Last Updated on August 13, 2024 by Tejaswini
You are always subconsciously aware of so many things which are from the summary of your existence. But when you ‘remember’ your past lives you consciously access this information which is always subconsciously available to you. You might remember actual sequence of events, names, places etc from your other incarnations. Or you may also remember the people whom you knew in a past life and also recognise these around you in the current life. In any case, spontaneously remembering past life memories is a rare occurrence.
But there are only two types of people who really remember their past lives,
- Spiritually advanced people – Jaatismar
- People who died horrible deaths in their past lives.
Spiritually advanced people remember a several events from their past incarnations. These people are called “Jaatismar”, ie they ‘remember memories of the threads’ connecting their several lives. And they will never talk about these things to anyone.
The Jaatismar remember several incidents from several past lives. These are complete memories, not just isolated incidents which are briefly relived intensely with their emotional context. They might be shown a series of interconnected events from several lives. This happens because this series of events is internally unresolved in some way which is hindering their spiritual growth. These past lives are seen like dreams, simultaneously as a spectator and a participant. The Jaatismar gains valuable perspective which helps resolve this specific past event. After some time, a few days at max, they are at peace with what they have re-lived and all these memories again fade. Even if they randomly remember these later, they are wispy, faded out, afterimages bereft of all emotional etc overtones. In this brief period of remembering, the Jaatismar has completed a huge chunk of karma, something has set itself right within as these lingering, mixed up energies from the past are finally resolved.
Sometimes contrasting memories completely destroy the desire for material achievements. Eg. the person might see something and want it, ie the desire is born. But immediately they are shown a life where they have enjoyed this same thing to the max. Eg if it was a food item then its taste, how it felt and the satisfaction of experience is all relived. Concurrently, another life memory of being denied this very thing will also be shown. These complex memories help realise that happiness is never defined by these items and the desire to experience material stuff is silenced. The Jaatismar remembers that he has been so many people, in so many situations with so many desires, wanting so many experiences. And all these have never defined him.
Recognising that you really do not need anything to fulfill yourself is an essential requirement for attaining Moksh. Seeing your own past like this eventually creates an internal detachment. You know that you are everything but yet more than everything.
The Jaatismar might also remember the people from the past and recognise them, reborn in the people around. This is also because of some unresolved issue which needs to be addressed so that you can progress spiritually. They will remember the past series of events and pragmatically endure the inevitable fruit of karma.
These Jaatismar are rare individuals who have worked hard to gain that mental strength and intelligence to resolve what is being shown. And that is precisely why these things are shown to them. This does not mean that the emotional pain is any less genuine, it is just that it gets resolved faster. All this helps in their spiritual path.
Then the other category of people who remember their past lives, is those who have died horrible death in the past life who might remember this one specific event.
These people will remember just this one life, not a series of lives unlike the Jatismar above. I have written about physical death and what happens at the moment of death in several posts (index). Suppose at the moment of death, the soul felt overwhelming pain, hurt, horror, betrayal etc then these negative emotions get imprinted in the new life which it will be taking soon. And because these emotions are so intense the person might remember the event in a trigger situation in the future birth.
Eg. in some past life, you died horribly in child-birth, a very common event in the past where women often died like this. When you were dying you knew that this was because of the childbirth. The trauma made you deeply intend to never have children again, the desire was to avoid the pain of death in childbirth. This is reflected in the current damaged 5th house which denies children.
Eg. Or you died because your husband beat you to death. This too was not uncommon in the past history. So in this life you might bring an afflicted 7th house and avoid getting married. The trauma of that pain inflicted by the husband has entered your psyche so deeply at the point of that death that you prefer living without a spouse in this life. And you prefer it.
Every deity in our Dharma is shown wearing a garland of pearls. The garland is endless. It shows that the each jivatma/ individual soul has taken infinite past lives and has the potential for infinite future lives. Reincarnation is a fundamental concept and only in Sanatan Dharma. (The Abhramic religions believe in a single life on earth followed by eternal heaven or hell.) Endlessly repeating rebirths is how the ties of karma and the fruits of karma are created and resolved. Every life allows our individual soul/ jivatma to complete a portion of its pending karma and only human lives allow it to create new karmic bindings. We refer to lives as – past, present, future or parallel – but actually everything everything is simultaneous, it is all happening in this one Moment.
21 responses to “Past lives and remembering them”
Omg
Just a thought
Could this be N explanation of delusions that some experience and are branded as insane?
