Observations placeholder
Stevenson, Dr Ian - Past life as a Japanese soldier
Identifier
005021
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
There are two ways in which this could be interpreted. Either we view it as a ‘past life’ of the child in which case this is perception recall. The alternative is that somehow the child has gained access to perceptions that are not its own – this is then a form of inter composer communication. In the first instance it provides some small proof of reincarnation if the second applies it does not.
The details provided by the children were such that they could not have known these details from their parents, nor from relatives or their parent’s friends, furthermore in the majority of cases the families of the person whose memory was being accessed lived some distance away and were unknown to one another. In some cases the details were an embarrassment to the parents and led to some tragic consequences.
A description of the experience
Tom Schröder – Old Souls [documenting the case histories of Dr Ian Stevenson]
Stevenson said 'I hope that someone will study the 25 cases I have in Burma where children claim to remember lives as Japanese soldiers and exhibit Japanese characteristics'
He had mentioned these cases before. Most had been found in an area along the line of the British advance of 1945, as the Japanese army was about to collapse. …......... The Japanese were hated in Burma, where occupying troops had committed many atrocities. The last thing any Burmese parents would want to suggest was that they were harbouring the reincarnation of an Imperial soldier.
'One rather pathetic child was caught by the villagers and burned alive', Stevenson said. 'And not only are these children born into Burmese families who want nothing to do with a Japanese child, they frequently want to 'go back to Tokyo', think the Burmese food is too spicy, the climate is too hot. They complain all the time. 'I want raw fish and sweets and want to dress like Japanese’. Now that can't be genetic, whatever else it might be.