Theoretically this thesis was grounded in the discourse of transpersonal psychology and the related discourse of transpersonal feminism. The focus was on a particular category of transpersonal phenomena - past-life experiences. These experiences were viewed from a poetic and therapeutic perspective as being healing stories of the unconscious that served to articulate psychological and spiritual realities of the human psyche within both the personal and the collective unconscious. They were thus not questioned in regard to their literal occurrence. The central aims of this thesis were to (a) document and faithfully describe a participant's past-life experiences that occurred during selected psychotherapy sessions, (b) engage in a hermeneutic dialogue between the participant's past-life experiences and contemporary transpersonal literature, and, in so doing, to evaluate and extend existing theory, (c) uncover the archetypal significance of past-life experience and its relationship to the re-emerging Feminine within patriarchal culture and, finally, (d) show how the past-life stories and images contribute to the process of inner healing and transformation, a process termed 'spiritual emergence'. The research was a phenomenological-hermeneutic case study, comprising the selection of eight consecutive psychotherapy sessions in which nine past-life experiences were identified. These sessions were reduced to narrative synopses, and a hermeneutically grounded thematic analysis of a total of six past-life themes were explicated. Principle conclusions reached were that past-life stories and images contribute to the process of spiritual emergence and empowerment as well as to the re-emergence of the Feminine consciousness. Moreover, as healing stories of the unconscious, these past-life experiences can be understood as expressions of the collective struggle with unresolved archetypal forces within the collective psyche, as well as echoes of personal conflicts and dilemmas from the individual unconscious.

A phenomenological-hermeneutic method of research was employed to determine the nature of the lived experiences of adults as they transformed past-life trauma into wholeness in this life and the associated meanings attached to these experiences. Upon completion of the analysis, five distinct parts and 16 themes emerged. The themes illuminate the significance of childhood developmental trauma on the developing ego; the resulting splits of self; and the impact and manifestations of rejection, neglect, isolation, and abandonment within all life stages. Also illustrated is the journey through the healing of past-life and current-life trauma and the embracement of the non-dual path. The findings of this study appear to indicate that past-life regression and the non-dual perspective are beneficial healing paradigms for individuals who have experienced physical, sexual, and emotional trauma during childhood development. Keywords: healing, past-life, past life, regression, non-duality, nonduality / x, 217 leaves ; 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκαν οι θεωρίες περί μετενσάρκωσης στα έργα δύο σπουδαίων φιλοσόφων της αρχαιότητας: του Εμπεδοκλή και του Πλάτωνα. Του Ακραγαντίνου φιλοσόφου (π. 492-432 π.Χ.) μελετήθηκε το σύνολο των σωζόμενων αποσπασμάτων. Με ιδιαίτερες δυσκολίες λόγω της αποσπασματικής μορφής του έργου, επιχειρήθηκε η ανασύσταση της μετενσαρκωτικής πορείας του δαίμονος, οντότητας με κυρίαρχο ρόλο στη θεωρία του φιλοσόφου που αναλύθηκε σε ξεχωριστό κεφάλαιο. Από τον Πλάτωνα (428/7-348/7) μελετήθηκαν οι διάλογοι Φαίδων, Πολιτεία και Φαῖδρος που εμπεριέχουν τα σχετικά με τη μετενσάρκωση χωρία. Κατά τη μελέτη του πλατωνικού έργου, δόθηκε ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα στο γεγονός ότι τα περί μετενσάρκωσης αναπτύσσονται στο πλαίσιο μυθικών αφηγήσεων. Ερευνήθηκε το θέμα της πλατωνικής ψυχής, ενώ κατόπιν μελετήθηκαν συγκριτικά οι θεωρίες των τριών μύθων. Μετά την ξέχωρη πραγμάτευση του έργου καθενός εκ των δύο φιλοσόφων, επιχειρήθηκε μια αντιπαραβολή των θεωριών τους. / --

This longitudinal study addresses the interface between the emerging paradigm of Transpersonal Psychology, which recognizes the transbiographical domain of consciousness, and the clinical area of child abuse. By using the transpersonal concept of the karmic complex, which was developed in the discourse of Roger Woolger, it explores the clinical value of past-life regressions and other transpersonal phenomena in the therapeutic process. The study provides an in-depth phenomenological description and a theoreticalheuristic explication of the experience of a single subject who was an adult survivor of physical and sexual abuse as well as early emotional deprivation in childhood, and who, over a four-year period of intensive psychotherapy, experienced a wide spectrum of transpersonal phenomena which included 123 past-life regressions. The therapeutic process could be clearly delineated into a biographical phase, which was dominated by biographical traumas, and a subsequ~nt transpersonal phase, during which the focus was almost exclusively on transpersonal material. This provided the opportunity to explore the therapeutic impact of trans personal mechanisms" of healing on an interlocking constellation of complexes in terms of achieving an integration of archetypal opposites in the psyche. The study provides strong support for transpersonal concepts about the nature of consciousness, as developed by Grof and Woolger. It affirms spirituality as an intrinsic property of the psyche, and verifies that the healing of psychological trauma is on a continuum with the process of spiritual purification and growth. The ,study establishes support for the clinical value of the karmic complex as a conceptual tool and provides a systematic, extended analysis of the multi levelled processes involved in the breaking of the complex.

