Michael Cremo - Human Devolution - A Vedic Alternative To Darwin's Theory

Thus far the information obtained by Stevenson was confusing, and appeared to call into question Imad’s story, as presented to him by his relatives. But then Stevenson learned about another member of the Bouhamzy family, a man named Ibrahim, a cousin of Said. Ibrahim did in fact have a relationship with a woman called Jamileh. She was his mistress. Ibrahim had died on September 18, 1949, suffering from tuberculosis. The disease had infected his spine, which caused him much pain in walking. Stevenson also learned that Ibrahim had an uncle named Mahmoud.

Upon further questioning of Imad and his relatives, Stevenson learned that Imad had never actually claimed to be Mahmoud. nor had he ever actually claimed to have been the person who died in the incident with the truck. These were simply suppositions made by his parents, who had tried to put together all the names and places and events mentioned by Imad in a way that seemed most logical to them. Their interpretative errors tend to rule out the theory that they manufactured Imad’s past life story, using information acquired by normal means from persons in Khriby.

Stevenson then began operating on the theory that Imad had been Ibrahim in his past life. Things began to fall together. Ibrahim’s mistress Jamileh was locally famous for her beauty and did in fact dress in Western clothes—a red dress and high heels, for example—which would have been unusual for a village woman in Lebanon during the 1940s. Ibrahim was fluent in french, having learned it during his service in the army. Ibrahim did have a close relative named Amin who lived in Tripoli. Amin, a government employee, did have an office in the Tripoli courthouse building, as stated by Imad. Amin was not, however, Imad’s brother, as originally supposed by Imad’s parents when they heard Imad talk of him. It is common, however, for Lebanese males to call close friends and relatives “brother.” Ibrahim had a female cousin, Mehibeh. Imad’s parents had thought she was Imad’s daughter in his previous existence. Ibrahim also had one male cousin called Adil and another called Khalil. Stevenson proposed that the name Imad gave, Talil, was a mispronunciation of Khalil. Both Talil and Adil were originally mistakenly identified by Imad’s parents as sons of Imad in his previous life. Among the other names mentioned by Imad, Toufic, originally identified by Imad’s parents as a brother, and Kemal, originally identified as a son, turned out to be additional cousins of Ibrahim. Salim, originally identified as a son, turned out to be an uncle of Ibrahim, with whom he lived. Ibrahim Bouhamzy did in fact have a sister Huda. Yousef el Halibi, named by Imad as a friend, was in fact a friend of the Bouhamzy family. Ahmed el Halibi, mentioned by Imad, was the brother of Yousef. Ibrahim Bouhamzy was in fact involved in an accident with a bus, of which he was the driver. The accident occurred, however, at a time when Ibrahim had pulled the bus to the side of the road and stopped. He had gotten out of the bus momentarily, when it began to roll and went off the road, injuring some of the passengers. Imad’s statement that the bus accident occurred when he was not actually driving was thus confirmed. Ibrahim had indeed liked hunting and had owned a double-barreled shotgun, like the one mentioned by Imad. He also owned a rifle, which he kept hidden. It was illegal for a civilian to own such a gun (Stevenson 1974, pp. 286–290).

Imad had described his house as having been in the center of Khriby, near a slope. These details were correct for Ibrahim’s house. The house, according to Imad, had two wells, one dry and one full. In this regard, Stevenson (1974, p. 293) reported: “during the life of Ibrahim there had been two ‘wells’ whose sites were pointed out to us. The ‘wells’ had been closed up since the death of Ibrahim. They were not spring wells, but rather concrete cavities or vats used for storing grape juice. The wells would be used alternately. during the rainy season one of these vats became filled with water, but the shallower one did not, because the water evaporated from it. Thus one would be empty while the other was full.” Imad had talked about a new garden. Ibrahim’s brother fuad confirmed that at the time of Ibrahim’s death, a new garden was in fact being built. Imad said, correctly, that it had cherry and apple trees. Stevenson saw the trees during his visit to the house. Imad had reported owning a small yellow car, a bus, and a truck. The members of the Bouhamzy family with whom Ibrahim lived did in fact own such vehicles.

