Evidence for Reincarnation: A Discussion on the Research of Dr. Helen Wambach
Qing Di
Is reincarnation a beautiful fantasy or reality? After hypnosis, many people
claim that they can recall prior lives and seem to be able to describe them in
great detail. Are they true or just fantasies? Can this be proven
scientifically? Has data been collected systematically and analyzed to prove or
disprove such contentions? Yes, scientific research is based on a hypothesis, in
laymen's terms a question or questions, and subsequent proof or disproof of the
particular theory. In the scientific community, a hypothesis won't be accepted
until evidence shows it has a high probability of being true. It is well known,
though, that the scientific community will subject the prediction to still
further scrutiny. It is no surprise, then, that the researcher under discussion,
Dr. Helen Wambach, a psychologist, maintained a questioning attitude with
respect to her study on reincarnation. As a matter of fact, Carol Moore stated
that the late Dr. Wambach wanted to "debunk" reincarnation. Dr. Wambach's books
Reliving Past Lives and Life Before Life, published in1978 by
Bantam paperback books, discussed evidence of reincarnation found under hypnosis
[1], and described her research in detail. In the first half of her book
Reliving Past Lives, published in 1978, Dr. Wambach talked about how she
became interested in spiritual phenomena, and what got her started with her
studies. She also told readers her experience of being confused, even cynical.
However, she decided to continue with her research after she found what she
believed to be truthful data among the vast amount of data collected. In the
second half of the book, she described the data she collected and her analysis.
Dr. Helen Wambach was a lecturer. Beginning in the late 1960s, Dr. Wambach
conducted a 10-year survey of past-life recollections under hypnosis among 1,088
subjects. For historical accuracy, Dr. Wambach asked specific questions about
the time periods in which people lived and questions about the daily life in the
given periods. Dr. Wambach collected her purposive samples by organizing
workshops of about a dozen people each. Dr. Wambach led them on a "four-stage
journey" which lasted a full day. She charged minimal fees to fund her long-term
study. The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis describes hypnosis as a state of
inner absorption, concentration and focused attention. Hypnosis is a procedure
during which a health professional or researcher suggests that the subject
experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior, i.e., an
altered state of consciousness. A cultivator understands that based on brain
wave differences, being hypnotized is not similar to sleep, but similar to
traditional Buddhist or Taoist meditation. Under such conditions, people could
possibly use his/her wisdom eye to observe and experience his/her previous
lives. Under regression therapy to a prior life, the individual can identify with a
certain individual of a particular prior time period. Apparently, he/she will
experience whatever the individual experienced at that particular point in time,
as well as communicate verbally or orally in an ancient language. Interestingly,
after awakening from regression therapy the individual will no longer be able to
recognize the ancient languages. Sometimes, the individual's present personality
may be able to partake in the regression in a passive role, that is, the
individual will view the prior life as if he/she was watching a movie. He/she
may hear the words without understanding what is being said. During the hypnotic session, the hypnotized individual may recall the time
and location of the events but somehow fuse it with his personality from this
lifetime or the prior lifetime. Sometimes the individual may gain supernormal
abilities. He may be able to know the time and location of the particular
recall. For example, when a hypnotized individual was asked a specific question
about the time period and location, he/she saw with the wisdom eye a date from
the Christian era, even if the hypnotized subject recalled a pre-Christian
period, or a non-Christian environment. What this tells us is that pinning down
the exact space-time location of the recollection can be difficult, though some
hypnotized individuals may be able to pinpoint the location on a map. I believe that these messages were either from a higher being, or from the
"clear side" of the hypnotized individual. A higher being is what the Buddha
school calls an enlightened being. A "clear side" may refer to what is called in
the Buddha school the enlightened side of an individual that can see other
realities. It is clear that one cannot achieve an enlightened state under
hypnosis. Under the hypnotic state the object's mind is very relaxed, thus the
true self of the individual may dominate. For further information into the
subject matter, please refer to two books by Dr. Michael Newton [3][4]. First, Dr. Wambach put the person into a hypnotic state and then asked
questions that allowed the individual to recall prior lives. The individual will
be aware of everything that is taking place and after emerging from hypnosis,
he/she may be able to recall everything that took place during the session. Dr.
