Former life. - DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate

**qCGfQR9T** · 01-20-2012, 04:10 PM

I've always had a fleeting memory of a face and a name that I could never put
a reason for having to. I always thought it was from my very early years, but I'm not convinced as I can't remember anything else from then! When Buddhism found me and I explored the concept of rebirth, I wondered if the two could be linked. Is it possible to remember something's your former life?

**Efonukmp** · 01-20-2012, 04:51 PM

Hi Madina- Spike,

Speaking as a qualified hypnotherapist, I think its far more likely to be a forgotten memory of some description from this life, - it could be a fragment from a movie or TV film you've seen at some time, or a photo in a book or magazine...or even someone seen briefly when a tiny child -and then forgotten.

There's something called 'Cryptomnesia' which you might like to consider:

"Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognised as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptomnesia

with kind wishes,

Aloka

**Clolmemaexata** · 01-20-2012, 10:53 PM

There's something called 'Cryptomnesia' which you might like to consider:

"Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognised as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptomnesia

How interesting! Thanks for posting the information!

JuTai

**Tapupah** · 01-20-2012, 11:06 PM

Well that clears up a mystery I've been carrying for nearly 30 years. Thankyou! I've been on here a day and learned something new already. Very pleased! I wonder where else I'll be taken whilst I'm here? Looking forward to finding out!

**aaaaaaahabbbby** · 01-20-2012, 11:39 PM

Is it possible to remember something's your former life? See these verses...and see what you can gain

Firstly, from the Buddha's own life story...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....036.than.html
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion:

'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance.

Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.'
Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details.

"This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. Secondly...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit...11.0.than.html
"Kevatta, there are these three miracles that I have declared, having directly known and realized them for myself.
Which three? The miracle of psychic power, the miracle of telepathy, and the miracle of instruction.

"And what is the miracle of instruction? There is the case where a monk gives instruction in this way:
'Direct your thought in this way, don't direct it in that. Attend to things in this way, don't attend to them in that.
Let go of this, enter and remain in that.'
This, Kevatta, is called the miracle of instruction.

Recollection of Past Lives
"With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes).

He recollects his manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting],

'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance.
Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.'

Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes and details. Just as if a man were to go from his home village to another village, and then from that village to yet another village, and then from that village back to his home village. The thought would occur to him, 'I went from my home village to that village over there. There I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way.

From that village I went to that village over there, and there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that village I came back home.' In the same way — with his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the monk directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives.
He recollects his manifold past lives... in their modes and details.

This, too, is called the miracle of instruction. Finally...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....131.than.html
You shouldn't chase after the past
or place expectations on the future.
What is past is left behind.
The future is as yet unreached.

Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.

"And how, monks, does one chase after the past?
One gets carried away with the delight of 'In the past I had such a form (body)'... 'In the past I had such a feeling'... 'In the past I had such a perception'... 'In the past I had such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the past I had such a consciousness.'
This is called chasing after the past. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....002.than.html
"And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to?
Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned.

These are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to. Through his attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his not attending to ideas fit for attention, both unarisen fermentations arise in him, and arisen fermentations increase.

"This is how he attends inappropriately:
'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'

**RemiVedia** · 01-21-2012, 01:11 AM

Another sutta which is well worth noting :

SN 1.10 - Arañña Sutta: The Wilderness

Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord (Buddha) was staying near Savatthi, at the Jeta Grove in Anathapindika's monastery. Now when night was passing a certain devata, lighting up the whole Jeta Grove with her surpassing beauty, approached the Lord. Having drawn near and prostrated herself she stood to one side.

Standing there the devata said:

"Those living in the forest,
Peaceful and calm, of pure life,
Eating but one meal a day:
How is it they appear so radiant?"

The Lord (Buddha) replied:

"They sorrow not for what is past,
They have no longing for the future,
The present is sufficient for them:
Hence it is they appear so radiant.

By having longing for the future,
By sorrowing over what is past,
By this fools are withered up
As a cut down tender reed. "

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....010.irel.html

**artkolkovk** · 01-21-2012, 07:21 AM

Firstly, from the Buddha's own life story...

Secondly...

hi PLWK

the Vissuddhimagga is now on-line, in PDF version

Acharya Buddhaghosa regarded the meaning of "birth" in this context to mean "becoming". "becoming" is an asava or mental outflow/construct

a search for 'jati' in the PDF, will find Acharya Buddhaghosa's explanation of the various meanings of 'jati'

kind regards

element

Now, this word birth (játi) has many meanings. For in the passage “[He
recollects … ] one birth (játi), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming. In the passage,
“Visákhá, there is a kind (játi) of ascetics called Nigaóþhas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is
a monastic order. In the passage, “Birth (játi) is included in two aggregates”
(Dhátuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed. In the passage, “His
birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in
the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking. In the passage “As
soon as he was born (sampatijáta), Ánanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is
parturition. In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of
birth” (A III 152) it is clan. In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble
birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue.

