The Multidimensional Inner Experience:
Past Lives & Symbolic Stories
By
Rick Phillips
January 2009 Lapis Lazuli Light Magazine – Singapore

Over the last 26 years I have had the chance to witness an aspect of human consciousness that few encounter: the individual’s inner experience of past life recall. I have no idea how many of these have been communicated in my facilitation of the Deva Sessions’ altered state of consciousness, but it is probably approaching 1000. Certainly, there has been enough to draw some conclusions regarding the benefits of these truly multidimensional experiences.
It is almost impossible to prove that the stories my clients tell me are indeed true past life memories; they may be entirely symbolic dressed up as past lives or they could be composite stories drawn from many actual past life experiences. Or they may be self-created stories, essentially constructed as a symbolic reflection of one’s current life situation. Sometimes you can draw conclusions about their purpose and personal meaning based on how such experiences are presented or how they are intuitively felt. From my point of view it does not affect the therapeutic and deeper purpose of such profound inner work. With the help of the Facilitator, and the symbolic interpretation of the experience, the client can gain valuable insight into the previously unconscious material. The stories are about bringing the karmic memories to consciousness, identifying the recurring themes and relating them to our present life situation. As we become more conscious of the underlying karmic themes that are repeating, whether consciously or unconsciously in our lives, we can open a choice whether or not we want to make a change to those patterns. We can only take action once we bring the problem areas into consciousness and make a choice to work on it. If we are not aware, then we are powerless to make changes. Past life work is all about finding the themes and “peeling the onion” of imprinted memory to the source of our suffering.
So let me take you through some of the benefits as I see them:
Whenever a person expands consciousness and begins to see beyond the limits of the ego boundaries (which occur during these sessions) they will notice that they are more than just an ego defined by this particular lifetime in this particular locus of time and space. I may be identified as an ego currently, but at the same time I may notice another past lifetime(s) coexisting within my consciousness. And (hopefully) I notice that I am more than an ego, but actually a soul that orchestrates those egos, and beyond that a Spirit that is all-encompassing, and beyond that …
The experience of my multidimensionality allows me to disengage the narrow vision of ego-reality and look from new points of view. (Don’t worry, this will not make you schizophrenic or cause multiple personality disorder, and if you are schizophrenic or suffer MPD, it may help bring you back together) For example, if I’m a man, I can switch to looking through the eyes of a woman. I can feel the body, the emotions, the different programming of what it feels like to be a woman. If I’m the victim in the current life, I switch the viewpoint to being a victimizer; if human I can switch to being non-human, alien, an animal, a rock, a planet, etc.
Past life or multidimensional experiences allow one to experience a different reality than the habituated reality of the current waking state. One can experience other states of consciousness and their realities: The “real” versus “symbolic”, “out of body” vs. “in body”, afterlife vs. waking life, high (spiritual) consciousness vs. normal human consciousness, etc.
One of the most practical benefits of experiencing past lifetimes is the releasing the fear of death. After a few experiences (regardless of the nature of one’s death) of birth, life, death, afterlife, and rebirth, the person remembers the nature of life transition, that effortless, natural way of continuation.
The language of the inner world is symbolic. As the experiences unfold I begin to expand my understanding of symbolic meaning and thereby fathom archetypal forces at work on the level of my soul. The past begins to release deeper meaning and relevance to the present. My attachments to past imprints are communicating on a more holographic level than my habituated mental, linear viewpoint. This expands my view to a bigger picture, enabling broader perspective, helping to detach and open to greater possibilities of response which leads to an easier transformation of self and, of course, a better understanding of the nature of the self and what it is that is continuing to incarnate life to life.
As I watch the symbolic “stories” unfold, somewhat like watching a fascinating movie in a special theater, I discover that there is an aspect of myself that is silently observing, an unattached “witness”. This is the pure consciousness, that essential nature of Self.
Because of this unbounded, unattached perspective, I can experience a safe and appropriate environment to experience the unspeakable. This is one dimension of what is called the “shadow”. This is normally an experience that the ego needs to control, to repress, to avoid and deny. The Sessions give us permission to explore, to understand and to transform the shadow with the spiritual energy. For example, if a man is in great conflict because he is energetically and psychologically attached to the karmic theme of rape and violence toward women and has abused his power repeatedly through lifetimes, the past life experiences allow him to become conscious, to step out of his habit, his ego guilt, and learn how this karmic habit affects himself and others. Through the Sessions, this man can now witness himself playing this theme out on the level of consciousness rather than destructively in his current life. The expanded consciousness also allows his Higher Self to clearly guide him in ways to stop the negative pattern, to release his guilt, and to heal the past.
