We have looked at research attempting to prove the existence of the soul, and studies of people who spontaneously remember details of their past lives. Some Western doctors and psychological experts use hypnotic methods to help their patients remember their past lives.
Hypnosis is translated into Chinese as “expediting sleep,” which I think is not very accurate —because hypnosis actually is not a sleeping state. The brain waves of sleep and hypnosis are completely different. What state of mind is hypnosis, really? During hypnosis, a doctor or psychiatrist helps the patient relax to enter a relatively deep and stable mental state. So, being under hypnosis is quite a bit like the meditation state. In this highly concentrated state of spirit, the hypnotized person feels peaceful. Sometimes, a hypnotized person can recall incidents from far in their past.
This hypnotic method was invented by doctors of psychology who used it to help patients find the root cause of their symptoms. The doctors assumed that the root cause was from experiences in the patient's childhood, a sequela from a mental trauma that left psychological barriers. Their theory is that recalling the traumatic incidents can help the patient settle their mind and recover to normal.
Some doctors who use hypnosis found that, unexpectedly, their patients would remember details of their former lives. This ignited reincarnation research through the method of hypnosis. The number of people who engage in such research is considerable, it includes experts, professors, and outpatient doctors in the psychiatry and psychology fields. Some of the more influential people using hypnosis to study reincarnation include a vice-president of The American Society for Psychical
Research — Dr. C.J. Ducasse, a well-known professor at Brown University — as well as Dr. Helen Wambach, Dr. Edith Fiore, Dr. R. Woolger, Dr. Rick Brown, and Dr. Brian Weiss. These people have become famous because of the results of their work.
Hydrophobia Due To Drowning In A Previous Life
Dr. Rick Brown reported on an American salesman who had a psychological illness. Dr. Brown was the vice president of The International Association for Regression Research & Therapies and a famous psychiatrist who used hypnosis to help patients recover.
The hypnotic method can be effective in helping patients recognize the cause of their mental illness, which might help them release their traumas. Hypnosis sometimes has an almost magical effect on the treatment of these mental illnesses, and even on physical illnesses. A type of hypnosis called “regression therapy” helps patients recall their past by gradually directing the patient's attention backwards in time.
The case of the salesman was published in The International Journal of Regression Therapy (Issue 5, 1991, p. 62-71). This salesman developed hydrophobia when he was thirty-four years old. Patients with hydrophobia are afraid of water. In extreme cases, hydrophobics are too afraid to swim, step onto a boat, or even go into a bathtub. This patient's fear of water was so serious that it interfered with his job; he found himself unable to travel because of this mental illness. He turned to Dr. Brown for hypnosis to help him determine the cause of this fear.
I have used a CD to perform self-hypnosis, and it seems to work pretty well. But hypnotic therapists are specifically trained so they can help to guide patients to a focused yet very tranquil state of mind. In some cases, this state enables them to remember a former life.
Dying on a Submarine Called “Shark” During World War II
Under Dr. Brown's guidance, this patient recalled his past life as an American sailor on a submarine called “Shark” during World War II. His name then had been Jim. Research later confirmed that this submarine did exist. On February 11, 1942, while at war with Japan in the ocean off Manila, Philippines, the submarine was hit and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. The attack killed all of the American sailors, including Jim.
Dr. Brown recorded an audio tape of the patient as he began to recall his past life as Jim. He said that morning, on the day of the disaster, the waters near Manila were tranquil. Their submarine was completing assignments under the sea when suddenly, an alarm went off. Jim heard a siren loudly
blaring in the cabin. The crew had spotted a Japanese destroyer fleet ahead.
The U.S. Military and Japanese Army were enemies at that time, so the submarine's crew prepared to fight. In the meantime, the Japanese fleet also spotted the U.S. submarine, and they attacked first by shooting torpedoes at the U.S. submarine. The first torpedo struck the submarine's tail, and the
vessel started to shake violently. The patient under hypnosis saw the whole scene. He said that he felt the entire submarine shaking. The lights in the submarine went off and then slowly lit up again. The submarine was a total mess. Sailors were rushing to grab their life jackets and some were preparing to return fire. The sound of the alarm and the screaming plunged the cabin into chaos.
Very quickly, a second torpedo hit the submarine. This time, it struck right on target, tearing a gaping hole through the vessel's hull. Because the submarine was submerged at the time, seawater poured into the cabin. Jim said he could feel the freezing seawater rapidly rising in the cabin. Before he could grab a life jacket, the submarine was engulfed by the icy sea. The whole crew of U.S. military officers and sailors drowned before the submarine sank to the bottom of the sea.
After finishing this hypnosis treatment, Dr. Brown, based on the records from the recording, went to the U.S. Military Archives to verify this incident. Was there really such an incident? Yes, his visit had helped him to ascertain that there was indeed a U.S. submarine called “Shark.” In 1942, it was hit by a Japanese destroyer and sank to the ocean floor. His researchers also found a sailor named Jim on the list of casualties. It was verified! This patient was not talking nonsense; he was remembering a past life.
This case tells us that our souls are indeed reincarnated, and even after the memories of reincarnation fade, under certain conditions, we can recall details of our past lives — through
hypnosis! Many Americans and Westerners like to experience hypnosis. Some of them are curious, and some want to know what was going on in their past lives. In Buddhism, people who practice meditation can also see their own past lives. These can all serve as proof of reincarnation.
Regression Therapy Cures Mental Illnesses
After his regression therapy, the salesman found that his fear of water slowly subsided. Hypnosis has often been successful in helping patients overcome such psychological barriers.
