One of the theories of modern psychology states that “man is what he is able to remember.” This statement can be especially important if this idea is interpreted from the perspective of Eastern spiritual traditions. For example, at the time when the most important religion was formed in India, Buddhism, as in all archaic spiritual cultures, real self-knowledge was considered to be one with the knowledge of the Absolute. In the Upanishads we can read; “The place where the memories are is the heart, which, in fact, is the abode of the Divinity.”

Few ancient Greek philosophers came to similar conclusions as Hindus and Buddhists. For example, Socrates said that “all searching, all learning is nothing but a remembering.” His student Plato argued the same thing when he said, “Knowledge is nothing but an anamnesis,” that is, “the oblivion of forgetfulness of ideas.” In his philosophy, Plato calls this process the “only real act” of knowledge, the knowledge that has a transformative effect on the whole existence of man.

Likewise, in Roman philosophers, often, the idea of ​​”true memory” is found. This is also referred to by the Latin word, “religio” (religion) which means re-connection, and is closely related to the term, “recordor”, – “recordatio” (remembrance) which faithfully expresses that memory leads to self-knowledge; the prefix “re-” is followed by the term “choir,” which means heart, soul, or meaning.

Returning to modern science, the famous researcher Bánki, who dealt with the functioning of the brain, wrote in his work “In the Decade of the Brain”, about 2500 years after Buddha and Plato, that; “Learning and remembering are two faces of the same brain process.”

Pratiloma-Yana – awareness of causation

Basically, self-knowledge by remembering past lives begins with improving one’s health. We know that physical and mental health is the result of past events, conditions, and feelings. Impressions gathered in a lifetime, gradually shape the structure of the brain cells which determines an individual’s general health state.  At the same time, the quality and the power of thoughts and emotions experienced are preserved as karmic imprints in the energetic structure, which is transmitted from life to life. In order to improve one’s health, the influence of karmic factors must be changed.

With the help of a Pratiloma therapist, we can partially project our consciousness into past lives to discover and reevaluate events that affect our health. The accredited therapist helps us to access the [meditative] state of Pratiloma, in which we can become aware of the cause of our health problems, relationship or professional problems, – and heal our traumas – so we can change the effects of the past on the present.

When we are in the state of Pratiloma, the awareness of causality becomes a liberating power.

The next level of self-knowledge through remembering is the gradual re-accession of the meditative states we have achieved in previous lives.

If a large part of the emotional trauma has been healed by the power of awareness, the blockages that have created disturbances in one’s consciousness will gradually dissolve. As a result – given that consciousness has the capacity to rearrange itself – psychic functions will naturally be restructured based on the original pattern. (For the best possible restructuring process, after the regression session in previous lives, we have the opportunity to ask for the help of the therapist, or to learn special techniques that are part of the millennial Pratiloma-Yana tradition.)

The direct effect of the release of traumatic karma through awareness is the expansion of consciousness that will include various high meditative states.

The latest research on the functioning of the brain has shown that meditative states are nothing more than reprogramming the brain to its primary state. From a spiritual point of view, self-knowledge [through the recollection of past lives] does not mean the deliberate evocation of memories, but, more correctly, it is the reliving of a state devoid of any mental constraint. In this way, practitioner Prtatiloma-Yana can evoke his own memory of the true self.

To better understand the Pratiloma-Yana method and the importance of accessing the spiritual states achieved in previous lives, it is necessary to consider the “time” factor that creates the illusion of previous lives. Modern research in the field of the brain has brought to light several facts which – according to the most important archaic spiritual traditions – deserve to be taken into account, such as the fact that man, at birth, is in a state of pure conscience, does not perceive the passage of time, and that “the first traumatic pattern that man learns is time.” (Dr. Bánki).

In accessing past lives, the time, which we perceive, [wrongly], linearly, we imagine as progressing from the past, passing from the present to the future. In the therapist-induced Pratiloma meditative state of consciousness, this limiting perception is easily overcome. In the altered state of dilated consciousness, the therapist can move us unconstrained in the dimension of time, so that we can also find out through awareness to change everything that is for our greater good. Through Pratiloma-Yana the time factor instead of forcing us will serve us as a huge field of work, even in the intermediate dimension, in Bardo.

Also in the Abhidharma-kosha written by the Indian scientist Vashubandu, appears the idea of ​​mastering the time in order to get rid of it in the end:

“The ascetic who wants to remember past lives

must begin by capturing the character of the thought that has just faded,

starting from this thought in the current life,

following the successive states to go back in time to the moment of conception.

When he remembers a moment-thought in his intermediary life, he accomplishes the escape from the dimension of time.”

Thus, spinning the wheel of time, going back in time in the series of incarnations, and gradually purifying ourselves, we can finally reach “the first moment of opposites.” He who manages to step beyond this threshold can enter the Eternal Present.

The second level in Pratiloma actually prepares the third level of self-knowledge through remembering: the revival of the native spiritual qualities.

 Once we have cleared our consciousness of karmic constraints to a certain extent, there is a revival of native spiritual values, such as compassion and wisdom. This stage of real self-knowledge requires the application of Mantra-yana, Yantra-yana, and Darsa-yana practices. These ways of becoming aware of various aspects of reality can be mastered after the patient, by regaining his health, becomes a disciple and manage to attend and complete the Preliminary Practices program.