Sunday, April 20, 2008

Many Lives, Many Masters

I just finished reading "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Dr. Brian Weiss. Usually, I do not read non-fiction, as it bores me. It took me three months to read this particular book and to understand the implications; I had to re-read many of the chapters.

This book is about past lives and past life regression methods. I am not sure how many of us believe in past lives. Believe me, you will not only love reading it, but you will also understand the depth of the phenomenon called "LIFE".

There is a reason for everything. Perhaps at the moment that an event occurs we have neither the insight nor the foresight to comprehend the reason, but with time and patience, it will come to light. There could be a reason why I chose to read the book, which is not yet revealed to me.

MLMM cannot be considered to be in the class of just an ordinary book. The author, through his mind blowing research and findings, has transcended the man made boundaries of time & spirituality and entered the realm of super subconsciousness, where this life time passes in the blink of an eye. Experiencing the unexplained is phenomenon close only to the self. It cannot be told or described, but only be felt. This book is step one.

MLMM is the true story of a psychiatrist and his ’extraordinarily attractive’ young patient who worked as a lab technician in his hospital, the Past Life Therapy that changed both of their worlds. I would not want to reveal the plot in detail to any of you who’ve not read it. Because I’ve tried it on a few people and I ended up making them dislike the book even before they had read it…

Before I go any further, let me warn everyone- you need to be in a completely accepting frame of mind to let the book influence you in the right spirit. If you’re the perennially sceptical person that most people are proud to be, then kindly keep away from this book. Because you will end up not benefiting from it and will probably go around telling others your opinion of it (which might hinder their views on the book). Anyway, the sole point is that you must be in a mental setting so that the book can take you on a long journey and you’ll surely come out of it looking a lot better, trust me.

What is so amazing about MLMM is that Dr. Weiss doesn’t attempt to preach his learning’s or force his beliefs on the reader. Instead, he chooses to simply narrate his experiences to them which is still better because the event and truths in the story are really powerful and can move anyone who cares to believe them. The book is not for those who wish to read it like any other book and then forget all about it. It is meant to be understood and lived.

Then again, the subject of the book is no more a fresh one since it’s been taken and retaken by millions of the “self help” authors round the globe. But all I have to say is that this one strikes more strongly because of the fact that a fellow human being is narrating his experiences and not giving lessons on how to live and how to behave.

Some may ask whether the story is true? How can you be sure that this is non-fiction? To those who ask such questions, I have a counter question. "Have you ever heard of an old fashioned Indian guy called Patanjali?" The concept of Past Life Therapy is as old as Patanjali’s Yoga Darshan which was written around the 4th century BC. He talks about the soul (CHITTA) being burdened with the impressions or samskaras of karmas from previous births. This was at a time, when other civilizations were just developing.
We Indians (known as Snake charmers across the world) know such things from our birth. Unfortunately, we need the certification from west to accept the theory of re-incarnation and Past Life Therapy. There is another book called "Bhagavadgita" which tells you that your soul leaves this body and accepts another body just as you shed old clothes to wear fresh ones.

Past life regression is an accepted practice in the west. We are now slowly accepting that one has to heal the mind also along with the body. Many Lives Many Masters is an excellent book which helps us to understand ourselves better and to find a direction and purpose in life.

I am sure that who ever read the book would be moved and changed to a nice human being because that is what we are supposed to do. My life has changed after I picked up this book and there is no looking back.

And as Dr. Weiss says “I also feel responsible for my actions, the negative as well as lofty. I know there will be a price to pay. What goes around truly does come around." Surely this book is going to change many lives. Read on.... Those who haven’t read it have missed something important in life.