Buddhism can help us understand why this method is effective: The incidents of our past are as illusionary as a dream or a bubble — yet deep down in our souls, we still cling to the emotions of the incident. We sometimes allow things that caused us pain in the past to torment our present spirits or even our physical bodies. This can be the basis of mental disorder. When we relax and let go of the attachment, our mental illness will slowly get better. The most critical step is to awaken.
All Things Are as Illusory as a Dream, Bubble, or Shadow
We must realize that the past is just a dream or a bubble. As a matter of fact, everything in our present time is also illusory, like a dream or a bubble. Don't think that only the things in our past have passed. In fact, we are constantly changing in every moment of the present; the you of this hour and the next hour are different; even the you of this second and the next are different. In other words, the whole universe of this second and the next are different — because the universe is the manifestation of our mind. Since thoughts continuously come in and out of our minds, every second is different. On this account, the universe manifested by our mind is different every second.
In the Diamond Sutra, there is a very famous teaching:
All conditioned phenomena
are just as illusory as a dream, bubble, or shadow,
and as momentary as morning dew or lightning,
they should be regarded as such.
The Buddha taught us to observe all phenomena of the universe like this. Every thought is different. The dharma-realm manifested by one thought is one universe, and the universe of this thought is different from the universe contrived by the next thought. Therefore, each dharma-realm is different.
So where is anything real?
All objects in the universe are manifested by thoughts. Since they are manifested, they are not real. They cannot exist eternally. The time of their existence is only within one thought. That's why it is said, “As illusory as a dream, bubble, or shadow, and as momentary as morning dew or lightning.”
But why do we seem to see the existence now?
What we are seeing is all causes and conditions coming together.
Yet, the causes and conditions do not really come together. They are not truly together because they are constantly changing — as illusory as a dream, a bubble, or a shadow. If we can truly comprehend this, all of our psychological disorders will be resolved. We think some patients have intense
psychological disorders, but actually we all have psychological delusions — because we have not understood the truth of reality yet. As long as we still have attachment, we will have suffering, we are not normal.
Only if we let go of attachment, can we then let go of suffering. The more attachment we release, the less suffering we will feel.
Only Buddhas are completely free from psychological delusions, so they are completely normal. Before we become a Buddha, we are all abnormal to some extent; worse than those better ones, yet better than those worse ones.
The Protagonist Of Many Lives, Many Masters
Dr. Brian Weiss, a famous psychiatrist, is the president of the Miami Mt. Sinai Medical Center. He graduated from the prestigious Yale Medical School in the United States in 1970 and received a medical doctorate degree. He taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Miami University, and he has accumulated more than thirty years of experience in psychological clinical care.
Dr. Weiss has published a large number of papers and works regarding his experiences in the modern psychological and spiritual field, particularly in the field of the study of reincarnation. His masterpiece is Many Lives, Many Masters. This book has been translated into many languages, including Chinese. Dr. Weiss also wrote Through Time Into Healing, and Mirrors of Time. He developed hypnotic methods to help his patients recall their past lives in order to treat their psychological disorders. Now he is considered the most famous and authoritative expert on the use of hypnosis to help people recall their past lives and resolve any psychological disorders that have arisen from those experiences. He has collected many cases.
When I was in the United States, I once contacted Dr. Weiss by phone. At that time, our mentor, Master Chin Kung, hoped to spread Western science to prove the existence of reincarnation.
So he asked me to contact Dr. Weiss, hoping to invite him to our Hong Kong studio to record a speech in English on VCD, specifically for Westerners. Dr. Weiss told me that he had treated more than 20,000 cases in a few decades, and these patients could all remember their past lives. Unfortunately, he said, he was now too busy, because people all around the world had invited him to give speeches on reincarnation. His schedule had been booked for two years, and there was no way that he could fit the time in. We had no choice but to give up on our recording project.
Dr. Weiss is a very nice, loving person. He hopes to spread the truth that has been confirmed by science to the people of the world. I am going to introduce to you his most famous case and his first book, Many Lives, Many Masters, which some of you have already read.
Mental Depression Cured by Regression Therapy
Many Lives, Many Masters is a book written by Dr. Weiss about one of his cases. In 1980, a female laboratory technician at the Miami Medical Center, where Dr. Weiss worked, asked him for help. He called her “Catherine.”
Catherine did not have much education and was a simple and honest person. She grew up in a Catholic family where there was never any talk about reincarnation. When she was twenty-seven, she had a boyfriend named Stuart. Whenever she was with him, she always had a strange feeling, like something wasn't right. As they spent more time together, this feeling became troublesome.
Catherine was suffering from mental depression, a condition that is common today. She felt nervous and anxious, she had frequent nightmares, and she even began sleepwalking. Her condition was quite serious. She developed fear of the dark and fear of being in a confined space. She had severe claustrophobia and felt too uncomfortable to fly in an airplane. She was also terrified of water, often fearing she would choke even when she took medicine with water. All day she was worried that she was going to die. These were her mental conditions at the time.
Dr. Weiss used a number of traditional methods to treat her, yet they had no effect. Finally, he used hypnosis to help her to recall her past, in the hope of finding the cause of her psychological barriers.
Recalling More Than Ten Past Lives While Under Hypnosis
Unexpectedly, Catherine recalled more than ten past reincarnations during those hypnotic processes. She was able to describe many events of those lives in detail, including the times and places she lived and the names of the people she knew. Dr. Weiss was convinced these were not delusions or
fiction she made up. He organized the tape recordings of her hypnosis and later published them.
During the hypnosis treatment, Catherine said she had reincarnated on this Earth eighty-six times over about 4,000 to 5,000 years.
