(reproduced from The Spiritist Information Service, March/April 2003 -
# 39 and dowloaded from the website of The Spiritist Society of Baltimore
with the kind permission from the author)
If
we are all reincarnated, why
don’t we remember our past existences? This remains an intriguing
question, one that casts long doubts for many people.
Forgetfulness
of our past,
—that is, our previous lives— indicates God’s wisdom.
Remembrances of episodes occurred in past lives would bring many
inconveniences, not the least of them the following: a) a great
humiliation due to unpleasant memories of our many moral missteps,
especially if it involved third parties; b) the exaltation of our pride
and self-importance due to high positions we might have occupied; c)
damage to our social relations because by remembering our actions, we
would certainly also remember actions of our path towards bliss and
progress; and e) hate and vengeance that could undermine relationships
and incite new aggravations. On
the other hand, among the
plentiful advantages of forgetting our past —and we repeat, all
fruit of the Divine Wisdom— we can find: a) opportunities for new
beginnings without disturbing remembrances; b) that the progress we
reached so far will allow us to take steps for new advancements; c)
reconciliation with old foes without the embarrassment of remembrances
that could impede it; d) the overcoming of past traumas in renewed
circumstances; e) new experiences and learning without the hindrance of
a past that could interfere; f) and the acquisition of new experiences
without any links with the past.
Those
who do not know the process
allege that forgetfulness would be an impediment for the rebuilt of our
path, when in reality this “erasing of memories” brings
true blessings. God benefits us with forgetfulness casting a veil so to
say in our memory to prevent errors and equivocations from our past to
turn into chains or weights that would impede us from building or
rebuilding our own happiness.
However,
if we still intend to
find out what we were or what we did before our present life, it will
suffice to observe attentively our tendencies, abilities, moral
shortfalls, as well as ties that bond us to certain people, to get a
sense of our conduct and behavior in previous lives. This close
analysis will allow us to correct the direction of our current path.
To
know more, dear reader, try to
further read and reflect on questions 392 to 399 of “The
Spirits’ Book” by Allan Kardec. The issue surely is
gripping, nevertheless the Spiritist Doctrine recommends
discernment and avoidance of unnecessary curiosity. The essential
point, in the end, is to adopt a good conduct now in order to construct
a better future for later.