You Are Your Soul

When we observe or witness, from the vantage point of our True Self beyond mind, the insidious nature of our false mind ego-self, the pretender to our identity, we can begin the process of re-identification with that which we are. The following is the latest understanding of our true spiritual nature and identity based upon 35 years of research and over 7000 hypnotic regressions with some 2000 subjects (Dr. Michael Newton’s discovery that we all have memories of our life between lives reported in his two volume work-Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls) in which his subjects report their activities as discarnate souls. Here are the core findings and spiritual principals, quoted here verbatim from his Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, based solely upon what his subjects have reported to him and he characterizes as the “The Way of Souls” (the words in italics and underlinings are mine):

The soul cannot be defined because it has no limits that are perceived about its creation. The most consistent reports of its demonstrated essence is that the soul represents intelligent energy which is immortal and manifested by vibrational waves of light and color.
All human beings have one soul that remains attached to its chosen physical body until death. Souls play a part in the selection of their next physical body (usually only 3 choices are offered) during their reincarnation cycles. The soul typically joins its physical body after conception between the fourth month and birth (important implications for the debate as to when life begins and for the issue of abortion. Some have reported that whether a baby will reach full term is known ahead of time and the soul is advised of this before selection).
Each soul has a unique immortal character. When conjoined with a human brain, this ego character is melded with the emotional temperament, or human ego, of that body to produce a single but temporary personality for one lifetime. This is what is meant by the duality of our mind (so here on Earth the True Self/Soul is the witness and real identity beyond the temporary ego mind of the body).
While soul memory may be hidden from the level of conscious awareness through amnesia, thought patterns of the soul influence the human brain to induce motivations for certain actions.
Souls reincarnate with human beings for countless lifetimes to advance through levels of development by addressing karmic tasks from former lifetimes. Souls grow in knowledge and wisdom through this learning process while pondering their thoughts and deeds in past lives with peers under the direction of teachers (There are many other assignments given advanced souls. Becoming a teacher or guide is only one option. What is reported without contradiction is that each of us will eventually progress beyond the need to reincarnate and take up these duties in an endless succession. There is still much that is unknown about the more advanced hierarchy that is present in the spirit world of our birth, for his subjects have obviously not reached those levels of development as yet.)
Our planet is one of an incalculable number of worlds that serve as training schools for the advancement of souls. During temporary physical incarnations on Earth, souls are provided an opportunity to advance through trial and error to accumulate wisdom. Humans are not bound to a predetermined existence. Various possibilities and probabilities arising from karmic influences and prior soul contracts are subject to the free will of the soul.
Earth is a place of great beauty and joy but also harbors ignorance, hate, and suffering that are man-made combined with natural planetary disasters over which we have little control. Coping with these positive and negative elements on Earth is by design. This planet is a testing ground for souls rather that being a place of evil, demonic influence from outside our world. Spiritual malevolence does not exist within the divine order of love and compassion that comprises our spiritual origins.
Personal enlightenment emanates from within each of us and endows humans with the capability to reach our own divine power without intermediaries.
At the moment of physical death the soul returns to the spirit world, the source of its creation (sometimes we may stay here for awhile longer if we feel a strong need to do so. It is always our decision). Since part of a soul’s energy essence has never left the spirit world during incarnation, the returning soul rejoins with that essence of itself. Thus, spiritual learning never ceases for the soul. The spirit world also offers souls the opportunity for rest and reflection between lives(those who have partaken of particularly egregious acts on earth, however, immediately become aware of their failure and inability to control their human body and temperament and are voluntarily separated from returning to their cluster group of peers. No one as yet has reported the existence of anything akin to a lower world of fire, e.g. Hell. But, there are areas separate from our normal spaces of operation in which various purification processes are used to cleanse the soul of “dark” or negative energy, and can be quite a long isolation for some of the worst cases of violent offenders. But, even they are overseen by highly trained and loving caretakers during this voluntary separation. Eventually most are returned to their group or in some cases reassigned to another).
Souls appear to be members of specific spirit cluster groups to whom they have been assigned since their creation. The teachers of each group are the personal spirit guides of members of that group. Members of these groups reincarnate with the soul and assume meaningful roles during a soul’s life on earth.
Rather than being defined as a place of ultimate non-action, or nirvana, the spirit world appears to be a space of soul transition for souls who evolve into higher energy forms with capabilities for creation of animate and inanimate objects. The soul’s energy itself has been created by a higher source. The spirit world has an area of influence which is undefined except that it includes our universe and nearby dimensions.
