I think you will need to know few basic concepts of reincarnation.
1) Soul never dies, only the body does.
2) Body is just a carrier of soul.
Every human takes birth, grows up or may not and die. The soul completes one life cycle and then depending on the deeds in that life (karma) enters another body in the next cycle. Which body to enter? This is decided by the god or HIS messengers. Before entering into new cycle, the memory is erased? No, it is NOT erased. All your past life memories are stored in 'sub conscious' mind. Every one knows that we have both conscious and sub-conscious minds, but there is no connection between them, as a result of which, we don't remember anything. Through yoga and meditation (for decades) you can get this connectivity when walking the path of spiritualism.
Coming to traveling from one body to other, when alive, the memory is not erased. You still have your conscious memory with you for this life cycle. Of course it is hacking but by the time you attain that knowledge level, you will also have the wisdom which will tell you which is right (that you can do) and which is wrong (that you shouldn't be doing).
You can see that both are different concepts altogether though the process looks similar.
edit on 27-7-2011 by ramtheprince because: (no reason given)

