosis are quite interesting - specifically the accountability of the hypnotherapist in possibly creating memories and even completely new personalities in a subject.

Yes!

Marisa - given that you work in this area are you ever concerned about things like this? Do you think it's possible for you to create fake memories in your clients for example that actually damage them going forward?

Absolutely and it's very easy to do.

BTW, I don't take clients any more, only because I got more into the technology end of things and really didn't enjoy counseling.

The problem with hypnotherapy is that it is very easy to become certified in this field and to open shop - at least in Canada (and I believe the U.S.). This is a problem because you get people who really shouldn't be a hypnotherapist trying to help other people.

The courses are not regulated by any government body, the professional associations aren't that great as they will allow anyone to join who can pay the fees. NLP is a bit better regulated and the practitioners who get into counseling, tend to be of a higher caliber. It could be because the NLP courses are very good, though intensive - while most hypnotherapy courses are pretty basic.

I've seen many hypnotherapy scripts out there that use negative language. When I asked my hypnotherapy instructor about this he said, well the conscious mind knows the difference. Ya well ... hello, the unconscious mind is what you are working with in hypnosis and it doesn't know.

Having said that, there are some really talented hypnotherapists and NLP practitioners out there who can do some awesome things and help someone make powerful changes very quickly and permanently.

Here's something that you don't see written about very often: Every time a person goes to see a psychic or tarot reader - they are being hypnotized. The reason why the psychic predictions and tarot readings (or any other fortune telling device) work is because the reader is telling a very suggestible client what will happen in their future. The client is highly suggestible because they believe the reader is a psychic and knows the future therefore they will believe everything s/he tells them. Well, the subconscious mind will work very hard to make what the conscious mind believes is true happen. All is good if your psychic tells you that you will be successful - however - I have had lots of clients whom the psychic told them something detrimental to their well-being and basically I had to deprogram them. Not cool!

I had never intended gaining any skills in hypnosis for the purpose of treating other people and I've never intended to be hypnotized by someone else. I haven't even intended to use pre-prepared scripts that can be purchased on the web. I've only wanted to prepare my own scripts.

I rarely used scripts that I didn't write. What I would do though is take a script and modify it to suit my needs.

I like the knowledge that learning hypnosis and NLP have brought me. Those two things have made such a powerful impact on every aspect of my life. It's incredible and definitely worth learning.

We go in and out of trance on our own quite regularly. Every time we go inside and think about something, we are in a small trance. Every time we are focused on something and the rest of the world disappears, we are in a trance. Daydreaming = trance. Auto-pilot (habitual patterns like driving down the same road to work every day, brushing our teeth - things that we do and think about something else) all trance.

What hypnosis and self-hypnosis does is put a purpose to that trance.

Self-hypnosis occurs when we tell ourselves something and create a belief. For example, when we give ourselves a pep talk, say affirmations, pray or perform a ritual - all these things are trance inducing.

We are suggestible when we are emotional. So when we are upset or angry, we are very open to suggestion at that point. That is why the words that someone says to us when we are upset - we remember.

Anyway, sorry if I got off on a rant here. ...

The way to protect yourself from negative hypnosis is to learn about how the subconscious & hypnosis works. I've studied brainwashing techniques, mind control and all sorts of evil things -not because I will ever use them on someone but because if I understand how they work, I can immunize myself against their effects and teach others what to watch out for.

Knowledge takes the power out of "evil".

M.

[caleb]

It's interesting what you mentioned about psychics and tarot card readings. I always had a different take on those. Not so much on what's going to happen in the future, but in making connections to a part of you or a truth about life that you haven't consciously recognised.

I think their main power is that of sychronicity.

I've always said that you can find all the truth of the world in the book "Wuthering Heights" not because it's a supernatural tool in itself, but because we know more than we consciously accept. If you're open to it, you can trigger connections more easily between seemingly random pieces of information and truths that you've hidden from yourself for one reason or another.

I think it's also why Self-Help books are very popular. Their content is already focused in areas of quite obvious truths which we still manage to hide from ourselves on a day-to-day basis. They sometimes give it a different language and mystify it, but deep down we easily decode the underlying truth.

The problem can be that although it should be a beneficial thing, I think sometimes it causes a "conversion" of beliefs - a swallowing whole of a terminology/structure/ritual rather than a recognition of the underlying premise.

So actually - I'm probably coming more around to what you were saying the first place. Maybe people are being hypnotised and reprogrammed rather than discovering anything in a fundamental and useful way.

Marisa - I was just thinking you might like the novel "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson. It's basically a cyberpunk style of Science Fiction, but it has its roots in NLP and is quite fascinating in that regard.

