Deja Vu is a very strange experience that most people have at least once in their lifetime. What is the meaning of deja vu? Does it even have a meaning? Does deja vu mean your on the right path?
It is in our nature as human beings to want meaning and understanding deja vu is no different. While it is a strange and fleeting experience it can be very benevolent.
From a scientific point of view, most research points to deja vu as phenomena that relates to short term and long term memory connections.
It also points to mismatches in memory and associations and how the mind can conjure up “memories”.
From a spiritual and metaphysical point of view there is much more significance placed on the experience of deja vu.
The ideas of past lives and reincarnation is an uncomfortable topic for many people – especially those who grew up with a set religious belief about life after death. Yet, in most religions the ideas of past lives are common.
Deja vu is a subject that comes up frequently in past life regressions and the work of Dr.Brian Weiss who was an acclaimed Yale Psychiatrist developed past life regression therapy which is now a more mainstream and recognized form of therapy.
The idea that we had lived past lives and that the soul has a memory that can be accessed is a foreign idea to most people.
Before we’re born, we arrange destiny points in our lives. Deja-vu feelings may represent the remembering of our plan as it becomes reality.
– Dr. Brian Weiss
Deja vu is one very common and open very poignant example of how the memories of past lives can be present in this life and even act as “breadcrumbs” to help guide us in this life (according to the work of Dr. Michael Newton).
So, does deja vu mean your on the right path in this life? It could but there are many theories and ideas that point to various meanings of deja vu.
What Is Deja Vu And “Where” Does It Come From?
Deja vu is the sensation that you’ve experienced something before even though you “know” you haven’t. You try horse riding for the first time and as you get on the horse it feels strangely familiar – like you’ve done this before.
Deja vu feels like a vivid memory but it puzzles us because consciously we know that it can’t be a memory, right?
Is deja vu a function of your mind and memory playing tricks on you or is there a deeper more spiritual connection?
There are two ways to look at deja vu to help us understand how it relates to our lives and what it actually means.
1. The Scientific Meaning of Deja Vu
Scientists have been attempting to understand and study deja vu for decades. It is a very difficult idea to study though because deja vu is such a fleeting phenomena.
It occurs in a fraction of a second and usually comes up without warning or notice.
The most popular scientific theory about deja vu is what is called split perception. According to this theory, your mind takes in a lot of unconscious information and stores it as a memory.
You may have seen someone mount a horse and ride it without your conscious awareness. Your mind stores this “experience” and when you eventually mount the horse yourself you experience deja vu – as if you had the experience yourself before.
You may have “experienced” places on Television and then have a deja vu experience when you actually visit these places. The mind is certainly capable of filling in the details through your imagination.
While split perception certainly does offer an explanation it does not account for the vividness of a deja vu experience.
We have many experiences of memory recollection but they are almost never as vivid or as benevolent as a deja vu.
Another popular theory about deja vu revolves around the idea of minor brain circuit malfunctions. These theories revolve around the brain’s process of storing short term and long term memories.
When the part of your brain that tracks present events is active at the same time the part of your brain that creates memories, a sort of mix-up happens and you experience it as deja vu. The brain confuses a current event as a memory.
A variation of this theory is where the brain bypasses the short term memory and places an experience directly into long term memory.
All these theories of deja vu are very valid and make sense from a scientific point of view. They all however rely on an anomaly in normal brain activity.
It also does not offer us any clues as to whether deja vu means you are on the right path or not. It simply provides us with some contrast for the spiritual definition which highlights a much more direct link between deja vu and your life path.
2. The Spiritual Meaning of Deja Vu
In Hinduism and Buddhism, the idea of past lives is nothing new. Only in recent years and modern spirituality has it become more acceptable in the western world.
You are a soul and your body is your vehicle that you live in in this lifetime. Your soul is that part of you that never changes and never dies.
Your soul most likely had many lives before this one and will most likely have many lives after this one.
This concept contradicts modern Judea Christian doctrines because it makes their existence absolute. They want to keep you imprisoned by the ideas of eternal life and eternal death.
Some of the most fascinating insights into past lives and deja vu comes from leading edge thinkers like Dr. Brain Weiss who developed past life regression theory.
