I Can Remember Who I Was In My Previous Life | Our Life

Reincarnation is an accepted part of several religions, and many individuals, under hypnosis, believe they're able to explore these past lives. Unfortunately, much of what they recount is uncheckable, and it's tempting to see more fantasy than fact in their vivid recollections of the great events of world history. But tonight's story is different. The past life in question turned out to be the life of an ordinary but well-documented individual. If there is any truth in reincarnation, then what you are about to see may well be the real thing. Time has stopped. There's no more time. Time, like everything else in the universe, runs in circles. We've reached the top of the circle, and now we're going back. Back in time. You're drifting back in time. You're seeking memories, memories of things that happened to you before you were born in another time. This is the story of Ray Bryant and his extraordinary journey into his past. He believes that under guided hypnosis, he can go back in time to past lives led hundreds of years ago. Here at last is some sort of proof that there's something beyond. I've been looking into past life memory cases for the last 20 years, and Ray Bryant's case stands out as one of the very best because there is such a wealth of evidence. It all began in this unremarkable suburban home in Hertfordshire. Ray Bryant, a journalist, had come to research past life experiences. Andrew Selby welcomed him to join the regular regression group held in his living room. The number of people in the group when Ray first started coming was around 12 to 15. It's quite a number of months before Ray started regressing properly and anything significant happened. Leading the group was hypnotherapist Joe Keaton, who's led thousands of people into their past lives. Soon the first tantalizing clue was to emerge. I want you to go back, back to the time before you were born. Keep drifting, drifting back. You're there now. After hypnotizing Ray, Joe began asking questions. Where are you? What are you doing? Crimea, fighting. What's your name? Reuben. Reuben who? Reuben, Reuben Star. As with many past life regressions, that vital detail, a full name, was missing. But Andrew Selby was intrigued. His diligent research was to open the door to Ray's past life. I was down in the Guildhall library. I'm trying to research on another regression. I was getting nowhere with it. So I thought I'd change over and see if I could find something on this soldier. Well, I looked in the index and there I found a book on the casualty roll of the Crimea and it was all listed by regiments. The chances of Selby finding a full name to match the fragment given under hypnosis seemed highly remote. I turned over the pages and I nearly fell off my chair. There right in front of me was Reuben Stafford, a sergeant who fought in the Crimean. I just couldn't believe it. One of the difficulties in assessing the evidence of past life memories is that individuals often recall being famous people or having lived lives that are well documented. The quite remarkable case of Ray Bryant is that he's remembering an individual who was so obscure that it was almost impossible to prove he lived, but that evidence eventually came to light. Armed with Reuben's full name, Andrew Selby began the painstaking business of piecing together the soldier's life. He discovered that he'd signed up aged 20, that he'd been wounded in the attack on the quarries and his discharge paper stated that he'd been a very good soldier. We've got a lot of information here about Reuben. What are you going to tell him? Nothing. It's a chance to test him out. If he is this young soldier, then he'll remember the details anyway, won't he? For Keaton, this would prove to be one of the most important past life sessions he'd ever led. Would Ray Bryant know the final part of Reuben's surname? I want you to go back to the year 1855. It is 1855. Bring out your memories. What's your name and rank? Hey you, what's your name and rank? I am Stafford, sergeant, 47th Lancashire Regiment of Foot. 47th Lancashire Regiment of Foot. The group was astounded. I have never researched into the Crimea. It's not a subject that has interested me and I have no army background in my family at all. So if Ray didn't know anything about the Crimea, where did the identity of that obscure foot soldier come from? Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, believes the explanation may lie with cryptoamnesia. When we're young, we pick up far more information than we realise. Information from books, films, other people. That's in our memories but we've just forgotten about it. The hypnotist comes along, suggests we've lived a previous life and all that information comes out. And in the right setting, the hypnotist and the subject might be able to convince each other that really is evidence of previous lives. And tell me, where are you exactly? We're back in camp now. But it's hard to explain the wealth of accurate detail provided by Ray Bryant as he went on to describe the life of Reuben Stafford, the young soldier who fought the Russians far from home on the borders of the Black Sea. We've tested him against the evidence, we've tried to trick him and we haven't been able to break him out of the character. If Ray was acting, we'd have caught him out. If it wasn't genuine, if it was imagination, we'd have caught him out. So my belief is that we've got a genuine phenomenon here. Where are you? In battle? The following reconstructions are based on tapes of the actual regression sessions. They come at us just over a little ridge. They aren't. So you have to be quick. Quicker than them. How old were they? Just chaps like us. What colour uniforms are the Russians wearing? Grey. The grey ghosts just come and go. They know the country. It's very much like a dream, but this time you are conscious all the time and you're watching the action. You know what that dream is leading to. Keaton was intrigued by Reuben's injury to his left hand. Records show he was injured in the Battle of the Quarries in 1855. Ray was still ignorant of the details, but would he recall them under hypnosis? Is this a good day to talk to you? Keep up, keep up. Way for the order. Advance. The attack on the quarries on the 7th of May 1855 was part of the Battle of Sebastopol. It took the lives of hundreds of British troops. I had this sudden sensation in the hand. I couldn't imagine what was happening because while I was aware that something had happened to that hand, I could feel no pain and yet I knew that Reuben was experiencing pain. Joe was so concerned at Ray's state that he moved him on in It's later now. You're not in the quarry now. It's later that night. Where are you? I don't know what happened. I got shot by Russians. Who's looking after you? Flories ladies. They have aprons and caps. White caps. How long have you been there in the war? One year. One year now. Are you missing home? I miss my wife and Bobby. They're out to me. She says all's well. Well that's the main thing isn't it? Andrew Selby's researches didn't finish with the war. He pursued Reuben Stafford through the 19th century but no trace was found until the last day of his life. A death certificate provided the last vital piece of evidence with which to test Ray Bryant. Reuben Stafford had ended up as a lighter man on the Thames. Alone, his family gone. A forgotten soldier down on his luck. Joe Keaton decided to take Ray back to the day of Reuben's death. It's the 2nd of April 1879. Where are you? I'm looking down into water. It's welcoming. With no clues, Bryant had accurately reconstructed the last moments of Reuben Stafford's life and death. Violent suffocation by drowning. A suicide. Just for the record, believers in reincarnation now reckon you are reborn about 50 years after you die.