What lives had she lived? Some had been tragic; she was a female slave in ancient Egypt, a prostitute under the kingdom of a Spanish colony in the 18th century, and a woman living in a cave in the ancient Stone Age. She also remembered being a slave in Virginia of the United States in the 19th century. She struggled with many difficulties in these lives. In her latest life, she was a male German pilot who was killed in France during World War II.
Dr. Weiss hypnotized her more than ten times, and each time, she described each of her major reincarnations in much more detail than I am supplying here.
The True Nature of One's Hidden Self
During one of her hypnosis treatments, Catherine described seeing a big, white building with steps but no doors. She had regressed to the Egyptian era. She said she was a slave helping to build an Egyptian pyramid by hauling sand. She said, “My name is Aronda. I'm twenty-five years old now.” She said that the year was 1862 BC. That was a long time ago, in an era earlier than the lives of Shakyamuni Buddha and Confucius!
“I have a little daughter named Kleyastra,” she said. “She is my niece now.”
She was able to observe how her relationship with this girl had spanned two incarnations, being her daughter of her past life and her niece in this life. She and her niece had a very good relationship, like mother and daughter — because they had been mother and daughter in a past life!
This patient said, “We lived in a village, inside a very dry valley where it was very hot. Suddenly one day, from the mountain, water rushed down and flooded the valley abruptly, like a tsunami. The flood submerged our village. Many trees were overturned. Everyone was fleeing.” She remembered holding her daughter Kleyastra tightly and wanting to escape. But a big wave rushed in and submerged them both. Her daughter was torn out of her arms. She felt she was choking, uncomfortable, and unable to breathe.
Manifested by the Heart and Altered by Consciousness
As she described the situation, Catherine's hands clutched the air, as if she was really submerged in water. You see, when this patient entered the hypnotic state, she was completely in that realm. The doctor saw the situation and was afraid she might really choke, so he quickly gave her instructions, “You are now relaxed. You are safe now, and this incident has all passed. You can relax and rest.” The patient slowly calmed down and her breathing eased.
This can actually give us a lot of inspiration! The scene that the patient saw during hypnosis was not seen by the doctor — yet she became immersed in it. Her whole body and spirit went into that environment, as if she felt the flood submerging her and her daughter being torn away. She was very sad.
When she was in that realm, what created her realm? It was created by her thoughts. Accordingly, we should be able to comprehend the revelation from the Dharma:
The world is manifested by the heart
and altered by consciousness.
Whatever thoughts we have, a corresponding realm will be shown to us. It is truly like this! So, if we think of Amitabha, The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhāvatī) will be manifested, without a doubt at all.
Our Root-Nature Can See Past Lives
Thus we said, the six roots of all beings — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness — have their root-nature. This story can help us comprehend it. Picture this patient describing the flood, yet the doctor did not see the flood. She lay on the bed with her eyes closed — so what did she use to see the flood? Think about it, everyone:
Did she use her eyes to see? Her eyes were closed!
Buddha Dharma states that each of our six roots all has its own root-nature, and we can use our root-nature to see. The patient can see the past and the present time under hypnosis because the hypnotic, tranquil state is similar to dhyana — a sanskrit word which refers to a deep meditation — allowing her vision-nature to function. Since the vision-nature does not differentiate between past or future times, she could see the past under hypnosis. However, when one is deluded, giving rise to many wandering thoughts, his vision-nature will become eye-consciousness — and that will become an obstacle for one to see the past or future.
One's True-Nature Is Beyond Life and Death
Can people really neither be born nor die?
Can we really escape from the sufferings of samsara?
We must understand that people truly have something that is neither birth nor death, so of course they can neither be born nor die. If we want to end our reincarnation, we only need to find the things that have no reincarnation. Then we will be free from samsara. What things have no reincarnation? Among our six roots (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness), the things with no reincarnation are hidden — that is the nature of these roots.
The root-nature has no reincarnation, and it neither arises nor ceases.
Dr. Weiss' patient Catherine saw the situation of her past, which proves that our vision-nature does not distinguish between past or future. It can see the past, it can see the present, and it can see the future as well. It can see this place, it can also see other places. The universe is vast, yet our vision-nature can see everywhere in the void of all dharma-realms; this is its function. All things in the entire universe have this vision-nature. So, from the perspective of vision-nature, the universe is truly one entity. This nature has no reincarnation; in Buddhism, it is called the true-body, true-me, or self-nature. Actually it means “the truth,” which we will explore later.
The Heart Is the Master of All Things
When the hypnotized patient Catherine saw the water flooding her village, she died — she died in that life. She slowly returned to normal under the doctor's guidance. After this treatment, her hydrophobia disappeared. She recovered, because she now understood that cause. She became normal!
The mind is the master of our bodies and spirit. However, our mind is dominated by delusions, so our spirit and thinking are still not the noumenon — something that exists independent from our perception. Once we really understand this, we are awakened! Once awakened, we will then truly let go of our attachments and delusional thoughts.
In other words, we will recover to "normal"! For instance, the patient's fear of water was a delusional thought; she became normal once she let go of it.
The Hidden Messages in Water
Japanese scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto proved through his water experiments that the heart is the master of all things. This is one of Dr. Masaru Emoto's research results:
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Dr. Masaru Emoto's scientific experiment proves that the heart is able to affect the material structure of an object.
Our Heart Can Protect the Environment
But how can this work?
Vicious words are generated from an unwholesome heart, yet love and gratitude come from a kind heart. The thoughts from a kind heart can turn the water into a beautiful crystal. In other words,
Our heart/mind can change the structure of substances.
