“What is Memory According to Theosophical Teaching
Enq: But don’t you think that these are too fine distinctions to be accepted by the majority of mortals?
Theo: Say rather by the majority of the materialists. And to them we say, behold: even in the short span of ordinary existence, memory is too weak to register all the events of a lifetime.
How frequently do even most important events lie dormant in our memory until awakened by some association of ideas, or aroused to function and activity by some other link. This is especially the case with people of advanced age, who are always found suffering from feebleness of recollection.
When, therefore, we remember that which we know about the physical and the spiritual principles in man, it is not the fact that our memory has failed to record our precedent life and lives that ought to surprise us, but the contrary, were it to happen.”
H. P. Blavatsky
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 