Life - It Just Keeps on Going

The Hypnotists's Tale: John Koenig on Spiritual Exploration and Past Lives

• James LaPann • Season 4 • Episode 18

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In this episode, John Koenig shares his remarkable journey from a career in high-level advertising to becoming a respected hypnotist and author. He discusses his published works on hypnotism, past life exploration, and personal and spiritual growth. 

John delves into his experiences with past life regressions, recounting lifetimes as a revolutionary soldier, an African shaman, and a 15th-century monk. He explains the profound impact these regressions have had on his current life and the therapeutic potential they offer to others. 

The conversation also touches on the application of hypnotism for creativity and healing, making this an enlightening discussion on using past life exploration for personal growth and self-awareness.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I'm excited to be here with John Konick. John and I had a chance to meet probably about a year ago or so, and we've gotten to know each other a little bit and we're, we go to some of the same groups and I'm really excited to have him as a guest here today. Welcome,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Good to be here. Thank you. I think it was close to two years. We, we met a Cal Louise Reincarnation symposium and I've been, I've been to two of those live.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes, Carol Louis' Symposium. I'm looking forward to the next one coming up

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah, I, I am, I am too.,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I know that I had not until probably about a few months ago, had a chance to read your book. And you have more than one book that's been published. I think

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah. Three. The first one is just technical for hypnotist, the hypnotic coach. I did that, a collaboration with the fellow Daniel Rose in New Jersey, and then I did my autobiographies and introduction to past life exploration for personal and spiritual Growth.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

recently,, I did a universal mind map, Oracle meditation system.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay. And

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I picked a card from a Oracle deck

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

did?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

for this, and the one I picked was the first one. It's called The Mirror, and the premise is that these principles came from a search through AI of all human wisdom, psychology, religion, philosophy, and I got 64 principles humanity has to master. And the first one we came up with was. Self-awareness, the mirror and the I idea that the unexamined life is as valuable as a life where you take a look. So that might be a good theme for today's talk.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh, excellent, excellent. You were born and raised in the New York City area., I believe that after a, start in Harlem as time of

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Born Harlem late one night and the only person colored like this in the amongst the crime babies.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

and then you, and your family moved, got a chance to get out into the

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

What?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

there, out into Long Island and and you went to college, I think out there in Long

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah. Pastoral psych major English minor.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

eventually after college, you did, a chance to work in really high level advertising firm.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

And

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

a madman.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

tell, tell me, how did you get from Hofstra to that?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Well, there was an intermediate step after my ba I did a Master's in Irish literature in Ireland.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

oh,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

And so, you know, there aren't many jobs in the Want ads for Masters of Arts and Irish literature. And for that matter, not being in psychology, I was going for another degree in Georgia and one day I was teaching and freshman English and I was not that academic and I got myself as being, middle aged and associate professor in a junior college in Iowa or something. And that night I was watching a TV commercial and I said to myself, I could do that. I bet you're getting really good money for doing that. And I decided to do that. I went to New York, drove a taxi cab for a while, and I got a job at 6 2 5 Madison Avenue. And a few months later I was writing national TV commercials duck cakes, physical shortening Jeep vehicles, roof, the New York Stock Exchange for a while.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

it. I mean, really it's the big time you went to the major leagues.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I did, you know, and it never occurred to me not to. If you're gonna be an ad man, why not? Why not go to Madison Avenue? I found out later that 7,000 people had applied for my entry level job. And so who knows how that, I believe in what I call divine serendipity, that things happened, according to our, our plan. And it was my plan, and I got a really good education as a madman and, and advertising guy of simplifying things. You know, when you're writing a 32nd commercial, you've gotta condense the client's marketing plan to 30 seconds. And that has, has serving well in, in this kind of metaphysical universe.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

book my autobiographies is an introduction to past life exploration and I see myself as a bridge between people that are far more advanced than me. And you and I both know some of these people far more

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes, we do. Yep.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and I'm not that advanced, but I could be a bridge between those people and their experience and people who are maybe just getting started.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Absolutely. And and so that must have been

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

to be all of a sudden you're in downtown and you're working in this top

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

firm. I mean, what was, what was that like?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