We know that 70 percent of our bodies are water and 70 percent of our Earth is also covered by the water of the ocean, rivers, and so on. If everyone had a good heart, we could heal our bodies and also protect our environment!
It is wonderful that there are so many Pure Land Societies in Taiwan. We are here in Liuhe Pure Land Society today, where so many good practitioners chant Amitabha together; this Buddha name of Amitabha that we recite must have created very beautiful crystals in the water of our body, our environment, as well as our Earth.
Our words, prompted by love,
can truly eliminate and free us from disasters!
Buried Alive
In another course of treatment, Dr. Weiss' patient Catherine cured another psychological symptom. She was afraid of darkness, afraid of the feeling of being closed in a confined space. Under hypnosis, she recalled an incarnation a long, long time ago as a person who lived in an ancient tribe. The tribe was overrun by plague. Once a person was infected, death was unavoidable — it was similar to the bird flu we have now.
People in the tribe at that time thought the plague was a punishment from God. Instead of receiving care, victims were immediately brought to a cave in the mountains, which was then sealed with soil. They were buried alive and died inside. Catherine became infected with this plague. She was carried to the cave and buried in dirt.
She recalled feeling hopeless. In the dark cave, she was very scared, very desperate. She finally died in a state of despair and fear. This manifested as a trauma in her present life, deep in her heart; that's why she was scared of being enclosed in a dark space and was afraid of dark rooms. Under the doctor's guidance, once she understood the root cause, she slowly recovered to normal.
From a Murderer to a Boyfriend
In one of Catherine's hypnosis sessions, she recalled the situation of another life when she became a boy! In the hypnotic state, she said, “I have blond hair. We are having a battle on the water. I see many white warships and many of our people are holding long spears, bows and arrows, as well as
shields. We are fighting against the enemy.” At that time, this boy was scared. He held a knife in his hand, but he did not go up to fight with the enemy because he did not want to kill people.
Right after she described the situation, Catherine, who was lying on a bed in the hypnotic state, suddenly seemed to have difficulty breathing. After a while, she slowly told the situation. She said that an enemy rushed to him from behind, strangled his neck with his hand, and then used a knife to slit his throat.
When he was dying, the boy turned around and saw the enemy. She said she recognized him: he was her boyfriend in this life. She said that his appearance was completely different, yet she knew that it was him.
Destiny Makes Enemies Meet
This life of Catherine reminds us of the proverb, “Destiny makes enemies meet.” Mutual injuries are avenged on each other, life after life. An invisible force of karma entwines two people together. So the relationships among people are none other than
paying a debt of gratitude, seeking revenge,
collecting debt, and repaying debt.
If you took someone's life in a past incarnation, then the two of you will become entangled together to return the debt. We see so many problems in society such as husband and wife not getting along and disharmony among family members, resulting in a high divorce rate and an unstable society. Most of these problems have causes from their past lives.
Let me show you a few figures: In 2002, the number of divorces in the U.S. was 800,000. This is an alarmingly high number! In China, the statistics in 2003 showed there were 1.33 million couples divorced. These numbers are astonishing, and in most countries, the rate is increasing!
Why do couples not get along? This can be attributed to the cause and effect of their past lives. To turn enemies into family members requires some great lessons! Just understanding that the divorce of a husband and wife may be attributed to the cause and effect of their past lives will still not mend the problem.
Sage Education Can Turn Past Enemies Into Family
If understanding the cause isn't enough, how can we resolve these problems? Honestly, we can only rely on sage education, as our master advocates. Sage education focuses on the moral teachings of traditional Chinese culture. It strongly emphasizes being filial to parents and being fraternal to siblings, then further extending this love and respect to all elders as well as others‘ parents and siblings.
The sage education can turn past enemies into families.
Sages transform relationships through sincere love. Only sincere love can transform people. Yet where does the sincere love come from? Our mentor, Master Chin Kung said, “It has to rely on education.” People have an inherently good nature. However, our society contains so much pollution that one's little goodness will quickly wear off. Therefore, when we forsake sage education, society will remain in turmoil — the high divorce rate is a sign of social unrest, a harbinger of disasters, so we must be vigilant.
Lately, Master Chin Kung has been preparing to go to Indonesia to participate in an international religious conference. He was invited to give a keynote speech on the topic “Compassion, Fraternity, Sincerity, Respect, Humility, and Harmony.” This subject summarizes the sage teachings. If we really encounter our past lives’ enemies, we should use these six qualities. We should endure, show generosity, and even sacrifice and dedicate ourselves to resolve their resentment toward us. Only by using this method can we transform the relationships with them.
We Must First Resolve the Grievance in Our Own Heart
With so much resentment and disaster in the world, where do we start to resolve it? Our Master said, “To resolve resentments, we must resolve our own heart first.” We must resolve our inner grievances, conflicts, and resentments. We must let go of all these bad thoughts and remove them from our heart. Then we can begin to resolve other people's resentments. We do not know what kind of relationship we had with the people around us in past lives, but it can all be resolved, no matter what it was.
Look at Emperor Shun*, who was known for using his great filial piety to resolve the resentment his stepmother had for him. We know Shun's stepmother kept trying to kill him; this must have had a past life's causality, or else why would she always try to murder her own stepson for no reason? Although he wasn't her biological son, she had no reason to kill him.
But Emperor Shun used these virtues — Compassion, Fraternity, Sincerity, Respect, Humility, and Harmony — along with his persistent forbearance to finally influence and reform his parents. He became the number one example of “The 24 Filial Piety Stories” in Chinese history. Confucius praised filial piety most highly. Mencius also said, “The Dao (Way) of Emperor Yao* and Shun is simply filial piety and fraternity.” Therefore,
Only sage education can help us to resolve problems.