Wambach hypnotized 1,088 people for her study. After careful analysis of the
data, Dr. Wambach concluded that the information collected under hypnosis was,
with respect to historical records available to her "amazingly accurate" with
the exception of 11 subjects. For example, one individual said that he played
piano in the 15th century, when, in fact, the piano was invented two centuries
later. Among the eleven subjects, nine gave information that deviated only slightly
from the historical time frame. It is amazing that only 1% of the population was
found to be inaccurate in the information provided under hypnosis. It is clear
to me that if all those memories are mere illusions, such a low fail rate is
impossible. Of course, one cannot exclude that some were merely imaginary, as
not everyone is able to use his/her wisdom eye. Compared with China, clinical
hypnosis is relatively well documented and readily available in western society.
I believe that the reason for this is that the mind of westerners is less
complex -- a consequence of cultural influence. The wisdom eye of westerners is
easy to open. Carol Moore stated that Dr. Wambach asked specific questions about the time
periods, including social status, race, gender, clothing, utensils, money,
housing, and the like. She used charts and tables to record this information so
it would be easier to compare it to the given time period. With respect to social status, Dr. Wambach categorized people as upper class,
middle class and lower class. She found that her population could be separated
into10% from the upper class, 20-35% from the middle class and the remaining
55-70% from the lower class. Although the proportion of middle class cases was
relatively higher around 1000 BC, the proportion later dropped, and increased
again after 1700 AD, comparable to that of 1000BC. Historical records indicate that craftsmen and merchants were mainly found
near the east Mediterranean Sea during that era. Business enterprises were well
established. However, approximately between 60-77% of the population lived at or
below the poverty level. They wore home made clothes and lived in simple
thatched cottages. The majority were farmers who labored every day in the
fields. None of the hypnotized individuals recalled being a famous historical
figure. Those who recalled a high social position seemed highly dissatisfied
with their lives, as if it were a burden to be alive. Those who recalled being a
farmer or a member of a primitive tribe appeared to be content with their lives.
Evaluation of the data strongly suggests that it is highly unlikely that these
recollections are from the imagination of the individual. Generally, people
imagine themselves as a famous historical figure or a nobleman and not something
as mundane as a farmer or member of a primitive tribe. With respect to the race of the subjects, Dr. Wambach selected mainly middle
class Caucasians from California. Their recollections indicated that they had
lived in different geographic areas and their hair color was different during
their prior lives. Dr. Wambach divided them into several categories: Caucasians,
Asians, Indians, Blacks and Middle Eastern descent. Around 2000 BC, only 20% of
the subjects were Caucasians. They lived widely dispersed throughout what is now
known as the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe and Central Asia
(Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc., called central steppe during historical times).
The subjects' recollections appeared to be mainly of two different races
(approximately 40% each). Five subjects stated that they lived in Central Asia between 1000 and 2000
BC. They seemed to have lived in tents, which was common to the migrating
population in what is called Central Asia today. Amazingly, they found
themselves to have white skin color and yellow or golden hair. It doesn't appear
to make any sense, as historical facts indicate that the people of that
particular area should be of darker skinned and black hair. Three of the subjects appeared to have similar recollections. They wore pants
made of leather. Historical records also indicate that a limited number of
Caucasians, those of white skin and light hair color, had migrated to that
region during that time. However, these subjects did not think that their
recollections had merit, as their historical knowledge did not indicate that
Caucasians lived in that region during that era. But Dr. Wambach believed the
recollections to be true. Such discrepancies were found quite frequently among
the collection of the data collected by Dr. Wambach. Given that the subjects did
not trust their recollections, we believe that it was not imagination, built
from the person's education/reading during this lifetime. The average age of the subjects was around 30 years and most were born after
1945. Forty-five of the subjects recalled prior lives between 1900 and 1945. One
third were Asians. Death from unnatural causes among those living between 1900
and 1945 appeared to be very high. Many of them died during the two world wars,
as well as civil wars in Asian countries. Thus, these people reincarnated
shortly after they died. Surprisingly, Dr. Wambach found that 69% of the
subjects who had died during the1850's were Caucasians, while between 1900 and
1945, only 40% were Caucasian. It seems that transmigration of the different
races increased after 1945. What could have happened during that era? Dr.