Related to the opportunities the shadow may present, there are those deep attachments, dependencies, addictions, and destructive patterns that may possess and control my life. The Sessions can open awareness to discover their origins in the past, their development through lifetimes, and the consequences of their expression. Again, looking through unbiased eyes of the Higher Self to see clearly, to face the shadow, and empower courageously to take the necessary action required to exorcise the imprisoned self is not only possible but essential to the overall empowerment necessary to walk through life without fear and separation.
Whenever we have the opportunity to expand our perspective, to see a bigger picture of ourselves moving through our personal history, we can look at the evolution of a specific or our multiple life-themes through time. Noticing the choices, the development, and the refinement of our wisdom is essential to understanding our purpose through lifetimes and thereby, coming back on track to that purpose in the present lifetime.
Past life work can provide a unique perspective into the nature of relationship. To experientially know that you have traveled with this person together before, probably countless times, and to see both the differing roles and the commonality of connection can help to deepen, or better understand the current relationship. The discovery of the karmic themes between you and another can provide important insight to understanding the dynamics currently in play. The imprinted roles of the past have a way of inappropriately showing up in the future. Past life work can expose the habits that may again be in play today, though today we may have taken a new role with the other. Instead of being the Mother, this lifetime I may be the daughter, the son, the husband. The roles of the past may need to be energetically and consciously disengaged to free one of old habits or dependencies. (How this process succeeds in this endeavor, its dynamics and results, need to be discussed at a later date.)
Past life work cultures and begins to stabilize multidimensional phenomenon. What I mean by this is best described by an example: The inner work client lies down on a massage table to begin the process of going within. At first he or she is probably only aware of the physical body laying there breathing, listening to the sound of a fan blowing a cool breeze across the body. The person may have thoughts of himself/herself, the history of the current life, and begins to speak out the experience coming into the mind. The client is aware of the Facilitator’s questions and comments. Then simultaneously there is the thought or the emergence of a story arising in the mind. A story begins and the client begins to speak out what is happening on the level of consciousness. A character, and/or other characters emerge in the story which the client may identify with in the story. There may be the feeling that I am watching myself in another time and place. The past life experience unfolds, which includes his/her story or history. There may be experiences of entering differing or contrasting roles within the story. Maybe I become the ego of the child in the story and look through a child-like perspective, or I become one or more of the adults in the story. I continue to change places, jumping into the experiences of other characters. And while all this is happening, I may be aware of my physical body feeling tense or full of energy, and on the spiritual level, I have awareness of the Higher Self present with me. All of this can exist in the session simultaneously. This is one possible experience of the cultivation of multidimensionality, many different points of view and simultaneous levels of transformation all held within the container of consciousness. So I may be aware of the many dimensions: I have physical body in awareness, while my mind is aware of the flow of the memory which my mind describes, the soul is subtly communicating the symbolic meaning of these experiences and their relevance to my current life, and may be bringing me celestial support in the form of spiritual guides or supporters as I go through the discoveries, and beyond it all is the quiet or communicative presence of the Higher Self. This is important because our nature is not one of isolated, separate being but of an all-inclusive, interdependent Oneness. By breaking out of the constricted linear awareness of ego, we free ourselves from habituated constraints. We experience more universality, we realize that we are everything and empty at the same time. We learn to let go, to transcend identity. Multidimensionality means to experience all things in the hologram of Unity-consciousness, and to use this invaluable experience to integrate our humanness with the galactic, the microscopic with the macroscopic, the 10,000 things and my ego locus in space-time.
Time has conditioned our mind to become linear. Multidimensional inner work helps to de-condition the mind to be free of temporal constraints and possibly to open awareness to not only the past, but possible futures. The Higher Self can produce experiences of possible choices and the outcomes or futures they create. By freely moving forward or backward in time I can experience the flow of time and my relationship to it. The Sessions bring consciousness to the interplay of past-present-future so that I can release any attachments to time and discover “no time”. This experience empowers the mindfulness of living in the moment and its consequent freedom.
The evolution and development of the soul through time can also manifest in the expression of talents, abilities, and “knowings.” Inner work sessions can connect one to a history of expertise, whether it is physical or emotional expression, intellectual or artistic development, or the skill of multidimensional healing. I may retrieve valuable teachings or a sense of my soul’s purpose in order to apply the knowing of the past into the needs of the present. As we cultivate the inner vision, imagination, and creative intelligence that promote the expansion of consciousness, we learn to bridge the inner experience to an integrated outer reality. The transpersonal, astral, etheric, and other dimensions can then viably communicate to the mundane human dimension. These experiences cultivate the symbolic, allegorical, metaphorical levels of consciousness into real-life interpretations and useful conclusions that warrant resulting benefits.
