Many Lives, Many Masters
Dr Brian Weiss
THE TRUE STORY of a prominent psychiatrist, his young patient and the past-life therapy that changed both of their lives
Chapter 15
Two months after our last session , Catherine called and scheduled an appointment. She said she had something very interesting to tell me.
When she walked into the office, the presence of the new Catherine, happy , smiling, and radiating an inner peace that made her glow, briefly surprised me. For a moment, I thought about the old Catherine and how far she had come in such a very short time.
Catherine had gone to see Iris Saltzman, a well-known psychic astrologer who specialized in past-life readings. I was a little surprised, but I understood Catherine's curiosity and her need to seek some added confirmation for what she had experienced. I was glad she had the confidence to do this.
Catherine had recently heard about Iris from a friend. She had called and made an appointment without telling Iris about anything that had transpired in my office.
Iris had asked her only for die date, time, and place of her birth. From this, Iris explained to her, she would construct a n astrological wheel that, in conjunction with Iris's intuitive gifts, would enable her to discern details from Catherine's past lives.
This was Catherine's first experience with a psychic, and she really didn't know what to expect. To her amazement , Iris validated most of what Catherine had discovered under hypnosis.
Iris gradually worked herself into an altered state by talking and by making notations on the hastily constructed astrological graph. Minutes after she had entered this state, Iris reached for her own throat and announced that Catherine had been strangled and had had her throat cut in a previous life . The throat cutting had been in a time of war , and Iris could see flames and destruction in the village many centuries ago. She said that Catherine had been a young man at the time of his death.
Iris's eyes appeared glazed as she next described Catherine as a young male dressed in a naval uniform, with short black pants and shoes with odd buckles on them. Suddenly Iris grabbed her left hand and felt a throbbing pain, exclaiming that something sharp had entered and damaged the hand, leaving a permanent scar. There were large sea battles, and the location was off the English coast. She went on to describe a life of sailing.
Iris described more fragments of lifetimes . There was a brief life in Paris, where Catherine was again a boy and had died young, in poverty. Another time she was a female American Indian on the southwest Florida coast During this life time she was a healer and walked around barefoot She was dark skinned and had odd eyes. She would apply ointments to wounds and give herbal medicines, and she was very psychic. She loved to wear blue stone jewelry, a lot of lapis, with a red stone intertwined.
In another lifetime Catherine was Spanish and had lived as a prostitute. Her name began with the letter L. She lived with an older man.
In another life she was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy father who had many titles. Iris saw the family crest on mugs in the large house . She said that Catherine was very fair and had long, tapering fingers. She played the harp. Her marriage was arranged. Catherine loved animals, especially horses, and she treated the animals better than the people around her.
In a brief lifetime she was a young Moroccan boy who died of an illness in his youth. Once she lived in Haiti, speaking the language and involved in magical practices.
In an ancient lifetime she was Egyptian and was involved in the burial rites of that culture. She was a female with braided hair.
She had several lifetimes in France and Italy . In one, she lived in Florence and was involved with religion. She later moved to Switzerland, where she was involved with a monastery. She was a female and had two sons. She was fond of gold and gold sculpture, and she wore a gold cross. In France she had been imprisoned in a cold and dark place.
In another life , Iris saw Catherine as a male in a red uniform, involved with horses and soldiers. The uniform was red and gold, probably Russian . In yet another lifetime she was a Nubian slave in ancient Egypt. At one point she was captured and thrown into jail. In still another life, Catherine was a male in Japan, involved with books and teaching, very scholarly. She worked with schools and lived to an old age.
And, finally, there was a more recent life as a German soldier who was killed in battle.
I was fascinated by the detailed accuracy of these past-life events as described by Iris. The correspondence to Catherine's own recall while under hypnotic regression was startling - Christian's hand injury while in the naval battle and the description of his clothes and shoes ; Louisa's life as a Spanish prostitute; Aronda and the Egyptian burials; Johan, the young raider whose throat was cut by a previous incarnation of Stuart while Stuart's village had burned ; Eric , the doomed German pilot; and so on.
