NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 28, 2011: India — When Sumeet Kohli’s husband was killed in a traffic accident, the 37-year-old was devastated. But when psychiatric medicines failed to help her, her husband’s memory inspired her to make a decision she says changed her fate: She sought out a regression therapist who helped her dredge up memories of a past life.
With a deep belief in reincarnation founded in Hinduism, middle-class Indians are embracing past life regression as a form of psychotherapy — once more showing how ancient traditions are fueling ‘new age’ spiritualism even among successful, educated pragmatists. But even though the concept of past lives is a vital feature of India’s Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions, ironically, the therapy has boomeranged back to the subcontinent from the United States — where the new embrace of Eastern religions, yoga and ‘spirituality’ has made regression more popular than ever.
The website of a prominent new age magazine lists some 150 practitioners of the therapy across India. Practitioners in urban centers such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore say they have seen patient numbers double over the past five years. And last year a major TV channel pioneered a reality show in which Mumbai-based psychologist Dr. Trupti Jayin supposedly helped ordinary people and celebrities access their past lives.
Kohli says past life regression worked for her. She was popping antidepressants and sleeping pills like candy — to no avail — when she recalled that at the time of his death her husband had been reading ‘Many Lives, Many Masters,’ the bestselling book by American past life regression pioneer Brian Weiss. After a diligent search, Kohli discovered Roma Singh, a hypnotist and alternative healer, who, like Weiss, claimed she could help people overcome problems by aiding them in recalling their past lives.