Most of us are curious about reincarnation and whether we have come to this planet “before.”
“Who was I in my past life?” is a common question asked these days and there’s no shortage of answers available. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find a handful of fun pop quizzes that narrow down what gender you were, what country you came from, what you did, and how you died.
While these are fun ways to explore the topic, they are limited and shallow in their ability to really help us understand who we were in our past lives, and how we can use this knowledge to become more healed and whole people.
If you’re not that serious about answering the question, “Who was I in my past life?” I recommend taking the Past Life Regression Test I created instead of reading this article. But if you’re serious about becoming a happier and more balanced person, keep reading.
First we’ll explore what reincarnation really is.
Reincarnation Is Not What You Think It Is … Here’s Why
A few years ago I came to conclude that we are all divine fragments of God, Divinity, the Tao, Consciousness, or whatever you would like to call it. I came to this life-changing realization via these 6 questions. This is what Jesus, Buddha, Eckhart Tolle, Mooji, Adyashanti, Gangaji, Ramana Maharshi, and every wise “enlightened” man and woman through the ages has pointed to and spoken about: The mind is limited. The self is an illusion. We are all One and the same at our very core.
Therefore, if our identity is an illusion, how is it possible to reincarnate? As Sol wrote in a previous article, “Reincarnation of an ‘individual self’ is only as possible to the extent of believing that your sense of ‘self’ – your ego – is real.”
If you believe that you are your personality and are separate from everything and everyone else, you will believe what people traditionally say about reincarnation: that your identity will be reborn into a new body and circumstance.
Personally I don’t at all believe that this is the case. How is it possible for “you” to reincarnate, if there is no you (other than in your mind) in the first place? This is yet another illusion perpetuated by an ego that is obsessed with its survival. After all, why is reincarnation so appealing to many of us? Because it reassures us that our egos will live on after we die. But if you’ve come to realize that the self is a dreamlike fantasy, you will realize that this isn’t the case.
So what exactly is reincarnation?
In my understanding, reincarnation is the process of recycling energy. The Buddhist’s represented this in the Wheel of Dharma which reflected the repeating cycle of birth, life and death (called “Samsara”). From what I have learned, the conscious essence that animates us leaves the physical body after death and is “reborn” or remade into a new creation. All of the memories, experiences, lessons and wounds we develop during our lives are then left in a non-physical layer which Carl Jung referred to as the “Collective Unconscious” and others refer to as the “Akashic Records.”
Although this new being starts off with a “fresh slate” when it is born, as it matures its job is to heal the inherited core wounds of its predecessors.
Who Was I in My Past Life?
I’ve asked and searched for the answers to this question before too, but somehow always intuitively felt that I wasn’t asking the “right” question or looking in the right place. Have you felt this before?
While I don’t believe that our identities reincarnate, I do believe that we can discover who we were in past lives (because we are all One and share the same underlying consciousness). More precisely, we have been every person that has ever existed, but for practical reasons we each carry a unique imprint of inherited strengths and weaknesses.
Similar to transgenerational epigenetic inheritance (big words that describe the process of inheriting physical, mental and emotional information from your ancestors that doesn’t influence your DNA), it is also possible for us to inherit spiritual maladies of many kinds. As life itself is about evolving, advancing and maturing, it can also be said that our emotional and spiritual lives are maturing as well.
Collectively, we are all evolving, and discovering what inherited core wounds we have is vital in order to become happier and more fulfilled people. In discovering our transgenerational wounds, we also work to “raise the vibrations” of the world for this generation and the future generations.
What is it that your ancestors suffered from in the past that you can heal in the present? You may find that in the process of discovering who you were in your past life, you are linked to one specific person in a single era. On the other hand, you may have many flashbacks from many lives that all possess the same theme. Finally, you may not have any flashbacks at all, but instead have an overwhelming sensation that you must learn to “resolve” a certain issue.