Cause and effect help us to recognize the problem, we talk about causal reincarnation today to help us recognize the problem. But to solve the problem, we must rely on sage education.
*Shun was a legendary leader of ancient China, best known for his filial piety toward his stepmother and sincere fraternity toward his stepbrothers. He not only transformed his entire family but touched the Emperor of that time, Yao, to pass down the throne to him.
*Emperor Yao was one of the Five Legendary Emperors in ancient Chinese history. He lived around 2200 BC. Being moved by Shun's filial piety and compassion, Emperor Yao passed down his throne to Shun, which was honored as “A Politics of Conceding the Throne” and was admired by Chinese people from generation to generation.
The Fetus Is Indeed a Life
After this patient, Catherine, was killed in that life — killed by her present life's boyfriend—she described that her soul floated away from her body and drifted into the air. And then she was drawn by an invisible force, drawn into a very narrow but warm space; she had entered her mother's womb. Soon, she would be reborn to her next life.
From her description, we can see that, at the moment of entering the womb during the process of transmigration, the soul is obviously aware. After entering the womb, due to the suffering, one then forgets his past life. Thus we say, “The fetus itself is indeed a life.”
Many people nowadays have the medical misconception that the fetus is still not life and can be called life only after giving birth. This is a fallacy from the point of view of reincarnation. A fetus itself already has all of the features of a person. If you observe the photos of a fetus, the five sensory organs are complete. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness are all there. Even the soul is there. It is a complete life. Hence, abortion is exactly the same as murdering a person, and
It is not only killing an ordinary person
but killing your own child.
For this reason,
the sin of abortion is especially serious.
The Number of Abortions Worldwide Is Skyrocketing
Abortion is a very critical social problem nowadays. I want to emphasize this issue more. Let me show you some staggering figures. According to the message from “Population Network,” there are one billion youth in the world between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four, of whom about five million have had abortions.
What is the concept of this number? We know that the populations of Taipei and Kaohsiung (the two largest cities in Taiwan) combined are less than five million — yet there have been five million abortions. Some reports speculate that, on average, there are ten young girls getting an abortion every minute — that is about one abortion every six seconds. Before I finish the sentence I am speaking, another life will have been brutally taken away.
In the United States, doctors perform 1.5 million surgical abortions per year. In Taiwan, there are half a million abortions every year. These figures are really disturbing and hard to believe. After ten years, the entire population of Taipei and Kaohsiung would have been wiped out. It is horrendous!
These lives have souls!
Since we know that they have souls, how heavy would their resentment be after they are killed? So it is inevitable that our planet would have these big disasters. That is, the grievances of these aborted baby spirits indeed will bring our world immeasurable disasters.
Every day, when we are reciting Amitabha, we should transfer the merits to these innocent victims, these hundreds of millions of infant spirits. If they do not get salvation, their grievances will not let those of us who are still alive be free from disasters. You all have great merit by reciting Amitabha. It can really help to eliminate disasters.
The Horrors of Abortion
Abortion can really cause serious harm to a person. One American woman said that when she finished the abortion, the doctor showed her the results of his successful procedures: a keg loaded with the infant's broken body parts including a head, hands, even fingers. She saw them all clearly, all smashed into debris. This mother said her heart began trembling as she realized that she had killed
her own child.
She became mentally ill after the abortion, often trying to end her own life.
A male doctor at a private clinic in the United States said he performed fifty to sixty abortion procedures each day, on average. One day, he said, he entered his office and saw a long line of young women waiting for abortions and thought, “I received a doctorate degree in medicine because I wanted to serve female patients. I would never have expected that I would have to take so many lives.” His conscience suddenly caught up with him. He said that he would never dare to perform an
abortion again.
The World That Accumulates Evil Will Have Many Disasters
The family that accumulates goodness
is sure to have abundant blessings.
And the family that accumulates evil
is sure to have abundant misery.
~ The Book of Changes (I Ching)
Families work this way, so do the world and society. The action of abortion is accumulating evil, and the nation that accumulates evil is sure to suffer abundant misery. Of course, the world that accumulates evil is also sure to befall numerous catastrophes.
To resolve this problem, we must advocate sage education.
Sage education can solve the problem from its fundamental root.
I was encouraged by our Dharma teacher Master Chin Kung to give a course about “The Virtues Adolescents Should Have.” During this course, I talked about filial piety and the precept of “no sexual misconduct.” The origin of some social problems, its root cause, is the excessive lust among young people. Because young people today do not know self-discipline, they create endless karmic sins. This problem is so serious. Please forgive me for emphasizing it.
The Same Mother for Many Lives
Let's return to the main topic, Catherine. While talking under hypnosis, she said that she entered her mother's womb and soon she was born. She felt she was held up by someone, possibly the nurse who delivered her. Then her mother sat next to her, and she was the same mother she had in this life.
It seems that the same soul had been her mother for many lives. So we must understand that the aspiration of our parents' love and care for us lasts more than one lifetime. Catherine's mother in a remembered life is still her mother in this life. As children, we should be grateful to our parents for the immense debt of gratitude that they bestow upon us.
Life as a Male German Air Force Pilot
Catherine told her doctor that in another reincarnation, she became a male pilot in the German Air Force during World War II. In reincarnation, we are sometimes male and sometimes female. There is no certain gender. When starting to learn Buddhism, people often ask,
Is Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva*
male or female?
Just look at our own reincarnation. Sometimes we are male, sometimes female — then why can't Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva manifest as either male or female?
