Review: Many Lives, Many Masters

Through a few synchronicities, I found myself picking up a copy of Dr. Brian Weiss’ classic Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives. In fact, mine is a Japanese translation – it is worldwide famous classic.

Scientist meets reincarnation

Dr. Brian Weiss was the head of the psychiatry department at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach when, in 1980, he met a patient who would change his life. He is also the graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School. Because of his background, he was only interested in things that can be proven scientifically. Not the type who would subscribe to New Age stuffs, you know.

He used conventional psychiatric therapy on this patient for 18 months and saw no real progress. Then he tried hypnotherapy.

What happened was something he found hard to accept as a doctor and scientist: His patient started recalling her past lives during the hypnotherapy. She also pointed out critical facts about his personal life that she had no way to know. Further, she channeled messages from the “masters” that she could connect in the time between physical incarnations.

I am emphasizing his educational and professional background because I know so many people are skeptical about New Age stuff like reincarnation, thinking it is not scientific. While it is not scientifically proven yet, it has been observed by many sane and well-educated scientists like Dr. Weiss.

Why the New Age is not a New Age at all

Dr. Weiss also addresses the issues many people with Christian or Jewish faith have about reincarnation. He explains the historical manipulation to the Bible by Roman Emperor Constantine. According to him, there were descriptions in the Bible until then that support the idea of reincarnation.

I’m glad I read this part because I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who told me that, as a Catholic, she was taught not to believe in reincarnation. Just like churches use to teach not to believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution. (What, they still do?) Until then, I thought many people are skeptical about reincarnation because it is not proven in modern science – I didn’t know there was religious restrictions.

The so-called New Age is not new at all. It is millennium old. It just has been covered up by certain authorities for a long time. We are now rediscovering what our wise ancestors knew both in the eastern and western worlds. (Reincarnation is a basic idea in Buddhism.)

Masters, angels, spirit guides

This book is not only great introduction to past life regression therapy and the idea of reincarnation, but also contains fascinating messages from the “Masters”. Some people may call them angels or spirit guides. These are truly wise messages for life.

Guided by these Masters, Dr. Weiss comes to the realization that each soul chooses the birth setting (time, place, the parents) and the life lessons for the upcoming lifetime. When it completes the lessons, it can leave. Souls need to incarnate as physical beings because there are certain lessons that can only be learned as physical beings.

The meaning of life from the soul’s perspective

This is deep. We usually think of life from the live already-born person’s perspective. Few of us stop and think why we came to be born. We are born already, and before we notice, we are caught up with what’s called life. Most of the time, we are buried in the superficial aspects of life – what to wear to work today, what’s for dinner, what to do this weekend, whether we have enough money, etc. etc.

Even when we have enough resources to realize the importance of setting goals and improving our life and ourselves, we think from the same current perspective – for example, I want to grow my business to certain level so that I can enjoy some material wealth, I want to travel more to see the world firsthand, I want to enrich my social life more, I want to eat healthy and stay fit, etc. etc.

But have we thought about the deeper meaning of life from the soul’s perspective? Why did your soul choose to incarnate this time? What lessons did your soul want to learn in this lifetime? Why did you choose your specific birth setting? How did your birth setting help you learn the lessons you intended to learn? How are you progressing in your lessons? What lessons are left to be learned in this lifetime?

The issue of life and death

Dr. Weiss says the biggest fear of humans is the fear of death, and this understanding – that souls incarnate many times – can alleviate this fear. Maybe. To me, however, I’m more afraid of failing to learn the lessons I have placed on myself before birth. Does that mean I have to live on and on or come back to go through the lessons again in my next lifetime? Like a failed student? (No way!)

I’m seriously reviewing my life progress from the soul’s perspective. This book was like a wakeup call for me. It’s not like I’ve been living lazily without goals – I consider myself to be conscious and awake. But still I feel the need to review the goals themselves from the soul’s perspective.

Embrace The Big Questions Worth Spending Your Life For

(Photo by Michael Dawes)

Are you addicted to the quick and easy answers?

We live in the world of instant gratification. Huge questions of love and life are solved usually within 90 minutes in the movie. There are numerous websites that offer answers of all kinds. Or you can just type a question like “What is the meaning of life?” in Google search box. (Seriously – if you haven’t done this yet, try it and see what you get.)

I’m afraid so many people are getting conditioned to this quick and easy answer system that they have largely given up their right and responsibility to seek answers themselves. I was alarmed when I did the key word research for my article The One Word That’s Sucking Up Your Energy Right Now. Here are some of the questions people often ask to Google using this dis-empowering word SHOULD:

• Who should I vote for?
• Where should I live?
• What career should I choose?
• Who should a Gemini date? *
• Should I stay with my boyfriend?
• What should I do with my life?
• What should I make for dinner?
• What should I write on a headstone?

(* Apparently, Geminis ask this “Who should a (zodiac) date?” question most often, followed by Sagittarius. I’m a Gemini myself, but I have no idea why this is so. Do other Geminis really think the internet can answer this question?)

