These questions have concerned mankind since the dawn of its creation. Many ancient and contemporary philosophies, theosophies and religions hold fast to the premise that we all do indeed live many lives through the process of reincarnation. One may ask, "To what avail does living multiple lifetimes serve?" Best Selling Author and Past Life Regression expert Michael Newton PhD spent years conducting studies based on the premise that after death, the Soul has a "life between lives." According to the general consensus of his subjects in hundreds of those regression case studies, all of us literally go back to "school" ... each of us studying his or her own "Book of Life," a record of lives past. We do this with the goal of ‘improvement' in mind.¹

If we accept that the answer is the Evolution of the Soul, then the next query is the role of karma. How does it work?

From a scholarly viewpoint, most of us understand the Law of Karma simply as the product of cause and effect or as the Bible puts it "As a man soweth so shall he reap." In many esoteric and philosophical circles it is believed that the energy of thought is what exists after the death of the physical body. It acts like a great processing center that carries information from one earth existence to the next. According to the Buddha, "You are what you think, having become what you thought." Astrological scholar Martin Schulman believes, "Every thought you have impresses itself in to the substance of universal matter where it will ultimately manifest as an effect in the physical world. Sometimes the effect may occur in a few minutes ... other times the effects go out years after the cause. And yet one season follows another ... always the right foot follows the left. Never can man be going somewhere without coming from somewhere."²

The great Edgar Cayce, whose wisdom is timeless, talked often about reincarnation and karma. On many occasions he was asked if karma was a punishment and a way of paying off debts for past life misdeeds. Cayce believed that only the Soul could defame itself and that the only debt any of us carry is the debt of the Self. He also differentiated between personality and individuality explaining that the personality was merely a material expression and what a person wanted others to think. Individuality was an expression of the ‘inner self' - what the Soul desired. He expounded further that karma was residual in effect; that which was carried forth through the, "...experiences of the Soul, in a body, in an experience on Earth... that which has been built in the past as indifference to what is known to be right.³"

Looking at this from yet another perspective, Karma is the vehicle of the Soul's intent for Self correction. Karmic residuals can operate as the ties that bind and awareness of these residuals is the first step in loosening these bindings and releasing the personality and individuality. When we become aware we become cognizant of how to live a happier, healthier, and more productive life. Each Earth life we live serves as the process through which we gain more Soul Evolution.

In The Prophet by philosopher Kahlil Gibran, there is a profound reference to the subject of Freedom. The Prophet tells the townspeople, "And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? And what is it but fragments of your self you would discard to become free?⁴" If we do indeed discard "fragments" of ourselves... these so called "residuals" in order to promote the growth of the Soul then the goal of Evolution is Freedom.

The highest Universal vibration is Collective Love. This is what all Souls gravitate towards. It is an all encompassing and selfless love that begins with a pure understanding and love of the Self. Personal Karma can be understood only through a willingness to become aware. Some people are cognizant of the fact that they mentally, emotionally and often physically are affected by dramas and traumas from the "past." They innately "know" that they have "something" to do in this life but feel less confident to strive forward. Often they repeat behavioral patterns and habits that are detrimental to their spiritual growth and human achievement. Others have no clue that they may be carrying baggage or burdens from the past. They develop irrational fears and even worse, phobias that literally hold them back.

There have been multitudes of past life regression cases showing that such incidents cannot always be based on psychology formed in childhood conditioning or traumatic events. Many of these people had perfectly normal and happy childhoods free of trauma. The possibility that issues from past lives can "bleed through" affecting a current life status is becoming more and more acceptable by society at large. In these instances the expression, "It's just the way he/she is!" couldn't be any closer to the truth but, that way of "being" isn't anything new and more likely very old.

To digress for a moment - It should also be mentioned that not all past life residual is necessarily negative. Kernelled within every past life legend are experiences whereby special talents have been acquired that can be incorporated to help with current Karma. A Soul can be seeking to further use these talents or simply ignore them. These talents can be useful in the current lifetime to some extent. Clues to these talents are things that "come easy" to an individual in their current life station. Sometimes a person can be confronted with something that is so familiar they can experience total or near total recall of an event or circumstance connected to a past life. This is known as Morphic Resonance and should not be confused with déjà vu as it is much stronger. Morphic Resonance can be used in a deliberate fashion as well by those who wish to jar past memories. For example, an individual who feels strongly that they have innate artistic talent might choose to peruse museums or art books and catalogs to see if something clicks. If a positive residual is Divinely intended to aid Karma it will be incorporated into the individual's life quite easily. If not, the individual will simply not be interested or motivated to use it and move on to something else.

Unfortunately, there is some belief that Karma can be erased, changed or altered. Karma will play out one way or another because it constitutes part of the life lessons we have chosen for ourselves for Soul evolution. By understanding the etheric root causes of our distress we can alter our view of ourselves through a better understanding of what we have come to do in this lifetime for spiritual achievement. World renowned psychic Sylvia Browne puts it this way, "So we choose to come here, as rarely or as often as we feel the need, and we choose what we're interested in learning and working on this time around. We make these brief trips to earth to learn the hard way, through firsthand experience, for the growth and progress of our souls on their eternal journeys."⁵ According to Spiritual astrologer Mae Wilson Ludlam, current karma is, "... the forming stage where you still have the power of choice; power to modify what is happening by your response."⁶ The "key" word is response. Overcoming limitations is always based on our response... we all have a cosmic preconditioning for this!

There is a reason and a season and there is a way for everyone to move forward breaking the ties that bind into full human creativity and higher vibratory consciousness. Are you ready to initiate your "Self?"

Disciple: "Master, I am conscious only of the present life. Why have I no conscious recollections of previous incarnations and no foreknowledge of a future existence?"

Master: "Life is like a great chain in the ocean of God. When a portion of the chain is pulled out of the waters, you see only that small part. The beginning and end are hidden. In this incarnation you're viewing only one link in the chain of life, the past and the future, though invisible, remain in the deeps of God. He reveals their secrets to who are in tune with Him."

- From Sayings of Yogananda

¹ For more on this study read Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D.
² Schulman, Martin. "Karmic Astrology - Volume 1". York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1975. 16.
³ Smith, Robert A. "No Soul Left Behind, The Words and Wisdom of Edgar Cayce." New York: Citadel
Press Books, 2005. 190.
⁴ Gibran, Kahlil. "The Prophet." New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. 48.
⁵ Browne, Sylvia. "Phenomenon." New York: Dutton. 2005. 60-61.
⁶ Wilson-Ludlam, Mae R. "Ten lessons in the Universal Rays." Tempe, Arizona: American Federation of
Astrologers. 1984. 64.

Drop a pebble in the water

And the waves will reach the shore

Light a candle in the darkness

Someone somewhere finds a door

Turn your eyes away from people

And they’ll turn their eyes from you

It’s a lesson hard to learn

That what you are is what you do

And the world keeps turning in a circle

The world keeps turning in a circle

What goes around comes around

What goes around comes around

What goes around comes around

Around and around

Around and around

Turn the rain into a river

You will drown in your own tears

Cast the word against the wind and

You’re the only one who’ll hear

Deal the cards in spades and deuces

Everyone will know your hand

The song is sung in many tongues

And the story told in many lands

And the world keeps turning in a circle

The world keeps turning in a circle

What goes around comes around

What goes around comes around

What goes around comes around

Around and around

Around and around …