Exercise: Opening the Gallery of Your Past Lives

The following meditation is a dynamic way of beginning to recognize some of the past-life connections between yourself and others that are presently in your life. It is an exercise that can be repeated regularly and adapted to explore various aspects of your past.

The effects of this exercise can be heightened by using meditational aids [such as] incense, candles, fragrances, and so on. The important part is to imagine the scenes as well as you can. Many worry that what they see is all a figment of their imagination and not a real experience. Do not confuse imagination with the unreal. They are often quite different. We could not imagine something if there was not some basis or connection for it.

In this exercise, you may actually see the past life, or you may simply get a feeling or an impression. One is neither better nor worse than the other. However you experience it, it will intensify as you persist. Each time you perform the exercise, you will get more dynamic results. If you have difficulty imagining the scenes, simply ask yourself, "If there is such and such there, what would it look like?" Then trust those impressions.

Remember that we are opening doors that have long been closed. It may take a little prying, but they will open. Do not be discouraged. I have not encountered anyone who has not achieved results with this particular past-life meditation by the third performance.

1. Make sure you will not be disturbed. Take the phone off the hook and inform others that may be in the house not to interrupt you. You may do this exercise in a seated or lying position.
2. Use any…incenses or candle preparations…to help set the atmosphere. You may also wish to play some soft music in the background, but it should not be distracting.
3. Perform some rhythmic breathing. Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of four, then exhale out your mouth slowly for a count of four. Keep your breath slow, steady, and comfortable. Do this for several minutes. It eases any tension and helps to shift the mind from outer activities and its usual focuses to a state in which the inner world can more easily be reached.
4. Now re-read the exercise [below]. Remember the main ideas. You do not have to hold to the letter of the meditation. Don't be afraid to adapt it, and don't worry if you don't find that, once in it, your experiences differ from those described. This is simply your own mind responding in the best manner for you. If you wish, you may want to record the meditation and then, once the preparations are made, follow your own voice through it.
5. Now perform a progressive relaxation. Start at your feet and focus your attention on them. Mentally send warm and relaxing feelings to them. Move up, focusing on each part of your body in turn. Take your time with this. The longer you take, the more relaxed you will be and the better results you will get. By the time you end at the top of your head, you should feel very relaxed. Your arms and legs should feel heavy, and you should even feel a little disconnected with yourself.
6. At this point, keep your eyes closed to avoid any visual distractions and allow the scenario to unfold within your mind.
7. Pay attention to your dreams for several nights following this meditation. Anytime you touch the subconscious strongly, as you will do with this exercise, it will have repercussions in your dream life. This does not mean that you will dream of past lives, though that does happen with some people. Rather, pay attention to the primary emotional content of your dreams and who these emotions are associated with in the dream scenarios. This can often indicate the emotions and issues that you have come to deal with in regard to these individuals. (Performing this exercise before sleep can enhance its effect on your dreams and provide further illumination.)

The Gallery of Dreams
You see yourself at the top of a long, golden staircase. It spirals gently down into a mist below. You are not afraid. In fact, you feel a sense of anticipation about what you are going to uncover.

You begin to descend. With each step you find yourself becoming more relaxed. Down and down you descend. Softly. Gently. It feels good to step down this staircase.

You find yourself going deeper and deeper, descending further and further. Down. Down. Down. You relax even more deeply with each step. You had forgotten how good it feels to just relax.

The further you descend, the lighter you seem to become. It is as if you are barely touching each step as you descend deeper and deeper. Soon the mist is all about you, but you do not mind it. It is beautiful and soothing. And you have not felt so light and loose for a long time.

You are becoming so relaxed and so light that you are literally floating down the stairs. You feel like a soft cloud descending from the heavens. Below, you see the bottom of the stairwell. The mist begins to dissipate, and your feet touch the floor very gently. You are relaxed and at peace.

You see that you are in the middle of a circular room. Across the room from you is a large oaken door. You feel drawn to it. As you step closer, you see your name engraved into the heart of the door itself. Below your name is an engraving in a language that is foreign to you. You reach out gently with your hand and trace the letters with your fingers. As you do, you know that this is your name as it was the last time you were here.

