A few weeks ago, I went to a one-day workshop called Many Lives, Many Masters: Experiencing Your Past Lives with Brian Weiss, MD. Yes, you read that correctly. I went to an event whose purpose was to telepathically teleport me to another realm. And I paid real money for it.

“Why?” you may ask. Even a dear, non-judgmental friend of mine, no stranger to spiritual growth, kind of shook her head. Not because she wasn’t open to the idea of past lives. Rather, she asked, “Why delve into the past? This life has its own difficulties.”

Well, in part I was lured by curiosity. “Maybe I was a revolutionary hero who died a noble Dothraki-like death and I will be able to channel my inner warrior. Not to mention create a Facebook avatar as a virtual souvenir of my journey! Or at least make a t-shirt.” Or, for my less romantic and more practically inclined alter-ego, “Maybe in a past life I died in a plane crash and that’s why I am afraid of flying.” In the end I got a little of both.

I was open-minded but skeptical. I’d been interested in going to this event for two or three years now and the main reason I didn’t go is that it seemed kind of expensive ($89 for early birds and $149 for late birds; no food). Was it a waste of money for something I wasn’t at all sure would work? Hypnotize me? I didn’t think it would work as quickly as it did in movies like The Fourth Kind (mofos were falling like college students reading boring textbooks late into the night). In fact, we were told up front that about 50-60% (or something like that) wouldn’t experience anything. But I tried to let my open mind prevail.

Photo Credit: Achimstyle

In one of the regressions, I caught a glimpse of myself on the precipice of a desert-like panorama with architecture reminiscent of what you’d read in the Bible. I imagined I might of looked like Commodus’ sister in Gladiator because I felt I had long, curly hair and a flowing robe (but that was really Dothraki-me talking). I felt a sense of wonder. But it really was a glimpse that took all of 3 seconds. I’m not sure if I just imagined it, except for the fact that I did feel a momentary sense of wonder. And feeling, according to Dr. Weiss, is what distinguishes an actual memory from just something you imagined. But honestly, it wasn’t enough of a feeling for me to feel like it was real.

I had another experience that day. There was an exercise where we exchanged a personal object with the person seated next to us and we were asked to go back to try and retrieve a memory of that person’s childhood. Although Dr. Weiss qualified it as fun, I was excited to do something more wistful. But I was doubtful. I mean maybe the average person who’s asked to play word association with the phrase “childhood memory” talks about the beach or the park or parties. But in my case, childhood + memory ? fun. Sure enough, a few minutes in, someone started weeping uncontrollably. “Aw sh*#!” I thought. My dear friend was right! I was sad for the person’s partner. Sexual abuse? Incest? Beatings? I felt uneasy as the images started shooting through my mental and emotional Viewmaster. We later learned that the woman experienced her partner’s migraine. Ah … a pain of a different kind. Surprisingly for me, I was the only one in my group that had a vision of something painful in my partner’s past. The memory or vision did nothing for me and I was sorry to have caused her to almost come to tears. But, on second thought, it may have helped us both. It helped me believe that even I was capable of this spiritual act. I never doubted it was possible; only that I could do it. And, it may have helped her realize that this memory was still affecting her into her adult life.

Ultimately what I found, and can now say to my dear hesitant friend, is that I think the purpose of delving into past lives is that it may help you heal. Several of the anecdotes we heard that day from either Weiss or the other attendees relayed the message that finding out about your past live(s) can help you understand yourself, your relationships, and help you heal. In my case, I am interested in emotional healing but this experience has led people to healing of physical pain as well.

We’re quick to go to the doctor and drink, eat, or dab chemicals on ourselves that we can’t even pronounce, made of we-know-not-what, given by people who oftentimes want you out before you even sit down. Yet we shudder if someone suggests that we might have the capacity to travel to another time or have psychic experiences to heal ourselves from within.

Anyway, no Dorthraki avatar for me! But if I have some minor psychic abilities, there’s hope for us all. But be an early bird, just in case you’re part of the 60%, ’cause if you come hollerin’ I might go back in time for reals.