Spiritual Portal

You may have hunches about those around you. The best thing for me to do is to ask in meditation and constantly be observant of people and places you are exposed to. Eventually we find keen interests. Paramahansa Yogananda has told us that keen interests from youth indicate past lives.  Physical features and behaviors of others remind us of memories with others that were close to us. These are usually linked to our past more stronger than casual encounters. We may find serious differences with others that are karmically based or strong attractions. Some of these attractions may be physical in nature but often we can look beyond these attractions and also find attractive soul qualities we find in those around us. Physical attractions may be very misleading also because they expose us to our knots or addictions from the past. We may not even be able to be in the physical presence of such people for an extended period because of our own desires that cannot or should not be reciprocated. Other physical attractions  are constructive and help us vastly understand and accept ouselves.

i have felt very drawn to some of you who have come to the forum. In some cases these were past life cconnections I am aware of. Because of the nature of some of those connections i have also had to let go. You come to recognize that since we have lived many past lives we have done a lot of strange things in those lives and sometimes we are only connected to those actions by are karma yet we are now different people and living much different lives. What i have found is that some people from the past that we are emotionally attached to expect us to conform to behavioral  patterns we shared with them long ago which are no longer constructive.

Yet the more we meditate and serve others, the more soul soldiers are awakened from the past and enter our lives. Some of them we may have helped in some ways and they are also there to help us in tremendous ways on our spiritual journeys.

Music often unveils past plays. An interest in music or ability to play music in a particular way displays past life time periods. For instance music flows from me from folk music of the Celtic or British Isles long ago and i have had a girl friend who felt strong connections to that era also who i felt i knew from the past. When i hear the lyrics ' old times they are not forgotten ...look away.. look away... look away dixieland... it has brought tears to my eyes. Then certain flamenco music and music from the romantic era bring back past connections. Also eastern music with sitar and tabla playing put me in a different mind wave state: alpha

 
 
We draw to us memories from the past to see if we have improved in our knowing. These situations remind us of where we have been and how we have improved or failed in our new costumes we wear here in this play. You may recognize the actors as they play their parts again and be able to see just how well they play their roles this time around. It is quite a cosmic picture show with the actors and actresses still playing out similar roles yet some of them have learned much and can play their role without being so affected by duality others are suddenly 'revealed' as they stumble along. Yet every one must be given the chance to try and try again.

It would be interesting to find out where you were involved in the military in a past incarnation. Sometimes these things can teach us much about ourself and why we react so strongly to certain things. I have so many experiences with the civil war in the United States that it appears more than likely that I was there in that time in history.

Mccoy; I genuinely believe that in a very recent incarnation you were in the military. Not just because of what you have related here but also your keen interest in conflicts and values associated with wars and the strong sentiments you have felt about various dogmatic ideologies and the conflict associated with them.

I used Yogananda's method of studying my early interests and found that there were very strong tendencies and interests i had as a child that helped my understanding of a few of my past incarnations. It also helped me come to terms with some of the lessons that are still coming to me from previous incarnations that i need to learn. Many people who have come in my life i recognize from previous episodes that Cary through to present circumstances

Most if us in some way or another are here but not.


"A strategy of war".. (lol)

I wonder why I answered you post in the other thread, 'McCoy natal chart'....

Anyway, if music is an hint, I wonder what it means that I like jazz music, maybe I've been an African American or even a pure African in recent lives.

Also, lots of people like rock music, a genre which has developed only recently, in the seventies. Is it possible to trace past lives preferences by a liking of such a recent music?

Hi mccoy, I don't think any one person can answer that question if it's pertaining to you specifically...
If you're in the business of tracing past lives, for whatever reason, your intuition and emotions towards the music may be a good way to determine that. Whether your life was one lived as a caveman or one that was lived in the 70's- If there's a message somewhere for you, spirit will find a way.

For me, my dreams hint to past life activity... More so a focus on the transitioning phases of one life to the other... I think there's a lesson in here for me that I'm jut not grasping entirely.   

Cosmicgoat, yes, there might be explanations, your reply just inspired me.

I might have liked classic music or just have been a classical musician and get fed with its rigidity and repetition and enjoy the pure creativity yielded by such a music, or just enjoying the novel sounds and emotions provided by these novel harmonies. Some melodic and harmonic lines from the recently deceased pianist Mulgrew Miller, also follower of Paramhansa Yogananda, just impinge on my brain stimulating mental alertness and efficiency. My likings may reflect my love for interesting complexity in God's creation.
People who like rock music might like to have their basic intincts roused, the music is often pretty simple and leveraging on simple and fleshly emotions, sort of the tribal music of the past. Also, rock music is tribal, people turn up very numerous to listen to their favourite rockstars and the event looks pretty much like a meeting of a stone-age large tribe, with wide use of narcotic compounds like booze and drugs.
Of course generalization should be avoided but from the POW of an appreciator of music that's one truth, sorry, not being snubby but simply matter-of-fact, these are the vibrations I get. Whosoever is karmically stimulated by basic, earthly, fleshly, tribal emotions finds that novel rock music appealing.