It was exhilarating and terrifying.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

we all, I wanted everybody's, they wanted my job. The competition was incredible. There's a line in advertising, you're as good as your last ad. You know, you've heard these, you run up the flag pulse, you salutes.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

when they salute, I would be great. I'd feel great. And when they didn't like it, I would not be great. But it was, I loved it. Absolutely.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Excellent, excellent. And eventually you got a big, huge account in Rhode Island, is that

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I, I moved I, I worked for a time in, in what used to be called West Germany, I did Proctor and Gamble for Germany, and they wanted me to do p and g for all of all of Europe based in Paris, which, whatever reason I chose to come back to the States and, I had a friend who was working in Providence, Rhode Island, and he hired me and I became not a man man, A Providence, Rhode Island version of that. And then I started my own company and I sold my company in 1999. And it was like, now what?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

was 50 now what am I gonna do? And back in the early eighties, I had invented something I an hypno vision video. Which was the world's first subliminal hypnotic video program series

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Alright, hold on. Let's go a little slow there. The name of

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

with

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

hypno

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

vision video, and it was literally the first hypnotic subliminal video. They always accused us as edge guys of doing subliminals. We never did.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Truthfully, no one, nobody ever suggested or thought of it. But, you know, I created this hyp hypnotic video, a weight loss dress smoking. And I got an NBC and a BC national news. I got into every bookstore in the country

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That's so

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

it was very exciting, and I quit my job. My wife Maria, was a stay at home mom. I, I had two kids, mortgage

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yep.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and and I failed. Financially.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh no.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Well, I didn't know how it was possible how can be a national television and not get rich. Well, the answer is you can people went out of business. I didn't get paid and I didn't know what I didn't know.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

no, no,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

And I started a company here and I did industrial advertising, and that's what really got the training in and taking complex things to explain them.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes, yes.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

because I, I did training programs product knowledge training, and you know, sometimes very complicated technical subjects to condense down. So a salesperson, for example, I did a program early in the eighties when neural network artificial intelligence, and I knew nothing about it. I worked with Nobel Laureate, Leon Cooper, and I had to train sales guys who were gonna sell software. But it was about and I think that has served me very, very well. In my head it's very complicated up here. I'm sure yours is very complicated as well, but to be able to bridge that and make it simple was my training.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Well, I found that a complicated situation is. Still complicated. No matter how you want to try to describe it you have to try to break it into parts or you have to somehow get away, find a means to break it down so that when you're talking about it, that people you're talking to understand what you're talking about. And, and that is a huge, huge skill to have. And you were successful at it,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

So, I think so.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Hmm.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

you know, there are people that, i, I'm sure Jim and I respect who, who are much, much, much more advanced than I am. And a lot of people have trouble relating to them

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

they can talk with certainty about

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

the astral plane, the, the bardo. And, I recognize a lot of people aren't that comfortable with it. So I'm, my book is an introduction to that. Mm-hmm.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That's great. And I really enjoyed your

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I'm glad to hear that. Thank you.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

and I really enjoyed it. I know that, Carol Louie wrote a great book and she told, and she talked about, well, she's written several, but one, one of the ones that she and I talked about was that she had made sure to do the explanations like you're talking about. That people could understand

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Her cosmology that, that,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

yes. The cosmology that was really, really very, very clear. Now, at some point in time, John I think you were interested in hypnotism for some

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

yes.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Is

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

right?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

First get started in, in being interested in it?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

as a madman, it was. Incredibly competitive and every single day you have to have, you have to have ideas, and you have to sell the ideas. And a friend of mine went to a hypnotist for creativity and he got great results. So I went to the guy and I got great results. I could program myself to have idea, I could go to lunch, have lunch, come back, and there'll be three campaign ideas waiting to come out. So I took a, a training course at that time I became a hypnotist.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

And but I did it as a hobby. So I had been in Hypno vision video when I took that and, and made it into a product, but then I went back into advertising. But I was always interested in the mind. What is it to be human? You know, what is all of, I never understood this stuff. You know, frankly, I never quite bought my culture. I was an inquirer. You know,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

So psychology was natural. A lot of people who became psych majors and those are listening right now. A lot of us wanna figure ourselves out and we wanna, you know,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

we got, we got some trauma. We wanna, and I was no different.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Start right at home here and get that figured out. Not so easy. And I know that in the hypnotism field that you have. Developed tremendous credibility there in hypnotism. And you've been a trainer for the national Guild of