No earthly religious deities are seen in the spirit world by returning souls. A soul’s closest connection with the divine is with their personal spirit guide and members of a council of benevolent counselors who monitor the affairs of each soul. Souls from earth feel and sense the presence of a god-like Oversoul or Source emanating from above the wise beings who make up individual councils.
The spirit world is composed of highly advanced non-reincarnation soul specialists who regulate the work of the souls in their care. When incarnating souls develop to higher levels of wisdom and performance themselves, they will cease to incarnate and take their place among these specialists, who will assist the still-incarnating souls. Soul specialists apparently are selected by motivation, talent, and performance.
The ultimate goal of all souls appears to be the desire to seek and find perfection, and finally conjoin with the Source who created them.

If you read the above with an open mind and contemplate the repercussions and implications for a whole range of religious ideologies and theologies still being practiced and believed, you cannot help but come away with a mixture of tremendous hope for mankind and a deep sadness at the millennia of tragic death and misery directly caused by our spiritual ignorance. The striking fact of how inconsequential religious belief itself is treated (actually ignored completely as to whether one had a successful life), particularly dogmatic creeds and various religious idolatry, practices and observances, unless they were the motivation or cause for some harmful or negative actions, is just one of the major revelations of his study. In other words, as most of us with a moral and ethical progressive worldview would surely agree, if our religious/spiritual beliefs help to foster love, compassion, tolerance, peace, harmony, forgiveness together with service to others and these are demonstrated/actualized to the best of our ability, it makes no difference what our ideological or religious beliefs or tenets, creed or other rituals or practices are that we profess. Only our deeds are considered, not what religion or holy book we avow allegiance to- special points given to those who treat everyone with equanimity regardless of their human status as a unique spiritual being of the One Source. As Above, so below. We are not differentiated in the Spirit World so we must presume that it is desired that we bring that which is of our divine home into this one.
It is made very clear by all Dr. Newton’s subjects that only our actions and possibly our words and the emotional displays attached to our thoughts as they negatively affect others are of any real consequence to the hierarchy of souls to whom we directly report, and they appear to be the only ones who assess our soul’s level of attainment. Whether they consult with others unseen or the Source/Presence Itself in some “external” way is simply not known. His subjects also clearly report that we ourselves once free of our physical body and reoriented to our spiritual “home” upon physical death are the primary and foremost arbiters of whether we had successfully completed our life’s mission here. Once free of the false ego’s attachments and excuse mechanisms we are able to honestly evaluate our performance objectively. We as discarnate souls, although certainly not perfect and have much to learn and many lifetimes yet to live, do know when we have failed to meet our own goals and where we have fallen short of our expectations and those of our spiritual mentors. The old adage that we are harder on ourselves than others holds true even more so in the spirit world.
All of the above general statements as to the reality of our true spiritual nature and the make-up of the spirit world are derived from the amazing detailed transcripts of the hundreds of case studies he cites of his individual subjects, much of which is verbatim question and answer. It is the absolute consistency of these details, varying only in some of the descriptive language used, that is overwhelming and compelling. He explores all of the possible alternative explanations that are proffered by the skeptics and each and everyone fails to explain his findings as being anything other than the memories of an experienced reality. They are completely veridical and non-contradictory, thus making them tremendously convincing, particularly because of their lack of any religious symbolism in which the “afterlife” is often portrayed. If the recalled memories had contained unfulfilled wishes or, as one would suspect, were influenced by the subject’s religious beliefs, or even if they were hallucinatory manifestations of some delusional state of mind, you would expect a full range of fanciful flights of fantasy, religious symbolism and beatific visions. There were none, even from those who professed what would be considered as either biblical literalism or fundamental Christian religious beliefs (The Christian belief is singled out here only because it is the predominant religion of his subjects).