As a highly skilled hypnotherapist, he discovered past life regression by accident when one of his patients transcended to a past life and was able to account for it in great detail.
Your soul has a memory of all your past lives but this memory is concealed in this life. Deja vu is simply an experience of a memory from a past life.
Dr. Brain Weiss tells the story of one of his patients who was a perfectly happy and healthy woman who all of a sudden developed severe anxiety while on her honeymoon in Greece.
When she returned home the anxiety stopped completely. It turns out that she was killed in ancient Greece in a previous lifetime.
Spiritually, deja vu relates to past memories from past lives and it explains both the vividness and the benevolence of these experiences. It can often be very overwhelming and emotional as well.
The ideas of past lives and deja vu becomes even more interesting when we look at the work of Dr. Michael Newton. In a similar vein to Dr. Weiss his regressions focus not so much on past lives but rather on the experience of the soul between lives.
According to his work, your soul “knows” that it will go through this life without the memory of its life beyond this one.
Your soul lays out “bread crumbs” along your future path for you to recognize and follow. Deja vu is when you encounter these bread crumbs and they act as a sign that you are on the right path.
The “Right” And The “Wrong” Path
Do you really have free will or is your life predetermined at some level? This is one of the most perplexing questions we can ask ourselves and it is the very dichotomy of life.
Most people want to know what is “right or wrong” for them along their life path. This is mostly a quest in seeking assurances for the decisions we make.
My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.
– William James
The truth is that right and wrong does not exist. Right and wrong are value judgments that we usually impose on events in hindsight.
Human beings always act in our self interest. You will never knowingly and deliberately make a bad decision. You always make the best decisions with what you know.
Understanding this important idea can help free you from judging yourself and feeling guilty, disappointed or feeling regret. These are some of the most useless emotions you can fill your mind with.
Life is a journey that have a lot different path, but any path u choose use it as your destiny.
– Ryan Leonard
While the ideas from Dr. Weiss and Dr. Newton certainly points to deja vu meaning your on the right path, it does not mean you have to wait for some deja vu to decide your path.
Ultimately you decide your path. Deja vu can be a wise guide and a helpful nudge from the universe but it is in no way the only way to be guided along your life path.
Deja Vu: Divine Guidance or Superstition?
Most people who are opposed to spiritual ideas will brush off the idea of deja vu as superstition. The analytical mind will always intervene and try and find more practical explanations.
Is deja vu spiritual guidance or is it just superstition? If you are desperate for answers and for guidance you could see “signs” everywhere. If you are a hard core sceptic you will not see a sign even if it falls on your head.
The only way to judge it is through feeling and your intuition. Intuition is the higher faculty of your mind which bypasses logic and reason.
Brain loves familiarity. It feels safe and comfortable. Deja vu usually triggers this center in the brain which is why the familiarity of deja vu is so potent and benevolent.
If deja vu speaks to you through intuition then it is a sign. If it speaks to you through logic and reason then it is probably a superstition.
Asking for divine guidance, allowing yourself to be guided and being in touch with your higher self are essential parts of living a more spiritual life.
When you are living from your higher self you will not even doubt the guidance offered to you by deja vu.
Does Deja Vu Mean Your On The Right Path – Conclusion
Is deja vu a function of your mind or a function of your spirit? The scientific theory is that it is simply a mismatch between memories and experiences.
Spiritually, deja vu is a recollection of a memory or experience from a past life. It can also be a “marker” that allows us to follow our destiny from the point of view of the soul being on a journey in this human experience called life.
Deja Vu confirms a faithful path worth taking.
– T. F. Hodge
Deja vu are fleeting experiences and when they do happen, take note! I believe that they do offer guidance and the scientific explanations of memory mismatches simply do not account for the powerful experience that deja vu offers.
Whether you are on the “right” path of the “wrong” is irrelevant. You are on the path you are on and everything about it is part of your journey.
Recognizing these destiny points that deja vu offers can be nice and it can be reassuring. Don’t sit and wait for it though.
Notice it when it happens. Appreciate it and contemplate its meaning. Your soul loves you and wants you to experience the life you set out when you came into this life.
You can never truly take the wrong path. There will always be course corrections coming on your life path – always steering you towards your destiny.