Past-life experiences.

Abstract

The case of Ajendra Singh Chauhan of northern India illuminates some of the fascinating and puzzling aspects of reported past-life experiences (PLEs). This previously unpublished case is rare insofar as a written record and a tape recording of the child's statements were obtained before the case was "solved." Solving a case is defined as matching an individual's PLEs with those that occurred in the life of a person who lived previously.In this case, the previous personality's family was unknown to Ajendra's family. Note that previous personality is the term used in this chapter for the person the experient claims, or is claimed by someone else, to have been in a previous life. The term is useful insofar as it is neutral with respect to whether the claim is accurate or not.The case of Ajendra was first identified by G. S. Gaur, who recorded Ajendra's statements, as described by his father in 1992, when Ajendra was 13 years old. Ajendra made the statements between the ages of 36 and 60 months. In 1992, Gaur traveled the 75 kilometers to the town the experient claimed to have been from and found a corresponding previous personality. A few months later, the first author investigated the case with Gaur and took Ajendra and his family, for the first time, to the previous personality's village. It was evident that the families did not recognize each other initially and had not met before.

Are Children with Imaginary Playmates and Children Said to Remember Previous Lives Cross-Culturally Comparable Categories?

“…Stevenson, 1997;Stevenson & Samararatne, 1988). Elsewhere (Mills, 2002;Mills & Lynn 2000) I have described the case of Ajendra, one of the rare cases of previous-life identity in which a written record was made of the statements and behavior of the child before the case was solved, that is someone was found who corresponded to the statements the child made. In this case this person was someone unknown to the child's family.…”

Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs): Clues on the Nature of the Human Mind

“…Following the pioneering work of Ian Stevenson (1960Stevenson ( , 1977, over 2500 children (mainly preschoolers) reporting memories of other deceased identities have been described to date, including Western children − i.e., people belonging to a culture which does not admit reincarnation. The available data show the following facts (see Mills & Tucker , 2014) and Tucker,2008 as reviews): a) Spontaneous memories arise at an average age of three years and are forgotten during school age, like many childhood memories. b) The data recorded in several cases allowed Stevenson to verify the truthfulness of memories and trace the identity of the deceased person, in the majority of cases resulting in a violent death.…”

Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs): clues on the nature of the human mind

“…Following the pioneering work of Ian Stevenson (1960Stevenson ( , 1977, over 2500 children (mainly preschoolers) reporting memories of other deceased identities have been described to date, including Western children, i.e., people belonging to a culture which does not admit reincarnation. The available data show the following facts (see Mills &Tucker, 2014 andTucker, 2008 as reviews): a) Spontaneous memories arise at an average age of three years and are forgotten during school age, like many childhood memories. b) The data recorded in several cases allowed Stevenson to verify the truthfulness of memories and trace the identity of the deceased person, in the majority of cases resulting in a violent death.…”