How the quick and easy answers steal your joy and peace.

Let’s say you ask “What career should I choose?” and Google or your career counselor tells you, probably based on some personality or talent tests, that you should become a teacher. So you become one. Do you think you will be happy and confident with your career? Teaching, like any other professions, comes with lots of challenges – your teenage students are distracted and rebellious, administrators are demanding, and there are so many things to do – and the pay isn’t very good. So?

I’m not saying the teaching is not a good profession. The problem in this example is that the foundation of your choice to become a teacher is so weak. On the other hand, I know several people who left high income jobs to go back to school and became teachers. They chose the teaching career because, through their own experiences and search for the meaningful life, they came to realize they wanted to teach. They are happy with their choice because it is a choice they made consciously. And they have peace in them.

My friend Ken beautifully wrote about the joy we find in our life journey in How I Traded My Life For Future Security And How I’m Getting It Back. Again, the search for answer is as valuable as arriving at the answer.

The more challenging the game, the more fun.

There are cases for quick and easy answers. When I buy an electronic gadget, I want to start using it right away. Reading the long manual is no fun, and I really like it when it comes with “Quick Start” instructions. I can learn about additional features later. For now, I want to get things done with this new gadget and then go out for a walk.

But our life is not like stuffs we buy for consumption. We are in life – where do you want to go after you save time and energy by getting the quick and easy answers on critical questions of your life?

Further, just like certain games, life is more fun with challenges. Ask yourself – do you enjoy a game that you know so well and are 100% sure to win, to the point that you know exactly how you win and finish the game? Would you even bother playing it?

Enjoy bearing the big questions.

Recently, I was exchanging emails with Steve at Brip Blap about I Have A Dream . . .. This article did fine as a blog post, but as a meme, it was a total failure. No one sent me articles. Steve asked me if it’s too late to submit his article, so I replied, “You are welcome to participate any time, but let me ask you – do you think the project was too grandiose? Or did I not market it enough?” He says that the project is great but it does take some time to write because it requires good thinking. And in this busy world, few people takes time to think even when they know it is something worth thinking.

Hmm. . . How can I make sense of this? I conclude it was great if the post inspired some people to think about the big dreams of life. It’s okay they didn’t get the answers quickly. Keep asking yourself the big questions.

It’s not just the question of your dream. Find and embrace big questions that are worth spending your life for. Carry the questions, check back often, while you live and enjoy your journey.

I Have A Dream. . .

(Photo by zen)

Said Martin Luther King, Jr. in his speech that changed the consciousness of many Americans.

That was August 28, 1963, and his dream was “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” This is an outstanding example of the power of words.

Do you have a dream? Join the “I Have A Dream” Project.

There is an old word in Japanese that means Spirit of Words (kotodama). People believed that spoken words have power to manifest by this Spirit. Make an inspiring speech and it has the power to bring it to reality, beyond the logical mechanics of persuasion and instruction.

So, in honor of the mysterious Spirit and late MLK, I am suggesting a meme called “I Have A Dream. . .” Please let me know when you post your article for this project, and I will add your name and link to this post.

Honestly, I feel like such a big head to start a project after the MLK speech. I am not into political movement – my main intentions are about my personal life, just like you. However, I really think this practice of dreaming big is good for us. Dreaming big is about thinking in terms of possibilities, not probabilities. For this reason, I recommend this practice especially to aspiring entrepreneurs. Of course, everyone is welcome. Please read about the prize and rules for entry at the end of this article.

My Dream
I have a dream that one day, every one of us will wake up in the morning feeling strong and inspired, knowing he or she is living toward their special life purpose. I sense that this is already starting to happen, but we need to bring it up to our clear consciousness.

When this dream actualizes, we will no longer need to distract ourselves from our inner emptiness with things like substances, gambling, and unnecessary luxuries. We will celebrate the joy of life with our friends, and we may serve drinks on such occasions, but we will not drink to distract us from unhappy daily life. Likewise, we will enjoy nice things for their niceness, but we will not need them to disguise the feeling of loss. We will know firsthand the joy and contentment of life with purpose.

Each of us are part of the Whole, yet have a special purpose. When we realize this, we will stop comparing ourselves with others. We will no longer need to compete against our own friends. We will know what it is to love ourselves and others.

When we realize our life purpose, and feel the sense of direction to live toward the purpose, we will have the courage to start doing the things that we previously felt overwhelmed to try, such as starting our own businesses. We will see life as an adventurous journey.

I have a dream. It is a huge dream, and yet it starts with each one of us. Image what the world will be like when this dream come true.

For your thoughts
Check out the movie trailer of The Shift here. (HT to Todd at We The Change) This is another big dream – that needs to happen.

Prize
Just to make it more fun, I am offering a movie DVD to one winner. I wish I could offer The Shift, but this movie is not out yet, so I picked What the Bleep Do We Know!?.

Please post your article and let me know about it by the end of May. Also, I ask my readers to please leave your comments what you think about the posts and which one you like best. With reference to the comments, I will pick 6 finalists, and then randomly pick one winner.

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