Episode 8 of Season 8 on Afterlife TV: In honor of two of my Ireland traveling companions, Brian & Carole Weiss, this week I’m talking about past lives. Specifically, I answer the question, What is the best evidence that past lives exist? I also talk about children who remember their past lives, which is a fascinating topic. And I give you three mind-blowing books to read about that subject. Finally, also in honor of my friends, I talk about regression hypnotherapy. The show ends with a brief clip of Dr. Brian Weiss (Many Lives, Many Masters) explaining why some of us came into this lifetime with physical or mental challenges, or were born at a time when circumstances set us up for psychological challenges later in life.
Episode 8 is nineteen minutes packed with past-life insight. I think you’ll enjoy it. Check out the Show Notes below the video providing all the links I promise in the show. And let me know what you liked via social media, email or in the comment section below the video on AfterlifeTV.com. This week’s photographs in the video were taken by both Melissa and myself during our recent trip to Ireland. More on that in the intro. Don’t forget, if you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll never miss an episode.
Thanks to all of you who left Amazon reviews for my two books, The Magic Mala and Answers About The Afterlife. Humongous gratitude 🙂
Much love, Bob Olson ~ AfterlifeTV.com & BobOlson.com
If you’d like to watch this video, The Best Evidence That Past Lives Exist, visit www.afterlifetv.com/?p=3348
Afterlife TV is presented by Afterlife Investigator & Psychic Medium Researcher Bob Olson, who is the author of Answers about the Afterlife: A Private Investigator’s 15-Year Research Unlocks the Mysteries of Life after Death.
Check out Bob Olson’s other sites: BestPsychicDirectory.com (a directory of hundreds of psychics & mediums by location with reviews & Instant Readings) & BestPsychicMediums.com (his personal recommended list of tested psychics and mediums) or visit Bob’s Facebook Page. Bob also has a popular workshop for psychics and mediums at PsychicMediumWorkshop.com.
JOIN BOB’S NEWSLETTER: Don’t miss Bob’s latest content about life lessons and life after death on his newsletter called, Bob Olson Connect.
Bob: Hey everybody, Bob Olson here with Afterlife TV. You can find us at afterlifetv.com. This is where we talk about life after death, and we answer all the questions that you have about that subject. We have episodes going back all the way to 2011. So this is our eighth season. So definitely check it out. If you’re new to afterlifetv.com, check out all the episodes that we’ve had in the past, so much to learn, so much to entertain you even. And if you’re interested in life after death and spirituality, you’ve come to the right place. A lot of people have let me know that afterlife TV as well as my book “Answers About the Afterlife” has been quite meaningful in their spiritual growth. So many have said that both of these resources, my book and website, have been comforting to them during their time of grief, when dealing with a significant loss in their life. Without doubt, that is one of my main goals in doing this. I didn’t know it when I started investigating life after death, after the death of my father in 1997. Who knew that that’s what this was going to be about? But it certainly makes sense, since that’s what got me involved in investigating life after death to begin with, I was dealing with a loss, the loss of my father. And in time, I have certainly noticed that that’s what brings a lot of people to afterlifetv.com or my book, “Answers About the Afterlife.” So I’m glad that these resources have been helpful to you.
Today’s episode is also sponsored by another website that I created. It’s called Best Psychic Directory, which you can find at bestpsychicdirectory.com. This is a resource where you can find credible, legitimate, reputable. ethical. and professional psychics and mediums right there on the site. There are over 900 people that I have personally selected. We’ve had so many people who have had readings with the people on that site let us know that the readings that they got were absolutely amazing, truly life changing. And these people were grateful that they didn’t have to do the work that I do and my team here does in choosing the best psychics and mediums for you. So that’s bestpsychicdirectory.com.
Now, in our last episode, I mentioned that Melissa and I just returned from Ireland about a week ago. We were traveling with friends, including Dr. Brian Weiss and his wife, Carole, you probably know him because I interviewed him a few years ago. But most of you are aware of Dr. Brian Weiss because, well, he’s been all over television, and in the media of all sorts. And it all began with a very famous book of his titled “Many Lives, Many Masters.” A book that so many people have let me know was the first book that opened their minds to this subject matter. Certainly the subject of past lives, you can extend that to the subject matter of past life regression, and then for so many it extended into the afterlife and spirituality. So today’s episode is all about past lives. And specifically, what is the best evidence we have that past lives really exist? That’s what we’re going to talk about.
