Scientologists are convinced that they lived past lives and claim to even remember who they were and what they did, so what happens when people leave the Church (leave without joining freezone) do they continue to believe in past lives or do they believe they were brainwashed by the auditor?
I can understand how you would conclude that Scientology is false and that everything you were told was a lie, but how could you be so convinced that you lived before and even remember it, and then suddenly deny it?
A. First point: it's not just scientologists who have such considerations concerning past lives. They are quite common in a variety of cultures & spiritual practices. Many similar spiritual techniques exist in a variety of practices which cause individuals to consider the prospect of prior existences as quite likely.
B. Other spiritual possibilities exist which can be used to explain the phenomena which are experienced as past life recall. As an example: "tapping into Akashic Records". What those "records" are, or to "whom" they may belong are both subject to variant interpretations. Most such explanations are far more complex to relate or more difficult to "test" than is the basic idea of reincarnation. So reincarnation tends to dominate as per "Occam's Razor".
C. Strictly speaking "past lives" are not taught by scientology, nor are they necessary to "explain" the process of running out charge associated with case phenomena. You are free to believe in any particular explanation or not as you may wish. What matters in session is locating charge & running it out. Because of the simplicity of the "past life" concept and it's readiness in providing a framework for understanding prior to this life time case phenomena it is an explanation that scientologists & others frequently adopt, but it isn't absolutely necessary.
D. One aspect of case changes due to auditing is that an individual will often experience a "re-calibration" of his "stable data" after he has experienced a change in his viewpoint resulting from some particularly significant insight obtained through an auditing session, study, or personal meditation. From a spiritual perspective, one can argue, that the "rocking" of "stable data" is innately valuable and a sign of "spiritual growth". This needn't be confined to practicing scientologists.
E. Even Buddhists argue whether or not "reincarnation" actually takes place.
Mark A. Baker