They may be remembering events from
Many lives and harboring paranoia about many people in this life?
If that is a possibility how can these people be helped?
Hi there
another possibility
https://psychologicallyastrology.com/2019/05/14/spirits-and-hauntings/
there are so many things which ‘modern science’ cannot understand.
for such severely distressed people a genuine Brahmin or going to a genuine temple (eg continuous pujas for at least 1000yrs) is the only help.
and obviously the Guru can help with everything.
Thank you Tejaswini Ji
Ma’am, there’s a Korean drama currently airing on this topic – See you in my 19th life. Its fascinating how some facets of this information are retained in cultures across borders. Thanks for the article!
Such a beautiful article answering so many questions. While reading this, came across other karma related articles, all giving answers to so many complicated questions. I have read about similar topics but yours just goes right inside and makes it able to be aware, its amazing wow. I found a very important…from here. Noticed how a very small to big effort in this journey so far helped me understand it. It is unreal how things are linked in unbelievable ways. It is hard to maintain this awareness.🙏
Years ago, there was an interesting TV show here called The Ghost inside my Child which showed children who remembered and were traumatized by their past lives. There was one episode I watched where the child remembered dying on the Titanic. He may have been involved in the construction or designing of the ship as he know the entire layout, details regarding the construction, the working of the boilers, was terrified of water, etc. It was fascinating but very sad to watch.
If we do see repeated events from various past lives, how do we determine what to do with this information? I have had many dreams showing me extremely traumatizing events happening to a loved one, where I was always also somehow involved. I have never told her about these dreams, but I can see how her issues and fears in this life stem from those events. Are we supposed to see these and then forget it?
It is hard sometimes to see hurtful things being done to you or loved ones by people that you know and love in this current life. I know that the people I see today are not the “same” people as before, but how does one navigate this?
Hi there
it happens quite frequently.
“phobias” as per modern science.
someone in my close family was killed by a lightening strike in some life. She would get extremely agitated whenever it would rain with thunder and lightening.
regular people should avoid past life regression or hypnosis type of ‘therapies’. you never know what you might see.
i don’t tell people what i see about them, it generally traumatises them and they get caught in a emotional/mental loop.
if you cannot deal with it then request your adored deity to stop the visions.
or do mantra sadhana, elevate your mind. convert the emotional Manas to the intelligent Buddhi.
Thank you! I suppose I’m moreso wondering why we see these past events that have to do with other people? I understand seeing things that involve yourself, but for other people- I dont really understand.
Namaste Mam,
I am very very terrified of being suffocated. This feeling is particularly at its peak when travelling in a crowded car / van where the wind from the windows doesn’t reach me. The fear has now extended to even things like tight rings on the finger and removing of clothes from self after getting drenched in the rain. I got this fear after watching the movie “Buried” even though I’ve seen other more gruesome movies before and after this.
Can this be a sign?
Thank you!
Avinash
Hi there
could be.
but do consult a medical professional if you wish.
Ma’am,
This is not a question related to this topic, but I wanted to ask you about it and didn’t know where to post this, as the comment boxes on other posts have been disabled.
I have recently visited a very small temple nearby to our place, which isn’t very popular… it has a tree trunk outside which was partially buried in the ground, where people were doing abhishek to it with milk and applying kumkum. The tree trunk has a shape of a woman’s face on it. The eyes, nose, lips, ears were clearly visible .. it looked naturally formed and definitley not carved by someone. I asked the temple incharge about it and she mentioned that the face of this “Goddess” has appeared on a tree trunk and some wealthy merchant chopped off the tree and installed it in the ground there and built a small temple beside it with a small idol of a gram devta. She said the “Goddess” manifested in the tree trunk and several people come there to worship and their wishes are getting fulfilled.
I would like to know if such things happen. Do gram devtas “appear” like that on tree trunks ? Or is it some kind of a spirit ?
Regards,
Chandana
Hi there
it is possible.
Namaste mam,
What type of actions done in the past lives will lead to obesity in the current life of a person?
Hi there
misuse of the keywords of jupiter
Dear Tejaswinima’m,
Many many thanks for this post. One thing that puzzles is that if a soul dies a traumatic death due to conspiracy or vileness of others, why should the poor soul suffer ? Is it not the people responsible for death due to lack of care, negligence, plain ill-will should suffer in this life or the next ?
Will such a soul bear the imprint of trauma and inflict the same on the people responsible ?