Now, just a couple of things I want to say about Ireland before we get there. Everywhere you look is just sheer beauty. It reminded me we had been on a cruise, in Alaska, there really wasn’t a place you could look that wasn’t gorgeous. And Ireland is very much the same way, sheep, goats, cows, landscapes, towns, the architecture is just amazing. One of the things that, you know, we don’t have here in the United States are the castles and the monasteries, and the abbeys, many in ruins which are scattered around like monuments of history, and spirituality, and incomparable architecture. And with all of that, some of my favorite memories will simply be our lunches that we had in the pubs, and the lessons that we learned from people there about their culture. And we even got some lessons about scouts and whiskey and how to make a proper Irish Coffee. It was a lot of fun, it was a lot of fun for our whole group. And these are some of the things I’ll never forget. But mostly because of the people of Ireland. The people that we met were relaxed, and friendly, and passionate about their country and their history, and just so welcoming.
One of the things I noticed was that whenever we went to a pub or restaurant, they really want you to take your time while you’re eating and enjoying the food and the company. And one of the things I noticed was that they don’t clear your plate the second you finish, they’re not anxious to get you in and out. In fact, we had to request our bill almost in every restaurant, because they want you to stay, they want you to relax and chat with one another after your meal. I Love New England, which is where I live here in the U.S., but in many restaurants, I have to say, you do feel like the goal that they have is to get you in and get you out so they can get another customer in that table as soon as possible. And I think that’s not just true for New England. I think that’s true for a lot of places in the United States, certainly within the cities. And it’s just something we noticed and appreciated in Ireland. Again, I think that just goes back to the people and the culture and what they are like there. So people of Ireland, yeah, have my admiration and gratitude for welcoming us and treating us with kindness and sharing your extraordinary home with us. So thank you very much for that.
Okay, so let’s talk about past lives. Having investigated the afterlife for about two decades now, one thing I’ve learned is that people of religion are more comfortable talking about past lives than they are reincarnation. Now, why is this? I think it’s a religious thing. Early in my investigation, I used to interview people about their beliefs and experiences around life after death. And I would always ask two questions. Early in the interview, I would ask, “Do you believe in reincarnation?” And immediately they would answer, “No, no, I don’t believe in reincarnation,” and then later in the interview, and without fail, these same people when I asked, “Do you believe in past lives?” they would always answer, “Yes, yes. I believe in past lives.” So I always thought that was really interesting. So again, today’s question is, what’s the best evidence of past lives? And my answer that you’re going to hear comes from my book “Answers About the Afterlife by Bob Olson.” And this is from the audio book, I’m going to play a clip, and you’ll hear what I wrote in answer to that question.
Man: What evidence is there for reincarnation and past lives? The most compelling evidence we have for reincarnation and past lives is from past life regressions and past life memories. Past life regression, the first evidence we have for past lives, and therefore reincarnation, is past life regression. I put this evidence first, because anyone can experience a past life regression. A past life regression is when a person is guided into a meditative state of mind with verbal imagery, and then experiences a past life through hypnotic suggestion. Hypnotic suggestion, however, only suggests the direction to take your focus without offering any details of what that experience will be like. For example, the hypnotic regressionist might suggest that a person remember their most recent past life. The key is that the regressionist is not making any suggestions of what that most recent past life looks like, sounds like, smells like, tastes like, or feels like. The hypnotic suggestion is merely the vehicle that steers them to that past life memory by suggesting the person go there.
