Most people are familiar with the doctrine of life after death through the survival of the soul. The idea is that a person has some immortal soul which survives death, and that after you die your soul will go to some kind of postmortal realm, perhaps some kind of heaven. An idea that fewer people are familiar with is the idea of the soul's pre-existence in some non-earthly realm. This is the idea that your soul did not start to exist here on Earth, but started to exist somewhere else long before you were born. According to such an idea:
(1) You once existed in some non-earthly realm, which may have been some kind of heaven or paradise;
(2) For some reason you then came to live here on Earth as a flesh-and-blood human;
(3) After you die you will then return to that place where you dwelled before being born here on our planet.
The doctrine of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence should not be confused with the doctrine of reincarnation. Reincarnation is the doctrine that your soul has experienced multiple earthly lifetimes in multiple bodies living at different times. The doctrine of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence is the doctrine that you lived before this earthly life, but in some place other than planet Earth, perhaps some heaven or paradise. A believer in the doctrine of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence can either believe or disbelieve in the doctrine of reincarnation. Such a person could believe that his soul originated in some realm other than Earth, and that such a soul has had one and only one incarnation here on planet Earth, the person's present earthly life. Or such a person could believe that he or she has had multiple incarnations here on planet Earth, which would be a belief rather like (or the same as) the belief in reincarnation.
Although we currently lack any airtight "good as gold" evidence for such a hypothesis, and the doctrine may or may not be true, I can think of six reasons for believing in the doctrine of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence:
(1) The doctrine might help explain the hard-to-explain acquisition of language by young children. Linguists such as Noam Chomsky have drawn attention to a "poverty of stimulus" dilemma in regard to language acquisition: that young children seem to learn a language and its grammar without being exposed to sufficient examples that would explain such language acquisition. This "poverty of stimulus" dilemma doubles when we consider the case of children who become fluent in two different languages before the age of five, such as two I know who became fluent in both Chinese and English (two languages with different grammar rules) by the age of three or four. If we imagine that souls may have practiced earthly languages in some state where they existed before birth, this might help explain the riddle of how children can learn two languages at an early age despite a "poverty of stimulus."
(2) The philosophical problem called the problem of evil may be greatly lessened if we imagine the soul's non-earthly pre-existence. It could be that each of us existed in blissful happiness for very many years before coming to Earth, and that each of us chose to come to Earth and face its risk and pains, for the sake of some higher purpose. Clearly such possibilities lessen the problem of evil. For example, if I consider only the earthly life of Anne Frank, I may have a "problem of evil" dilemma. But suppose I hypothesize that Anne Frank's earthly life was preceded by a million years of her heavenly bliss, and that she chose to come to Earth and to face difficulties like those she faced. Then the problem of evil seems to shrink.
(3) There are some anecdotal reports of very young children saying they existed in some non-earthly state before living on Earth, and some of these children have apparently claimed that they selected their own parents. However, evidence of this type seems to be scattered and sparse. An example of such accounts can be found in the scientific paper "Paranormal Aspects of Pre-Existence Memories in Young Children" which can be read here or here.
(4) One PhD using hypnosis on adults has claimed to have found evidence for the non-earthly pre-existence of the soul. For more information, see the book Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton PhD (which can be read on www.archive.org using this link).
(5) People having near-death experiences often report going to some unearthly heavenly kind of realm, and also having some thought that they were "returning to their true home," rather than seeing such a place for the first time. For example, in the first episode of the Netflix series "Surviving Death," a woman who had a near-death experience while kayaking (supposedly deprived of oxygen for many minutes) says at the 5:40 mark, "I believe I was in heaven," and "I had an overwhelming sense of being home." Similarly, a woman named Karen who had a near-death experience said, "It felt like I was returning home." At the end of this post I will quote many more accounts of this type, in which people having near-death experiences report a feeling of "returning home" upon encountering some mystical or heavenly realm
(6) I have had quite a few dreams suggesting the idea of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence (in addition to more than two hundred dreams suggesting the more general idea of life after death). Below are some examples:
- I dreamed my late father asked (?) if I could go to some home where I had previously lived, saying that my late grandmother now lived there. I'm not sure whether it was an asking to make such a trip or a prediction of such a trip. The home may have symbolized some postmortal realm, particularly given the assertion that my late grandmother now lives there. Because it was stated that I had previously lived in such a place, the dream may hint at the doctrine of pre-existence (that souls live in some heavenly realm before they come to live on Earth).
