In this chapter we will look at several past-life remembering techniques that involve self-hypnosis. Unlike past-life meditations, the self-hypnotic techniques described in this chapter generally do not result in an immediate past-life recollection. Rather, they are designed to encourage the mind to remember past-life memories in the form of intuitive flashes throughout the day and occasionally in the form of dreams during sleep.
They are also very safe and gradual methods for recalling past lives as they allow the inner self to retain control of both the subject matter and the timing of the appearance of these memories.
I have not included any information about how to hypnotize another individual, because I feel that is a process best done by a trained professional. There will be more on this subject in the chapter on finding a past-life therapist.
What follows is the basic technique for self-hypnosis for past-life recollection.
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Step 1—Choose a place to perform the technique As with meditation, you should perform self-hypnosis in a room where you feel completely comfortable and will not be interrupted. It is easier to enter a state of light trance if the room is fairly warm. Until you become proficient in entering a light trance, you should choose an object on which to fix your attention. It may be a spot on the ceiling or wall, a fire in a fireplace, an image turning around and around on a phonograph record, a sparkling crystal pendant, or even just a burning candle.
Step 2—Focus your attention on the object and relax After making yourself comfortable, fix your attention on the object (for the sake of this exercise we'll use a candle), and start to regulate your breathing until your exhalations are deep, long, and relaxed. Try to shut out all other thoughts as you focus on nothing but the flickering candle, its warmth and bright-ness, and the glowing nimbus of light surrounding it. Tell yourself: "As I watch this candle flame I'm going to become more and more relaxed. All tension is draining out of my body, and my eyelids are becoming heavy.
Soon they will be so heavy that I will no longer be able to keep them open."
Step 3—Close your eyes and imagine that all tension is leaving your body After a minute or two of meditating on the candle flame, and after you start to be lulled by the flickering flame, say, "Now I am going to sink into a deep state of relaxation." Then close your eyes and move your concentration slowly through your body, making sure everything is relaxed. Feel your toes become relaxed. Feel all tension seep out of your legs, arms, neck, and shoulders. Let your back and facial muscles relax.
Step 4—Visualize yourself descending a set of stairs As soon as you feel very calm and relaxed, tell yourself, "Now I am going to go deeper into a state of hypnosis." When you say this, visualize yourself walking down a circular staircase and continue to say "deeper, deeper," as you descend the stairs.
After you have moved partway down the stairs, imagine that you only have ten more steps to go. Visualize your feet as they continue to go
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down ... down ... and count backwards from ten, giving each step a number. Imagine that you reach the foot of the steps when you reach
"one" and that when you look before you, there is a comfortable room and a bed awaiting you. You walk over to the bed, and the moment you lie down on it, you feel a pleasant, sinking feeling as if you are whisked off into an even more deep and relaxed state. As you continue to lie in the bed, you feel more relaxed and more enclosed by a protective and peaceful darkness than you have ever felt.
Step 5—Tell yourself that soon you will remember something about one of your past lives Once you are comfortably ensconced in this darkness, tell yourself either aloud or mentally, "Now, I am in a deep state of hypnosis. When I awaken, I will be fully relaxed and refreshed. Sometime during the next several weeks I am going to remember something about one of my past lives. I will recall a memory that I will feel very comfortable with and which will teach me something that it is important for me to know in this life." After giving yourself this suggestion, repeat it once or twice, slowly and gently, just to make sure your unconscious mind has received the message. Then, just continue to relax for a while. When you are ready to come out of your light trance, tell yourself, "Now I am going to wake up. I am going to count to ten, and when I reach ten, I will be fully refreshed and awake." Then count yourself back out.
Remember to perform this procedure slowly, giving yourself at least ten or twenty minutes to go through the steps. Although you may get results following the first session, the more you practice, the deeper the trance state you will enter. The purpose of entering a light trance is to make your unconscious mind much more receptive to the suggestions you give it. Thus, you can also use this technique to re- program yourself in any desired area, such as telling yourself your study habits will improve, your depressions will weaken and go away, your health will improve, your desire for cigarettes will lessen, and so on.
If you use this technique for past-life exploration, it is important to practice it on a regular basis for at least a couple of weeks. As promised, the past-life information, when it comes, will present itself in the form of
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intuitive flashes. You must be ready to focus on them and remember them when they occur, so your memories do not slip back into your unconscious like forgotten dreams. For example, once while taking an early morning stroll down Central Park West in New York, I found myself thinking, "God, the color the sunlight makes on these buildings really reminds me of St. Petersburg." The thought was so fleeting and seemed so self-evident at the time that I nearly didn't stop and take conscious note of either its unusual nature or the fact that I have never been in St. Petersburg in this lifetime. Be on guard for such sudden realizations. If, on focusing on such a thought, you realize that you have no conscious intellectual reason for making a given association, repeat the thought several times in your mind, or make a note of it, so that you do not forget it. Then write it down in your journal as a piece of possible past-life information.