I have experienced past life regressions myself, these are some of the most eye opening, life changing experiences in my life. In my first regression, I could feel what it felt like to be in the body of a guy named George from a Celtic land in 1643. I had an inner knowing of what his personality was like, joyful, friendly, and happy go lucky, and when English soldiers ambush George’s townspeople during a parade, killing many of his friends, I relived the frenzy in my mind. I could feel the grief and horror that George felt during that experience and after it, and I literally had a visceral experience in the regressionist’s office where I cried, shivered and shook. While this description doesn’t paint an attractive picture, this was a fascinating experience that taught me a lot. Even more than that, this experience gave me evidence of past lives and reincarnation. It was a personal experience that provided me with a knowing about past lives, meaning I know that past lives exist. Of course, it was my experience and therefore my evidence, meaning it would not serve as evidence for anyone else. In order for past life regression to be evidence for other people, each person needs to experience it for himself or herself. Nevertheless, it is persuasive evidence that past lives exist.
Past life memory. The second evidence for past lives is past life memory. Past life memory is when a person recalls memories of a past life, meaning that they remember details about the past life as if they were remembering what happened to them yesterday. This is more common with children than adults, because we tend to forget our past life memories as we get older. The theory is that children recall their past lives more often than adults because they have only been away from the spirit world a short time. The veil between the spiritual realm and the physical realm is thinner. It seems that the older we get, the more we forget. One of the earliest documented cases of past life memory occurred with a woman named Jenny Cockell. Although she grew up and lives in England, Jenny recalled her life as Mary Sutton, an Irish woman who died 21 years before Jenny was born. Because Mary left eight young children behind when she passed, her emotional concern about the children transferred to Jenny as an adult. Using maps she drew as a child from her past life memories, Jenny Cockell traced her memories to the exact location where she lived in her past life, which is Malahide, Ireland. Therefore, due to her diligent research, Jenny also located Mary’s children, and personally reunited with five of them who, of course, were all older than her. You can read about Jenny’s story in her best selling book, “Across Time and Death: A Mother’s Search For Her Past Life Children.”
As mentioned at the beginning of this audio book, a more recent best selling book titled “Soul Survivor” by Bruce and Andrea Leininger documents a boy’s memory as a World War II pilot. The story is significant because the boy’s parents eventually researched their sons claims despite their skepticism. What they learned is that the man their son claimed to have been actually existed 60 years prior, and many details given by their son were eerily accurate. Cases like these offer compelling evidence of past lives. Although someone might argue that there could be other reasons why these children know this information that was verified to be true. For example, a spirit might have impressed these memories upon the susceptible children’s minds. The people who remember these memories typically feel they are past life memories because of the emotion they feel in connection with them. Consequently, they instinctively feel that they were these people from this recent lifetime. If you suspect that your child is having memories from a past life, Carol Bowman’s book “Children’s Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect your Child” is an insightful resource.
Bob: Okay, that is a clip from the audio book of my book, “Answers About the Afterlife.” So the audio book is now available if you haven’t yet heard that. It’s been out for a couple months now, maybe. A couple things I wanna mention about that clip. One is the voiceover artist doesn’t say Jenny Cockell’s name correctly. It’s Jenny Cockell. I made that same mistake when I interviewed her. And I should have caught it when I edited the audio book version and listened to everything, but there was, I don’t know, seven or eight hours of audio and somehow I missed that. So it’s Jenny Cockell. Highly recommend that book. It’s one of Melissa’s favorite books, “Across Time and Death: A Mother’s Search for Her Past Life Children.” I will put the interview I did with Jenny in the show notes so that you can watch that, either for the first time or if you watched it a long time ago, it’s certainly worth watching again. I also wanna mention something else that was mentioned in the clip, which is I talked about a book called “Soul Survivor,” which is about a boy’s past life memories. Another book came out after my book was released, and so, I’ll give you the title of that also. Similar thing where a boy had some past life memories. In this case, his mother wrote the book, it’s called “The Boy Who Knew Too Much.” And it’s written by Cathy Byrd, Cathy with a C, and Byrd, B-Y-R-D. And there’ll be links to that book as well in the show notes. It’s a fascinating account about a toddler who became obsessed with baseball, and then he remembers being Lou Gehrig, of all people, from another lifetime. Great book, “The Boy Who Knew Too Much.”