Catherine said her name during the World War II incarnation was Erik. At that time, their army invaded France and he was stationed in a city in France named Alsace. The pilot had a wife and a daughter. Their life was blessed and they were a happy family. His daughter in that life, Catherine said, is now one of her good friends in this life. Her name is Judy.
There seems to have been some tacit understanding between Judy and Catherine. When they first met, it was like déjà vu. They felt like old friends at first glance. They felt cordial and affectionate with each other, and they always had a sense of telepathy. They understood each other's needs without words. No wonder! They had been father and daughter in the past life.
Many people do not want to learn Buddhism too early, because they still want to enjoy their happiness now. Yet happiness does not last long. Life is impermanent!
Erik's happiness did not last long. At a German military party where everyone was happily singing, dancing, and drinking, suddenly the British-American allied forces' aircraft came. The British-American allies were fighting with them in France at that time. The aircraft bombed this German base. In seconds, the party became an ocean of fire.
At that moment, Catherine, in her hypnotic state, saw a sea of flames surround her. Many people were burned to death or killed by the bombs' explosions. Erik sustained serious injuries to his chest and legs and was bleeding heavily. As she described this, Catherine's expression was nervous and distressed. Erik had obviously died in excruciating pain. After a while, under the doctor's guidance, Catherine slowly recovered and restored her calmness.
*Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, one of The Three Saints in Sukhavāti, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and is depicted as either male or female. The Three Saints of Sukhavāti are Amitabha, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is someone who aspires to Supreme Enlightenment and Buddhahood for themselves and all beings.
Many Lives, Many Masters
Catherine said that her soul drifted out of Erik's body, and she was waiting for some people. The doctor, who was recording the session, asked her, “Who are you waiting for? Please speak out.” She said, “I am waiting for some gods to come.”
Let me insert an explanation here. This patient often reported seeing gods when she was under hypnosis and experiencing a transition from one life to another. These gods could sometimes convey messages to Dr. Weiss through Catherine.
There are questions and there will be answers.
The gods' voice was not the voice of the patient herself.
It was very resounding and powerful, a very dignified voice. It sounded like the voice of gods. Dr. Weiss called these gods “masters.” His book is titled Many Lives, Many Masters, yet the translated Chinese version is titled Last and Present Life. Actually, if we translate the American title directly, it would be “Many Reincarnation Lives, Many Spiritual Masters.” Last and Present Life is a paraphrased translation. Dr. Weiss recorded the voice of these gods and wrote a later book based on these recordings.
Gods Affirm Regression Therapy
The words from these gods are very wise and filled with philosophy. Their information definitely did not come from Catherine, who was a simple-minded person with psychological disorders. Let me give you some examples. The messages from these gods were playing the same tune as Buddha Dharma on different instruments.
It began with such a voice, a very resounding and powerful voice, coming through this female patient's mouth. It sounded similar to a spiritual possession. The voice said, “You use this method to guide patients into a stable state believing it can cure their psychological illness; you are correct. It can help patients to eliminate their inner fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety are only the superficial symptoms of their problems. You can only help them enter their own deep consciousness to resolve their own problems. The existence of the physical body is an abnormal phenomenon.”
This is very similar to what Laozi said: “My biggest worry is that I have this body.”
The god continued, “A normal life is a spiritual life. We feel pain in our flesh, but we do not feel pain in the state of spirit, only happiness. The spirit life exists in a different dimension where they continuously work on self-innovation and self-perfection.” These were also among the revelations from the gods:
Messages from the Gods
Life is endless,
people will never die,
nor are they actually born.
This revelation indicates that the gods in Catherine's hypnotic trances were in a very high realm, where there is neither birth nor death.
We exist only in different forms of flesh and space,
never ceasing.
The reason why people come to this world
in the form of physical existence
is either to complete missions or to return debt.
This is similar to what the Buddha Dharma stated. People who came to this world are here to “return debt of gratitude or seek revenge, collect debt or repay debt.” If you are not here for reasons above, then you are here for a mission. But what mission is it?
Everyone, by chanting Amitabha here, will be able to protect and uphold the Proper-Dharma, and will be able to maintain the saints' and sages' teachings as well. This is called “coming to the world for a mission.” This is the merit of saints and the great vocation of sages. If you are not in this vocation, then you are here to repay your debt. The Buddha told us, “Life is simply to receive our karmic retribution.”
Your encounter with your next life will be entirely created by yourself.
What Goes Around Comes Around
This god gave us a straightforward revelation of “What goes around comes around.” Whatever karma you create in this life will cause retribution in your next life or beyond. Buddha Dharma states,
If you want to know your past life,
look into your present conditions.
If you want to know your future life,
look into your present actions.
This means that whatever the conditions of your present life are, they are all caused by the deeds of your past lives. Look! These gods also revealed the same messages as the Buddha Dharma revealed to us!
We must know, life is just a changing of our physical forms — our bodies. And it happens constantly. We simply come to receive our karmic retribution. We come to repay our debts. If we do not understand this truth, we might give rise to bad thoughts and create bad karma while receiving retribution, which will lead us to receive more retribution of suffering in our future.
We create karma due to our delusion, and we suffer from retribution due to the karma we created. The cycle of “being deluded, making karma, and receiving retribution” is endless. Being reincarnated life after life, we continue to sink into the depravity of the wheel of “delusion, karma, and suffering.” It is truly dreadful.
Each One of Us Are Equal, Are the Same
The following revelation by the gods is also brilliant: “Each one of us are equal, are the same.”