Regards
Caleb

[caleb]

I always figured that if we do reincarnate, the reason why we don't remember a past life is because our focus should be on this life. Whether reincarnation exists or not is irrelevant to this life, even if one is a Buddhist, because we should be honorable and do good for our selves and others not because we want a favorable rebirth or because we want to get into heaven but because we want to. That's my spiel.

I forgot to respond to this. Right on!

Regards
Caleb

[Marisa]

Hi Caleb,

It's interesting what you mentioned about psychics and tarot card readings. I always had a different take on those. Not so much on what's going to happen in the future, but in making connections to a part of you or a truth about life that you haven't consciously recognized.

I guess the million dollar question is whether the person would have had the experience had it not been "foretold"?

I think their main power is that of sychronicity.

What makes for synchronicity? Would it be as simple as two or more things that have something in common? Is timing a factor?

Sympathetic Magic is a term used to describe the relationship between two or more things that have something in common. The belief is that because these things have something in common, they are therefore related. Once the relationship has been determined, further exploration into the symbolic meaning of these things adds to the relationship.

So for example, if the word "rose" has 4 letters and the word "cross" has four letters - the initial connection. Let's say the person looked farther and discovered that - a cross has 4 sections and a rose (lets say had 12 petals a multiple of 4). A rose is a symbol of love, which could add the meaning of "love" to the cross. The cross symbolizes sacrifice and the rose symbolizes love so the connection could become a sacrifice of love. The number 4 may also tie in adding further meaning and connections to the equation. It's a very simplistic explanation however this idea is used in most New Age and Religious, even Occult belief systems.

It relates to synchronicity because a person may find meaning if they are given a rose, let's say by someone standing in front of a Church. They may take it as something that has extra special meaning.

Using symbolism in this way can be an interesting exercise in perception.

I think it's also why Self-Help books are very popular. Their content is already focused in areas of quite obvious truths which we still manage to hide from ourselves on a day-to-day basis. They sometimes give it a different language and mystify it, but deep down we easily decode the underlying truth.

Each interpretation brings new insight into both the problem and the solution. Because our perception of the world (ourselves, everything) is very subjective, one solution rarely satisfies everyone.

The problem can be that although it should be a beneficial thing, I think sometimes it causes a "conversion" of beliefs - a swallowing whole of a terminology/structure/ritual rather than a recognition of the underlying premise.

It can if that "message" appeals to the person at a particular time when they are looking for answers. Unfortunately sometimes the answer they find provides a band-aid to their problems which later grow septic because they have not been resolved. I've seen this a lot!

For example: There was this craze going on about the benefits of drinking oxygenated water. So people bought this water for double the price of regular water and hypnotized themselves into thinking they felt better. You could not convince them that there is no benefit to drinking oxygen (it evaporates once the bottle is open, not to mention our stomachs are not the best method of absorbing oxygen).

So actually - I'm probably coming more around to what you were saying the first place. Maybe people are being hypnotized and reprogrammed rather than discovering anything in a fundamental and useful way.

It works the other way also. We can hypnotize ourselves to be better at learning, to be optimistic and positive. Hypnosis is merely a programming tool. It's what we do with that tool that is important.

Marisa - I was just thinking you might like the novel "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson. It's basically a cyberpunk style of Science Fiction, but it has its roots in NLP and is quite fascinating in that regard.

Cool. Thanks, I'll look it up.

M.

[caleb]

Just to add another area where I see alot of NLP going on is in the form of slogans used by government agencies in order to (in my opinion) oppress people without contest.

One of the areas of late which sticks out to me in Australia is campaigns against drivers for anything from speeding to drink driving.

Recently on a road I drive on every weekday a set of flashing signs were erected to tell us all that the speed cameras were now on. This is fine - don't have a problem with that - except that I'm not that fond of speed cameras, but sharing this message was a slogan that said "Cameras Cut Crashes". Now this statement is of course outrageous, but the use of alliteration and the fact that it's in your face at various intervals as you drive down this road on a regular basis helps imprint this lie as a truth in your mind.

The same can be said for many of the catchy and not-so-catchy slogans used in the past - like "speed kills", "if you drink and drive you're a bloody idiot" - which was actually so effective they could abbreviate it to "drink. drive. bloody idiot" and maintain its power, "wipe of 5 stay alive" etc...

So instead of being forced to come up with logical and sound reasoning or even any ligitimate statistics whatsoever for imposing fines and criminalising people, they can sing a song or use a clever line and we can be only too happy for them to impose any of this on us - in fact we will feel as a people that these impositions are justified and righteous.

