Many Lives, Many Masters.

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Dave S
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:32 pm

Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Dave S »

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on Dharma Wheel (other than in the introduction section.) Hopefully I’m posting in the correct area but if not, please feel free to move it to where it needs to be.

I recently read a book called ‘Many Lives, Many Masters’ by a prominent psychiatrist named Dr Brian Weiss. In the book he tells the story of his experience with one of his patients and how, while under hypnosis, she was able to regress to previous lives and describe to him who she was and what she was seeing and feeling at that particular time. In some cases she could tell him the dates too which, at times were thousands of years ago. She would also see people who she recognised from other lives, either past or present, appearing to indicate that our souls sometimes form groups, whereby we meet up again in subsequent lives. His story tells of ‘Masters’ who appear to be spirits existing on a different plane to us and how they communicated to him through his patient. He also tells of how they told him that we are reincarnated many times until our souls are cleansed of the things which torment us in our current lives. Greed, hatred etc etc.

So .. Cutting a very long story short, I finished the book and found that, armed with my new found knowledge, I felt a great sense of peace and wellbeing, knowing that our souls are infinite and that death is not so final after all. A chance to meet up with lost friends and family. A chance to live a better life the next time around maybe, if the one I’m currently in isn’t conducted too badly.

I then made the mistake of seeking out reviews of the book to see what other readers thought of it. Many people were of the opinion that it was fake and pointed out quite a few instances whereby it was indeed so. Having read the examples, it was difficult to argue to be honest. How could his patient, when regressed back to a previous life, tell him that the date was 300BC for instance, when at that time, no such date was in existence? If we all have just one soul and are reincarnated again and again, how does the world’s population increase so much as time passes by. Where do the ‘new souls’ come from? Many more examples were given and many times I found it difficult to disagree with them.

So I went from being in a peaceful and happy state, to being in complete turmoil. So many unanswered questions, are we really reincarnated or is it actually all just false? Is the book based in truth or has it just been written to make lots of money for the author? Do the Masters, or spirits like them exist?

My thoughts brought me back to Buddhism, which I have a great interest in, many of the things which the author wrote about sounded very ‘Buddhist’ to me although the author doesn’t mention anything about him being Buddhist himself.

My thoughts are that I’m currently looking for something to help me make sense of the ‘contradictory storm’ going on in my head at the moment. Half of me believes the reincarnation side of things and it makes me quite happy to do so, but then the other half of me is wondering if I’ve been completely mislead and this doubt is now spoiling my otherwise happy state. Has anyone else found themselves ‘caught in the middle’ and not knowing which way to turn?

Kindest regards.

Dave.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

1.In Buddhism there is nothing that is considered to be a “soul” that reincarnates. It’s more of a continuing flow of consciousness rather than a “self”.
2. Human population can increase because rebirth occurs from all kinds of previous lives. For example, there are millions of more insects than there are humans.
3. Seeking out reviews apparently wasn’t a mistake after all.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Dave S
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:32 pm

Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Dave S »

Thanks for taking the time to reply PadmaVonSamba,

Your replies will give me something to research so that I’m able to understand more. I now feel that I need to know more about how soul and consciousness differ. The first step maybe on my long journey of understanding.

A question if I may regarding your second point. Does that mean that, in the world, there’s a ‘set number’ of living beings and these things reincarnate in a balanced way. For example, if 1000 insects die in the next hour, then 1000 new lives of some form or another are ready to come into being? Maybe not instantly but in effect, the world is always in some form of balance with regard to the things living upon it?

I agree that seeking out reviews of the book I read has now opened my mind to learning more about the things which I’m struggling to understand. The stormy waters in my mind will doubtless be steadily calmed as I learn more about the things causing the waves and how to accept them.

Thanks again.