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I think, I think

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

been a

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

about 42, 43 hypnotists in my state. And you know that that was a great pleasure of people that wanna make a difference in other people's lives.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes, And it must be a, great feeling to get feedback down the road that Yeah, just like you had with the coming up with a good creativity that other people could have that same result as well.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah, it is a wonderful profession.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah. Yeah. And then, we switch over to you not being the hypnotist, but you being the, the person that is working with the hypnotist in doing regressions. There are different types of regressions and I think that you. At some point in time did quite a few past life regressions. Could you talk about what is that? What is a

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Well gen, okay. Generally you can do regression to go back to childhood. You know, I would not do this without a licensed psychotherapist knowing what was going on. But

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

somebody back in their life and they relive something and people typically won't need to believe trauma. You know, so you take them back and suddenly they find themselves feeling as if they're seven years old and

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

talk like that. If you have them write something, their handwriting looks primitive. You look like a kid's. And past life exploration as you go past through their birth, into. First, I got started out of pure curiosity.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay. Right

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

A friend of mine his wife was doing this work and I went to her just outta curiosity, I had no interest in past life exploration. I was more into things like zen and past life. And so I went to this woman and suddenly I found myself in one of the lines of my book private Riley, and people respond to this stuff differently. So some people it's like they're, they're vague senses or they're observing. For me, it's like I'm there and I introduced myself to this woman and I, I felt my mouth twerked. I started to say Corporal O'Reilly, but it was private Rod and he was soldier Revolutionary War, first continental legumes, and he was a pretentious little man. He had a soak shirt. Like the officer, some of the officers, and he wanted to be a big man so I went through that life. And one of the reasons people do this is to get, well, like, like my card that I started with. I mean, we, I picked an Oracle card to get more insights into their personality character. And so I got in touch with my levels of retension by, by being private Riley. My sense is that in all of our lives, we have missions. We have assignments, and if you don't properly complete your assignment, you get another, another whack at it. So bringing into this life that to work through. And, and it's a weird thing anybody who is pretentious typically feels they really not as valuable as they wanna present themselves. So I got in touch with that through and I was cooked.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Let me stop you there. Was this in New York that

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

No, this was Rhode Island. This was Rhode Island.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

okay. Rhode

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay. I know that when I had my first past life regression, I certainly I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what was gonna happen. And for me, I wanted to, if I'm gonna be working on a podcast that has to do with living. know, go living, going

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

You were investigator.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I didn't wanna be doing it from a, some, well, that guy says it and that guy says it. I wanted to have the experience of, Hey, have I lived before? I wanna see it. And so I, I had my regression and, and found myself. In fear for my life because there were people that were coming to my home and they weren't bad men. They weren't soldiers or whatever, but it was a time of shortage, and they needed what I had for their families. So even in the midst of this for my first regression, I was able to say, Hey, you know, I'm not glad that you. Yeah, that you came in and, and my regressionist indicated that she, that she thought that perhaps I had been killed at that time. But, you know the deal was, is I had a knowing, I knew this is what was happening. For you, that must have been something, I mean, you never would've imagined. That your first regression would go into the Revolutionary War? Or, or maybe you

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I, I, I,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

maybe you were

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

a real

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

no, not at all. Not at all.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Isn't that

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Reverse interviewing, what'd you get outta that experience? Did it impact or relate to your current life? You know, the experience of the guys coming into your house.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

What did I

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

of

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Could you make a connection between

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

who you're now?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

was, what I got was that you have to look out for other people as well as your own family. My own family was happy and well fed and well taken

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

but but I hadn't done anything and I was in my regression, I was a well thought of person as a hard worker guy, had everything kind of under control, but. I obviously wasn't very good with helping other people, and then they needed to come and take it instead of me offering it or giving it or

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

How, how,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

so that,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

how long ago was that, Jim?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

How long ago was the regression?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

That, that you did it.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I guess pretty close to the beginning of when I started with Carol Louie,'cause she was the one I did the regression with, and that was, I think three years ago.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I, I find these things are subtle in all the work that I've done. My life didn't dramatically change overnight.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

That's your case situation,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Same thing. Same thing.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

but yet you've got an you grow a little bit every time you do one of these, I think.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

