Next week I will be boarding a plane to Istanbul for the fourth world conference on past life regression therapies. Needless to say, a trip to Turkey is an exciting prospect in and of itself. But the fact that I will venture to this far away and mystical land to attend a conference on past life research and therapy makes it even more intriguing.
I will first arrive in Istanbul and will spend a few days there doing the usual touristy things like visiting the famous Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia church. I am most interested in the Byzantium history of this region and looking forward to exploring the ancient seat of Christianity as the Roman Empire moved its capital to Constantinople.
After Istanbul, I will then venture off to a resort town on the Aegean Sea called Kasudasi (pronounced koo-SHAH-da-seh). This is where the actual conference is taking place, and there I will attend various workshops and talks.
About six years ago I attended the second such world conference (they do them every two years) in India. It was my first time to that magical place. The conference was good, but traveling around a bit of India left the most lasting impression. Traveling is such an important food for the soul and has been shown in studies to reduce depression and make for a more enjoyable and happy life. Any change in our environment tends to do that…we have a built in “adaptation” mechanism which pulls us to our set point if we don’t stir things up a bit now and then…traveling is a good way to do that.
One of my traveling companions when I reach Turkey is Dr. Walter Semkiw. He was written several amazing books. One of his best has just undergone a major revision. Check it out at Amazon. Born Again, is the title. Walter has assembled an immense body of evidence to show that people can carry their life talents and abilities, and even facial features, into subsequent lives.
But not all past life study focuses on the literal transmigration of souls, memories, likenesses, and talents, into future incarnations.
Another colleague who will be present at this conference is Hans TenDam. Dr. TenDam is a world-renowned past life therapist who has written extensively on reincarnation but makes it clear that one does not have to believe in reincarnation, nor past lives, for this form of therapy to be effective.
He has been quoted as saying: “General belief or disbelief in reincarnation has no influence on its (past life therapy) success. The only condition is that apparent experiences from other times are accepted as meaningful subjective material, without continuously wondering about their objective truth.”
This then brings past life regression therapy into a realm similar to dream therapy, or even some forms of guided imagery. Most human beings can create images, usually unconsciously such as while dreaming, and these images are not arbitrary—they do have meaning, and can help us solve a myriad of personal mysteries and provide stunning insight into our own personal psychology.
That, in a nutshell, is what past life regression therapy is all about.
There are certainly many practitioners who do believe in some form of physical reincarnation (I say “some form” because there are dozens of different theories about this.) But those people who have benefitted from this sort of inquiry into the unconscious mind do not have to objectively believe in a past life or in reincarnation.
It is still fascinating to investigate the very scientific and objective research that has ensued over the years on this subject. Ian Stevenson, who is now passed, was a medical doctor who taught at the University of Virginia and conducted a lifelong scientific inquiry into the physical possibilities of reincarnation, very much along the lines of Dr. Semkiw’s research. If you are interested, check out some of his work at Amazon.
I will be blogging while in Turkey, so check back here often to see how the conference is going. Please feel free to comment by clicking the comment link below (hidden in the text right below this post!)
I most definitely would like to hear from you. Check out my own work in past life regression therapy by clicking here.
When is the conference?
Neneh…the conference I wrote about is long past. They do a World Past Life Conference every two years I believe…you can get more information here: http://www.regressioncongress.org/congress/wcrt5/wcrt5.html
The next conference, WCRT6, I believe is being held somewhere in India.