‘True. And it’s not that I’m not open-minded, I’m just saying many things have a rational explanation. OK, let’s say we do reincarnate, there has to be good reasons why people don’t remember who they were. Imagine you were some great artist or writer, someone famous now, in this century, but at the time you died in poverty. Imagine you were one of the Brontë sisters or Oscar Wilde or Vincent van Gogh? You come back in this life, then remember creating your past works, but no one will believe you. You see your books selling by the millions. You hear that your paintings go for billions. You watch as your books are made into TV adaptations or movies. How painful would that be? So, think about it, Marcia: if we do reincarnate, the fact that we don’t remember past lives is probably a self-protection mechanism to stop us all going mad or getting angry or bitter and dwelling on how it’s different this time round.’

Pete looked up from his laptop. ‘Good point, Bea.’ He sighed. ‘Not having much luck on here. I need more time.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘It can’t possibly go anywhere, so why waste your time? Like, what if Saranya Ji had told me that I used to be Jane Austen? And I believed her and went to her publishers saying, oi, you owe me years and years of royalties. I’d be locked up. No. I reckon focus on the present, this life, and make the best of it. Isn’t that what all the great teachers say anyway? Be here now and all that good stuff. If souls evolve, then surely this present life has to be the best one yet. Would you really want to go back and relive past struggles and lessons? Never mind a past life, think about this one. I wouldn’t want to go back to some parts of it, like I wouldn’t want to relive parts of my teenage years again or some of my relationships. Surely it’s best to move on.’

Marcia looked thoughtful. ‘OK, I understand that, but we can still learn from the past, can’t we? Especially if we’re repeating a mistake or a pattern like Saranya Ji said you were.’

‘No. I think it’s best to leave the past in the past and that if I am to learn anything then it’s that I have to move on, move forward, create a new pattern.’