Talk:Similarity Between Lives
By Vishal Agarwal
Extensive research on individuals who have reported recollections of their past lives has revealed compelling cases where physical characteristics—such as birthmarks, scars, or deformities—appear to bear a striking correlation with events experienced in previous incarnations. In several instances, these physical anomalies seem to align with injuries or traumas sustained in prior lives.
For example, there have been accounts of individuals with deep scars or birthmarks in locations that correspond with fatal wounds from a past life. One such instance involves a person who bore a distinct scar on the side of the abdomen, which, upon investigation, was linked to a stabbing injury in a previous incarnation. Similarly, cases of phobias—such as an intense fear of loud noises—have been associated with traumatic deaths involving gunfire in prior lives.
The most extensive empirical research on this phenomenon was conducted by Dr. Ian Stevenson, whose investigations into past-life memories revealed numerous instances of physical evidence corresponding with prior life experiences. Stevenson documented cases where birthmarks and deformities seemed to reflect the precise location and nature of fatal injuries from previous existences. In his research, Stevenson writes:
“…examples of correlating birthmarks offering physical evidence of past lives include an Indian boy who recalled being killed by a shotgun blast to his chest. On this little boy’s chest was an array of birthmarks that matched the pattern and location of the fatal wounds as verified by the autopsy report. Another shotgun victim was hit at point-blank range on the right side of the head as confirmed by the hospital report. The Turkish boy who remembered this life was born with a malformed ear and an under-development of the right side of his face.”[1]
According to traditional thought, every action leaves an imprint on the subtle body, comprising the mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ego (ahamkāra). These impressions are carried by the Atma as it transitions from one physical form to another through the cycle of saṃsāra (reincarnation).
A modern scholar comments on this phenomenon: “Another mysterious feature of past-life memories cases is that some children have birthmarks and birth defects at the same precise locations where the person they remember being had fatal wounds or other distinct bodily marks. How might this happen? Many scientifically documented reports have shown that mental impressions can express themselves as bodily marks……The Vedic model can help us understand how the same principle can be extended from the body of one lifetime to the body of the next lifetime. … During reincarnation, the mind that is the bearer of mental impressions goes along with the soul from the previous gross body to the next gross body. So when the previous gross body was inflicted with the fatal wounds, the impressions of that wound were created in the mind. And when the mind along with the soul enters into the next body, it causes those impressions to get expressed as birthmarks or birth defects at the corresponding bodily locations.”[2]
In Sankhya-Vedanta, the concept of karma plays a fundamental role in shaping an individual's circumstances across lifetimes. Actions performed in a previous life generate saṃskāras, which influence not only the individual's psychological tendencies but can also manifest physically. The Atma, though eternal and unchanging, carries these karmic imprints through the subtle body into each new incarnation.
The theory posits that physical manifestations in the form of birthmarks or deformities can be understood as outward expressions of unresolved karmic experiences. Just as mental and emotional traumas can leave subconscious scars, intense physical traumas from a previous incarnation may leave imprints that materialize physically in the next life.