Some subjects were hoping to meet with Jesus or other religious figures, even God Himself (Dr. Newton did not discuss before-hand any of his previous findings, nor did he discourage any expectations, whether rational or not). Once the subject was regressed to a discarnate state the rationale for most of their human conscious belief systems or excuse mechanisms vanished, particularly when they would have contradicted the reality they were reporting. They immediately knew who they were and that they were in their spiritual home. All of their earthly illusions or delusions were no longer part of their conscious make-up. They also knew that the excuses or justifications for their mistaken judgments and poor decisions regarding their life would pretty much fall on “deaf ears” (earthly metaphor here, since all communication is telepathic). Many would try and justify their misguided actions by complaining that the body they were given would not do what they wanted or that they had lost “control” of it due to its difficult physical hardwiring or predispositions. Some cited the overwhelming and tremendous hardships they were forced to undergo. These complaints were also not given any real acceptance or much sympathy, for they were reminded of the fact that they had decided on the body they chose and were advised of its potential for certain problems.(It’s not that our guides and mentors are not sympathetic and understanding of the many challenges, decisions and difficulties we face. They are intimately aware, for they themselves have lived many lives of hardship to reach their current level of soul development as teachers of others. They, in fact, are not unlike a kind and compassionate sponsor in AA. They are there to help us to overcome these difficult challenges with love and understanding, not to baby or coddle us or help us to justify our reasons for wrong action, and are uniquely qualified to guide us through our failures, for they have undergone them all themselves).
When reviewing a subject/client’s past lives during the LBL regression, Dr. Newton asks some very intriguing questions. The most important is: “How much is your soul-ego influenced by the brain of each body you choose? Do some bodies make it more difficult than others to maintain your permanent identity?”(Book 3, pg. 163). The answers to these questions are particularly revealing in our realization of who we are in our permanent soul character or personality. He states, “Human society, especially in areas of high population, can cause one to feel isolated, empty and unable to commit if we are not sure who we are in the scheme of things.” These feelings of isolation, emptiness, not belonging here or what psychologist’s have long called alienation are particularly acute in pre or adolescent teens but often these nebulous but gnawing feelings can persist well into adulthood if not addressed. The operative word here is “alien” for this dimension’s space-time materiality is literally alien or foreign to our permanent spiritual identity-who we are in our eternal manifestation.
One of the extremely interesting aspects of the incarnation dynamic all the subjects reported was the fact that we do not take all of our soul energy with us to Earth. Dr. Newton, learning this early on, would always ask subsequent subjects the percentage of energy they had taken for their incarnation. The average was around 60% and never more than 75%. The amount we take is always our decision, but we are advised by our guides and our Elders on the Council (note the mention of this above. More about these Wise Ones later) what percentage would be best given the body choice. Some would take less than was recommended and often it turned out to be a very big mistake i.e. they were unable to overcome difficult or challenging situations the body’s predisposition had imposed; such as alcoholism /addiction or simply strong negative or destructive reactions to hardships or abuse that sent their life spiraling out of control. Again, since even the choice to incarnate on earth is our decision, we become fully responsible for the outcome of that life.
We, in fact, enter into a contract to “stay” with the body when the choice is made, no matter what happens and, most importantly, not to leave early (commit suicide). We are fully prepared before we leave as discarnate spirits, but we have our own imperfections and weaknesses we need to work on and improve in order to progress to the next level of soul development. The body choices given us offer varying degrees of difficulty specific to those areas we need to correct or improve. We don’t always choose the “easiest” one. In fact, one subject had selected bodies with physical impairments or a serious genetic disease for her last 4 incarnations in order to overcome a previous proclivity towards selecting attractive and powerful bodies she had used to her own selfish advantages. She had fallen behind her soul group as a result and by selecting the most difficult bodies offered her she was able to “make up” for the lack of progress in her earlier “easy” life selections. In other words, we are given body choices which will allow us to be either indulgent or allow us to “skate”(a term used by one of his subjects) in a particular life, or we can select a more difficult body assignment which presents us with the challenges we need to progress more rapidly e.g. a physically impaired body or other “challenging” trait or temperament that would require us to “work harder” or undergo more hardships than would say a healthy body and/or wealthy and loving parents. So, the body types and the family situations (varying socio-economic circumstances or caring and nurturing verses neglectful or abusive parents) that are offered us, and the one we ultimately select, has everything to do with the lessons we need to learn and/or the karmic tasks we need to endure for us to progress as a soul. What our purpose and mission is in making this decision and coming to Earth, is an essential part of our journey in reaching our ultimate goal of our soul’s progression towards reunion with the Source, as Dr. Newton states above. It is also of major interest and importance to us all in knowing today, what we need to do to fulfill that purpose and mission here.
