Now there are some spiritual Masters who have the capacity to tell you anything about your past incarnations. They can easily tell. But what will it accomplish for you? Suppose a Master tells you that in your past incarnation, you were a thief ... a dacoit. What will be your immediate reaction? You will say, “I was a thief. Then it is useless for me to think of God in this life. In my last life, I was so low. I was such an unspiritual soul.” So you feel that in this life also you will be doomed to disappointment. Now the Master has told you about your past life. He has played his part. But who is the sufferer? You, yourself. If, on the other hand, he tells you that you were the President of the United States, you will immediately think, “Now in this present incarnation, where am I? I am nowhere near that.” Immediately you will be disheartened. You will feel, “O God, in my last life, I was so great, but in this life I am nothing. So I see that it is useless. I will not aspire because I can never be what I was.” So knowing that you were someone very high only created disappointment in you.
Now here is another possibility. If someone tells you that in your past incarnation, you started your inner journey, your spiritual journey, that you cried inwardly, you meditated, then that is a different story. You did not complete your task. You did not come to the end of the road; you did not reach your Goal. When you learn this, you get true inspiration. You say, “There is a Goal and I started my journey. Let me go forward. Let me aspire to reach the Goal. This is the purpose of my life.”From:Sri Chinmoy,Earth’s Cry Meets Heaven’s Smile, part 3, Aum Press, Puerto Rico, 1978
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