Mccoy my favorite chapter of the Autobiography of a Yogi has to be chapter 43: The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar. In it he describes life spans much longer and so if we are in the astral for 500 to 1000 years or longer many of our interests in music may come from a different millennia.
I have also heard that lifetimes cut off by unnatural death can bring a soul quickly back into this life. I believe my last incarnation was cut off by being shot in the Civil War and so I came back quickly to be in the presence of a avatar and a recent avatar.

'A span of life in the astral world is much longer than on earth. A normal advanced astral being's average life period is from five hundred to one thousand years, measured in accordance with earthly standards of time. As certain redwood trees outlive most trees by millenniums, or as some yogis live several hundred years though most men die before the age of sixty, so some astral beings live much longer than the usual span of astral existence. Visitors to the astral world dwell there for a longer or shorter period in accordance with the weight of their physical karma, which draws them back to earth within a specified time.'

Steve, sure that's another aspect to contemplate. Please note though that, referring to long astral lifespans, Sri Yukteswar speaks about advanced beings. When Sri Yukteswar says 'advanced' I have this lingering doubt that in our language that would trnslate to 'extremely advanced' so this would not apply sure to me or the majority of people.

My astral lifespans might have been shorter for various reasons, such as compulsion to return to the physical plane to shed more karma, or might have been longer because of disgust for the physical plane and need of rest.

Sure that's all speculation but all ideas, like yours and mine, are equally possible as far as reasonable possibilities go.

Mccoy Thanks for that important observation. i have heard many times that our astral sojourn is, generally speaking, much longer than our terrestrial stays. i have noticed that very few people are aware of the deep involvement we have had with those that we meet in this life. It is a pity that so many people fail to take advantage of the spiritual affinity we have developed with some particular souls. Sometimes there are those around us we notice who loose connection with our soul mates and twin souls because of strong ties to desires based on earthly attachment. Our faith in divine intervention may leave us alone for a while to search on our own but eventually opens us to other encounters that further our resolve and continued momentum.

I recently have had many recollections of interests with the American Indian culture. I used to love to wear leather with carved images engraved and as a child I always wanted an Indian head dress. I also had this unusual desire to walk and run naked thru the forest... which I actually have done. I recently met a women from the past again who I feel is also connected with that time in history. I also wonder about Eric  and our continued interest in nature's messages and Indian totems. I always wanted to meet an Indian Shaman and actually did when I recently visited some Indian tribes out west here in the states.

Hi Steve,
It is interesting to note that, at times, meeting others can trigger past life memories.
Running nude under a jungle moon huh?  :o

 :D

Sometimes it's just a certain comfort that is quite pronounced. i recall that type of comfort talking with u over the phone. Also the first time I talked with mccoy on the phone. I think we just laughed continously for the first minute or so without anything being said. Now that must have been a happy incarnation!!!   ;D

I don't remember exactly the source of hilarity, probably the fact that Steve woke me up at 1am, miscalculating the local time and that I couldn't locate Michigan in my mind being half asleep. By the way, I'm impressed by the amount of lakes, in Michigan from the hugest to the smallest, all of'em with their fair share of Woods and houses around the shores.

Well perhaps I read more into it... however; yes Michigan is not called 'The winter water wonderland for nothing. Unfortunately having signs up all over bragging about the purity of Michigan is misleading; since you cannot swim in any of the major rivers. You used to be able to see the bottom of Lake Michigan when you went swimming... not anymore. It's the same old sad story-to many people, to much population, destroying the environment.

Steve, I do not rule out that our familiarity is due to past association and friendship. I just cannot know for sure, although I trust your intuition. In a few, not frequent, occasions, there was an objective situation where it was clear I held some fascination over some people, although I could not say why. One of these instances was Brother Anandamoy. The only time I spoke with him he treated me like a son and was unwilling to interrupt the conversation, whereas I was thinking that I didn't want to hog the time, other people were waiting to talk with him. It would be easy to relate this to past friendship and association but I don't know, I simply cannot say for sure.

My attitude has Always been to befriend anyone and, in retrospect, I must say that very often as a consequence I found friendly environments or at least some  pretty trusted people within specific environments. Sometimes I was disappointed, but that's part of the game, the balance is in favour of the advantages of being friendly to anyone and accept any request for friendship. There are some barriers though, that is the opposite sex. There, sometimes sexual attraction may seep into friendship, creating a confusing and Dangerous cocktail. The cocktail may be pleasant if you are single, may be poisonous if you are already committed.