Dave.
Archie2009
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Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:39 pm

Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Archie2009 »

We cling to things as if they inherently exist, we can't help doing this. Letting go of this notion can give rise to emotional distress. You seem to vacillate between eternalism (e.g. a concept of souls (as infinite)) and nothingness. These are both extremes that are rejected in Buddhism. In the end the big thing in Buddhism is always a direct perception of this emptiness as it is called in meditation. It is ultimately nothing to be afraid of, but as long as we are stuck at the rational level, some people's emotions might tell them otherwise. I guess this depends on how much eternalism is a part of your thinking default.

As for the book you read, it is clearly a new age inspired feel good exercise. You'd be better of reading Buddhist books of whatever kind that aren't sugarcoated. The book you read isn't even just sugarcoated, it's a waste of time. As is a fixation on past lives in general in my opinion.
Archie2009
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Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:39 pm

Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Archie2009 »

Dave S wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:25 am Thanks for taking the time to reply PadmaVonSamba,

Your replies will give me something to research so that I’m able to understand more. I now feel that I need to know more about how soul and consciousness differ. The first step maybe on my long journey of understanding.

A question if I may regarding your second point. Does that mean that, in the world, there’s a ‘set number’ of living beings and these things reincarnate in a balanced way. For example, if 1000 insects die in the next hour, then 1000 new lives of some form or another are ready to come into being? Maybe not instantly but in effect, the world is always in some form of balance with regard to the things living upon it?

I agree that seeking out reviews of the book I read has now opened my mind to learning more about the things which I’m struggling to understand. The stormy waters in my mind will doubtless be steadily calmed as I learn more about the things causing the waves and how to accept them.

Thanks again.

Dave.
There are an infinite number of sentient beings. Confining ourselves to countably infinite sets for the moment (there are different 'sizes' of infinity), if you were to subtract all even natural numbers from the set of all natural numbers, you'd be left with the uneven natural numbers. All three of these countably infinite sets are equal in size, i.e. you can construct a one-to-one mapping between them. An infinite number of sentient beings becoming liberated will still leave you with an infinite number of sentient beings in samsara.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Archie2009 wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:59 am
There are an infinite number of sentient beings. Confining ourselves to countably infinite sets for the moment (there are different 'sizes' of infinity), if you were to subtract all even natural numbers from the set of all natural numbers, you'd be left with the uneven natural numbers. All three of these countably infinite sets are equal in size, i.e. you can construct a one-to-one mapping between them. An infinite number of sentient beings becoming liberated will still leave you with an infinite number of sentient beings in samsara.
I don’t understand that math (my limitations).

However, the arising of beings is also, ultimately, illusory. So, it’s kind of like asking how many things can really happen in dreams. An infinite number of things can happen in dreams, but ultimately none of them is really happening.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Archie2009
Posts: 1583
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:39 pm

Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Archie2009 »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 1:30 pm
Archie2009 wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:59 am
There are an infinite number of sentient beings. Confining ourselves to countably infinite sets for the moment (there are different 'sizes' of infinity), if you were to subtract all even natural numbers from the set of all natural numbers, you'd be left with the uneven natural numbers. All three of these countably infinite sets are equal in size, i.e. you can construct a one-to-one mapping between them. An infinite number of sentient beings becoming liberated will still leave you with an infinite number of sentient beings in samsara.
I don’t understand that math (my limitations).

However, the arising of beings is also, ultimately, illusory. So, it’s kind of like asking how many things can really happen in dreams. An infinite number of things can happen in dreams, but ultimately none of them is really happening.
Yes, but the dreaming never stops, since there are an infinite number of illusory samsaric dreamers. If an infinite number of them awakened to Buddhahood, there would still be an infinite number of deluded illusory samsaric dreamers left.
Dave S
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:32 pm

Re: Many Lives, Many Masters.

Post by Dave S »

Thanks everyone for your kind replies, I’ll do more searching around on here. There looks to be plenty to keep me occupied for a considerable amount of time. :twothumbsup:

Dave.
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