- I dreamed I was crossing a kind of floral boundary line marking the border between two different homeowner's yards. Looking at the yard I was entering, I was thinking, "I've lived there before." Crossing over into the other yard I saw a smiling woman who seemed to greet me. Crossing over to the other side of this boundary may have represented crossing a boundary between earthly life and an afterlife, often referred to as the Other Side. The thought that I've lived there before may suggest the idea of the pre-existence of the soul in some heavenly realm.
- I dreamed that I walked up some ascending walkway to reach some high place where there were joyous people having fun and playing music. I saw a little girl who was having fun playing with colorful sprinkles. I said to the girl, "Princess, we have been drawn away from this place by our duties, but we will return to it one day." In the dream I gently took the little girl's hand, and walked away with her. The dream may symbolize the idea of a blissful heavenly pre-existence, followed by an earthly life involving the carrying out of duties, followed by a return to the heavenly state.
- I dreamed that I was driving a car, next to a toll gate on a bridge. There were two lanes, and I realized I was in the wrong lane. So I did a short U-turn to get into the right lane, the lane with the toll gate. The toll was $98. Because I was first in the lane opposite the lane with the toll gate, the dream implies I had previously come across the bridge, and was now going to cross the bridge in the other direction to return to where I had come from. The bridge may symbolize the border between this earthly life and some afterlife realm (on the Other Side). The dream may symbolize not only an afterlife (going to some Other Side) but also pre-existence before birth in the same afterlife realm (because the dream implies that I previously crossed the bridge).
- I dreamed that I was on a bus heading to some library, with the idea that I had once lived next to the library. The ride may represent a return to some heavenly place of great knowledge where I had existed before an earthly life (the idea of pre-existence). On the same day I dreamed of a baseball batter hitting a homer and rounding the bases, with clear imagery of the discarding of the bat. The trip ending up at home plate may represent the same idea of pre-existence (return to a heavenly home where you once existed), and the discarding of the bat may represent a discarding of a human body at death by a soul that no longer needs it.
- I dreamed I came to some office where someone said that the last time I was at the office I had dropped on the floor many pages of information and some cash, and that such things had been saved for me, so that I could receive them when I returned. The dream may symbolize the idea that upon leaving some heavenly pre-existence to come and be born on Earth, a person may lose memories of such a pre-existence, which are then restored when the person returns to such a heaven after dying.
- I dreamed that a woman driven in a car over a river bridge (from the other side of a river) got out of the car, and said she had to walk about sixty blocks before she could reach home. Each of the sixty blocks may symbolize a year of life, and the "reaching home" after such a journey may symbolize a return to some postmortal state (on the Other Side) that the soul may have previously inhabited during some non-earthly pre-existence.
- I had a dream in which I got a bus back home quickly, but some young people had to wait a long time before getting their bus back home. Because those having near-death experiences often report encountering some heavenly realm which they thought of as their "real home," you could interpret this getting a "bus back home" as reaching an afterlife realm after death (a person as old as me getting such a trip fairly soon, and young people having to wait a long time before getting such a trip). If a soul previously existed in some non-earthly realm, that realm may be regarded as its "true home."
- On one night I had three dreams involving travel. In one I was waiting for a train, and in another I was in car about to go on a long trip. The dream most suggestive of life after death involved me in a bus, being driven across a bridge to its Other Side, with the bus then dropping me off at a spot that I recognized as my home (another repetition of the "going home" motif constantly occurring in my dreams, with "home" possibly representing some afterlife destination where souls may have previously existed before coming to this earth).
