Reincarnation, life and life between lives
atOver 20 years ago I walked into a bookshop in Brighton and casually picked up a book called Exploring Reincarnation by the Dutch psychologist and researcher Hans Tendam. Leafing through it I realised that this was a massive appraisal of a massive subject so I promptly bought it and took it back to my flat in Hove and read it, from cover to cover, finding it more compelling than most novels. By the time I’d finished it I had no choice… the research of such academics as Ian Stevenson and Helen Wambach were enough to convince me. Dr Wambach herself had originally set out to debunk reincarnation, and having organised over 10,000 past life regressions, she ended up saying: “ I don’t believe in reincarnation – I know it.”
After lending the book to a scientist friend, who responded in the same way, I found myself talking and thinking about the subject just about every day. As I sat on the underground train commuting with hundreds of people, immersed in their own lives, I marvelled on the fact that in their previous lives these people may have been a different sex, a different social class, a different age and a different race. Even more intriguing was the realisation that our culture had completely given up on a widely held precept that was eradicated in the Christian world in 553AD. This was the seminal moment when the Emperor Justinian demonised the teachings of Origen for the sake of political expediency.
Since reading Exploring Reincarnation I have met Hans Tendam several times. The first time we met he regressed me over a three-day period, and the second time I visited him with a view to finding another UK publisher to reprint his book, and succeeded in getting Rider to take it on.
The last time I saw him he expressed the view that the subject of ‘life after death’ (which he calls the discarnate state) was now a topic of much greater interest and research than reincarnation, and I think he’s probably right. Having run a number of workshops on the subject, I find that people are truly fascinated by the idea of what it’s like to be dead, and how it relates to being alive; both academic and anecdotal writings on near death experiences (NDEs) generate very widespread interest.
The quality of the writing and research on NDEs, and the idea of consciousness beyond life are now in the hands of some inspired academics, clinical researchers and people from all walks of life who have experienced or collected records of NDEs with massive life changing consequences. All these topics – life, past lives and life between lives are the main components of my workshop on Saturday October 18th at the Cornerstone Centre in Hove. It takes place from 1.30 to 5pm, and if you want to join us, just email me – anthea@antheab.com.