Guest Article Number 3
An Article by Malcolm Robinson

Reincarnation

(Do we really come back again?)

Nothing stirs the imagination more than discussions on Reincarnation, can it be true? Can people really be 'born again' to 'new' mother and father's and sometimes be re-located to different parts of the world? There is no denying the wealth of information to suggest that this is so, but information is one thing, proving re-incarnation is another. No matter how well attested the evidence might be (and admittedly a lot of it does on the surface look impressive) the subject of reincarnation serves up to provide a lot of comment and discussion amongst many individuals the world over. Here in the UK the subject of reincarnation is not given much credence, but in India reincarnation is not given a second thought, and is accepted as much as we here in the UK would accept Jesus. The belief that we all survive the grave and live on, is a common enough belief, a belief which is shared by a number of Religions world wide, Buddhists and Hindus, would tell us that not only do we survive the grave, but that we are reborn to new parents in a continuous cycle to which we must reach or attain 'Godhead', in other words, we must continue to come back to Earth in different bodies, different sexes and to different parts of the world, to learn compassion, love, and a whole host of other effects, of which apparently will make us a better person. This all sounds rather XXXXXXXXXX and many would say 'ridiculous'. Just as a tree sheds its leaves and dies in the winter, we know that come the following year, it will blossom once more into its full and colourful glory. The flowers that wither and die in the winter, appear dead, but again, come spring, they burst forth from the ground as if asleep, and bring colour once more to an otherwise drab world. These analogies are fine, but the human soul is of course another matter. When I began my Investigations many years ago, not only did I set out to disprove UFOs, but I also set out to disprove subjects such as, ghosts, poltergeists, and spiritual matters, much to my surprise, I found that the more study and research I did, the more evidence I uncovered to suggest that these things were true, that there as a case to be answered. I slowly found that researching NDE's (Near Death Experiences), OOB'S (Out Of Body Experiences) and indeed Spiritualism, there was enough substance to suggest that we all survive the death of our physical material bodies. Yes there are charlatans out there, people who are out to deceive and pull the wool over our eyes, but contained within these subjects, is a kernel of immense information which, as I've said, certainly suggests that we survive the grave and move on to another existence. But what of reincarnation what role does this really play ? are we to believe the claims of Hindus, Buddhists ? There are many (and I do mean many) cases to suggest that we come back again, and I'd just like to mention just some of the many cases here.

Before I do so however, the Reincarnatioalists, inform us that thousands of people who suffer from afflictions phobias and illnesses, may suffer from these afflictions due to certain happenings in their previous lifes. For instance, under regressive hypnosis, many people who tell of being terrified of water, suddenly recount that in a previous life, they have drowned, hence in their current life, this terrible phobia of water of which there appears no rational explanation, can, as I've said, be understood through the individual being subjected to hypnosis. Hypnosis I have to admit, is not the best of tools to obtain these type of memories, and there are many problems associated with it. Nonetheless it would appear that there are many instances where people have recounted their fears under hypnosis, to suddenly realise why these fears are there. Then we have the cases relating to child prodigies ! There are many cases in which children with little or no training of music, can suddenly play wonderful pieces on the piano or other musical instruments. Mozart, Schubert and Medelssohn each began composing before they reached 12 years of age. Some children as young as 6 can tackle and solve many problematic arithmetic sums without any education or schooling, how can this be ? Are we to believe, as some would have us believe, that the reason why we have child geniuses, is because in a past life these people were educated and have brought to their new life, a part of their previous existence !! It's a fanciful suggestion but does it bear any real fruit ? Research and Investigation is all about providing proof (or at least as near to it as we can get). Nice little stories about reincarnation from different parts of the world, can not be classed as proof, no matter how impressive they may be, (at least to the hard nosed sceptic !) There are many cases, even today, of people who claim to be in the wrong body, males will re-gender into a female body and vice versa, simply because they feel they don't belong, that it's not their true body. Has something went wrong here ? Is this something that has 'malfunctioned' (for want of a better word) and that their spiritual 're-assessment' has gone vastly wrong ? The other way to look at this, (the way of the sceptic), is to say that people who believe that they have been 're-born' have not in fact been 're-born', but in reality and, (more so under hypnosis) are only relating genetic memories relating to their fore-fathers or members of their own particular family tree. They haven't lived as a seafaring captain in bygone years, in point of fact, they are only relating a genetic impregnated racial memory which somehow is being brought to the surface either through, as I've said, hypnosis, or, as a consciously remembered 'vision' (!) This certainly does bear some serious thought, which in itself, is indeed something strange and warrants research of it's own. There are people, who under hypnosis, have uttered flowing and fluent words of Arabic and Hindustani and yet who claim never to have studied these languages before, how can this be ? Can this be traced through genetic racial memory ? Then we have the claims by some that the strange discolourations or birthmarks that they have on their bodies, were the result of either being shot, stabbed or what have you, in a previous life.