And so, you had that re regression with that lady there in Rhode

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

and like you said, you were hooked,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I really was,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and I wanted not, not for my practice, you know, I I, I, over the years, you know, I, I practicing full-time from 2000 onward. And

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Full-time as a, as a

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

interest, and I was doing smoking, weight stress, sports enhancement, helping golfers pre-surgery. I worked in oncology, so I presented myself as being a middle of the road kind of rational guy.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

But over the years I had maybe 15, maybe even 20 requests from clients and I took clients back. For different reasons. Sometimes they were just curious, sometimes they had issues. And everybody that I took back had a, had a profound experience.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

so,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh, yes.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

And I got to be old in this life, I have to say, and not to be more, but, you know, I'm 76 years old. There aren't too many more turns around the track, so I, I stopped caring about the business aspect. I would be protest test and I went public with my book, which I got right here, my ies.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah, Us Sure. If you would.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

And in a way I wouldn't have done what I was trying to make a living'cause I got medical referrals. And

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

so, you know, and that's my, that's my story basically. I do believe that everything happens according to plan.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I am, I'm excited about life. I'm looking forward to more adventures, but in a different way. And I think you're probably some similar, having retired from a,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh, yes. Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

a Walker

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

No. know what's gonna come down the pike, but, I'm looking forward to every day, you

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

when we were kids. When we were kids, you thought of 65 as you're on the porch

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

in the rocker, and it's just not like that.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Well, I do know that when when my grandfather retired, he, didn't live that much longer, typically past 65. So they just kind of, my grandfather just kind of hung around, you know, enjoying not working and gardening and stuff and just like. And then he ended up living another 30 years till, till he is 95. You know? So

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

dad. My dad was the same.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

yeah, he just didn't know what to do. So but now we have a little bit different approach on it. I wanna go into, to some of the other lifetimes that you, experienced, and one that I thought was really interesting and one that you indicated that you identified with was the shaman.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

My sha.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Could you tell a little bit about that?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

You know, people do past life investigations for different reasons. One reason is pure curiosity. Another reason is they wanna solve a problem. Sometimes people wanna know, was I with this person? Did I know this person before? But people also go through it as part of their spiritual path. And I found myself as this beautiful, beautiful African shaman in a time before Christianity had entered, you know, depths to Africa. And what was beautiful about I, I did everything right in that life. Everything I had the right paint, right feathers, the right rituals, and I didn't know if any of it was real.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

father had taught me how to do this. His father had been a shaman

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I had this incredible experience. When you do past life work, you go through a couple of different scenes in that life,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

of the scene was, I'm working with the chief of the village and he's sick and I'm doing everything. Full stops the right, rattles the chance, and I have no idea if any of this is real. And he gets well, and I am as amazed as anybody. Oh, look, A because there was some risk there, but also

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

was just amazed and I had no idea how it happened. But that is the life I, I think I bring most into this life.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Inquirer, searcher with my lives, and I've, I've told you this you know, before we started, I don't really know and couldn't square that any of these are real, or in my subconscious manufacturing. In Richmond, they had, university of Virginia's division of perceptual studies

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

yes,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Ian Stevenson and Ian Stevenson and his followers don't pay much attention to people like me or you who have been told

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

right.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

because you can be corrupted. Your imagination can intervene. So

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah. They, they stick with

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

what are facts?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

verifiable

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

facts, which by the way to me absolutely prove that reincarnation is the way the universe works. You agree?

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah. Oh,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I dunno how you can read this book,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

their former lives and

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

three, 3000 or so

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

of

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

verified cases to me to be skeptical about that. It means you haven't read the work.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Although he calls it suggestive of reincarnation'cause he's an academic. But anyway, so nonetheless though, I feel that my lives were real. I wouldn't swear to it,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

law, but I, I feel it real. And the shaman is the one that you know, that I love thinking about. And I think you can bring their energies into this life as well.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Okay. Okay. And I wanna talk about that a little bit later on towards the end of our day today. And, and another, another really interesting one was a Christian scholar in Monk in 15th century Cologne, Germany, brother Thomas. What's up with that one?