Here are some recommendations that will help you to discover who you were in your past life:
1. Examine what attracts, interests, or creates a sense of nostalgia in you
For example, you may carry a long-time interest in South American shamanism, you may be intensely attracted to ancient Asian culture, or you may feel a deep sense of longing and inexplicable nostalgia towards the English countryside.
2. Pay attention to repetition in your dreams
Also, learn to distinguish between dreams that feel dreamlike, and dreams that feel distinctly life-like – these dreams may present doorways into the collective unconscious. Repetitive dreams, in particular, carry important messages for they reveal what our minds on a subconscious level are fixated with. For instance, if you frequently dream about being abandoned for no particular reason (i.e. no childhood abandonment issues), you may be carrying the inherited core wound of betrayal or the fear of aloneness.
3. Set an intention – repeat
You may like to set an intention before attempting to revisit your past life. You can do this either before going to sleep, meditating, or practicing self-hypnosis. For instance, your intention may be “Who was I in my past life? Please be revealed” or simply, “I want to know who I was.” Finally, it helps to repeat your intention several times before you settle into a sleep, meditation or hypnosis state.
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4. Reflect on the people you have attracted into your life
What harsh, but powerful lessons have your friends, family members and/or partner/s taught you? Can you sense any particular theme running through your life that has seemed to be there from the very start? It is said that we all enter this life with a soul group which is a group of beings that collectively work to resolve accumulated karma.
5. Stare into a mirror or body of water
Use your reflection as a focal point to enter into an altered state of consciousness. Get into a comfortable position, and if possible, dim the lights. Keep your intention in mind, relax your eyes and gaze at your reflection. Hold gentle but solid eye contact. You can do this for up to ten minutes to half an hour or more. As the minutes pass by, you will find that your face begins to morph and subtly change its appearance. What can you see?
6. Connect the dots
Use a combination of all the practices above to explore your past life and inherited core wounds. Please keep in mind that there are many other techniques out there, but these five are basic and easy for anyone to try out.
This Is What I Discovered …
As a result of putting into practice the above recommendations, I discovered that I have memories from Medieval Ireland, Persia/Middle East, Rome, and Greece. My most vivid and recurring memories appear to be of a great gothic castle, a home near the cliffs and ocean, grassy paddocks and a ragged tent in a desert. The main core wound I seem to struggle with involves a loss of control which has helped me to resolve an immense number of issues in my life.
What about you? Have you discovered what your transgenerational wound is? Finally, what are your thoughts on reincarnation?
I think we see reincarnation as time moving forward instead of time being relative. I do not think we die and then are reborn. Rather, we are transferred into another stage. They’re all happening at the same time on the same plane. Which might explain why when I sleep and my mind does not have to focus on the individual self (the ego) it focuses on the unified consciousness. We connect ourselves to other moments occurring in an infinite universe. Perhaps those that cannot remember their dreams are simply not ready or perhaps they do not yet have access. Maybe having that access is not currently a part of the plan. Who knows. All I know is that sometimes, when I recall one dream, I am flooded with multiple dreams that then begin to feel like memories or happenings. They are tangible. They have and are happening in a place my body cannot go. For the body is already quite distracted with itself in its current stage. When it is withered enough to release the unconscious, we transfer so that we keep going, forever lest we meet oblivion.
i like to think i grew up in the 1960s and 70s, probably in san francisco, maybe new york. i have this longing nostalgia for the 60s for some reason and i absolutely love the beatles like no other. it’s cool to think about :)
I just don’t get reincarnation. What if all humans stop having sex? How will the souls of the dead reincarnate?