Wambach joked that most likely many devotees of the Congregational Church
reincarnated into communist China. Of interest is also that the subject's gender may not be the same during
different lifetimes. For example, a man was surprised that he was a female in a
prior life and lived around 480 B.C in China. Another man was an Indian woman in
his prior life, who died of dystocia (dystocia is the condition when a fetus
cannot be delivered naturally because of its position in the mother's womb). He
described the pain he felt, and became rather upset. Unexpectedly, the ratios
between males and females among the subjects were found to be mostly the same
during any of the ages. The subjects' clothing during their former lifetimes also corresponded with
historical records. For example, a subject who lived around 1000 B.C in Egypt
described different types of clothing worn by the upper and lower classes. The
upper classes wore either a half-length or full-length white cotton robe. The
lower classes wore exotic-looking type of pants that were wrapped downwards from
the waist. The researchers viewed historic records of clothing worn during the
respective periods and could therefore compare it to the descriptions of these
subjects. The descriptions were found to be correct. We are also quite sure that
these subjects were not familiar with what the ancient Egyptians wore. A female subject recalled that she was a knight in A.D. 1200. She said, "I
feel it is very impractical. I must have illusions." She continued, "I lowered
my head to look at my feet. I saw a pair of triangle-head boots. I thought they
would be round-headed, just like the armor I saw in the museum." Later on, she
found such triangle-head boots in an encyclopedia. According to the
encyclopedia, this type of boots was worn in Italy before A.D. 1280. She had
recalled that she was in Italy at that about time since she had died in 1254.
Dr. Wambach also found from the recollections that the world's population has
increased over time. After A.D. 1500, the population increased even more
rapidly. It is even now rather difficult to interpret some of the data, because
one has to painstakingly research connections and links to historical times.
Also, earlier lifetimes may not be as easily recalled as more recent lifetimes,
although Dr. Wambach found that the degree of clarity of the subjects'
recollections of former lifetimes was unrelated to time. Dr. Wambach could not
explain the reason for the ever-increasing population, which is today called the
population explosion. In fact, if we see the world as a huge stage, with a fixed
number of actors, the number of people on the stage would still change.
Furthermore, the researchers concluded that the time between death and rebirth,
i.e., samsara seemed to be shorter in modern times than in ancient times. Dr Wambach also questioned those under hypnosis, during recollection of a
given lifetime, the reasons for their deaths and their experiences. To protect
the subjects from anguish and suffering, Dr. Wambach instructed them to suppress
their negative feelings from that time. The subjects' experiences were very
similar to the near death experiences reported by today's doctors and
researchers. They left their bodies, looked down on their own bodies, saw light,
and the relatives who had passed away earlier. They felt free from their worldly
bonds and at the same time sad for those relatives still alive. Among all the
subjects, 62% died of old age and illness, which the ancient Chinese called
"died in his bed." Eighteen percent died violently during war, or some other
manmade catastrophe and the remaining 20% died in accidents. Some subjects said
that they already left their flesh bodies even before they were fatally injured.
We found that in 1000 B.C. and twentieth century A. D. the ratio of people who
died violently peaked. There seemed to be many localized battles among tribes
during 1000 B.C. In the twentieth century, many died during air attacks when
bombs were dropped on civilian areas. Usually, these people died of smoke
inhalation caused by the bomb. This information could easily be verified from
recent historical records. Again we believe that the subjects' description was
not an illusion, as not many people had been aware of this. Dr. Wambach's book presented a number of figures and tables, as well as the
questionnaires used for her survey. Some subjects mentioned that some people
they knew in former lifetimes were among those they associated with during this
lifetime. I believe that this corresponds to the karmic relationship cultivators
talk about. Reincarnation may best explain Dr. Wambach's research data. We
believe that to call the survey data "imaginary" would do grave injustice to a
truth not fully discovered yet. For example, many readers might be familiar with Chinese history. Some are
quite familiar with the events that occurred during five thousands years of
Chinese history. However, we doubt that a satisfactory answer will be given by
those who are familiar with "The Annals of Food and Goods" if questioned about
details of lifestyle, eating habits, or type of clothing worn in the Zhou
Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Addendum I. Does reincarnation exist after all? Scientific data collected as of date
seems to suggest that reincarnation is a fact of life. Here are some supporting
pieces of evidence: 1) Scientific research has discovered many cases of prior life memory
recollections among young children. These recalls were studied, categorized and
confirmed through rigorous research. 2) Details that subjects recalled about their prior lives correspond to
historical records. Furthermore, there was great consistency among prior life
recollections of the same time periods and geographical areas. 3) Subjects recalled ancient languages and words that they did not learn
during this lifetime. Furthermore, after the hypnotic state ended they no longer
could speak or understand those languages. 4) Some subjects among relatives, friends, or even strangers, recalled the
same people, events and details independently. 5) Recalling past lives' agonies and events were instrumental in addressing
and often alleviating today's ills and problems, such as terror and long-term
pain. It is very difficult to explain these phenomena as illusions, but they may
not be readily accepted by modern science as evidence for the concept of
reincarnation. II. Some readers from mainland China might ask: did these researchers cheat?
