[Damithu]

Hello Lal Sir, 

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this post because over the past few years, even before I was exposed to Buddha Dhamma, starting at a very young age, I have developed a very strange feeling or habits that I will do my best to describe.

Since I was very little, I always loved playing with weapons (swords, shields, etc), and I also had a strange sense of protectiveness or a connection with my parents’ homeland of Sri Lanka. I was not born in Sri Lanka, yet a feel a strong connection to it, and I even wrote an entire book on its history, just because I was immensely curious about it. I never developed this connection, I think it was alwasy there for some reason;I have many Sri Lankan friends, yet they don’t have this same connection that I am describing. I also read both the Mahavamsa and Culavamsa, and even got goosebumps while reading it.

The strangest thing is that when I read about the parts where there is a large battle, or a war happening, I feel a very peculiar sense. My body feels like its contracting and shrinking inward, like a very intense sensation of goosebumps. This also happens when I watch battle scenes in Sri Lankan movies specifically; t his is why I stated I loved playing with weapons since I was a child; they seem natural and easy to use for me.  When I read about the ancient history of sri lanka, I almost feel as if I was once living in that timeline. Sometimes I think I preferred living in ancient sri lanka rather than living in modern day society.

This may seem very useless to write about, but I have been having strange sensations of nostalgia and longing for things that I have never even experienced in this life, and I want to know why I feel such a strong connection to these things. I was hoping you could give me an idea; I apologize if I did not describe well enough. Thank you!

[Lal]

Hello Damithu,

It is quite likely that you had a previous life in Sri Lanka (within the current ‘human bhava‘). As you may know, a human bhava (human existence) may last many thousands of years, with the same manomaya kāya (‘mental body’ or ‘gandhabba’) repeatedly reborn with different physical bodies. 

• Thus, one can carry memories from life to life within the same human bhava. 
• You are probably vaguely recalling a past life in Sri Lanka (within the current ‘human bhava‘) when you engaged in battles. 
• These ‘memories’ fade as one ages. Some children can recall things in even more detail, with names of people and places in a previous life. There are many such accounts that have been studied by Ian Stevenson, a professor at the University of Virginia (now retired). Those studies are published in a book: “Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation.”
• If you are interested, I can provide more references, but you should do that after your exams.

[Author]

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