This dissertation research examines how shared aspects of identity are constructed among the Druze in Lebanon and how it contributes to conceptualizations of heritage. Assessing the educational resources focused on aspects of Druze heritage, the barriers to cultural preservation were elucidated. Utilizing a number of qualitative research methods, participants’ feedback constructed a narrative that considers what they believe to be at risk for their community. These issues included addressing a perceived knowledge gap wherein the majority of Druze expressed a need to expand the educational resources in their community. Participants defined the kinds of resources and social supports that are lacking and explained how existing texts, lectures, and seminars should be improved, increased, and made more accessible. This dissertation is a result of ethnographic fieldwork which I conducted throughout 2014. Having lived in the town of Aley, Lebanon, I conducted research interviews with individuals that represented a broad spectrum of society, taking into account women and men of different ages with diverse social, economic, and educational backgrounds. Through participant observation, I shared many of the daily experiences of research participants and observed the Druze in their regular lives, their social gatherings, and at sites of historical significance. Using a political economic theoretical framework, this research also explored the diversity of ways in which social phenomena are contested among the Druze in Lebanon. While much of the anthropological and social science research on heritage focuses on its material components, utilizing pre-established models that conflate heritage with tangible symbolic expressions, a political economic approach insists that the context of social structures are taken into account. This also lends itself to a conceptualization of heritage as a process by which individuals create meaning in their lives, which are shaped by social contexts such as history and contemporary culture. This research highlights the fact that a priori models that fail to consider both social structures and the fundamental perspectives of participants are based upon ideologies that lack a critical academic lens. This dissertation demonstrates that while Druze particularism often necessitated a level of conformity and ascription to traditional values, the diversity of individual approaches to shared identity contributed to the plasticity of cultural forms and varieties of self-expression. As well, expanded and improved educational resources that encourage individuals to learn more about their history and the basic tenets of their faith were widely seen as a valued means of ensuring the society’s continuation.