**InsManKV** · 01-21-2012, 05:54 PM

And now the more I think about it, the closer I am to the beginning again!

**Onervemurce** · 01-22-2012, 03:59 AM

Personally I think it is possible to remember things from former lives. I believe that I have experienced this myself.

However I don't think there is much if anything to be gained from thinking/worrying about these experiences too much. To use a horrible cliché 'the past is the past' and I think a person could waste a lot of precious time obsessing about past lives which could be put to better use. For my own part, I find my remembrances of past lives nice in that it deepens my faith and believe in rebirth but it hasn't had any value beyond that.

**Gymnfacymoota** · 01-22-2012, 04:11 AM

When I asked a lama offline for his advice about if he thought I should offer ' Past Life Regression' as part of my Hypnotherapy, he said "No. People can make things up." Interestingly, what he said, fitted with the description of Cryptomnesia I mentioned #2.

I also privately asked 2 tulkus if they could remember their past lives and they said they couldn't.

I guess belief in rebirth is a useful as morality teaching though. This life is the important one if there is rebirth and also if there isn't rebirth !

**UncoonsKala** · 01-22-2012, 10:20 AM

hi PLWK

the Vissuddhimagga is now on-line, in PDF version

Acharya Buddhaghosa regarded the meaning of "birth" in this context to mean "becoming". "becoming" is an asava or mental outflow/construct

a search for 'jati' in the PDF, will find Acharya Buddhaghosa's explanation of the various meanings of 'jati'

Though wasn't it Buddhaghosa who came up with the infamous "three lives" model of paticcasamuppāda?

**MicoSiru** · 01-22-2012, 10:50 PM

My personal opinion is that with any images arising in the mind, they are insubstantial, as in dreams. Impermanent mental formations therefore, are irrelevant to living life in the here and now.

**Mr_White** · 01-27-2012, 06:41 AM

I also have many many memories from past lives. I have been telling
my parents about them since I was just 3 years old. I finally got up the nerve to ask my teacher (Thrangu Rinpoche) about them a couple years ago. He told me "What does it matter? If they are real, great, if not, great. It doesn't matter. What matters is now!"