There were also correspondences to Catherine's present life. For example, Catherine love blue stone jewelry, especially lapis lazuli. She was not wearing any , however , during her reading with Iris . She had always loved animals , especially horses and cats , feeling safer with them than with people . And, if she could pick one place in the world to visit, it would be Florence.
By no means would I call this experience a valid scientific experiment. I had no way of controlling the variables. But it happened, and I think it is important to relate it here.
I am not sure what occurred that day. Perhaps Iris unconsciously used telepathy and "read" Catherine's mind, since the past lifetimes were already in Catherine' s subconscious. Or perhaps Iris really was able to discern past-life information by the use of her psychic abilities. However it was done, the two of them obtained the same information by different means. What Catherine had arrived at through hypnotic regression, Iris had reached through psychic channels.
Very few people would be able to do what Iris did. Many people who call themselves psychics are merely capitalizing on people's fears as well as their curiosity about the unknown. Today, "psychic " hacks and fakes seem to be coming out of the woodwork. The popularity of books such as Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb has brought forth a torrent of new "trance mediums. " Many rove around , advertising their presence locally, and they sit in a "trance " telling an enraptured and awestruck audience such platitudes as "If you are not in harmony with nature, nature will not be in harmony with you." These pronouncements are usually intoned in a voice quite different from the "medium's " own, often tinged with a foreign accent of some sort. The messages are vague and applicable to a wide variety of people. Often the messages deal principally with the spiritual dimensions , which are difficult to evaluate. It is important to weed out the false from the true so that the field is not discredited. Serious behavioral scientists are needed to do this important work. Psychiatrists are necessary to make diagnostic assessments, to rule out mental illness, malingering (faking) , and sociopath (conning ) tendencies. Statisticians, psychologists, and physicists are also vital for these evaluations and for further testing.
The important strides that are going to be made in this field will be made using scientific methodology. In science, a hypothesis, which is a preliminary assumption made about a series of observations, is initially created to explain a phenomenon. From there, the hypothesis must be tested under controlled conditions. The results of these tests must be prove d and replicated before a theory can be formed. Once the scientists have what they think is a sound theory, it must be tested again and again by other researchers, and the results should be the same.
The detailed, scientifically acceptable studies of Dr. Joseph B. Rhine at Duke University, of Dr. Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia, Department of Psychiatry, of Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler at the College of the City of New York, and of many other serious researchers prove that this can be done.
Chapter 16
Almost four years have passed since Catherine and I shared this incredible experience. It has changed us both profoundly.
On occasion, she drops into my office to say hello or to discuss a problem that she is having. She has never had the need nor the desire to be regressed again, either to deal with a symptom or to find out how new people in her life may have related to her in the past. Our work is done. Catherine is now free to fully enjoy her life , no longer crippled by her disabling symptoms. She has found a sense of happiness and contentment that she never thought was possible. She no longer fears illness or death. Life has a meaning and purpose for her now that she is balanced and in harmony with herself. She radiates an inner peace that many wish for but few attain. She feels more spiritual. To Catherine, what has happened is all very real. She does not doubt the veracity of any of it, and she accepts it all as an integral part of who she is. She has no interest in pursuing the study of psychic phenomena, feeling that she "knows " in a way that cannot be learned from books or lectures. People who are dying or who have a family member dying often seek her out . They seem drawn to her. She sits and talks to them, and they feel better.
My life has changed almost as drastically as Catherine's. I have become more intuitive, more aware of the hidden, secret parts of my patients, colleagues, and friends. I seem to know a great deal about them, even before I should. My values and life goals have shifted to a more humanistic, less accumulative focus. Psychics, mediums, healers, and others appear in my life with increasing frequency, and I have started to systematically evaluate their abilities. Carole has developed along with me. She has become particularly skillful in death-and-dying counseling, and she now runs support groups for patients dying from AIDS.