On March 19, 1964, Stevenson made his third visit to Khriby, this time accompanied by Imad and his parents. They went to the house of Ibrahim Bouhamzy, where Imad made fourteen correct recognitions and statements (Stevenson 1974, p. 299). for example, he pointed out the place where Ibrahim had hidden his rifle. The place was confirmed by Ibrahim’s mother, who said the place, in the back of a closet, was known only to her and Ibrahim. While at the house, Imad was shown a photograph of a man. Those showing the photograph to him suggested the man was Ibrahim’s brother or uncle. But when asked to say who it was, Imad correctly said, “Me” (Ibrahim). One of the persons present in the house during the visit was Huda Bouhamzy, Ibrahim’s sister. She asked Imad, “do you know who I am?” Imad replied, “Huda” (Stevenson 1974, p. 301). Later Huda asked him: “You said something just before you died. What was it?” Imad replied, “Huda, call fuad.” Stevenson (1974, p. 301) stated: “This was correct because fuad had left shortly before and Ibrahim wanted to see him again, but died immediately.” Out of two beds in a bedroom of the house, Imad picked the one in which Ibrahim had died. He also correctly told where it had been in the room at the time of his death, a position different than at the time of Imad’s visit. When asked how he had talked to his friends during his final illness, Imad pointed to a window in the room. Stevenson (1974, p. 300) noted, “during his infectious illness, his friends could not enter Ibrahim’s room, so they talked with him through a window, the bed being arranged so that he could see and talk with his friends through the window.”

Imad also told Stevenson and others of an intermediate life, between the death of Ibrahim in 1949 and his own birth in 1958. He said he had passed this brief life at a place called dahr el Ahmar, but he could not remember enough details for Stevenson to conduct an investigation (Stevenson 1974, p. 318).

According to philosophy professor david W. Griffin (1997, pp. 193–194), several factors contribute to the authenticity of the past life memory cases reported by Stevenson: (1) The reports come spontaneously from young children, between two and four years old, and reports of such memories cease when they become older, usually disappearing when they are between five and eight years old. In fraudulent cases, the memories come much later in life. (2) There is usually a short time between the birth of the reporting child and the death of the reported past incarnation. Manufactured cases usually go back centuries. (3) The remembered person usually comes from the same culture and geographical area. In false cases this is not usually so. (4) Statements about the past life that are potentially verifiable turn out between 80 and 90 percent correct. (5) Persons other than the child’s parents testify to the child’s statements and behavioral patterns related to the previous existence. (6) neither the reporting children nor the relatives have anything to gain in terms of money or status. (7) Memories of the past life are sometimes corroborated by behavioral patterns, talents and abilities, languages, and birthmarks or birth defects that can be associated with the previous existence.

Another interesting reincarnation case is that of William George, a Tlingit Indian from Alaska. He was known among his people for being a good fisherman. The Tlingits had a belief in reincarnation. George told his son Reginald and his son’s wife, “If there is anything to this rebirth business, I will come back and be your son. And you will recognize me because I will have birthmarks like the ones I now have.” He had one mole on his left shoulder and another mole on his left forearm. Later, he gave Reginald his gold watch, indicating that it should be kept for him in his next life. Reginald gave the watch to his wife and told her what his father had said. She put the watch in a jewelry box. A few weeks later, William George was lost at sea. not long afterwards, Reginald’s wife became pregnant. during her labor, she saw William George in a dream. He told her that he was waiting to see her son. The child, named William George, Jr., had two moles in the same places as his deceased grandfather’s moles. William George had injured his right ankle while playing basketball as a youth and had throughout his life walked with a limp, with the right foot turned outwards. The child, when old enough to walk, walked with the same kind of limp. Once, when young William was almost five years old, his mother was looking through her jewelry box. The child saw the gold watch, grabbed it, and said, “That’s my watch” (Griffin 1997, pp. 197–198; Stevenson 1974, pp. 232–34, 240). I will discuss more birthmark cases in chapter 8, which is concerned with evidence for paranormal modification of biological form.