As you draw your hand back, the door opens inward and blue and gold light streams forth. It encircles you. It passes through you. It surrounds you and embraces you. It invites you across the threshold. You close your eyes and you feel the joy of the light.

You open your eyes and step carefully through the open doorway, across the threshold. As you step across, the door closes softly behind you. The blue and gold light gently fades, and you find yourself in what looks like an old storehouse for an art gallery.

urrounding you are artifacts from every part of the world. There are sculptures, paintings, and articles of clothing. There are books and weapons, carvings and wares. Every time period seems to be represented. You recognize some periods and artifacts, but others are alien and confusing. There are cobwebs and dust on many of them, but you can see that they are all still in good condition.

The room is divided into cubicles and sections. Each area reflects a specific time and place in the history of the world—no, not the world! A realization hits you as you look into the closest cubicle. There are articles of clothing that you recognize from childhood. There is your favorite toy! This is not a gallery of the world, but a gallery of your life. These artifacts are the traces of the past that have helped form the person that you are now!

With this realization, the gallery darkens except for a small area to your left. There, a divider, a freestanding wall, is illuminated. You move toward it, wondering what you will discover about yourself.

As you step around to the front face of this wall, you see hanging upon it a life-size portrait in a large, gilded frame. The image in the portrait is indistinct, but somehow you know that, when it shows itself, it will be an image of you. And then, within your mind, you hear a soft, clear voice: "The is the Gallery of Your Life. Within it are the remnants of everything and everyone in your past. Within this gallery is all you will ever need to uncover the rhythms of the past as they play within the present. You can choose to see or not to see, as you desire."

The voice stops, and you stare at the portrait. The image shimmers, and a soft breeze blows across you and the portrait. As it does, the image stands strong and clear. See it, feel it, and know that it is real.

Take a few moments and study the portrait. Notice the sex, the clothes, the colors. As you look upon it, you find that you seem to know about this person. You know whether he or she was rich or poor. You know what his or her occupation was. You know whether this person was happy or sad. The face reveals knowledge that you had forgotten.

You look toward the right-hand bottom corner of the portrait. On the frame itself is a small brass plate. It is engraved with a date. You reach out with your finger and trace the date, feeling each number in turn. You look toward the left-hand corner, and there is a second brass plate. It is engraved with the name of a place. It could be a city, a town, a country. Reach out and touch it with your finger.

As you raise your eyes back toward the face of the image in the portrait, you begin to see two other images forming in the background. One is male and the other female. As you look upon their faces, you know what their relationship was to you in that life, be it friend, lover, or family member. And as you study their faces, you remember the emotions you associated with them. Take a few moments and allow the images to strengthen.

As you realize who these figures were in your past, their faces blur. They become indistinct, and then they begin to crystallize yet again. But something is different. This time, as they crystallize, you see the faces of two individuals within your present life. As their faces become clear, you begin to understand your relationships with them a little better. See it. Feel it. And know that it is real.

Then the faces fade. The only image left is the one that is of you. As you look upon it, the eyes seem to come alive, embracing you. And then there appears to be a word or phrase above the head. This is what the past life has given you to use in the present. See it form and stand strong within the portrait.

As you look upon it, you understand yourself a little better. And then, without warning, the image fades until there is just an empty picture frame upon the wall.

You sigh. There is so much that you still do not understand. There is so much yet to learn and figure out. You step back and notice that the entire gallery is lit once more. It seems to stretch on forever. There is so much to learn, so much to remember.

You turn toward the door. As you pause before it, you hear the voice once more.

"This is your gallery. Its door is never closed to you. You may explore that which you have seen today even further, or explore any other lifetime that you choose. As you remember the lessons of the past, you will be able to reshape the future."

The door opens slowly, and the gold and blue light encircles you, embracing and blessing you as you step back across the threshold. As the door closes behind you, you know that it will never truly be closed again. You touch the engraving of your name gently once more and then move to the staircase.

You are relaxed, peaceful, and filled with a new sense of wonder. As you ascend the stairs lightly and easily through the mist, you take with you your newfound realization. You will never be able to look upon yourself, or the other two who appeared within the portrait, in quite the same way again. And you are filled with a sense of promise.

Excerpted from How to Uncover Your Past Lives, by Ted Andrews