Reincarnation, soul, and morphic resonance

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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KhukuBuddhist
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 16, 2023 1:15 am

Reincarnation, soul, and morphic resonance

Post by KhukuBuddhist »

I found an old thread from 2009 on this topic.

I am writing a book about past life memories for a woman whose mind was so affected by those memories that it made her lose her sense of self. She knew the name of the person with whom she had had these two past lifetimes without ever making any contact in any way. At times, it seemed that the other soul was so much stronger than hers...at other times, an awareness that their hearts once beat as one. Time was lost.

She spends her whole life trying to understand how the human mind remembers past lives.

Even a garden variety hypnotherapist will say that one remembers past lifetimes when there is some form of unfinished business. But how though?

Years later, I came upon Dr. Rupert Sheldrake's theories of morphic fields. I believe that morphic resonance exists between the souls/minds of people who have been close in one lifetime, and in some cases, the memory of that resonance does not fade and continues in another life.

I would love to hear what my fellow Buddhists think.
Cause_and_Effect
Posts: 1067
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:39 am

Re: Reincarnation, soul, and morphic resonance

Post by Cause_and_Effect »

KhukuBuddhist wrote: Tue May 16, 2023 1:41 am I found an old thread from 2009 on this topic.

I am writing a book about past life memories for a woman whose mind was so affected by those memories that it made her lose her sense of self. She knew the name of the person with whom she had had these two past lifetimes without ever making any contact in any way. At times, it seemed that the other soul was so much stronger than hers...at other times, an awareness that their hearts once beat as one. Time was lost.

She spends her whole life trying to understand how the human mind remembers past lives.

Even a garden variety hypnotherapist will say that one remembers past lifetimes when there is some form of unfinished business. But how though?

Years later, I came upon Dr. Rupert Sheldrake's theories of morphic fields. I believe that morphic resonance exists between the souls/minds of people who have been close in one lifetime, and in some cases, the memory of that resonance does not fade and continues in another life.

I would love to hear what my fellow Buddhists think.
These are valid questions, just don't expect to get a lot of traction on here though by way of response.
Many try to have a focus on the practice rather than these issues which is fine. However a great many also carry implicit theoretical assumptions with them that have no basis in the Dhamma, which cant encompass some of these questions. The most frequent one is a more mechanistic and almost materialist type of assumption regarding these processes.

The Buddhas wider cosmology and teachings on kamma and rebirth in my view cannot be understood without reference to larger fields of consciousness, which are implicit throughout the teaching. Ie if one gives to a person of low virtue then your karmic reward in this or future lives is small, if one gives to a person of developed mind and virtue the karmic result can be huge. This simple fact shows the relation of different peoples fields of consciousness with each other, with their actions both independently and to each other other, and with kamma.

I would recommend works by David Bohm and his ideas about the Implicate Order to have a closer understanding of the issues and how they may work if that is your interest.
"Therein monks, that Dimension should be known wherein the eye ceases and the perception of forms fades away...the ear... the nose...the tongue... the body ceases and the perception of touch fades away...

That Dimension should be known wherein mentality ceases and the perception of mind-objects fades away.
That Dimension should be known; that Dimension should be known."


(S. IV. 98) - The Dimension beyond the All
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