Personal History

A very interesting concept that has come into the show Lost is leaving behind what Carlos Castaneda calls, Personal History. According to Mr. Castaneda, the only way to elevate to the next level of consciousness for humans is to leave behind their Personal History. He wrote that leaving one's history is the hardest part when one wants to be a true shaman and magician. But, without losing your Personal History one cannot proceed to the next level. In the various acts in Lost we see the main characters slowly lose their personal history as they realize they have been given a tabula rasa, or clean slate, by the island.
In the Dark Tower Series, Eddie Dean, Susannah/Detta/Odetta Walker, and Jake Chambers all get the same clean slate to work with in Midworld. Roland's world doesn't care what these people did in their previous life and gives them the opportunity to start again.
The same can be said of the Fellowship of the Ring. They start off as a group of strangers and become friends along the way. They endure the trials of fire and suffer losses in the process. But they end up not as they first began. Each one of the group becomes changed.
Another interesting concept is that in each tale there is at least one person who knows how it will all end. For the Lord of the Rings it is both Elrond and Gandalf, though this is always a matter of debate, they know good will prevail over evil. In The Dark Tower, Roland alone knows how things will work out despite not ever being fully aware that he has gone through a loop several times. In the Matrix Trilogy, Agent Smith, though there are small differences within this loop of the story as are in The Dark Tower. In the Star Wars Saga it is Yoda who forsees the balance brought back to the force. In the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it is Aslan. This is what makes for good story telling, someone who either knows incontrivertably or at least prophesying the outcome.