Now I’m just going to play a short clip from Brian Weiss. It’s an interview I did with him a while back. And this is specifically to discuss challenging experiences and conditions that we come into this life with. I think that any of you who wonder why you came into this world with certain parents or physical ailments, this might help you to see it from a new perspective. I love the way Brian describes it. It’s something that I learned in my own investigation of life after death, so I asked him about it in the interview and I don’t think anybody has answered this question better. So let’s listen to that. You know, I’ve always kind of thought that we come into these lifetimes with certain things that we wanted to experience and that, you know, over time, over hundreds of thousands of lives, we will experience opposite sides of every virtue, you know, that sort of a thing. Do you believe in that sort of thing or have you recognized that sort of thing with a lot of your clients that one time they might experience joy, you know, a lot of joy, and in another lifetime they might experience a lot of depression, or you know, another time they were a caregiver and then another time they needed care, that sort of thing?
Brian: Exactly. And that’s a very important way of learning. Some people come back and they, for one reason or another, are impaired in some way, it could be physically like cerebral palsy, or something like that. It could be psychologically, it doesn’t matter because sometimes you say, “Okay, I’m going to feel what that’s like. I need to experience that.” Or, “I need to experience what it’s like to receive love. I’ve spent so many lifetimes giving and being, you know, a caregiver, a nun, or this or that. Now, I need to be impaired so that I can learn how to receive love, and at the same time to give other people the opportunity to express caring and love and compassion.” So we do oscillate that way. That’s part of our learning. Absolutely. And I think that the end is still the same, the end is still to graduate at some level, and the oscillations lessen as you become more and more advanced. But that’s not karma. That’s just need to experience certain situations.
Bob: Wow. I love hearing Brian explain things. And in this case, such a brief and succinct way, gets right to the point. I love that he says, at the end, it’s not about karma. When we learn more and more about life after death and we understand really what we’re doing here, we understand that we, as a whole self, our souls, chose the life that we’re living, chose how we came into this life, the parents we had, the bodies that we had. The situation as it existed when we came into this world, these are all choices that we made ourselves as souls. And I think that by recognizing this, we don’t have to go, “Oh, well, I made really bad choices,” or, “Why would I do this?” We go, “Okay, so these are the choices that I made on the positive side, what purpose might there be in it?” And in many ways, it’s about having an experience that your soul has never had before, and seeing how you as a human being may respond to it.
In many cases, the people that I found who are the happiest in spite of challenging circumstances are those that without doubt lived in the present moment and leaned into their experience. Meaning, rather than constantly resisting it, they found a way to accept it and make the most of it. And that’s really what the end of “Answers About the Afterlife” is all about. That was certainly the lesson that I took away from it. If you haven’t read the very last chapter or last section of “Answers About the Afterlife,” you might want to pick that up again and check that out.
Finally, I’m just gonna mention that if you haven’t read “Many Lives, Many Masters,” I highly recommend it. And then, if you have, check out Brian’s other books. I also wanna mention that Brian and his wife Carole also offer a week-long training program for people who want to learn how to facilitate past life regression and therapy work, and I will link to the episode where I discussed my own experience taking that training a few years ago. So that’s it for this week. Please let me know how this episode resonated with you via social media, e-mail, or in the comments section right there on afterlifetv.com below the video. Please visit our sponsor, bestpsychicdirectory.com or visit my author website, bobolson.com. I wish you love and joy every single day and I’ll see you next week. Thank you. Bye.
Afterlife TV is presented by Afterlife Investigator & Psychic Medium Researcher Bob Olson, who is the author of Answers about the Afterlife: A Private Investigator’s 15-Year Research Unlocks the Mysteries of Life after Death.
Check out Bob Olson’s other sites: BestPsychicDirectory.com (a directory of hundreds of psychics & mediums by location with reviews & Instant Readings) & BestPsychicMediums.com (his personal recommended list of tested psychics and mediums) or visit Bob’s Facebook Page. Bob also has a popular workshop for psychics and mediums at PsychicMediumWorkshop.com.
JOIN BOB’S NEWSLETTER: Don’t miss Bob’s latest content about life lessons and life after death on his newsletter called, Bob Olson Connect.