- I dreamed that I was an Allied soldier in Nazi-occupied Italy, trying to get back home. In the dream I found a boat yard near a river, and stole a kayak, trying to use the kayak to get back home. This was another repetition of a "crossing the river" motif I often get in dreams, which may symbolize the barrier between life and death that leads to some Other Side that is like my "real home," perhaps because I lived there before during some non-earthly pre-existence. On the same night I had another "trying to get back home" dream, which also had a "blockage" motif that I often get in dreams.
- I dreamed I was hiding in the woods as some of the Bad Guys passed by. Then in the dream I remembered a place I had once lived, some magnificent building where I had seemingly enjoyed perfect happiness and safety. I had the idea that I must go back to that place, and beg the current owners to let me live there again, so I could again enjoy such happiness and safety. The part about the woods may have symbolized the danger of earthly living. The magnificent previous home may have symbolized some heavenly realm where each of us enjoyed a pre-existence of perfect happiness and safety before coming to live on this planet, a realm to which we will all one day return.
- I had a dream I was at my home, looking at an open trash can that had at its top a discarded envelope. The envelope was for a letter that I had sent to England, and which had been returned to me unopened. Only the envelope was in the trash, not the letter. The discarded envelope seems to symbolize the idea that when we die we discard a body that is a mere envelope for the soul. The round trip of the letter (going on a long journey and returning back to its home and source of origin) may symbolize the idea that after death a soul returns to its heavenly source, possibly (according to the idea of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence) a place where it lived before (its real home).
- I dreamed I took a jet to Heidelberg, Germany, and in the dream I recalled a part of Sigmund Romberg's song "When It's Summertime in Heidelberg," which portrays an idyllic place where "there's beauty everywhere" and "every day is like a holiday." The dream may have symbolized a journey to some afterlife paradise. Because I was born not very far from Heidelberg, the dream may also symbolize the idea of returning to some idyllic place where I once existed, which meshes with the idea of the non-earthly pre-existence of the soul.
- I dreamed that I left some tall skyscraper where I worked or lived, but then I returned to the building's ground-floor lobby. I was worried that I did not have the ID card needed for entrance, but found that I did have it in a bent shape. The "high altitude" destination reached by an elevator may signify some heavenly realm where my soul once lived (the idea of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence, suggested in 10+ other dreams I have had). The alteration of the ID card may signify some mind-bending alteration of the self that occurs when a person returns to his heavenly home upon dying.
- I dreamed that it was a dark stormy night, and that I was supposed to meet my daughters outside, but I had no coat. I thought that after meeting my daughters I should just go home. The dark stormy night may represent death. The lack of the coat may represent the shedding of the bodily exterior at death, leaving only the soul behind. The brief meeting with my daughters may symbolize some ghost appearance I might make after dying. The "going home" (a motif repeating countless times in my dreams) may symbolize return of the soul to some heavenly home where it once existed (again, the idea of the soul's non-earthly pre-existence).
- I dreamed that a man was leaving the building where he worked, going back home. The security guard in the front lobby said something about not leaving a mess, and so before the leaving man left he gathered up some newspapers and put them in a plastic bag (one about four times longer than its width). The "leaving work and going home" part may have symbolized dying and returning to some "heavenly home" where a person's soul may have originated (according to the idea of the non-earthly pre-existence of the soul). The placing of the newspapers (information) in a plastic bag may have symbolized a death event in which information (in a body's DNA) is put into a body bag. Plastic body bags (about four times longer than their width) are used whenever a body is stored in a morgue.
- I dreamed that I awoke sleeping outdoors in a dangerous spot very close to the tracks of trains that were speeding by. Then, strangely, I had a bicycle which I returned to a woman and a child, saying, "Sorry I slept with your bike." In the dream I then realized I was on some trip to some city far away from my home, and that the trip was almost over, and that I would soon go home. The "dangerous sleep" element of the dream may symbolize dying during sleep. The "giving back the vehicle" element may signify shedding at death my body, widely regarded as a vehicle for the soul (legally bikes are considered vehicles). The trip far from home may signify my earthly life, and the return to home (an extremely frequent motif in my dreams) may signify going back after death to some heavenly home where my soul may have existed before my earthly life.
