My journey to becoming a past life regression therapist - Part 1

This post is about the key events that led me towards the concept of past life regression therapy.

I was born into a middle-class Hindu family.  Visiting my grandparents, during school vacations, was the best thing that happened during early childhood.  Most of us cousins would come together and have a great time playing and listening to some of the exciting stories that my maternal grandma would narrate.  We looked forward to the bedtime as we all would have mattresses laid out in a large room and she would sit in the middle, narrating stories for us from the books she had read.  We considered her an authority on the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, the two great historical documents, which are today being referred to as mythology and epics.   She had studied till the 4th standard, (which is primary schooling) before being married off early in life.  But her interest in learning was so intense that despite stopping her formal education, she continued reading books, mostly religious.  She had read the voluminous Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Srimad Bhagavatham and other books.  The stories from these scriptures always interested me, and I would listen with a lot of attention.  They introduced me to the concept of rebirths and reincarnations.

A major part of my student life was spent in a convent school where I had friends from other religions - Christianity and Islam.  The school had a good mix of students from all faiths and never differentiated us on the grounds of religion.  The city central library, which was half a mile away was the destination for my friends and me on Saturdays as the school used to be closed for the weekend, and the Sun was too hot for us to play.  One day some comics relating to the Mahabharatha caught my attention, and I ended up reading the entire collection over the next few months (one volume would be printed each week).  My interest in the Ramayana and Mahabharatha continued, and till date, I have read books by many authors on this subject.  My Christian and Muslim friends in school did not believe in rebirths and insisted that there was no such concept.  They were clear that we would be judged on the basis of what we do in this life and then be sent to heaven or hell for eternity.  This was very different from what my grandmother had told us.  I also felt that it is too harsh for anyone to be sent to hell forever and not be given another chance.  The concept was too complex for us to go deeper into.  We got busy with games and academics.  I parked my  questions on rebirth theories aside and went about focusing on my academics. I eventually passed out of school with some decent score.

I entered the pre-university, selecting accounting as my prime subject.  All the professors and lecturers used to focus on teaching us their respective subjects.  But, there was one, Mr. Kirthi Rawal, our Hindi language teacher, who would lecture us with stories and persuade us to be good human beings.  Mr. Rawal once took some of us to the Ramakrishna Ashram in Bengaluru, and I ended up buying some books by Swami Vivekananda.  One of the books was "Life after Death" or something on those lines.  The books gave insight into life and death.  After some time, my focus was once again on academics, and for the next few years I got busy with studies and qualified as a professional accountant.

A few years later, during 2004, a cousin visited us and narrated his experience with a “Naadi” astrologer.  These astrologers read the future of the client, from some old manuscripts written in Tamil (a South Indian language).  The manuscript is identified by taking into consideration the thumb impression of the client.  My cousin said that all the predictions till date had come true.  It did not seem true to my suspicious rational mind, but I was keen to meet the astrologer, more to experiment with myself as see if this is true, and understand the secret on how they do it.  After sometime I forgot about it.  But, as destiny would will, one day, by chance, I visited an office which turned out to be near the “Naadi” astrologer’s place.  As I had some free time, I ventured into the place that looked more like a residence from the outside.  Once I entered the place, I got curious regarding my future.  By taking my thumb impression and the topics which I was keen to know about, the astrologer came back with my future predictions that were so specific with details.  To my question on who wrote the manuscripts, the astrologer mentioned that the manuscripts were written by sages and was passed on from one generation to another.  I did not take the predictions seriously, but as the cycle of time passed, the predictions were turning out to be true.  Till date, they have all come true.  

“How was it that someone knew what would happen in my life with so much precision?”  This question started bothering me and one day, I saw a newspaper article that contained a picture of middle aged people sitting in a classroom, with a caption that they were doctors, engineers and other professionals, learning Vedic astrology at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan in Bengaluru.  I was keen to go and learn astrology and see if it really works.  But my work schedule in KPMG would not allow as there were frequent travels.  After a few years, I joined Hewlett Packard, where there was very little travel and I had my weekends completely free.  I wondered about how best I could utilize my free time – should I do another professional course.  But, that did not really interest me.  Suddenly, I remembered the Vedic astrology classes, searched for the details on the net and joined the next batch in the year 2010.  It was a three year course at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Bengaluru.  Here, we were taught to prepare, interpret the birth charts of individuals and to understand the key events of their past, present and future.  