This dissertation is a philosophical examination of the concept of reincarnation from an African point of view. It does so, largely, from the cultural perspective of the Akan people of Ghana. In this work, reincarnation is distinguished from such related concepts as metempsychosis and transmigration with which it is conflated by many authors on the subject. In terms of definition, therefore, the belief that a deceased person can be reborn is advanced in this dissertation as referring to only reincarnation, but not to either metempsychosis or transmigration. Many scholars would agree that reincarnation is a pristine concept, yet it is so present in the beliefs and worldviews of several cultures today (including those of Africa). A good appreciation of the concept, it can be seen, will not be possible without some reference to the past. That is why some attempt is first made at the early stages of the dissertation to show how reincarnation was understood in the religious philosophies of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese and the Incas. Secondly, some link is then established between the past and present, especially between ancient Egyptian philosophy and those of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. In modern African thought, the doctrine of reincarnation has not been thoroughly researched into. Even so, some of the few who have written on the subject have denied its existence in African thought. The dissertation rejects this denial, and seeks to show nonetheless that reincarnation is generally an irrational concept. In spite of its irrationality, it is acknowledged that the concept, as especially presented in African thought, raises our understanding of the constitution of a person as understood in the African culture. It is also observed that the philosophical problem of personal identity is central to the discussion of reincarnation because that which constitutes a person is presumed to be known whenever a claim of return of a survived person is made. For this reason, the dissertation also pays significant attention to the concept of personal identity in connection, especially, with the African philosophical belief in the return of persons. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

This dissertation is a philosophical examination of the concept of reincarnation from an African point of view. It does so, largely, from the cultural perspective of the Akan people of Ghana. In this work, reincarnation is distinguished from such related concepts as metempsychosis and transmigration with which it is conflated by many authors on the subject. In terms of definition, therefore, the belief that a deceased person can be reborn is advanced in this dissertation as referring to only reincarnation, but not to either metempsychosis or transmigration. Many scholars would agree that reincarnation is a pristine concept, yet it is so present in the beliefs and worldviews of several cultures today (including those of Africa). A good appreciation of the concept, it can be seen, will not be possible without some reference to the past. That is why some attempt is first made at the early stages of the dissertation to show how reincarnation was understood in the religious philosophies of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese and the Incas. Secondly, some link is then established between the past and present, especially between ancient Egyptian philosophy and those of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. In modern African thought, the doctrine of reincarnation has not been thoroughly researched into. Even so, some of the few who have written on the subject have denied its existence in African thought. The dissertation rejects this denial, and seeks to show nonetheless that reincarnation is generally an irrational concept. In spite of its irrationality, it is acknowledged that the concept, as especially presented in African thought, raises our understanding of the constitution of a person as understood in the African culture. It is also observed that the philosophical problem of personal identity is central to the discussion of reincarnation because that which constitutes a person is presumed to be known whenever a claim of return of a survived person is made. For this reason, the dissertation also pays significant attention to the concept of personal identity in connection, especially, with the African philosophical belief in the return of persons. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:54:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CELMA LAURINDA FREITAS COSTA.pdf: 925374 bytes, checksum: 45bc7e000ea31c1b4fe6d84b6bf5db27 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-28 / This paper, Science and Education notions in Spiritism, studies spiritism, a doctrine with scientific, philosophical and religious content expounded by Allan Kardec in the 19th century. (Allan Kardec was the nom de plume of Hypollite León-Denizard Rivail, a Catholic French scientist, thinker and educator who followed the Pestalozzi theory.). This paper presents his doctrine and also analyses its viability as a didactic-pedagogical program. It s a theoreticalbibliographical research mainly based on Kardec`s works. Spiritism presents information about man, nature, the origin and the destiny of the worlds, the material and spiritual spheres, God and Christian religious principles based on trance communications received by ``mediums``. It emphasizes moral education and it focuses on persons as immortal spirits in constant evolution through consecutive lives (reincarnation). Spiritism appeared as part of a large surge of Spiritualism which also included experiences in magnetism and hypnotism. Kardec states that he did his research according to the predominant positivist model, which implies in experimental and empirical observation within an inductive-deductive thought process, so within the third state of knowledge proposed by Comte (three-state theory ). As all the spiritism content was dictated by spirits it is said that this is not Kardec s doctrine but the spirits`. Brazil, the