"Past Lives, Present Tense: Past-Life Memory in Contemporary Cambodia"

Erik Davis, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, Macalester College

Past-life memory in Cambodia is common. In the dominantly Buddhist culture, past-life memory is usually interpreted in terms of the Buddhist cycle of saṃsāra, where past-life memory is often a prerequsite for advanced stages of spiritual accomplishment. However, in practice, past-life memory is often deeply disturbing to the rememberer, their family and their community. This presentation discusses three examples of contemporary past-life memory out of Erik's fieldwork in Cambodia, highlighting the practices that surround such memory and uses to which such memories are put. Examples include a young girl who remembers being her own uncle, a spiritual leader who claims to be the most important Buddhist leader of the Cambodian twentieth century, and another woman who put two families together in her youth, and has maintained their connections into her eighties.