When the god spoke this sentence, Dr. Weiss interrupted the god's revelation. Using Catherine, his female patient, as the medium, he began a dialogue with the god. The doctor asked, “Each of us are different from the perspective of appearance, physique, fortune, wealth, job, talent, and so forth, how can you say that each of us are the same, are no different?”
At this time, the god answered with a metaphor. This godly voice said, “Diamonds are glittering and colorful, yet their shine will be concealed if there is grime on its surface. The inequality in our appearance is just like the thick or thin grime of the diamond that makes us manifest differently. But our true heart is always like the diamond, glittering and colorful, with no difference at all.”
Aha, this doctor became enlightened from these words!
He understood the truth!
In fact, the revelation from this god and the Buddha Dharma's teaching are like different tunes played with equal skills. You see, after Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened and achieved His Buddhahood, sitting under the Bodhi tree, the first statement He spoke was,
What a wonder! What a wonder!
All sentient beings have the same wisdom, virtues,
and laksana as Tathagata (One of ten titles of a Buddha),
but they could not realize and attain them
due to the delusion and attachment.
This is very similar to the revelation that this god spoke to Dr. Weiss. Every individual being, including each of us, has all the wisdom, virtues, and laksana (Skt., referring to form, external appearance, or a distinctive feature) of Tathagata, which means that we are the same as Buddhas.
We are equal to, and no different from, Buddhas!
Our Buddha Nature Is Simply Shrouded
But why do we not emit the glittering, colorful light like Tathagata? The Buddha told us it is because of our delusion and attachment. These delusions and attachments are like the grime on the diamond. Our grime is very thick; we are deeply lost, so our wisdom, virtues, and laksana of Tathagata are completely concealed.
Among the six realms of reincarnation, the highest realm is heaven and the lowest realm is hell; this can be attributed to the different thickness of the grime. The thicker the grime, the more deluded one will be. The grime of the hell beings is the thickest, so they are the most deluded. The lighter the grime, the less deluded one will be. For those in our human realm and heaven realm, the grime is thinner.
Every sentient being is the same — but for some of us, delusion leads to the loss of our self-nature, the loss of the diamond of our self-nature; so our glimmering, colorful diamond cannot shine. Actually, it does still shine, but the sparkle is concealed by the grime. As soon as we renounce our defilements, the diamond can shine its colorful glimmer, and it is no different from all Buddhas’! The key to enlightenment, then, is to remove the grime of our delusions and attachments.
Dr. Weiss' book Messages from the Masters became a bestseller and has been translated into many different languages.
Through his medical discoveries, Dr. Weiss transformed completely. He changed from having a traditional scientific mind — a doctoral mind trained at Yale University — to totally believing in reincarnation.
Affirmed by Fellow Psychiatrists for His Research
When his book Many Lives, Many Masters was completed, Dr. Weiss hesitated to publish it. Why? Because although he had seen many instances where patients appeared to remember their past lives, no scientific research had proved reincarnation at that time.
It was the 1980s, and such studies were relatively scarce. Dr. Weiss was already a well-known scholar and held a certain position in academic circles. He was afraid that it would affect his career if he published this book which contradicted traditional scientific concepts. It was not easy for him to decide! However, based on his scientific attitude of seeking the truth through serious and actual experiences, he decided to proceed.
This scientist is really remarkable. In the end, he devoted himself spiritually to science, encouraged by the spirit of sixteenth century Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei. To his surprise, after his book was published, his career was not diminished and his fame grew greater. Many Lives, Many Masters ranked as the top-selling book for two consecutive years in the United States. It has been translated into eleven languages and is popular all around the world.
Dr. Weiss also received letters from many readers and from his peers. When he received letters from professionals in his own field, his heart was trembling, “Would they criticize me, saying I am anti-science?” To his amazement, these professional psychiatrists not only congratulated him on his book publication but told him they had made similar scientific discoveries, which they did not dare to release. They were happy to find out that someone else has written about reincarnation, and they
congratulated him. Dr. Weiss has since become known as the scientific authority in the field of reincarnation.
Alan Lee, An Egyptian Pharaoh In A Former Life
Dr. Weiss is the most famous, but not the only medical doctor who has used hypnosis to study reincarnation. American psychiatrist Dr.Irving Mordes reported on a case so extraordinarily splendid that I simply must introduce it to you. A patient of Dr. Mordes, an American man named Alan Lee, was able to recall sixteen past lives while under the doctor's hypnosis. He entered into a deep, tranquil state under the doctor's guidance. Within this dhyana-like state, he recalled not
only details of his past lives, but he could also even
speak the language of that life and
write the characters of that language.
Alan Lee, a Philadelphia native, was thirty-eight when he underwent hypnosis for the first time. As a poor academic student, he had dropped out before graduating from middle school. Afterward, he worked a little in different fields. A cancer diagnosis prompted him to accept Dr. Mordes' offer of
hypnotherapy.
During his hypnosis, he recalled that, in one of his lives, he had been an Egyptian pharaoh, a king of Egypt. His name was Kallikrates, and he ruled Egypt for only four years, between 344–341 BC. This pharaoh was not historically relevant and does not appear in history books. During the hypnotic state, he could speak the ancient Egyptian language fluently and was able to write Egyptian hieroglyphs. His spoken tone and his attitude were arrogant, as if he were a supreme king.
Later, the doctor collaborated with Maryland State University — a well-known American university in the state of Maryland — and a Catholic university to research portions of the tape recordings of Lee speaking as an Egyptian, as well as the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs he wrote. They also investigated whether what he said matched the historical truth. The investigators found that there had been a pharaoh named Kallikrates during the specified years. He did rule for only four years and never became famous. The Egyptian hieroglyphs that he wrote were correct, but no one could understand the recording of the Egyptian language that he spoke, because there are no living people in the world who still speak this ancient Egyptian language.