In my case I have found that the 'cockail' (that made me laugh) you are able to drink often becomes difficult to indulge in because of sheer distance. Then when the possibility is realizable there are often confounding blocks and obstacles that suddenly arise that i associate with having a guru and guides that are looking out for our higher welfare despite ourselves and an ever present carnal nature. Many people and situations are just not as they seem and we create them in our minds. The true colors and lasting associations are our only portal into the life sublime.

The tendencies that we exhibit up to the age of 5 come from our past lives after that age they become diluted with newly acquired tendencies of this life. Think back as far as you can remember, then enumerate your first unalloyed tendencies. Did you feel attracted two incense or oriental furnishings or pictures of saints? Or did you love mechanisms and mechanistic instruments? Those early tendencies separated from your acquired tendencies of this life, reveal your past.

~Paramahansa Yogananda

Only problem with that is remembering. I really do not remember much prior to age 5.

I remember once I took up an axe and started felling a big pine tree. Of course I did not much damage, but my father got mad and ran after me, I remember was running hell for leather but my father caught up with me soon.

Conclusion: Perhaps I was a woodsman in the past, very familiar with teh axe. Most probably I lived outdoor in forests, even now I live amidst tree.

Alterantive hypothesis: I hope the axe I swung in my previous incarnation was not an executioner's axe!

i remember mimicking some of the things I would see around me. For instance my parents we're parked on a mountain hill they got out to use the restroom and I put the gear shift into neutral and the car started rolling down the mountain with a trailer behind it. My father luckily caught up before it got very much speed. I also remember getting quite a bawling out because I acted out the service station attendant by putting 'gas' in the tank of a car actually it was from a water hose. Perhaps even then Yogananda might have thought that I was a bit mischeivious.

But I can recall very clearly demanding seeing a program which would come on the TV called 'Johnny Yuma Was a Rebel'. I wanted to see that program so bad I could taste it and I think that it clearly pointed to a life during the Civil War.

I also remember as a youth having inordinate interest in having an Indian headress. At one point I actually had one. Or did I just imagine it?

Although I was not aware of incense till I was in my early teen years (parents try to keep kids away from lighting things). I do recall having a keen interest in candles and incense. I began my early meditation without any specific instruction lighting candles, staring into the flame and lighting incense almost as an obsession.

Mccoy I find it a point of interest that you and I both have such a strong interest in music and I did not know your interest till just recently. We also are both kriyabans. hmmm.

And we both like the Woods! And meditating with no clothes whatsoever (I've never been put to jail for it though, lol).

One of the most difficult phenomena I have noticed about past lives is that we may meet people who have abused us or we ourselves may abuse someone else. The temptation is to continue in this pattern. If we ourselves can recognize this taking place it is best to gracefully extricate ourselves from such scenarios.

Ofcourse we are becoming more sensitive to the actions and non actions of those around us. A better term for what we often witness is> mistreatment. We may have to create distance between ourselves and others. We may notice that others have created distance between ourselves which is a blessing in disguise.

It is always good to change our thoughts if it leads to a deeper spiritual understanding. i am not sure where the source came from but i feel a deep connection with you at times SI and respect for your alternate views. If you do not mind i want to answer your questions with personal experience. First of all the ghost questions. Since i had experience with that i would have to say that it did help my understanding in many ways. How? It helped my understanding of what happens after this life. It helped me open my eyes to different dimensions. It helped me understand the needs of others and why spirits hang out in this dimension. It helped me recognize the talent of others that is very different then my own.. the ability to tap into a dimension that at one time i had no access to. Did it distract me? Perhaps; But only as much as any relationship might distract me. i genuinely felt the ghost was a friend and i was their to help it as it was there in some ways to help me as well.

Now... Other past life material was brought to my attention for several reasons. One of which i will try to explain here. Having 'fought' and being involved in two social/political crisis in the recent past has given me an important perspective that has made my views and perceptions stand out and i have been a part of those social phenomena in this life and a recent past one. Both of them involved being involved in futile wars that were a detriment to the country i live in. i believe i have a purpose in that sense for being born where i am and at the times i have both for myself and others in a social context. Sometimes we need to stand against the status quo and we serve an important function in doing that...Even though our roles are much smaller then such  great men as Abraham Lincoln and Robert Kennedy. Recognizing our own significance is not always an ego trip but can be an important factor in the social evolution that we have come to this life to be a part of.

Is there a different way of explaining my experiences then a past life? Yes. There are many ways to explain many things that happen to us. Reincarnation being one way. Perhaps you yourself will come up with an explanation for some of the phenomena that i have experienced in your own experiences. i am not here to refute them only to be open to your view of reality because i sincerely believe that it is helpful as well.