I have begun to meditate, something that, until recently, I thought only Hindus and Californians practiced. The lessons transmitted through Catherine have become a conscious part of my daily life. Remembering the deeper meaning of life, and of death as a natural part of life, I have become more patient, more empathic , more loving. I also feel more responsible for my actions, the negative as well as the lofty . I know there will be a price to pay . What goes around truly does come around.
I still write scientific papers, lecture at professional meetings, and run the Department of Psychiatry . But now I straddle two worlds: the phenomenal world of the five senses, represented by our bodies and physical needs; and the greater world of the nonphysical planes, represented by our souls and spirits. I know that the worlds are connected, that all is energy. Yet they often seem so far apart. My job is to connect the worlds, to carefully and scientifically document their unity.
My family has flourished. Carole and Amy have turned out to have above-average psychic abilities, and we playfully encourage the further development of these skills. Jordan has become a powerful and charismatic teenager, a natural leader. I am finally becoming less serious. And I sometimes have unusual dreams.
During the several months after Catherine's last session, a peculiar tendency had begun to appear during my sleep . I would sometimes have a vivid dream, during which I would either be listening to a lecture or asking questions of the lecturer. The teacher's name in the dream was Philo. Upon awakening, I would sometimes remember some of the material discussed and jot it down . I am including a few examples here. The first was a lecture, and I recognized the influence of the messages from the Masters.
". . . Wisdom is achieved very slowly. This is because intellectual knowledge , easily acquired , must be transformed into 'emotional,' or subconscious , knowledge. Once transformed, the imprint is permanent. Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction. Without action, the concept will wither and fade. Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough.
"Balance and harmony are neglected today, yet they are the foundations of wisdom. Everything is done to excess. People are overweight because they eat excessively . Joggers neglect aspects of themselves and others because they run excessively . People seem excessively mean . They drink too much , smoke too much, carouse too much (or too little) , talk too much without content, worry too much. There is too much black-or-white thinking. All or none. This is not the way of nature.
"In nature there is balance. Beasts destroy in small amounts. Ecological systems are not eliminated en masse. Plants are consumed and then grow. The sources of sustenance are dipped into and then replenished. The flower is enjoyed , the fruit eaten, the root preserved.
"Humankind has not learned about balance, let alone practiced it. It is guided by greed and ambition , steered by fear. In this way it will eventually destroy itself. But nature will survive; at least the plants will.
"Happiness is really rooted in simplicity. The tendency to excessiveness in thought and action diminishes happiness. Excesses cloud basic values. Religious people tell us that happiness comes from filling one's heart with love , from faith and hope, from practicing charity and dispensing kindness. They actually are right. Given those attitudes, balance and harmony usually follow. These are collectively a state of being. In these days, they are an altered state of consciousness. It is as if humankind were not in its natural state while on earth . It must reach an altered state in order to fill itself with love and charity and simplicity, to feel purity, to rid itself of its chronic fearfulness. [Shrooms are good 4 this DC]
"How does one reach this altered state, this other value system? And once reached , how can it be sustained? The answer appears to be simple. It is the common denominator of all religions. Humankind is immortal, and what we are doing now is learning out lessons. We are all in school. It is so simple if you can believe in immortality.
"If a part of humankind is eternal, and there is much evidence and history to think so, then why are we doing such bad things to ourselves ? Why do we step on and over others for our personal 'gain' when actually we're flunking the lesson ? We all seem to be going to the same place ultimately , albeit at different speeds. No one is greater than another.
"Consider the lessons. Intellectually the answers have always been there, but this need to actualize by experience, to make the subconscious imprint permanent by 'emotionalizing' and practicing the concept, is the key. Memorizing in Sunday School is not good enough. Lip service without the behavior has no value. It is easy to read about or to talk about love and charity and faith. But to do it, to feel it, almost requires an altered state of consciousness. Not the transient state induced by drugs, alcohol, or unexpected emotion. The permanent state is reached by knowledge and understanding. It is sustained by physical behavior, by act and deed, by practice. It is taking something nearly mystical and transforming it to everyday familiarity by practice, making it a habit.