- I dreamed that upon arriving in some distant city, I reminded myself to make sure to book a flight back home. The "flight back home" part may symbolize the ascent of a soul at death to return to some heavenly home where such a soul may have previously existed before living on Earth. Similarly, in two other dreams I was waiting to get a bus back home. (After this post was published I dreamed of packing up bags and taking a flight back home, to the other side of the ocean, which may have symbolized the Other Side of an afterlife.)
- I dreamed I reached some snowy location where I saw my late father and my late firstborn sister. There was the idea that I was returning home. My sister said that my coat was seeming to unravel. The unraveling of the coat may have symbolized dissolution of the earthly body at death. The returning home idea may have been another repetition of the idea that in an afterlife people return to some realm where they existed before birth.
- I dreamed I crossed over to the other side of the street, to return a book I had borrowed from a library, at the deadline for returning the book. The deadline may represent death, and the crossing over may represent returning to some Other Side where my soul had once been (before birth). The book may represent my soul, which may have been kind of "borrowed from heaven" according to the idea of the nonearthly preexistence of the soul. On the same night I dreamed I was in a school class, being asked by the teacher to give the answer to some complex question. Confident that I had written down the answer on one of the pages on my desk, I searched my pages, but could not find the answer. We have a "you had the answer, but you lost it" motif. Perhaps the answer represents an answer to some great philosophical question, which may have been known by my soul before coming to Earth, but which was lost upon my birth on this planet.
- I dreamed I was on a short trip to the USA, after crossing the ocean, which is strange because I live in the USA. Then I returned home to some unspecified place, thinking kind of "That little trip was a joke." The dream is consistent with the idea that we all come from some heavenly place that is our real home, and that this earthly life is just a comparatively brief trip away from such an eternal home.
- I dreamed I was in a movie theater late at night. Suddenly I found myself sliding down a spiral slide of between three and five stories. It was great fun. Sliding down the slide, I quickly found myself out of the building. Now I saw the theater was dark, with its lights off. "Time to go home," I thought. The "lights off" in the building may have symbolized physical death. The thrilling sudden exit may have symbolized an exciting exit of the soul from a body. The "going home" part is a motif that is extremely common in my dreams (and in near-death experiences), and may symbolize a return to some heavenly state where a soul existed prior to its earthly existence.
- I dreamed that while driving a car, I saw my late father driving a car. There was the idea that I should follow his car, and that we would meet for dinner to celebrate my good report card. But the road got confusing, and I wasn't able to follow him. Then I thought, "I should just go home; I'll see him there." As I discuss here in my dreams (and in many near-death experiences) "home" seems to symbolize some afterlife realm (possibly where souls may have existed before coming to Earth), and this dream fits in with such an idea (as my father is deceased).
- There is an association between the idea of going home and the idea of heaven, with those having near-death experiences often reporting a feeling that they were "back home." I dreamed I was returning to a previous residence where I long lived and spent many summer vacations, so there was a "going home" motif. But in my dream the place had many waterfalls. When I have tried to visualize heaven, I have often imagined it as a place with many waterfalls.
Any thoughts on PhD Helen Wambach's reincarnation evidence?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI see www.archive.org has several books by Wambach, including a "Life Before Life" book relevant to this discussion. At the page below she describes asking hypnotized patients "I want you to go now into the time just before you were born into your current lifetime. Are you choosing to be born?" But there's a problem with that kind of technique, which is that people are very suggestible under hypnosis. I've read 19th century reports saying things along the lines that you could tell a hypnotized person a noodle was a big snake, and he might hide in terror under a table. So I'm not sure whether you would get anything reliable from asking questions so suggestive to hypnotized people. But I'll look some more at Wambach's books, to see whether I can find anything relevant to this post. https://archive.org/details/lifebeforelife00hele/page/17/mode/1up
DeleteWhen I was a kid I was saying that I come from The World of Happiness and Powers. Also, I was saying that I had a friend there name Glisten. The fascinating thing is that I'm romanian, so I had no idea of english language. Later on when I learned english I was surprised to find out what the word Glisten means. Maybe is all just cherry-picking. But who knows... maybe it means something.
ReplyDelete