Vedic astrology or jyotishya shastra, is one of the 'Vedangas' (limbs of the Vedas).  A birth chart is prepared depicting the planetary positions at the time and place of birth of the individual for whom the chart is required.  Time and place of birth are the only important inputs and getting this wrong would make the predictions irrelevant.  The knowledge of the rules, skill and intuition are key to interpreting the birth charts.  The subject is so vast that it is possible for only few to master it.  The need for a person to feel assured about the future or the challenges being faced drive him to the astrologer.  With too many fake astrologers around, many times, one does not get the right interpretation, and this has an impact on the credibility of this subject.

Friends and colleagues who got to know that I was learning astrology, started approaching me mainly out of curiosity and some of them from genuine issues they were facing.  I realised over a period of time that everyone's chart had good and bad times.  People were only bothered and looked for help while facing difficult times.  Every chart had some issue or pain or challenge at a different stage.  I could read through the charts on when they would come out of their difficult times, but what bothered people is "Why me?"  My astrology teachers told us that we could find out the "why" from the birth chart, but it needed an expert and we did not have one amongst us to teach us.  In fact, there are not many around who can answer the "Why" question.  Most of them would only make a generic statement - "It is on account of your past karma."  What was that "Karma" was not answered.  The “Why” remained.

Sometime around the year 2011-12, there was a television show “Raaz Pichele Janam Ki”, (Secrets from the Past Life), and in the show a past life regression therapist used to regress the celebrities.  It appeared too good to be true for someone to easily access their past lives.  Over lunch at office, we discussed this and commented that the television channel must be doing this for their TRP rating.  After lunch, one of my colleague Satya (name changed), walked over to me and he mentioned that his father is a past life regression therapist and what is shown on the television cannot be simply discounted.  A few months later, I had an opportunity to meet Satya’s father, an elderly man in 90s, with complete command on the subject.  He tried his best to answer all my questions, and when he realised that they would never end, he suggested that I read “Many Lives Many Masters”, by Dr. Brian Weiss.  The moment I got home, I ordered the book online.  It said 3 days to deliver.  I was so impatient that I searched for a softcopy online and found it.  By the time the hard copy of the book reached me, I had finished reading the soft-copy.  I could not believe what I had read.  It sounded like a fairy tale.  All that my grandmother had told us about rebirths, the books I had read relating to rebirths, all these now seemed to be real.  I mentioned the details of the book to my family, friends and relatives.  But, I don’t remember anyone taking me seriously nor did they seem interested in what was being said.  The book talks that there are other religions that talk about rebirth and reincarnations, including Christianity.

The next few years, I got busy with work and then sometime in 2017, I was wondering if there is a place in Bengaluru where I can formally learn about past life regression.  Google came to my help, and of all the sites it threw up, I found a website “Amarantos.org” that was appealing.  The site did not have any phone number or email id.  It had few videos about people who had attended a past life regression workshop by a person by name Venu Murthy.  He conducted workshops on past life regressions, and for those who were interested in reaching him, there was an online form to be filled.  The website mentioned that those selected would be informed.  I quickly filled the form and waited for a response.  I did not receive one, and there was no way to contact Amarantos.  In my busy life, I soon forgot about it.  In early 2018, I decided to quit my corporate life and start my own consulting.  I felt this would give me more time with family and also help me focus on areas of my interest.  Two days after I resigned, I had an email from Amarantos, stating that they were starting the next batch and since I had expressed interest earlier, they were reaching out to me.  But, I had to apply again online and would be invited if my application was found suitable.  I applied immediately on reading the mail.  The seats for the workshop are limited, and I wanted to be the early bird.  The application has some questions, and the selection is based on the response to these questions.  This time I was selected, but my application was no different from what I had filled the first time – so why did they choose me?  I sorted my mails and found amongst the unread ones, an email in 2017 too, confirming my selection.  I grabbed onto the opportunity, confirmed my availability for the workshop and paid the advance.  The door was now open.  The door to me having a past life experience and also becoming a past life regression therapist – a world very different from the corporate and consulting one I had known.

To be continued - Part 2

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