Science>>Spontaneous Past-Life Memories
Spontaneous Past Life Memories
We hear many
anecdotal stories of people with past life memories, people who have gone
through past life regression and give accounts of having lived before, met
relatives between lives etc. But that is what they have always been –
anecdotes. There is no proof of these past life memories, experiences, and
encounters. These are accounts that will be readily accepted by believers of
reincarnation – people predominantly belonging to cultures that have
traditionally believed in reincarnation. But the others look for hard evidence.
Dr. Ian Stevenson, a physician and psychiatrist, from the
University of Virginia was among the first to conduct research in the field of
reincarnation research.
Dr. Ian Stevenson, a physician and psychiatrist, from the University of Virginia was among the first to conduct research on the phenomenon of reincarnation. Stevenson was interested in Parapsychology. The founder of Xerox, Chester Carlson granted a funding of a million dollars to Stevenson to carry on the research in reincarnation studies. Using it, Stevenson created the Division of Perceptual studies at the University of Virginia for researching reincarnation in 1967. He worked full time in this division researching and documenting thousands of cases of reincarnation over the next 40 years.
In hundreds of cases of reported past-life memories, Stevenson was able to verify many specific claims relating to past-life relatives, occupations and causes of death.
Stevenson
researched the spontaneous past life memories of children aged between two and
ten. In most case the children’s past life memories started at around the age
of 2 and completely disappeared between the ages of 5 and 8. Whenever
a possible case of reincarnation was brought to his attention, Dr. Stevenson
began the investigation with a systematic collection and documentation of the
child’s statements of a past life. This was followed by verification of these
statements against the details of the deceased person that the child claimed to
have been in the previous life. In hundreds of cases, he was able to verify
many specific claims relating to past-life relatives, occupations and causes of
death.
Stevenson’s book ‘Twenty cases suggestive of Reincarnation’, published in 1966 was the result of pioneering research
and documentation of past-life memories and the first to introduce data and evidence
on reincarnation.
A key feature of Dr. Stevenson’s
investigation is, establishing a correlation between any birth
defects/birthmarks of the child with the wounds or scars of the previous
personality. Stevenson interviewed and documented cases of past life memories
in Sri Lanka, Brazil, Lebanon, Alaska, and many other places from around the
world. Based on these investigations, he published the book ‘Twenty cases
suggestive of Reincarnation’ in 1966. This book was the first to introduce
data into Reincarnation studies. Such was the scientific rigour of Dr.
Stevenson’s work that it forced the modern medical community to sit up and take
notice.
Today, the
University of Virginia houses the records of over 2500 cases of past life
memories in children that were investigated and documented by Stevenson.