Past Life Memories?
Roundabout the middle/end of the 80's, there was a popularisation (thanks in part to Shirley MacClaine's 'Out On A Limb') of the idea that we have all lived past lives, and that some of us can remember things from those lives.
In the late 80's, while hallucinating on ecstasy, I had my first recollection of a "memory" that my life as Paul could not account for. In the coming years, I had a few more such experiences, though not on drugs.
At first I was content to regard them as "past life memories". But the skeptic in me was never totally comfortable with that notion.
For one thing, it assumes reincarnation as a given. I have been very much on the fence about reincarnation, ever since I first started studying Eastern scriptures in the late 80s. To believe in that, you need to believe that there is such a thing as a Soul, that it can be individuated, and that there is some reason or need for a Soul to reincarnate (karma).
So, I started to ponder other possible, rational, explanations for the "memories" that my life experience could not account for. Here's what I came up with:
1) maybe it is a memory from a previous incarnation that is somehow retained.
2) maybe it is my imagination
3) maybe I dreamt it, and my mind misidentified the image(s) as a real event
4) maybe I saw it on TV when I was too young, and have no recollection that that is the source of the images
5) same with a book. maybe I read scenes like these, and my imagination was so vivid, it stored it as if it were a memory
6) maybe it is possible to inherit memories from ancestors, and maybe the images I seem to hold as memories are real experiences of theirs
Of all these possibilities, the last one is the one I think the most interesting. Of course, the most practical, plausible explanation is number 2. But there are other reasons beyond conjecture that memories can be inherited.
Like, instinct. Is not instinct a form of an inherited memory? The catepillar instinctively knows how to weave its chrysalis, for example.
Exhibit B - octopus. Most species of Octopus only live 6 years. Yet they are among the most intelligent non human animals on the planet. They have a spacial acuity they is far above that of humans, and they can solve problems. They are tasty treat for many sea creatures, and they develop numerous strategies for eluding predators, without ever having been shown by a previous generation. It seems to me, Octopus must inherit memory, in some way, to some degree. If they can (pretty big 'if'), maybe we can.
If it is possible to inherit memories, I don't think that even precludes any or all of the other possibilities.
I don't really believe in reincarnation, as commonly understood. I think, if there is such a thing as a Soul, there is only one of It in the universe, and ALL life is an incarnation of It.
In the late 80's, while hallucinating on ecstasy, I had my first recollection of a "memory" that my life as Paul could not account for. In the coming years, I had a few more such experiences, though not on drugs.
At first I was content to regard them as "past life memories". But the skeptic in me was never totally comfortable with that notion.
For one thing, it assumes reincarnation as a given. I have been very much on the fence about reincarnation, ever since I first started studying Eastern scriptures in the late 80s. To believe in that, you need to believe that there is such a thing as a Soul, that it can be individuated, and that there is some reason or need for a Soul to reincarnate (karma).
So, I started to ponder other possible, rational, explanations for the "memories" that my life experience could not account for. Here's what I came up with:
1) maybe it is a memory from a previous incarnation that is somehow retained.
2) maybe it is my imagination
3) maybe I dreamt it, and my mind misidentified the image(s) as a real event
4) maybe I saw it on TV when I was too young, and have no recollection that that is the source of the images
5) same with a book. maybe I read scenes like these, and my imagination was so vivid, it stored it as if it were a memory
6) maybe it is possible to inherit memories from ancestors, and maybe the images I seem to hold as memories are real experiences of theirs
Of all these possibilities, the last one is the one I think the most interesting. Of course, the most practical, plausible explanation is number 2. But there are other reasons beyond conjecture that memories can be inherited.
Like, instinct. Is not instinct a form of an inherited memory? The catepillar instinctively knows how to weave its chrysalis, for example.
Exhibit B - octopus. Most species of Octopus only live 6 years. Yet they are among the most intelligent non human animals on the planet. They have a spacial acuity they is far above that of humans, and they can solve problems. They are tasty treat for many sea creatures, and they develop numerous strategies for eluding predators, without ever having been shown by a previous generation. It seems to me, Octopus must inherit memory, in some way, to some degree. If they can (pretty big 'if'), maybe we can.
If it is possible to inherit memories, I don't think that even precludes any or all of the other possibilities.
I don't really believe in reincarnation, as commonly understood. I think, if there is such a thing as a Soul, there is only one of It in the universe, and ALL life is an incarnation of It.