Alan Lee was able to supply historical facts during hypnosis and even write in the hieroglyphs of an ancient language. This man, who had not even graduated from middle school, could not possibly have made them up. His case offers proof that people do experience reincarnation.
Past Lives as a Soldier, Native American, and Alien
Alan Lee recalled a total of sixteen reincarnations under hypnosis. He said that in one of his lives, he had been a soldier who served in the Confederate Army during America's Civil War. His name was James Brewster, born in Georgia in 1847. He was only sixteen years old in 1863 when he was killed in battle. The professors who investigated discovered there was indeed such a person.
Lee also mentioned that, in another of his past lives, he was a Native American named Sequoya. And in yet another life, he said, he lived on the planet Neptune in our solar system. He was an alien! According to his description, he was a spirit in that life, not existing in a physical form. Later in that life, he came to Earth and existed in the flesh. At that time, there were no humans on the Earth, because humans had not appeared yet. He said that he was killed during a nuclear explosion on Earth later. This alien, he recalled during the hypnotic state, was named Nolan. He was able to use a fluent and high-pitched tone during hypnosis to speak the language of Neptune and to write the characters of that language. The symbols looked similar to the signs of shorthand we have nowadays.
According to this case, humans are clearly not the only existing form of life in reincarnation. There are six realms in the reincarnation mentioned in Buddha Dharma. Humans are only one of the six life forms in the six realms. As for the area of reincarnation, it is definitely not limited to Earth. All of outer space, the entire universe, is the area of our reincarnation.
Sylvester Stallone Recalls Five Past Lives
It has now been broadly recognized that the hypnotic method can help people recall their past lives. Many people are curious and want to know about their past lives. For example, the famous American movie star Sylvester Stallone underwent hypnosis for this purpose. We all know Stallone, who started his career as a boxer, from the movies Rambo: First Blood, and Rocky. Both movies set records for the world’s highest-paid actor. These photos are two of his still shots.
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Under hypnosis, he recalled a previous life as a boxer. He told reporters that, during a championship match, he suffered a critical blow from his opponent and died. In that life, he died
in 1935, twelve years before Stallone was born. No wonder his acting was splendid and looked so authentic! He had boxing experience from his former life.
Stallone also recalled being a Frenchman in the eighteenth century who was beheaded in the French Revolution for protesting the political system. In another life, he had been born into a wealthy family in South Africa.
The Dolphin Who Became A Human
We just mentioned that humans are only one of the life forms within reincarnation. In fact, there are reported cases of people who reincarnated from animals.
Canadian cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Mario Beauregard revealed that some of his patients were reincarnated from animals. In one case, a male in his thirties was depressed because of his obesity. He was unable to control himself from indulging in eating and drinking, especially when he was with friends. As a result, his weight kept increasing, and he was very distressed.
Dr. Beauregard used hypnotherapy to help him observe if there were psychological causes from his past lives. During this process, he recalled that in one of his lives, he was a dolphin, living with a group. He was the smartest one among this group of dolphins. One day, these dolphins were looking for food, and the smartest dolphin detected a group of carnivorous whales not far ahead. He sensed that this group of whales was preparing to attack them.
This dolphin quickly sent a signal to warn his friends to flee, but all of the other dolphins were ignorant and couldn't understand that disaster was coming. They ignored him and continued to look for food. This most intelligent dolphin was forced to swim away by himself. All of his friends were eaten by those predatory whales, and this dolphin was left alone, living in solitude for the rest of his life in the ocean.
Probably because of his good karma from his intention of saving his friends, he reincarnated as a human in this life. He hadn't been able to save them, but he had generated this merciful thought. However, he was not able to control himself after becoming a human. The feeling of loneliness had
made him long for company and to over-indulge in eating whenever he was with friends, leading him to have the problem of obesity.
Lives as Horses and Pythons and Bears, Oh My!
Another example of people who were reincarnated from animals concerns an American female doctor. We know that the income of doctors in the United States is quite high, but this doctor was always falling behind in her expenses. She seemed to never have enough money to spend. Where did her money go? She squandered all of her income on horses. She could not stop buying horses and decorations for them. She felt very troubled and asked Dr. Beauregard to perform hypnosis on her.
Under hypnosis, she saw that in her past life, she had been a racehorse in the '20s, racing in various southern states in the United States. Her name was Zenyatta, and she became a famous racer.
In other cases, people under hypnosis have remembered being reincarnated as big grizzly bears, and one man said he had been a python. As he recalled his past life during hypnosis, he said that one day the python took a sunbath in a ravine when a volcano suddenly erupted and the lava buried him alive. There were also people who had become rattlesnakes, panthers, and so on.
From the cases above, we can see that some habits of ours and the relationships between people and sentient beings around us are determined by past lives. Hypnosis has been a tool that psychologists and other researchers have used to find evidence of reincarnation by helping patients to recall their past lives, and further, to treat their disorders. It is acknowledged as having rendered a significant effect.
related post: Chapter Three: Five Areas Of Reincarnation Studies （Area Four: Studies Of Life In Different Dimensions)
Source Of Information:
《The Scientific Proof Of Causal Reincarnation》, by Dr. Zhong Maosen (Venerable Ding Hong), translated by Mahayana Pureland Team, published by Mahayana Pureland Organization, distributed by: Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Amitabha Malaysia, 90 & 92, Jalan Pahang, Gombak, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog
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