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there are many conceptions of the past present in philosophic enterprises throughout history. plato had the conception that our souls have been around forever, adn as such, have learned all there is to know. as such, there is no such thing as learning; only remembering.
Nietzsche had the conception of reincarnation, or at the very least, the reliving of our entire life's events in sequence (based on his idea of "the dice game of existence").
buddhism holds that we are caught in the cycle of birth and rebirth until such a time as we reach enlightenment. this itself has its roots in hinduism's idea about the spheres of existence. we pass from this sphere of existence into one of the heavens and are reborn until we are truly and fully enlightened, upon which we are removed from the cycle and go to another place entirely. unless, of course you become one of the few who have reached enlightenment and choose to put off nirvana in order to help your brothers along the path (more a buddhist idea than hindu, but still present).
hell, even Dante wrote of the possibility of penitence for those in hell, and the possibility of escape from thier tortures and the ascension to heaven, which would imply a past existence not only in the physical world, but also the spiritual.
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