I know this is hardly novel as it's always been prevalent in marketing and even political campaigning, but it always annoys me the most when I see it in this context.

OK - rant over.

Regards
Caleb

[Marisa]

Hi Caleb,

Just to add another area where I see a lot of NLP going on is in the form of slogans used by government agencies in order to (in my opinion) oppress people without contest.

I don't think it's correct to refer to manipulation as "NLP". Sure some people can use NLP to manipulate others but not all NLP is manipulative. It's like saying you see a lot of psychology going on in the form of slogans. The word "psychology" isn't the best descriptive term for what you are meaning.

Putting the semantics aside, yes, government, advertisers, sales people and preachers all use language and manipulative techniques to sway the masses.

Recently on a road I drive on every weekday a set of flashing signs were erected to tell us all that the speed cameras were now on. This is fine - don't have a problem with that - except that I'm not that fond of speed cameras, but sharing this message was a slogan that said "Cameras Cut Crashes". Now this statement is of course outrageous, but the use of alliteration and the fact that it's in your face at various intervals as you drive down this road on a regular basis helps imprint this lie as a truth in your mind.

Your conscious mind is what decides what is BS and what is worth believing. If the person is in a suggestible state, then the repetition will worm its way into the subconscious. You see this kind of tactic a lot in advertising. After all, advertising is the art and science of getting people to notice and be influenced by an advertisement.

The same can be said for many of the catchy and not-so-catchy slogans used in the past - like "speed kills", "if you drink and drive you're a bloody idiot" - which was actually so effective they could abbreviate it to "drink. drive. bloody idiot" and maintain its power, "wipe of 5 stay alive" etc...

The unconscious mind like rhymes, jingles and metaphor.

So instead of being forced to come up with logical and sound reasoning or even any legitimate statistics whatsoever for imposing fines and criminalizing people, they can sing a song or use a clever line and we can be only too happy for them to impose any of this on us - in fact we will feel as a people that these impositions are justified and righteous.

Logic and reason doesn't sell cars, beer or speeding legislation compliance.

I know this is hardly novel as it's always been prevalent in marketing and even political campaigning, but it always annoys me the most when I see it in this context.

I find it amusing. LOL Turn on your critical thinking filter and listen to a New Age or Latest Alternative Health Miracle Cure Evangelist. That's always good for a hoot.

NLP is basically the art and science of how we think.

OK - rant over.

Feel better?

[mash]

Hi, Sorry this may be a bit dated but I every time the subject of reincarnation comes up I remember a set of humorous rules I have made up based on, maybe, past life dreams. Wether or not reincarnation is real these are a few things I have heard and learned.
It may be common sense but you'll be surprised how often you forget.

Don't walk in front of machine guns

Note to self: Don't go flying before they invent the parachute

When any one comes up to you in a Pub in 1780 and says
"Congratulations you've just won a free Caribbean Cruise aboard the Kings Warship".....Run

There's no such thing a ?A short little Crusade?

Any speech that starts with "The Homeland needs you" means someone is going to die soon...
most likely you.

Never talk to strangers on a foggy night in London...or anywhere else.

When working with explosives and your Coworker says "I know what I'm doing"...Run

"We are with the Inquisition. We would like to have a word with you"......Run

?I've got a great idea Seamus....Why don't we just grow Potatoes??

?Sir, do you really think this is a good idea??
?Of course it is that's why I'm a General?

When the word ?Scarifice? comes up in any conversation...Run

?It's ok were just a little bit lost..........over the Atlantic Ocean, ....at night,..... in the Winter......It'll be fine?

?We Don't need that Engine, We have three. ..........uh ...........two left?

?Stand over there and see which way the tree is falling?

The front of the line isn't a good place to be when people are shooting at you
Try to stand behind someone taller than you.

?Go over there and see if they are friendly?

Friends don't trip you when your both being chased by a tiger.

?It's just a little Pneumonia..... you'll feel better in the morning?

?Were not sure if this will work but we need someone to test it?

?The Emperor is in a bad mood today, Deliver this message to him?....Run

?We'll all be home by Christmas?

?It's a coal mine. ...........There may be a little dust.?

?If were are so great why do we need God on our side??

?Why does everyone have that Black lump under their arms????

Any time someone says ?You'll get a medal for this? you know your about to do something stupid and probably fatal.

?Explain to me again how dying for the Emperor is going to help him or me??

?Here Dear, drink this.......?

Michael

[Marisa]

I'll drink to that. Cheers!

M.