"Understand that no one is greater than another. Feel it. Practice helping another. We are all rowing the same boat. If we don' t pull together, our plants are going to be awfully lonely."
On another night, in a different dream I was asking a question. "How is it that you say all are equal , yet the obvious contradictions smack us in the face: inequalities in virtues, temperances, finances, rights, abilities and talents, intelligence, mathematical aptitude, ad infinitum?"
The answer was a metaphor.
"It is as if a large diamond were to be found inside each person. Picture a diamond a foot long. The diamond has a thousand facets, but the facets are covered with dirt and tar. It is the job of the soul to clean each facet until the surface is brilliant and can reflect a rainbow of colors.[Blood River has me wondering how the folks in the Congo would take to all this? DC]
"Now, some have cleaned many facets and gleam brightly. Others have only managed to clean a few; they do not sparkle so. Yet, underneath the dirt, each person possesses within his or her breast a brilliant diamond with a thousand gleaming facets. The diamond is perfect, not one flaw. The only differences among people are the number of facets cleaned. But each diamond is the same, and each is perfect.
"When all the facets are cleaned and shining forth in a spectrum of lights , the diamond returns to the pure energy that it was originally. The lights remain. It is as if the process that goes into making the diamond is reversed , all that pressure released. The pure energy exists in the rainbow of lights, and the lights possess consciousness and knowledge.
"And all of the diamonds are perfect."
Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers simple.
"What am I to do? " I was asking in a dream. " I know I can treat and heal people in pain. They come to me in numbers beyond what I can handle. I am so tired. Yet can I say no when they are so needy and I can help them? Is it right to say 'No, enough already?' "
"Your role is not to be a lifeguard" was the answer.
The last example I will cite was a message to other psychiatrists. I awakened about six in the morning from a dream where I was giving a lecture, in this instance to a vast audience of psychiatrists.
"In the rush toward the medicalization of psychiatry, it is important that we do not abandon the traditional, albeit sometimes vague, teachings of our profession. We are the ones who still talk to our patients, patiently and with compassion. We still take the time to do this. We promote the conceptual understanding of illness, healing with understanding and the induced discovery of self-knowledge, rather than just with laser beams. We still use hope to heal.
"In this day and age , other branches of medicine are finding these traditional approaches to healing much too inefficient, time-consuming, and unsubstantiated . They prefer technology to talk, computer-generated blood chemistries to the personal physician-patient chemistry, which heals the patient and provides satisfaction to the doctor. Idealistic, ethical, personally gratifying approaches to medicine lose ground to economic, efficient, insulating, and satisfaction-destroying approaches. As a result, our colleagues feel increasingly isolated and depressed. Th patients feel rushed and empty, uncared for.
"We should avoid being seduced by high technology .Rather, we should be the role models for our colleagues. We should demonstrate how patience , understanding , and compassion help both patient and physician. Taking more time to talk, to teach, to awaken hope and the expectation of recovery—these half-forgotten qualities of the physician as healer— these we must always use ourselves and be an example to our fellow physicians.
"High technology is wonderful in research and to promote the understanding of human illness and disease . It can be an invaluable clinical tool , but it can. never replace those inherently personal characteristics and methods of the true physician. Psychiatry can be the most dignified of the medical specialties. We are the teachers. We should not abandon this role for the sake of assimilation, especially not now."
I still have such dreams, although only occasionally. Often, in meditation, or sometimes while driving on the highway, or even while daydreaming , phrases and thoughts and visualizations will pop into my mind. These often seem very different from my conscious and usual way of thinking or conceptualizing. They are frequently very timely and solve questions or problems I am having. I use them in therapy and in my everyday life. I consider these phenomena to be an expansion of my intuitive abilities, and I am heartened by them. To me , they are signs that I am headed in the right direction, even if I have a long way to go.
I listen to my dreams and intuitions. When I do , things seem to fall into place. When I do not, something invariably goes awry.
I still feel the Masters around me . I do not know for sure whether my dreams and intuitions are influenced by them, but I suspect so.
source
http://www.tgot.org/images/1_File-PDF-MLMM.pdf
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