Erik W Davis

Past-life memory is famously associated with the Buddha, who recalled all his past lives on the night of his enlightenment, thus discovering the laws of karma and achieving enlightenment. However, contemporary past-life memory claims are quite frequent in Cambodia today, and are rarely experienced as positive signs of moral accomplishment. This book will examine case studies of contemporary Cambodia past-life memory claims - same-line rebirth (in which a person remembers being a now-deceased person in the same family), alternate-line rebirth (in which a person remembers being a now-deceased person from a separate family), and pseudo-traditional claims to religious and spiritual authority on the basis of past-life memory. These will help a reevaluation of what is meant by the 'self.'