Customer Reviews

Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives

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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. If your budget calls for more bang for your buck, your money might be better spent on classic "must read" books on reincarnation: Many Mansions by Gina Cerminara & You Were Born Again To Be Together by Dick Sutphen. Two newer "must reads" are: Adventures in Reincarnation
by Brian Jamieson and Past Lives, Present Dreams : How to Use Reincarnation for Personal Growth
by Denise Linn

I cannot get 'into' a book very easily - and it can even take me months to finish one that interests me. I picked up this book, by suggestion of a friend, about 3 years ago. I sat down on a Sunday morning around 10AM and with the exception of making a quick sandwich and some 'natures call' breaks, I did not put this book down. Next thing I knew it was 5:00 in the afternoon and I had read the entire book. Right from the first few pages, it'll grab you. I've purchased this book for several friends and family members and I get the same response, "WOW!"

I'm generally a pretty intense, high-strung person. After reading this book, I really mellowed out and learned not to take things SO hard when they go wrong, to take things in stride. We're all here to "LEARN" - to be better people. Better spirits.

This book somehow taught me to live a healthier lifestyle, to be happier and really enjoy my life, my friends, my family. I'm now reading it for the 2nd time and I'm enjoying it just as much as the first time.

OBVIOUSLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This book is amazing! I have been an atheist all my life despite (or is it as a result of?) attending Hebrew school as a child and Christian school from 4th through 12th grade. In my final year in college, I took an Intro to Buddhism course and was immediately intrigued by Buddhist teachings and philosophies. But my exploration of Buddhism hit a wall, because I could not convince myself to subscribe to one of the fundamental tennets of Buddhism: the belief in reincarnation. I just didn't believe in reincarnation at all. I was always of the "You Die and That's It" school. Nothing even remotely changed this view for years--until last week when I read this book. In the span of less than 24 hours, I went from not believing in reincarnation at all to being almost completely convinced of its existence.

I read this book with a very skeptical eye. But I also read it with objectivity, and, above all else, an intense desire to find truth. And I believe the account in this book to be factual. For the sake of argument, if it's a fake, it's an absolutely brilliant fake. But if it's completely authentic, then it's a phenomenal account that could change your life for the better. Either way, it's worth a read.

BACKGROUND: In 1986, I was involved in a severe accident which had left me comatose for 9 days. During the early part of my recovery, a dear friend suggested that I read this book after telling her about my memories from the time while in a coma.

REVIEW: Dr. Weiss answered a big "why" question for me. Why was I struggling between the notions of One-life, One-soul vs. Many-lives, One-soul? Through his research (much of which is presented in a worthy bibliography in the book), he discovered that the wording of the Bible has been modified -- at the order of Church leadership.

The story was quite grappling. I could not put this book down. I read it within 2 or 3 days. The experience through which I, myself, had just evolved compared too well with what I was now reading from another human for the first time in my (current) life; I was 35 at the time.

It was also quite compelling. Questions -- hard questions -- which many of us struggle to answer are addressed in his book. Being from a Baptist Christian up-bringing, I found it hard to acknowledge the Truth as presented. However, my own experience prevented me from disspelling it in the sake of other "unquestioned" teachings which cannot hold up to research methods.

Obviously, I believe that Many Lives, Many Masters is a great, yet simple, work. It excites me to think that when all has been deciphered from the Dead Sea Scrolls (and other ancient texts which have less political influence than the Bible), we will see that, indeed, Dr. Weiss has revealed to us the Truth -- Critically honest answers to the hard questions about our beings, both physical and spiritual.

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. 553, confirmed this action and declared the concept of reincarnation a heresy. Apparently, they thought this concept would weaken the growing power of the Church by giving humans too much time to seek their salvation. Yet the original references had been there; the early Church fathers had accepted the concept of reincarnation. The early Gnostics - Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Saint Jerome, and many others - believed they had lived before and would again."

Between sessions Catherine became more psychic, having intuitions about people and events that proved to be true. Her father, expressing doubt about what was happening, was amazed when she picked the winner of every race, although she gave the winnings to a poor person as she knew that her new spiritual powers should not be used for financial gain. She recalled periods between lives. "I am aware of a bright light. It's wonderful; you get energy from this light." She then spoke in a different voice. "Our task is to learn, to become God-like through knowledge. We know so little. You are here to be my teacher. I have so much to learn. By knowledge we approach God, and then we can rest. Then we can come back to teach and help others." "They tell me there are many gods, for God is in each of us." She later identified the masters, highly evolved souls not presently in body, as the source. They could speak to him through her. Although he had kept a strictly professional distance, telling nothing about his personal life, Catherine explained the deeper meaning - payment of karmic debts and teaching lessons - of the one-in-ten million heart defect that caused the death of his first born child when 23 days old. "Catherine could not possibly know this information. There was no place even to look it up." "Who tells you these things?" "The Master Spirits tell me. They tell me that I have lived eighty-six times in physical state." He pondered the miraculous messages and the implications. " The light after death and the life after death; our choosing when we are born and when we will die; the sure and unerring guidance of the masters; lifetimes measured in lessons learned and tasks fulfilled, not in years; charity, hope, faith, and love; doing without expectation of return - this knowledge was for me. But for what purpose? What was I sent here to accomplish?" He realized that faults are not important - love is. He did not need to try to be perfect or in control all the time. There was no need to impress anyone.

Psychiatrists use high doses of tranquilizers and antidepressant medicines to treat people with Catherine's symptoms whereas under Weiss's hypnosis treatment she became radiant, serene, and happy beyond his wildest hopes. This book will be of interest to anyone open to the concept of reincarnation and the thought that each of us may have lived multiple lives. Could it be that we never die but pass through different phases? Could it be that time is not as we see time, but rather in lessons learned. Could it be that guardian angels want to help us, especially to overcome the fear of death? Could it be that acts of violence and injustice will have to be repaid in kind in other lifetimes? Could it be that greed, manipulation and self-centeredness retard the progress of the soul? Could it be that our body is just a vehicle while our souls and spirit last for ever?

