Bob Rich is the first one to discuss past lives and rebirth in a concrete manner.

In season 1, we discussed living a peaceful life and creating the conditions for a peaceful death with the goal of having a good rebirth.

In that way we acknowledged rebirth. Not all Buddhists believe in rebirth.

But for some of us, it is an important part of the teachings and rebirth is part of the system of karma and hopeful eventual nirvana.

Bob identifies as a secular Buddhist, but the story he shares with us in the most recent episode of the podcast is based on his realization that being a physicist was not going to allow him to help humanity in a way that was the most meaningful to him.

And undergoing hypnosis and learning about five of his past lives led him to understand that he had what he calls a karmic requirement to help heal humanity.

The primary story of change he shares with us is about this change from being a physicist - what he always thought he would be - to the path of healing others through therapy.

Bob tells a fictionalized version of his life in his book Ascending Spiral: Humanity's Last Chance. We are fortunate that he is here now and very much real. And very much dedicated to helping humanity, he feels that we are very much on the edge - that we have so much self-destructive behavior. 

And after five lives and busy current life, Bob is here to act as a professional grandfather,

He wants us to have a future worth surviving and to have a world that's not ruled by greed and hate and seen that one rule by empathy, compassion, and decency.