Past life regression (PLR), Past life therapy (PLT), regression or memory regression is a method that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations. The practice is widely considered discredited and unscientific by medical practitioners, and experts generally regard claims of recovered memories of past lives as fantasies or delusions or a type of confabulation.
The technique used during past-life regression involves the subject answering a series of questions while hypnotized to reveal identity and events of alleged past lives, a method similar to that used in recovered memory therapy and one that, similarly, often misrepresents recovered memories as faithful recordings of previous events rather than constructed sets of recollections. The use of hypnosis and suggestive questions can tend to leave the subject particularly likely to hold distorted or false memories. The source of the memories is more likely cryptomnesia and confabulations that combine experiences, knowledge, imagination and suggestion or guidance from the hypnotist than recall of a previous existence. Once created, those memories are indistinguishable from memories based on events that occurred during the subject's life.
Investigations of memories reported during past-life regression have revealed that they contain historical inaccuracies which originate from common beliefs about history, modern popular culture, or books that discuss historical events. Experiments with subjects undergoing past-life regression indicate that a belief in reincarnation and suggestions by the hypnotist are the two most important factors regarding the contents of memories reported. Patañjali called the process of past-life regression prati-prasava (literally "reverse birthing"), and saw it as addressing current problems through memories of past lives. Some types of yoga continue to use prati-prasav as a practice.
In the religious mythology of China, the deity Meng Po, also known as the "Lady of Forgetfulness", prevents souls from remembering their past lives: she gives them the "Mi Hun Tang (literally "soul beguiling soup")" that erases all memories before they climb the wheel of reincarnation.
Past life regression can be found in Jainism. The seven truths of Jainism deal with the soul and its attachment to karma. The fourth truth, Bandha, tells that karma can stick to one's soul. The seventh truth, Moksha, tells that in order to be freed from the cycle of rebirth and death, one must separate karma from the soul. In order to find out what karma is attached to one's soul, practitioners participate in “Jati-Smaran", which is the practise of remembering past lives.
Modern era
The nineteenth century saw the rise of Spiritualism, involving séances and other techniques for contacting departed spirits. Allan Kardec (1804–1869) sought to codify the lessons obtained in a set of five books, the Spiritist Codification (theSpiritist Pentateuch, 1857–1868), including The Spirits Book (1857) and Heaven and Hell (1865). These books introduce concepts of how spirits evolve through a series of incarnations.
Madame Blavatsky (1831–1891), co-founder of the Theosophical Society, introduced the Sanskrit term Akasha, beginning in Isis Unveiled (1877) as a vague life force that was continuously redefined, always vaguely, in subsequent publications. Separately in Isis Unveiled, she referred to "indestructible tablets of the astral light" recording both the past and future of human thought and action. The use of hypnosis for past life regressions is said to have been developed by A. R. (Asa Roy) Martin of Sharon, Pennsylvania, who published Researches in Reincarnation and Beyond in 1942.
In the 1952 Bridey Murphy case, housewife Virginia Tighe of Pueblo, Colorado was reported by the hypnotist to have, under hypnosis, recounted memories of a 19th-century Irish woman ("Bridey Murphy").
According to psychologist Robert Baker, the belief in reincarnation is the main predictor that the patient will have a past life memory during past life therapy. The book, The Search for Bridey Murphy details this story. Practitioners believe that unresolved issues from alleged past lives may be the cause of their patients' problems.
One technique for accessing memories from a past life is detailed in a study by Nicholas P. Spanos from Carleton University, Ontario, Canada. Subjects of a study were at first told that they would be undergoing a hypnosis, and afterwards told, “You are now in a different life, living in another life that you have lived before in another time. You are now reliving that other life that you lived once before in a different time.” Next, after the administer asks: “What name can I call you by? I want you to look down and tell me what you are wearing. Describe everything you are wearing in detail. Where are you?”
Afterwards, the subjects were to chronicle the information that they could remember after regression in a past life. Past life regression can be achieved in as little as 15 minutes, but to recall past a point of death, and into "soul memories", it takes upwards of 45 minutes of trance induction. However, with psychotherapy clients who believe in past lives, irrespective of whether or not past lives exist, the use of past lives as a tool has been suggested.
Sources of memories
The "memories" recovered by techniques like past-life regression may be the result of cryptomnesia: narratives created by the subconscious mind using imagination, forgotten information and suggestions from the therapist. Memories created under hypnosis are indistinguishable from actual memories and can be more vivid than factual memories. The greatest predictor of individuals reporting memories of past lives appears to be their beliefs—individuals who believe in reincarnation are more likely to report such memories, while skeptics or disbelievers are less so.
Examinations of three cases of apparent past life regression (Bridey Murphy, Jane Evans, and an unnamed English woman) revealed memories that were superficially convincing. However, investigation by experts in the languages used and historical periods described revealed flaws in all three patients' recall. The evidence included speech patterns that were "...used by movie makers and writers to convey the flavour of 16th century English speech" rather than actual Renaissance English. Another cited a historical date that was inaccurate, but was the same as a recognized printing error in historical pamphlets.
Studies
Studies suggest that past lives are likely false memories, implanted through the susceptibility of the hypnotic method. A 1976 study, found that 40% of hypnotizable subjects described new identities and used different names when given a suggestion to regress past their birth.
As past life regression is rooted on the premise of reincarnation, many APA accredited organizations have begun to refute this as a therapeutic method on the basis of it being unethical. Additionally, the hypnotic methodology that underpins past life regression places the participant in a vulnerable position, susceptible to implantation of false memories.