As we experience, navigate, process, and integrate non-ordinary states of consciousness, other dimensions, other databanks of information, or intelligence, to open communication and relationship with other beings, entities, and life-forms, we personally demonstrate the potential of opening consciousness completely to the extent possible.
Finally, multidimensional experiences open the higher octaves of incarnate life to the numinous, the ecstatic, those heavenly realms of bliss and God-experience. The transcendence of the innate limitations of bodily form and the binding influence of past attachment lead to the unbounded state of liberation and the clear experience of Spirit.

Healing our Issues, Solving our Problems

by Rick Phillips

A problem , an emotional issue, a karmic theme is the expression of a lesson not yet learned. It is still enshrouded in unconsciousness. So, the first step in dealing with this problem is to bring it into greater consciousness.
This first step is many times the most difficult. The ego does not want to look at something painful; it does not want to enter dangerous territory, it just doesn’t want to deal with anything that could affect its very survival. This is the cause of denial, of shutdown, of avoidance when we encounter a juicy emotional problem. The ego just wants to protect the status quo and keep everything within familiar and secure boundaries.
Consciousness is the primary quality of the Higher Self. We increase consciousness by opening the spiritual energy, not by repeating (yet again) the emotional drama with all its associated attachments. Repetition may be a spiritual attempt of the Higher Self to open greater experience and as a consequence, open greater consciousness, but repetition without consciousness, usually just adds another karmic layer on a even bigger karmic onion. We must move beyond the control of the ego and channel the clarity of the Higher Self into the shadow environment of that problem that has continually resisted our attempts to understand and remedy the difficulty.
In Deva sessions, the Facilitator assists the client to move out of the ego and into the expanded point of view of our spiritual awareness to see the issue from a new perspective. This is a necessary step in the process of healing. Limited perspectives, narrow vision, singularity of perception: these are the tools of the ego to hold on and perpetuate “stuckness.” When the Higher Self emerges all of this has to change. The Higher Self knows the problem; it knows everything about it: its origin, its purpose, and the steps of resolution. We must allow this fresh perspective to be experienced, but most importantly we need the healing energy that comes with the power of Spirit. This spiritual power opens recognition of the problem into the “big picture,” it focuses consciousness like a laser deep into the issue taking the person far beyond the superficial ego attachment. We begin to learn the lesson, its teaching and the opportunity for the shift of consciousness that frees us from the stuck point of view. This expansiveness of awareness creates the next step in the healing process: the freedom of choice.
When we are unconscious we do not have choice. We do not see the issue clearly and we are impotent to make a change. Usually we are still lost in the confusion, attached to the past pain or worried about what the future may bring us. We are frantically reacting about the past and future instead of being conscious of the here and now where choice originates. The Higher Self brings us back home to the infinite present moment. Here we have the opportunity to see clearly and transform the attachment into liberation. But, to make a choice to change is a big decision. This is not a insignificant moment in our personal and collective history. The barriers around a deep issue may have been in place for thousands of lifetimes. The ego may not be willing to dismantle a significant part of its identity. Even though choice is imminent, we may decide to maintain the status quo. It may be too much of a risk for us to follow through with the change. Often this is a sign that more consciousness and understanding is needed. But, if we are working consciously with the Higher Self about this issue, usually it will not arise unless the time is appropriate. The Higher Self knows how to work this issue, it knows exactly what to do to efficiently release the emotional attachment. Choice is not coming from the Higher Self; the choice is a step the aware ego needs to make as a sign of faith. The choice is saying, “I realize that the time has come to let go and I’m willing to follow the guidance of my Inner Knowing!” In the clear light of the Divine, we go for it!
The next step to this process requires action. Choosing to change means that something stuck, fixed or resistant must go through an energetic transformation within the Emotional Body. An energetic shift must take place to allow the system to restructure itself resulting in a new ego identity, one that is a bit more open and more evolved. By taking conscious action we are able to integrate the changes and bring to completion the learning process. This step may be swift or it may take a lifetime to fully realize. No matter, once the Higher Self initiates the quantum leap, we are accelerating to the goal with a Master navigating the journey.
As we implement our plan of action and as the pieces of the puzzle fall together, the problem is seen clearly and understood. That which engendered chaos and entropy now is a resource for growth. The problem is no longer a problem; it is a source of wisdom and an inspiration to go even deeper. Without the problem there would not have been growth and change.