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Well that's interesting for your listeners year.'cause that's typically why clients come to me. I had an emotional issue. I got a a bad Yelp review. Somebody I had never worked with and I went a little nuts. I obsessed about and I talked to friends about it, tried to talk myself out of it. Couldn't work. So one of the, my trainers was a fellow. I mentioned David Quigley in Santa Rosa, California, and I had done his, his past life training, but so I called him and we did a past life regression and I find myself as this monk in the 15th century in Germany. And I loved my life. I, I was academic. God and I were on first name basis. You know,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Kind of like the shaman life too. You know, you, everything was going great.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

it was like the shaman with a difference. The shaman was open-minded in questioning. Brother Thomas believed. He was a firm believer, teacher of Canada law and, and theology. And I taught in this monastery and I had these students. And so I suddenly, I'm brother Thomas and I and I, I go there. I felt the coarseness of this cloak. I felt the unevenness of the stairs and the monastery going down to my classroom. And one day I get this student doesn't wanna be there and it, he disrespects me. It turns out he is the nephew of the bishop, local Bishop, and in those days, nephew meant he's the illegitimate son.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Even more so than your brother's son or

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Oh, yeah. So, so I,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I complained, I complained to the Abbott and the Abbott, I was naive and, and I believed it all. Now the shaman. Didn't believe anything, but the Thomas believed everything. And so I thought my Abbott would back me up. He was political. He told the bishop, the bishop calls me on the carpet. I lose my job

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh wow.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and, and I hang myself. I was in despair. I, I experienced this horrible feeling of everything I believed in was gone and I was working in the kitchen. And that, that nobleman illegitimate would bring his friends down to laugh at me.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Oh, oh, that's

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

It was hard. So I go out and I hang myself. And you, you mentioned that I, I, Carol May maybe thought you died in that a lot of people, a lot of past lives that are recalled, seem to be violent deaths.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

yes,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

know, they seem to be the one that, that, need demand to be experienced. So anyway, so I came back in, into, after the session and I still wasn't happy about my bad Yelp review, but in this case, the change was dramatic. The upset was gone. I had processed it out four and a half centuries after the fact.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That is wonderful. So it really was therapeutic for you. You experienced that yourself, the benefit

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

that's available to people. One of the things I wish is that psychotherapists would refer to us

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yes.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

when you're stuck. I've had a number of clients who've been in therapy their whole lives, more or less,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and, and they're either plateaued or they've gotten nowhere. And one session I've had a number of clients like that, and suddenly the problem's gone because they had brought a past life problem into this life,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right, The woman afraid of, water sends a picture the next week of her driving the boat. You know, that

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

that kind of thing.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

It's just, wow. It's, it's, yeah. Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

I would say it's not the first place to look. A lot of people this past life thing you can use as a way to avoid looking at your current life. I mean, most of the problems we have are at, at least you can bring, you can get relief from going back to what happened when you were, you know, zero to seven. But in some cases you can't hit a wall.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Right, right. It's beyond the current

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

and very hard to, without going into the regression, you can't conceive of it. I mean, I, how could I know that I was in a place of famine or whatever that, that I, and I,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

and you experienced the emotions of it.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

I

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

You felt fear.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

so strongly that, I mean, I've, had fear before, like you're on a rollercoaster and you're like, oh boy, what's gonna happen? But this was a whole different thing. I felt it poor and that really cemented the idea that, yeah, that to me this is a, this was a real step back into a previous

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

It. I know what you mean. It feel, it feels, I, I imagine, I don't know, do you believe Absolutely. This was real.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Well see. I have a different slant on it than you. I do believe that it was real. And I noted that in your book, that you didn't go that step,

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Yeah.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

but you, you, you're not dismissing the

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

no. I, I, I live as if it's real. I, I'm, but, but I, I wouldn't swear to it.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

who said you're not an academic? John Konik.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

You know, the thing about it is that in some ways truthfully it doesn't matter. My clients have gotten tremendous relief outta past life exploration,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

Yeah. Yeah.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

It doesn't really, what do you do if you prove to yourself out of curiosity that past lives, are real? It's an interesting cocktail party conversation, but if you get relief on something that that's, you've been struggling with, that's,

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That's huge.

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

huge.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

That's huge. I'm gonna need to finish up for this particular episode, but I'm gonna ask you to stay and maybe we could do another episode. Would that be okay

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

It sounds like fun in this way.

james_2_08-21-2025_175056:

great. That's great. Well, John, thank you so much and we'll, we'll come back and, and do

squadcaster-4dbd_2_08-21-2025_175054:

Thank you for having me.