This is the third time that I've read this book over the years, and no doubt it will not be the last.

Just because this is a book on reincarnation, and past life regression, many people dismiss it a simple-minded, new age, drivel. I know that I almost did. That would have been an arrogant mistake, and a stupid loss, on my part. Take a look at the author's credentials: a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna cum Laude graduate of Columbia; a M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine; Chief of Psychiatry at a major hospital; over 37 papers and book chapters published in his field, a recognized expert on brain chemistry. In short, this man wasn't jeopardizing his career to make a quick buck. It pretty well shook his world to the foundations when he discovered that reincarnation and the evolution of the soul were reality. As he points out, until they personally experience the reality of the existence and survival of the soul then most people simply will not, cannot, accept it. Then, once they do accept it, then they find that there are literally libraries full of legitimate research that confirms it all.

The main text of the book reads more like a novel than a scientific or spiritual work. The main case that shattered the doctor's previous beliefs is unfolded in exactly the way that it happened to him. The past life hypnotic regression of the subject is recounted practically word for word - including the words of the Masters.

What struck me was the agreement of everything that came from the Masters (sages at the highest plane spiritual evolution) with the perennial wisdom teachings that stretch back through all human history and all traditional cultures. It is all there: the fact that we are here primarily to learn and grow; that we are to learn to see the that spark of God in both others and ourselves; that only God may take a life; the importance of harmony, balance, and simplicity; to do good for the sake of good alone- with no expectation of reward; and of course the survival of the soul and the cycle of rebirth and spiritual evolution. Indeed without the latter, human existence would hardly make sense.

It all sounds simple, but you only really gain such wisdom by slowly applying and living it- by turning the theoretical into the internalized. This is what you take with you, and what you bring back with you on your next cycle of birth and death- the eternal wisdom that you have welded eternally to your soul by actually living it.

I guess the best way I can put this is that I respectfully disagree with the respected Pathologist and the other fellow who claims this was a good "story".

The truth is that in my experience as a hypnotherapist past lives are real. This book offers compelling evidence for the phenomenon but there are many other books that do so as well. I simply like Dr. Weiss's presentation.

Those who left negative reviews seem to not realize a simple principle regarding subjective experience. That principle is that all subjective experience is translated through the subconscious before it can be percieved or vocalized by the subject therefore there can be some confusing or disjointed perceptions. Subjective experience is just that, subjective experience. Sometimes it can be proven with evidence found in the objective world; such as historical observations that can be confirmed.

In other cases, these experiences cannot be verified because there are no references available. In these cases the reality of the experience will be its effect upon the subject. If the experience was transformative then it is fundamentally "real" for the person involved. These types of cases aren't able to be proven. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I have no doubt that those who gave negative reviews have beliefs that are less than 100% grounded in reason and proof such as God/Jesus/Buddha/Allah/Krishna or any Higher Power by whatever name or an afterlife. There is at least as much "proof" for the existance of past lives as there proof of God(s) or an afterlife. So before you scoff consider that we all hold beliefs (well 99% of us at least) that are gounded in a reality beyond that which we can perceive with the senses. I'm not talking about resurrections and parting red seas I am talking about that which we can experience, not in simple faith which can be likened to continuing to believe in Santa well into adulthood. You may believe but that belief is largely baseless.

Plus, the soul/mind/spirit has its own wisdom beyond the physical brain. It is that perception that allows us to perceive that which cannot be empirically proven. I love science, but my religion isn't materialism and sometimes we can become blinded by "reason" to truths beyond the scientific method.

Chris

In this book Dr. Brian Weiss deals with reincarnation. I have been interested in this subject for years and have been looking for something to provide the some kind of evidence. In this book the author gives us descriptions of past lives that he happened upon accidentally through one of his patients, who was suffering from phobias that he regressed. He attempts to explain that our lives are schools of sorts where our souls learn their lessons. In the words of Goober, "DaaaHaa". All of that was previously explained by Cayce, Roberts, Bailey, ..... The list goes on .... This book left me asking the question "Where does the learning process for our soul begin? And why?"

I have found a book that I feel has headed me towards the path to discovering these answers. The book is called, "The Book of Thomas," by Daniel Aber and Gabreael . This book is composed of RAW channeled material.I have not seen work of this magnitude since Edgar Cayce's work came out many moons ago. In this book the authors discuss in detail the beginning of the soul, charting our lives paths, the different levels of heaven and so on. I enjoyed it so much I read it twice and gave it to my mother to read.

In search of some solace, I was told to read this book. It has changed me in many powerful ways. The author takes the reader through the many past lives of one of his patients. The messages she channels are sage-like and eternal. I have lent this book to two other people, and they were equally touched. For those of you who wonder about reincarnation, this book may help you to understand its power and meaning.

My husband commited suicide in '92 in front of me and my two year old daughter. From that day I prepared myself to die. Until, that is, my mother sent me this book. It put me at ease to know what my husband was actually experiencing. I'd always heard that if you commit suicide you go to hell and that thought consumed me. It was so relieving to know that he was making his own passage. I prayed for my husband to be born again through me so that his ending wouldn't be the same. A year later my son was born and my current mate said he looked like my husband. I never told him of my prayer. This book literally saved my life. The words provided me comfort when I needed it the most. Instead of alcohol, I learned to turn to books. I highly recommend this book for all of the people that have yet to find the'r way in life, or their life seems to have no meaning. It made me pick myself up and start looking for "my reason for being here".