There is, however, one major obstacle to the realization of these lessons and tasks we choose to set forth to learn and achieve. WE WON’T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE OR THE REASONS WHY WE’RE HERE, OR, MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, WHO WE REALLY ARE! We are all, of course, intentionally given a large dose of amnesia or none of this would need to be explained and finally revealed to us now. Although this may seem cruel and unfair to us, the reason for this is well understood by all in the spirit world. If we are aware of who we are and all our previous lives on a conscious level, there would be little reason for us to come here to undergo all the trials of discovery and the consequences of our actions and choices. It is specifically the overcoming of these difficult challenges and the triumph of our spirit, shining through this physical being that is hosting us, that makes this “game” of life so valuable as a means for learning. In other words, if we always knew what we needed to do to win and what the outcome would be, there would be no use in “playing the game”. What “fun” would that be. Our incarnations, incidentally, are referred to by many of the subjects in their lighter moments as a “game” or “play”, but it is a very serious one, indeed. Just as we can laugh at ourselves when we recall an event after many years that was, at the time, very harrowing, dangerous or even humiliating, we as souls can also laugh and make fun of our many mistakes, even tragic ones at the time, when we look back upon our many lives. There is, by the way, quite a bit of laughter, joking and good natured ribbing by all in the spirit world. Remember, we are eternal beings of pure conscious energy and though we undergo physical death many times, we continue on in our “real” lives as immortal and unique souls of light.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Everyone reports that through all of this process in the spirit world we are given unconditional and unlimited love, patience, understanding, encouragement, and NON-JUDGMENTAL assessment and correction as regards our mistakes, poor choices and the satisfying of our karmic debt (more about this later) in our lives here. THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT. No one is ever condemned or “left behind” and although some of us progress towards our goal faster than others, WE ALL WILL EVENTUALLY EVOLVE AND PROGRESS THROUGH ALL OF THE HIGHER LEVELS OF SOUL DEVELOPMENT. AND, THERE IS INFINITE TIME TO DO SO.
We are the ones who are impatient to progress and wish to do well. We are the ones who are disappointed in the speed of our progress and the fulfillment of our purpose and mission; not our teachers or guides, or even the so-called Council of Elders who monitor and evaluate our progress and help us to develop and prepare for each incarnation. With an all embracing love and eternal patience, they want us to progress and do all they can to aid us in our development; they do not judge us, but encourage and assist us in determining what we must do in each life to correct our mistakes and to develop the characteristics necessary to progress to the next level of soul attainment. It is always and ultimately our decision to return to earth or to heed or not to heed their sage advice.

So, now we know that we are a transcendent soul-being comprised of intelligent energy, born in a non-physical spirit world we call home, and to progress our soul towards conjoinment with our Creator/Source, we have decided to come to earth with a specific mission and incarnate in human form. Does this sound familiar? (Although no one reports seeing any earthly religious figures in the spirit world, there is reported by some an understanding that there has been an occasional and rare incarnation by advanced souls, who had no reason to incarnate for their own soul attainment or karmic debt/task, but did so in the attempt to bring others to a greater spiritual awareness of their mission here on earth, i.e. Jesus and Buddha. These are not mentioned by their earthly names, however).

The Life Review and Karmic Debt

Karma or simply action, is a concept going back to the ancient Sanskrit books of the earliest Indo-Aryan civilizations. It is mentioned in the Upanishads and Vedic texts and has been interpreted and reinterpreted for millennia. Dr. Newton discovers from his subjects that some of the earthly understandings of karma have been corrupted and, particularly among the Hindu castes and how it is played out, are mistaken. What he is told and what is repeatedly discussed with his clients in a discarnate state, is that EVERYTHING THAT WE SAY AND DO IS RECORDED, INCLUDING THE INTENTIONS LEADING TO OUR ACTIONS. These records are kept in a grand archive that appears to have no end (this is of course a metaphor for our understanding and not an actual “physical” edifice that we are familiar with). Without going into the quite amazing mechanics reported by his clients of the archival information retrieval process, which is given in his two books, we are able to review our past lives in minute detail and apparently “enter into” these living volumes to replay certain actions and perform role reversals. This extensive life review continues from the time we return after death up to the time we decide to come back to earth for another cycle of incarnation.