It seems in the human reality that we will always be confronted with issues. As we get older new problems appear. Does it ever end? I believe personally it is possible to move into a free and unattached place with our life challenges, but we still live within the collective and therefore we must still practice these steps of resolution if not for ourselves, certainly for others. This is not bad news. We should not feel it as an eternal burden of lifetimes, but rather to shift our perspective once again (step #1) and see the challenge for what it truly is, the catalyst for greater awareness and continual growth. Our suffering and our breakthroughs teach us compassion for those who are overshadowed. We’ve been there; we can feel what it is like. We are not alone in our struggles. This compassionate awareness is the most potent medicine for a recovering heart. And a healing heart is a self-empowering heart; one that has grown resilient and strong; one that is ready for the next round. “Oh how truly courageous the human heart is!” Ironically, if you haven’t noticed, this process feels good! This is what creates ecstatic life and a profound love of the Divine. One day soon we will be in gratitude for such a glorious chance to live a human life.
Dissolving Memory
One of the most powerful techniques that the Higher Self uses to expand consciousness of an emotional issue is through the opening of memory. Memory is an energetic configuration in time and space. This emotional or karmic memory locks an experience that overshadows the Self into a moment of frozen time and space, where it lives and breathes within the astral structure of the Emotional Body. It then becomes the template for emotional triggering and the stage-set for its particular drama. Since these memories, whether it be past life or recent memories, hold the imprints and programming for the ego, these become the areas which we need to open, to explore, and expand the consciousness into. As a result, these memories hold the opportunities for self discovery. This is true because that which can overshadow the self is unconsciously perceived and reacted to as something that is in opposition to the self, or something that is not-self, rather than perceived as part of the self or in harmony with the self. This is ignorance of the Oneness of all things. Where there is ignorance, there is unconsciousness. By penetrating the ignorance of karmic memory we can expose the issue at hand and discover the lesson it wants to reveal to us. Once the memory is open, it is easy to investigate because its superficial layer is the linear time-line of its story. The Higher Self takes us into the story and we experience again the trauma, the pain, the confusion, the emotion and its effect. Your ego is probably protesting at this moment, “Why would I want to see that again?” This is precisely the point: the ego does not want to go back into it, as matter of fact, it usually will do anything within its power to resist or block the awareness from entering that locked door. This is also why these energetic memories stay hidden within the Emotional Body for lifetimes. In order to access these deep memories we must move into an altered state of consciousness to bypass the ego’s control, we must set the intention for the Higher Self to guide us through this healing process and we must confront and move through the illusionary barriers of ego defense. Then we can open the new perspective. Fortunately, re-entering the memory will not be as bad as we expected. Actually, most clients say, “This isn’t so bad; what was I afraid of?” Maybe at the actual moment of the imprint it was very painful, maybe even horrendous, but the Higher Self can protects us or help us by reminding us inwardly that we are not the experience, we are a Self beyond the realm of emotional experience, beyond the field of duality. This becomes much clearer when we return to these old memories with the conscious support of the Divine. This even may be part of the lesson: to stay conscious in the midst of difficulty or pain. If we could learn how to maintain the Higher Self consciously in everyday life, we would deal with the overshadowing moments much more successfully. Actually, they would not be overshadowing moments; they would just be moments that come and go without imprint and without suffering. The Higher Self would be there to keep the awareness open, free and flowing.
As we enter into the story we notice that we are watching the drama as if we are watching a film. The sense of detachment allows us to experience the story but not to lose ourselves in the story. But more importantly, with the spiritual presence of the Higher Self, we have a omniscient narrator helping us understand the meaning within the story. The experience is not just re-living the memory, it is integrating and utilizing the significance of its purpose into our conscious life. By no means am I saying this is an intellectual process, on the contrary, it is through the intuitive knowing of the heart that we are incorporating not only the teaching of the experience into our life but the realized hologram of spiritual purpose fits perfectly into our human reality. The windows to the soul open a bit wider creating an interface between the ego and its materialistic perspective and the wisdom that its expansive perspective provides. With the presence of Higher Self, we move far beyond the linear historical story and into the spiritual story that multidimensionally links the past, present and future into a moment of infinite possibilities for personal and collective healing. This empowers true choice for the person. This choice for change, for letting go, is a choice that literally changes time. But this is not just limited to the individual. A transdimensional shift of consciousness alters the universe at the moment when that client chooses to dissolve the energetic karmic cords that have held their manifest reality together. But also the letting go is a dissolution of the collective consciousness and therefore effects all of us profoundly yet subtly. Working on these deepest levels of creation re-create “what is”, as the memory of “what was” is no longer necessary to define life. Our interrelationships in life are tied together by our past karmic experiences. As we dissolve these attachments to who we think and feel we are, we are literally dissolving past time and space when we were less conscious, overshadowed, and lost to our true nature. This ushers us into a new, more evolved awareness of who we really are, that Higher Self that has been leading, gently encouraging, and even seducing us home again. Working with memory in such a way becomes a pathway to re-scripting our sense of self and insuring the soul’s destiny.