Regards
Hemangini
Hi there
the tests that we choose for ourselves!
if some one is tormenting your physical body and you have no option to leave the physical body. then the test is that you must have such control over your mind that you are able to leave the body with the perfect Soham, perfect concentration on the ajnya chakra.
(the tormentor has his own karma to deal with later. )
the moment of exit is very critical, emotion cannot be allowed to overpower intelligence at this critical moment.
what you choose at this moment decides your next life.
Tejaswini Ji,
You seem to associate death exclusively with 8th house (in the posts that I have read so far). The second type of people in this post. With my limited understanding the first type of people’s death should be from 12th house energies. With 2nd house and 7th house being the Maraka houses and the ruler of these two houses Daityaguru Shukra (esoteric knowledge) exalted in the natural 12th house I think (more) natural death results from the energies of 12th house (dissolution).
People who have accepted death as inevitable reality of life can then die peacefully with awareness of transformations and perhaps transitions to be able to remember not just few events but a lot more of their past lives. Anybody looking at their dead body can’t be sure if it’s death or sleep or resting.
The two types of people you have mentioned make up a small fraction. Vast majority of people don’t remember their past lives. They don’t believe in any past lives. Modern science with its dependence on laboratory based methodology encourages such beliefs. However they remain attached with the people and things from their past lives. But why don’t they remember their attachments or more importantly why do they forget what and who they are attached with?
Now I need to use some more of my limited intelligence before I ask questions to you.
Death being the most important, intense and fearsome battle of life dying person’s awareness gets increasingly narrowed to the energy in the critical organ (naadi ?). In this process more and more worldly things and attachments move out of awareness to subconscious memories as they become unimportant and irrelevant to the survival. Finally when the battle is lost the praan vayu exits from the naadi providing the most energy to the battle (in the final moments) to determine many foundations for the next birth. How the loss became final and what was finally lost becomes the last thing to go from awareness to subconscious and becomes the source of fear in next life lying just below the calm surface of life.
Please correct and add what I am missing.
Hi there
i do not associate death exclusively with the 8th house. why would i? and no jyotishi will.
do not assume random things about me.
i have written several posts on death/birth, maraks, moksh trikon etc. do read these too.
99.99% people will have no control over their minds as they exit. these are the ones who search for answers for material questions in Jyotish. these are going to be your clients.
and the rarest of the rare who have the capacity to control the direction of their next birth/strive for moksh at the moment of exit, will never need to consult a astrologer in their lifetimes. so you will never see them in your practice. for them its not a battle to remain in the body, it is a precisely timed exit with full awareness.
dear sir, I subscribe to your newsletters and love your wisdom. But the pictures you throw in take up significant amount of disk space. Also, the pictures are irrelevant to the great content! Please see if you can remove them. Thanks
Hi there
the pictures are relevant and a part of the content.
Dear Madam,
I started doing the Soham dhyana since last October almost right after the solar eclipse. Initially there was a sense of progress – as in though I couldn’t keep my attention focused on the center of my eyebrows, there would be certain blank periods and I would suddenly wake up from something with a jerk, but it felt different from falling asleep.
Since March or later (I’m not sure of the exact period when it started) there has been this growing restlessness and I do not get those blank periods anymore. I remain aware of external sounds and internal stuff like my legs cramping up and there is this sense of moving backward.
My questions about this are:
1. Is the blankness really a sign of progress? Should I seek it?
2. If it is, are there some smaller milestones so that I can work up to that blankness?
3. I had had a dream in which I was killing (what I thought were) silver snakes but after killing two, I was struggling with this very persistent third one when I suddenly remembered about your post on seeing snakes in dreams and then I saw that the third one looked like a textbook representation of a (silver coloured) neuron with a long silver axon and dendrites. Then suddenly I somehow “knew” that the other “snakes” were also neurons. I woke up completely by this point but I don’t know if I actually delivered the killing blow to the third one.
I was filled with consternation and since then I have been chanting the Navnaag stotra mentioned on this blog and also prayed at Shiva temples. This happened a while after the perceived decline in dhyana had already started. Do I need to do something specific to expiate for this, or will consciously cultivating an attitude of being respectful to snakes and requesting their aid for improvement in dhyana, as I have been doing, suffice?
4. This is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the questions, but: I read the first chapter of the Pranav Gita and realised I have a long way to go to reach the point it speaks about. In the meantime, I wish to know how the Durga Saptashati describes the return of consciousness to the Absolute. So, is there a book that explains the Durga Saptashati as a Yoga shastra?
Warm regards,
Rahul