I ask the indulgence and understanding of these researchers. China at this time
is in denial about all data that has not already been proven with modern
science. Thus, a more detailed explanation for the Chinese reader is necessary.
1) These researchers are well known and respected in their academic fields.
For example, Dr. Ian Stevenson, M.D., Professor of Research at the University of
Virginia (UVA), Department of Psychiatric Medicine and Division of Personality
Studies (DOPS) is prominent in his field of study, which includes the study of
reincarnation. He is famous for studying past life recollections of children for
more than 36 years. 2) These researchers gain nothing from fabricating such data. Publishing data
on reincarnation will not get them promotions. On the contrary, publication on
such controversial subjects may lead to being ostracized by their peers or it
could have a negative effect on their careers. 3) Whether their data supports or denies reincarnation, their research breaks
through into previously taboo subject matter. Actually, since reincarnation is
not accepted in western culture, denying reincarnation maybe more beneficial to
them. 4) Many researchers are not religious believers; therefore, they don't have
any intention of searching for evidence to support their religions or trying to
spread their religions. Some of them were exposed to harassment from religious
extremists, as western religions do not acknowledge reincarnation. 5) The information they obtained is consistent. 6) People who believe in reincarnation all know that good is rewarded with
good and evil meets evil. No one dares to lie. 7) Books on reincarnation are less popular in western society. Some of the
books may be difficult to obtain in bookstores. So, the motive for earning money
is not there. Of course, you should judge for yourself if reincarnation exists or not. You
should judge based on your personal experience and belief system. I have written
this article to raise your interest about the subject of reincarnation. The
reader should decide for her/himself. Nevertheless, whether we wish it or not,
reincarnation is part of our culture. From www.pureinsight.org
Eating habits of people who lived around 500 B. C. were not that bad. Twenty
percent of the subjects recalled that they ate poultry and sheep meat. However,
between A.D. 25 to A.D. 1200, people's eating habits were rather poor, as the
subjects recalled that the food was tasteless. It is not surprising that those
who recalled the best tasting food were those who recalled a prior life in of
China. One of the women subjects told Dr. Wambach that she ate radishes a lot in
her former lifetime. She said: "I have not eaten radishes during this lifetime,
so it is a mystery to me how I knew it was radish." Several months later, her
husband and she ate at a restaurant. There was some white, odd-looking vegetable
in one of the dishes her husband ordered. After she tasted it, she told her
husband it was just like the flavor of radish she ate in her former lifetime.
They asked a waiter who told them that it was a type of radish. Another person
recalled that he had lived during 800 A.D. in what is today called Indonesia. He
remembered having eaten some kind of nut, that he had not eaten or even seen in
this lifetime. Later on, he saw a picture of such nuts in a magazine. "It is
exactly what I had seen under hypnosis!" He said, "The article said that these
nuts are only found on the island of Bali."
Dr. Wambach was not a religious believer. She called the data she collected a
"myth" of life. She also encouraged readers to obtain their own "myth".
Nowadays, a great number of books about reincarnation are being published. Some
of the data collected by more recent researchers is more comprehensive, profound
and insightful than the data collected by Dr. Wambach. Names which come to mind
include Dr. Byran Jamison [2] and Dr. Michael Newton. Nonetheless, Dr. Wambach's
book is still valuable because she is so far the only investigator who completed
a statistical analysis to test the hypothesis of reincarnation with a large data
sample.
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