01-20-2012, 04:10 PM	#1
qCGfQR9T Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 346 Senior Member	Former life. I've always had a fleeting memory of a face and a name that I could never put a reason for having to. I always thought it was from my very early years, but I'm not convinced as I can't remember anything else from then! When Buddhism found me and I explored the concept of rebirth, I wondered if the two could be linked. Is it possible to remember something's your former life? Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-20-2012, 04:51 PM	#2
Efonukmp Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 461 Senior Member	Hi Madina- Spike, Speaking as a qualified hypnotherapist, I think its far more likely to be a forgotten memory of some description from this life, - it could be a fragment from a movie or TV film you've seen at some time, or a photo in a book or magazine...or even someone seen briefly when a tiny child -and then forgotten. There's something called 'Cryptomnesia' which you might like to consider: "Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognised as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptomnesia with kind wishes, Aloka Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-20-2012, 10:53 PM	#3
Clolmemaexata Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 410 Senior Member	There's something called 'Cryptomnesia' which you might like to consider: "Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognised as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptomnesia How interesting! Thanks for posting the information! JuTai Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-20-2012, 11:06 PM	#4
Tapupah Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 474 Senior Member	Well that clears up a mystery I've been carrying for nearly 30 years. Thankyou! I've been on here a day and learned something new already. Very pleased! I wonder where else I'll be taken whilst I'm here? Looking forward to finding out! Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-20-2012, 11:39 PM	#5
aaaaaaahabbbby Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 359 Senior Member	Is it possible to remember something's your former life? See these verses...and see what you can gain Firstly, from the Buddha's own life story... http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....036.than.html "When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details. "This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. Secondly... http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit...11.0.than.html "Kevatta, there are these three miracles that I have declared, having directly known and realized them for myself. Which three? The miracle of psychic power, the miracle of telepathy, and the miracle of instruction. "And what is the miracle of instruction? There is the case where a monk gives instruction in this way: 'Direct your thought in this way, don't direct it in that. Attend to things in this way, don't attend to them in that. Let go of this, enter and remain in that.' This, Kevatta, is called the miracle of instruction. Recollection of Past Lives "With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes). He recollects his manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes and details. Just as if a man were to go from his home village to another village, and then from that village to yet another village, and then from that village back to his home village. The thought would occur to him, 'I went from my home village to that village over there. There I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that village I went to that village over there, and there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that village I came back home.' In the same way — with his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the monk directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives... in their modes and details. This, too, is called the miracle of instruction. Finally... http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....131.than.html You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there. "And how, monks, does one chase after the past? One gets carried away with the delight of 'In the past I had such a form (body)'... 'In the past I had such a feeling'... 'In the past I had such a perception'... 'In the past I had such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the past I had such a consciousness.' This is called chasing after the past. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....002.than.html "And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned. These are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to. Through his attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his not attending to ideas fit for attention, both unarisen fermentations arise in him, and arisen fermentations increase. "This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?' Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-21-2012, 01:11 AM	#6
RemiVedia Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 474 Senior Member	Another sutta which is well worth noting : SN 1.10 - Arañña Sutta: The Wilderness Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord (Buddha) was staying near Savatthi, at the Jeta Grove in Anathapindika's monastery. Now when night was passing a certain devata, lighting up the whole Jeta Grove with her surpassing beauty, approached the Lord. Having drawn near and prostrated herself she stood to one side. Standing there the devata said: "Those living in the forest, Peaceful and calm, of pure life, Eating but one meal a day: How is it they appear so radiant?" The Lord (Buddha) replied: "They sorrow not for what is past, They have no longing for the future, The present is sufficient for them: Hence it is they appear so radiant. By having longing for the future, By sorrowing over what is past, By this fools are withered up As a cut down tender reed. " http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....010.irel.html Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-21-2012, 07:21 AM	#7
artkolkovk Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 443 Senior Member	Firstly, from the Buddha's own life story... Secondly... hi PLWK the Vissuddhimagga is now on-line, in PDF version Acharya Buddhaghosa regarded the meaning of "birth" in this context to mean "becoming". "becoming" is an asava or mental outflow/construct a search for 'jati' in the PDF, will find Acharya Buddhaghosa's explanation of the various meanings of 'jati' kind regards element Now, this word birth (játi) has many meanings. For in the passage “[He recollects … ] one birth (játi), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming. In the passage, “Visákhá, there is a kind (játi) of ascetics called Nigaóþhas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is a monastic order. In the passage, “Birth (játi) is included in two aggregates” (Dhátuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed. In the passage, “His birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking. In the passage “As soon as he was born (sampatijáta), Ánanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is parturition. In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of birth” (A III 152) it is clan. In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-21-2012, 05:54 PM	#8
InsManKV Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 446 Senior Member	And now the more I think about it, the closer I am to the beginning again! Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-22-2012, 03:59 AM	#9
Onervemurce Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 326 Senior Member	Personally I think it is possible to remember things from former lives. I believe that I have experienced this myself. However I don't think there is much if anything to be gained from thinking/worrying about these experiences too much. To use a horrible cliché 'the past is the past' and I think a person could waste a lot of precious time obsessing about past lives which could be put to better use. For my own part, I find my remembrances of past lives nice in that it deepens my faith and believe in rebirth but it hasn't had any value beyond that. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-22-2012, 04:11 AM	#10
Gymnfacymoota Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 470 Senior Member	When I asked a lama offline for his advice about if he thought I should offer ' Past Life Regression' as part of my Hypnotherapy, he said "No. People can make things up." Interestingly, what he said, fitted with the description of Cryptomnesia I mentioned #2. I also privately asked 2 tulkus if they could remember their past lives and they said they couldn't. I guess belief in rebirth is a useful as morality teaching though. This life is the important one if there is rebirth and also if there isn't rebirth ! Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-22-2012, 10:20 AM	#11
UncoonsKala Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 416 Senior Member	hi PLWK the Vissuddhimagga is now on-line, in PDF version Acharya Buddhaghosa regarded the meaning of "birth" in this context to mean "becoming". "becoming" is an asava or mental outflow/construct a search for 'jati' in the PDF, will find Acharya Buddhaghosa's explanation of the various meanings of 'jati' Though wasn't it Buddhaghosa who came up with the infamous "three lives" model of paticcasamuppāda? Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-22-2012, 10:50 PM	#12
MicoSiru Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 487 Senior Member	My personal opinion is that with any images arising in the mind, they are insubstantial, as in dreams. Impermanent mental formations therefore, are irrelevant to living life in the here and now. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

01-27-2012, 06:41 AM	#13
Mr_White Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 594 Senior Member	I also have many many memories from past lives. I have been telling my parents about them since I was just 3 years old. I finally got up the nerve to ask my teacher (Thrangu Rinpoche) about them a couple years ago. He told me "What does it matter? If they are real, great, if not, great. It doesn't matter. What matters is now!" Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter
	Quote

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