Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives – Print Author: Brian L. Weiss | Language: English | ISBN:
0671657860 | Format: PDF
Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives – Print Description
Amazon.com Review
Psychiatry and metaphysics blend together in this fascinating book based on a true case history. Dr. Weiss, who was once firmly entrenched in a clinical approach to psychiatry, finds himself reluctantly drawn into past-life therapy when a hypnotized client suddenly reveals details of her previous lives. During one hypnosis session his client introduces the spirit guides who have been her soul therapists in between lives. This is when the story really takes off for Weiss, who discovers that these guides have specific messages about his dead son as well as Weiss's mission in life. No, we cannot verify the truth of this story using the limited scientific tools we have available. However, it is hard to dispute that this well-respected graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School has discovered a personal truth that has led him to be an enormously popular speaker, author, and leader in the field of past-life therapy.
--Gail HudsonFrom Publishers Weekly
In 1980, Weiss, head of the psychiatry department at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, began treating Catherine, a 27-year-old woman plagued by anxiety, depression and phobias. When Weiss turned to hypnosis to help Catherine remember repressed childhood traumas, what emerged were the patient's descriptions of a dozen or so of her hitherto unknown 86 past lives, as well as philosophical messages channeled from "Master Spirits." Catherine's anxieties and phobias soon disappeared, says Weiss, and she was able to end therapy. The previously nonspiritual, scientific Weiss, awed by Catherine's and the masters' revelations, has written this book to share his new-found knowledge about "immortality and the true meaning of life." Whether or not one believes in reincarnation and channeling, Weiss's book will disappoint. Catherine's descriptions of her past lives are not particularly compelling or insightful. Moreover, the teachings of the Master Spirits ("We are not to kill. . . . Only God can punish," "Charity, hope, faith, love . . . we must all know these things," and "Our body is just a vehicle for us while we're here. It is our soul and our spirit that last forever"), while admirable and comforting, are little more than restatements of traditional religious values.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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- Paperback: 219 pages
- Publisher: Fireside (July 15, 1988)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671657860
- ISBN-13: 978-0671657864
- Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. was an easy, enjoyable read. Well written and fast paced, I read it in one sitting. Most of the subject matter covered will not be new to a long-time student of reincarnation. This book is geared for readers new to the subject, as Dr. Weiss was at the time the events he describes took place. His analysis of events may annoy those who don't require concrete proof of spiritual realities. He offered no verifiable scientific proof of what he presented anyway. It was encouraging to see a serious scientist open his mind to faith without proof. Dr. Weiss' enlightenment on the subject (in this, his first book) is limited to one patient he regressed through 12 of her 86 past lives. The ones that are delved into aren't described in much depth. Though the regressions reveal personal insight into her present life difficulties, there's not much applicable universally. Some "Masters" he quotes seem a little too judgmental to be enlightened spirits: "Humans just destroy. They will eventually destroy themselves." Much of their wisdom offered little new in the way of insight: "Wisdom is achieved very slowly." The methods he describes using to obtain this material don't rule out contact with less enlightened spirits, which Dr. Weiss admits at one point. So the "many masters" may not have been masters at all. He does show how past life regression can be a powerful tool in healing emotional problems and phobias. Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D, another regression therapist, are much more in depth and informative, though they deal with life between lives more than the mechanics of reincarnation itself.
Weiss, Chief of Psychiatry at a large university-affiliated hospital in Miami, first met 27 year old Catherine in 1980 when seeking help for her anxiety, panic attacks and phobias. For 18 months he used conventional methods without success but then in a series of hypnotic trance states Catherine recalled past-life memories that proved to be the causative factors of her symptoms leading to her cure within a few months. She did not believe in reincarnation but acted as a conduit for secrets of life and death from highly evolved spirit entities, some of which were specifically for him. Weiss's life would never be the same again.
When the guide described artifacts at an Egyptian exhibit she found herself correcting him and at the next treatment Weiss regressed her, asking her to recall earlier ages; "Go back to the time from which your symptoms arise." "We live in a valley; there is no water; the year is 1863 B.C. The area is barren, hot and sandy. There is a well, no rivers. Water comes into the valley from the mountains. There are big waves knocking down trees. There's no place to run. It's cold; the water is cold. I have to save my baby, but I cannot; just have to hold her tight. I drown; the water chokes me." In later sessions he found that her experience of death in her many lives was similar each time. A conscious part of her would leave the body around the moment of death, floating above and then being drawn to a wonderful, energizing light. She would then wait for someone to come and help her. The soul automatically passed on. Weiss investigated references to reincarnation. "In A.D. 325 the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, along with his mother, Helena, had deleted references to reincarnation contained in the New Testament. The Second Council of Constantinople, meeting in A.D.
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