As a young child, my hero and historical icon was Davy Crockett. Couple years ago I was living in Charlotte NC and I decided to relocate and start a new life in a new place and try to have a new beginning after losing my loved ones and my first and only marriage failed and ended in divorce. I was considering a number of cities. One day I was watching the history channel and the true story of Davy Crockett came on the TV. So I definitely sat and watched it completely. Many things I never knew about him all these years and I was shocked at many similarities between our two lives since early childhood. I instantly felt a deep connection with him. Like Davy, I was also destroyed by a politician in my nation’s capital. After watching the show, I had a very strong appeal to San Antonio and within 4 months I moved to San Antonio. After a short while living there, I visited the ALAMO where he fought and died. When I was standing in front of Alamo, I had a very strong electrifying feeling all over me and I felt like I had been there before but I never have. About one and half years after arriving, I became very sick with stomach pain and almost went to hospital. I looked up at foot of my bed and I saw Davy Crockett standing and looking at me. I couldn’t utter a word. Since my relocation there, my life has greatly improved and I’m at the happiest and strongest part of my adult life now. This is my story.
So recently I found out about the Romanov family. And I felt such a strange connection. I don’t know how to describe it but its been on my mind ever since and I can’t stop thinking about it. It might be bs but. . .
it seems like I was hallucinating, I thought I was from Lienchenstain or Limerick, There was a room in a castle that I used for painting. I had bright blonde friend, one or two who could sing beautifully. I died because of head injury that I can feel it from a mark on my skull.
I haven’t had these dreams in a while but I used to dream that I was floating in space. However there was nothing there. No planets or stars just darkness. I would call out to see if someone would answer me back but nothing. For the past decade I have been disabled and have to take several medications so I figured my sense of self has been lost in the many different pills I have to take. Some that include narcotics. I have always wondered what those dreams could mean but have never really explored the issue. I was always taught that there’s no such thing as reincarnation. That once you die your soul waits until judgement day. I don’t really know much about reincarnation or if I believe in everything but I have always wondered if maybe I was wrong to not even consider the possibility of it being real. So here I am trying to find myself. I have spent my life always trying to please everyone else. After getting sick and my husband abandoning me and our 3 kids I kind of got lost in a deep state of depression for about a decade. I just couldn’t get what has happened to me and why. So now I’m trying to figure out who I really am. Things like what kind of music I really like or favorite foods etc. I still feel very lost and don’t have any idea on where to even start my journey to finding who I really am. Any insight you might could give me is greatly appreciated. Have a great day and bless you.
Hi Rachel. I don’t have any special insights for you, love, but I wanted you to know I have experienced life similarly and you are not alone. I grew up with religious teachings that just stifled my voice inside. I’ve gone through divorce and have had to learn to be myself in my 30s and am still in much need of untaming myself. (The most enjoyable so far was discovering what music I love!) I just wanted to let you know that as I read your comment I heard you, I wish I could give you a hug (if you wanted one, haha), and I hope to encourage you. I see a beautiful spark of life flickering in you and your desire to learn and to grow and to be unstuck. Peace.
Wow. This article is quite profound.
I love the work you have put in on this topic. Humans are a species with amnesia. The main reason for this is to protect the consous mind from the horrors most of us have in our past lives.
I recently had a friend who does Torah codes run my name through the matrix. I honestly didn’t expect any results. He found 3 codes that were unquestionably about me. Some of the terms identified traits but others told about my past.
The reason I bring up these codes are they identify that I am a extremely old soul. I am very interested in safety exploring this. Much of religion has removed any reference to reincarnation. I guess that if they admitted we return many times they would lose a major source of control. Telling people they have one chance to accept Christ or spend eternity in hell. In reality all of us reincarnate, including Christ. The codes confirm this. Not only Christ, but Moses, Elijah, the apostles, and everyone else. It would be pretty amazing to get to meet one or more of these old souls.
I hope to learn more about myself and humanity from reincarnation. We as a species have lost our identify. We do not know where we come from. The old saying is if you forget your history you are doomed to repeat it. Well we have forgotten our collective history. We must rediscover where we come from so we can know where we are going. I want to learn about my personal history and our history as a species. I hope you can assist me with this.
Thank you, this subject is very dear to me.