largest spiritistic country in the world, received spiritism mainly as a religion but during the 19th and 20th centuries isolated educational experiences occurred. These experiences failed due to the lack of financial and human resources. Nowadays some Brazilian spiritistic thinkers try to elaborate an educational spiritistic proposal related to a spiritistic pedagogy. However, these theories, as presented, seem to be impractical considering that they propose a religious humanist public education to Brazil which has a public educational system directed by the Ministry of Education. Besides, spiritism is about the education of the spirit, of the individual man, the immortal being whose goal is, after consecutive lives, to became moral and achieve perfection meeting God. So, a project of spiritistic Pedagogy for the Brazilian public education system needs more research, financial resources, and, above all, concrete and practical experiences that can show spiritism as a viable praxis for the educational system. / O trabalho A noção de ciência e educação no Espiritismo estuda o Espiritismo, doutrina de teor científico, filosófico e religioso codificada por Allan Kardec no século XIX (Allan Kardec é pseudônimo de Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, cientista, pensador e educador francês da linha pestalozziana e seguidor do Catolicismo), apresentando os princípios da doutrina e também analisando a sua viabilidade como programa didático-pedagógico. Trata-se de uma pesquisa teórico-bibliográfica com foco principal nas obras de Kardec. O Espiritismo traz ensinamentos sobre o homem, a natureza, a origem e o destino do mundo, as esferas material e espiritual, Deus e princípios religiosos cristãos, ditados pelos Espíritos por meio dos médiuns. Com ênfase no aspecto da educação moral, enfoca as pessoas como Espíritos imortais em constante evolução através das vidas sucessivas (reencarnações). O Espiritismo surgiu dentro de um amplo movimento espiritualista da época, que abrangia experiências em magnetismo e hipnotismo. Kardec declara ter realizado suas pesquisas pelos moldes da ciência positivista então predominante, com observações empíricas e experimentais, dentro do raciocínio indutivo-dedutivo, portanto, sob o terceiro estado do conhecimento proposto por Comte (teoria dos três estados). Como todo o conteúdo do Espiritismo foi ditado pelos Espíritos manifestantes, diz-se que é uma doutrina dos Espíritos e não de Allan Kardec. O Brasil, o maior país espírita do mundo, recepcionou o Espiritismo principalmente como religião, realizando ainda, de modo isolado, nos séculos XIX e XX, algumas experiências na área da educação escolar. Estas, produzidas por alguns espíritas mais dedicados, não lograram o efeito duradouro pretendido, tendo sido frustradas também pela falta de recursos financeiros e humanos. Hoje, alguns pensadores espíritas brasileiros tentam elaborar uma proposta educativa espírita, falando em Pedagogia Espírita. No entanto esses pensamentos, como estão expostos, parecem inviáveis, mormente em razão de proporem uma educação escolar humanista religiosa para o ensino público brasileiro, que é laico e passa por todo tipo de dificuldades, principalmente financeiras, tendo sua própria política direcionada pelo Ministério da Educação e Cultura. Além disso, o Espiritismo, em si, não aborda a educação escolar, mas sim a educação do Espírito, do homem individual, do ser imortal, cuja meta é, em vidas sucessivas, formar-se moralmente e atingir a perfeição, indo ao encontro de Deus. Portanto um projeto de Pedagogia Espírita para a rede escolar pública brasileira carece de estudos, análise, financiamento e principalmente de experiências práticas e concretas que venham a configurar o Espiritismo como uma práxis efetiva viável no âmbito didáticoescolar.

Traditionally recognized as the first of the great Buddhist treasure revealers, Nyang-rel Nyima Özer (1124-1192) historiographically reconstructed the Imperium into a golden age of Tibetan Buddhism. An analysis of his two early biographies demonstrates that he was among the first to recall an unbroken series of preincarnations in real historical time, which was a crucial link that led to the ascension of concatenated reincarnates like the Karmapas and Dalai Lamas. For Nyang-rel, his past life as emperor Tri Song-détsen (d. 800) provided the teleological karmic basis for his life as a finder of the old texts and relics deemed "treasure." According to his biographies and the two narratives that are attributed to him, Nyang-rel’s treasures were uniformly material objects extracted via quite mundane methods, though the discovery of old manuscripts seems to have been only an initial step in a process of compilation, redaction and composition that resulted in their reintroduction. Allegedly among these treasures was the first complete biography of the eighth-century Tantrika, Padmasambhava, which later became renowned as The Copper Palace. Much of this narrative was incorporated into the history of Buddhism entitled Flower Nectar: The Essence of Honey that is also attributed to Nyang-rel. Based on a comparative analysis of available recensions, however, I propose three hypotheses as equally viable alternatives to what has been asserted concerning the composition of these two texts. First, Nyang-rel did not consider his biography of Padmasambhava to be a treasure, but the tradition later manufactured a recovery narrative and accompanying title that promoted it as such. Second, Nyang-rel did not compile the Flower Nectar history. Third, based on oral, textual and mnemonic fragments, Nyang-rel produced a narrative of Tri Song-détsen and Padmasambhava that others developed into The Copper Palace and Flower Nectar. In sum, Nyang-rel was a progenitor of some of the most definitive aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, yet these very innovations ensured that he would be eclipsed by later adepts who, in adopting his claims and methods, revealed new iterations of his scriptures and narratives. He thus remains one of the most influential yet unsung figures of the Tibetan renaissance.