Then of course we have the 'Soul mates' people who seem drawn to other people not of perhaps their love for them (although this can happen) but a warm affectionate feeling that they have known them from somewhere else, that in a sense they have known them before, is this a fanciful subliminal feeling or does it indeed have it's roots in a deep and secluded past life ?

Sceptics would suggest that another way of proving that Reincarnation is not a fact is by suggesting cryptomnesia. Essentially this implies that people who claim to be figures of the past be it prominent or mundane, are not in fact remembering what they feel is a past life, but in point of fact, are only remembering things that they have read in a book or magazine, and which the conscious mind has conveniently forgotten and pushed to the back of their mind only to return (usually under hypnosis) as what they believe to be a part of their life that they have led many years before. We know this to be true, it has happened, but can cryptomnesia be the answer for all cases? I would say that perhaps for a lot of them it can. We know so little about the human mind, it is a fascinating and intriguing organ and one of which has still to be fully explored. Probably the best known case pertaining to Reincarnation, comes from the UK and has been heavily featured not only in book and newspaper form, but for the successful Television series Strange But True ? It's concerns a Northampton woman by the name of Jenny Cockell. Throughout her life Jenny had persisting flashes of jumbled imagery of houses and buildings and people of whom she didn't know, or at least she 'felt' she didn't know. As she grew older, these images persisted and she realised that something was happening, there was something about these 'flashbacks' that she just had to sort out. Her life took on a new meaning and she searched for answers for why her mind was conjuring up such imagery. Her Investigations, as well as using hypnosis, uncovered the fact that these 'flashbacks' were indeed in relation to herself, but from a previous time. It revealed the life of one Mary Sutton an Irish woman who had given birth to 8 children. After Mary's death, (in this past life) her alcoholic husband had been unable to care for these eight children and had sent all but one to various foster homes. Jenny travelled to Ireland where she saw various scenes which had been a prominent feature of her dreams and 'flashbacks', she had never been to Ireland before, yet she knew instinctively where certain things were. Jenny managed to trace all the members of her previous life family again, Sonny (the first born) was amazed when Jenny related to him of certain events in his early life of which only his mother (ie Mary Sutton) could have known, how could Jenny Cockell have known all this if she wasn't indeed the Re-incarnated Mary Sutton ? Jenny's feeling of 'unfinished business' was complete, she had managed to piece all the pieces of her mind's incredible imagery together and meet up with her long lost children. Sonny was reported as saying when he first met Jenny, "I can see my mother in her eyes".

This is but one of many cases which have been recorded by others to suggest that we all live again, that we all come back reincarnated in other bodies to either learn from our mistakes, ie correct where we went wrong in a previous life time. There are a number of interesting books written on this subject, each of which provide case after case which serves up to suggest 'that life goes on. Of course let us not forget the trouble that this subject can cause, (!) Glen Hoddle, then boss of the English National side lost his job though some insensitive comments that he made in regards to disabled people when he suggested that they have these disabilities simply because of past life misdemeanors and that they are paying now for sins of the past. Of course he claims he was badly misquoted and that is not what he mean't, for Glen though, the damage had been done and within a matter of hours Glen was 'out on his ear', to which some might say, 'was because of his own past mistakes !!! At the end of the day, evidence can be found if one cares to look for it through the many books on this subject, and that the subject of Reincarnation has some substance to it. There are alternatives of course, I mentioned cryptomnesia and genetic inherited memory, but no matter what, Reincarnation is a subject which merits the most serious of attention and it is one that I feel has enough foundation to suggest that we do indeed 'survive', that life is eternal and that somewhere in this crazy mixed up world lies a divine purpose for each and every one of us.

(C) Malcolm Robinson - SPI England

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