Hello Jim,

You asked,
"Is it possible that we have past lives"?

The reincarnation literature is compelling. Ian Stevenson studied over 2,500 cases and found data that could be checked out in around three dozen. The data included autopsy reports of the deceased person a child believes was his previous incarnation. In a number of cases, the fatal wounds appeared as birthmarks on the child in the same area with the same shape. Details about the previous life the child could not have known have also been shown to be true.

Adults also know remarkable details about past lives. Read Captain Robert Snow's (Indianapolis Police Department) account of his past life as Carroll Beckwith. Google it or look for the book Searching for Carroll Beckwith on amazon.com.

Yes, I have no doubt we have had other lives, although "past" is a relative term that is meaningful only on the Earth plane of life.

You asked,
"And that we can communicate with people that have gone to the other side."

Absolutely. There's no doubt about that now. We have volumes of verified research to show that we can communicate with those on the next planes of life.

You asked,
"Do you think it would be possible to contact your "other selves" of past lives?"

That's not the right question. You have one "self," and it is eternal. That one self grows throughout eternity, having experiences in other planes and on the Earth plane through reincarnation. One hypnotherapist who does past-life regressions likens an incarnation to playing with a deck of cards. You incarnate with some cards from the deck that is your eternal self, but not all. You have those that will help you learn and grow in the present incarnation. When a person stops using a body, the individual remains alive, and keeps the integrity of the person who was on the Earth plane. As that person matures away from the Earth plane, the memories of other lives come to the person to help him or her grow further by understanding those lives as well as the life just finished. And a loved one still on the Earth plane can continue to have a relationship with the deceased--they remain the person they were or can come back to the Earth plane and there take on again the characteristics of the person they were. But the person keeps growing, just as we keep growing physically and spiritually during our Earth lives. All the experiences and lives are one self, not individual characters, although in reincarnation memories, there appears to be more than one self because the person is consumed with this present life.

You asked,
"Do you think we exist at all times at once?"

"At once" is a physical realm term. It requires time. Outside of the physical realm, there is no time, so the term really doesn't carry any meaning. People outside of the physical realm do have experiences and enjoy the realms in which they live, so that implies a sort of time, but it's not time as we envision it. So let's say that whether all things exist at once or not isn't a question that can be answered as long as we're trying to use physical realm terms to answer it.

What's important to know is that we are eternal beings having a physical experience and that we continue to grow spiritually, in love, throughout eternity.

Love and peace, Craig