So, the “life review” reported in near death experiences is only a glimpse of the actual review work we do in our cluster group settings and in “independent study” at the “Great Hall of Records” where the books of life are stored, described by all of his subjects. We spend many “hours” (remember there is no time per se as we know it in the spirit world) thus reviewing our actions and replaying significant episodes in our lives with particular attention paid to the effects of our actions on others. This is the real value in the learning process of the review. What were the effects/consequences of our actions on our own lives and how did our actions affect all those around us? He gives one example, where a subject was told to “enter into” the body of a kid he had harmed as a bully on the playground in elementary school. The purpose of the “lesson” was to literally enable him to “feel” the other kid’s pain and humiliation at his hands. He had first relived the bullying incident as himself and did the role reversal to “experience” the complete effect as perpetrator once again, and then as the victim of his own actions.
We don’t just review the incidents in which we were harmful to someone either physically or emotionally or caused some negative reaction, we also review times when we were particularly kind and generous as well. While before his Council, one of his subjects was referred to an incident that he had completely forgotten. He had been a successful businessman during the Depression and although he had been tough on his employees and somewhat callous to their needs, he wanted to point out to the Council that he had given money generously to charity. They weren’t particularly impressed with his money giving, but reminded him of a very brief incident in which he had been walking hurriedly to his office as usual, and although rarely if ever did he stop to offer help to the many out of work people he would pass by every day, this particular day he saw a woman sitting and crying on the sidewalk. He went over and put his arm around her telling her that everything would be ok and consoled her about her situation. He picked her up and helped her to a park bench, she thanked him and he went on his way, never giving the incident a second thought.
The subject wondered why his Council would bring up this long forgotten and fleeting moment, so he questioned, “Why do you mention this incident to me when I had given quite a bit of money to charities throughout my life; I didn’t even give that poor woman any money?”. They told him it was exactly this kind of selflessness, in which he had shown a total stranger true compassion and caring, that they were most interested in helping him to develop in future lives.
We all have what you might call a Karmic Bank Account (solely my characterization) in which all of our positive and negative actions, words and thoughts have been tallied. When at the end of each life that account is audited, it is determined whether we have a net surplus or a negative debt. This is added to or subtracted from all our previous lives (in actuality there is no such cut and dried assessment or numerical tally, I use it only as a demonstrative tool/analogy) So, if we have accrued a greater deposit on the positive side we won’t have to carry over to our next life any debt from this one. But, if it is reversed, and we have built up a large negative balance, it will have to be rectified by our actions in the next life. This Karmic Debt then may manifest in our having to undergo even greater challenges in the next life, or experience the receiving end of the negative actions we had carried out against others in this one. This is not as punishment for our “sins”, but simply the lessons we need to learn so as to understanding fully the consequences and the effects of all of our actions and deeds. Only by experiencing the receiving end of what we have given out to others, can we truly “understand” the full impact on others of our actions.
For example, say you had been an unrepentant drunk and beat your wife regularly in your marriage. You may in making the choice for your next life realize you need to undergo a similar kind of abuse from say a father or spouse. The determination of exactly what compensating experience or task you will require to “settle” any debt you have created will be made by you, in conjunction with your guides and your Council members. It will also be your decision to undergo that compensatory experience. Again, we can never fully understand the effects of our actions on others unless we undergo them ourselves. It is always understood that this “compensation” or if you will, payment, is not punitive but is required for us to learn and progress (It’s important to note that not all of the hardships and challenges we undergo in our lives are necessarily recompense for some past-life behavior. Usually only the major themes or circumstances of our birth are broadly outlined or predetermined. There is always the element of choice and chance. There are only high degrees of probability for certain things occurring. We always have the free will to change virtually anything in our life. That is the purpose of our physical life here.) You are never forced to do anything. But, it will become very clear to you that unless you are willing to take risks and develop the understanding of all life’s consequences, you will be left behind by your spirit group. Only by living through the demands of a physical existence can the soul grow in understanding life’s hard lessons. And, only in this physical realm of duality, with its play of opposites, is the soul given the opportunity to develop and progress by making difficult choices. No other means or environment allows us to progress to the higher levels of consciousness and soul development that we seek as divine experiencers, and do it so quickly, as those afforded us as incarnate humans. This is why we have chosen to be here.
All of Dr. Newton’s subjects tell him about the uniqueness of this planet for the lessons they are in need of learning. They are told that no other planetary system provides the soul with the specific challenges that earth provides, and there are other worlds and dimensions that we have access to, but none offer the soul quite the same unique environment for advancement.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future