Past Life Memory

The sages of past ages described the rebirth of the soul as occurring after the memories of the past life had been erased, as the ancient Greeks termed it, in the ‘waters of lethe’. They understood that carrying all the past life memories was not actually a benefit, but a burden for the new incarnation, and, in their analysis, they became convinced that these memories were washed away in the interim between death and rebirth.

If we look at our own present lives, we can easily appreciate that memory of our very young childhood is generally absent, or at best, only highlighted scenes survive in our memory. We also can observe that innumerable events, circumstances, meetings, details, etc. are forgotten, or if they can be recalled, it takes time and attention to bring them back before one’s mind. Memory is selective, and is subject to change and bias based on our mind-set, our values and our attention. Even what we believe we remember clearly is subject to challenge as to the details.

With this understanding then, we can appreciate both the rationale and the difficulties involved in reaching even further back to retrieve memories from a past lifetime. Of course, there may be specific circumstances that a soul may choose to carry some memories forward, or even, there may abe situations that cause the normal process to not fully wipe out past memories, but these appear to be rare when we look at the totality of human experience.

Yet there are individuals who undertake certain practices of yogic concentration who are able to trace the line of cause and effect backwards and thereby bring to awareness events of a past life. There are also numerous descriptions of what the Theosophists call the ‘akashic record’ which indicate that there is a type of ‘hall of memories’ that can be accessed by those who have a need to retrieve some memory.

We already acknowledge that past, present and future exist simultaneously through the theory of relativity and even a modest understanding of time-space. The light of the star we see today shined for that star many millions of years ago. What is present for us now is past for that star. What is present for us now is future for some other observer in some other standpoint. Thus, the potential retrieval of memories cannot be absolutely dismissed.

Sri Aurobindo writes: “The departed soul retains the memory of its past experiences only in their essence, not in their form of detail. It is only if the soul brings back some past personality or personalities as part of its present manifestation that it is likely to remember the details of the past life. Otherwise, it is only by Yogadrishti that the memory comes.”

reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Psychic Being — Soul: Its Nature, Mission and Evolution, Section 4 The Afterlife and Rebirth, pg. 148