Updates

I have a long-standing habit of "jumping the gun." I'll announce things prematurely; I'll start lining up people for projects when the project has only half-way materialized. I'll post web pages I haven't proofread thoroughly, and then I'll keep revising them. God knows what people who happen to read the initial published "draft" think...

I've had to keep a tight rein on this tendency once I gravitated into being a self-proclaimed "reincarnation educator." Since I've reached only a relative handful of people through this website, my documentary "In Another Life," and a scattering of radio interviews and articles, it's a bit grandiose of me to adopt that title. Still, that's what I''m trying to do, so it's at least descriptive of my efforts if not my results.

I like to scour the "quirkies" in the online British news source, Ananova.com, because occasionally they have articles that prove useful to illustrate certain points. I sometimes imagine one of my counterparts on the staff there, surreptitiously feeding articles with serious metaphysical implications into what is otherwise an entertainment news lineup. Sometimes--especially in this day of the internet--you may be collaborating with people who you will never know and never meet. Perhaps there are Guides of humanity who do know who everybody is and who coordinate their efforts from behind the scenes.

In any case, recently I ran across an article in the Ananova.com "quirkies" about a British woman who suddenly had an attack of some kind and became delusional. But this was no ordinary delusion. She began to believe she lived in Paris, and that she was French. What's more, she began speaking in French. Doctors gave it a rare diagnosis and determined that it was a brain dysfunction often brought on by stress.

Once my girlfriend had a rash on her neck. The doctor diagnosed it as "exzema" and prescribed cortisone cream. Just to be sure, I looked up the definition of "exzema" in the dictionary, and it read something like this one I've just now looked up: "an inflammatory condition of the skin attended with itching and the exudation of serous matter." In short, it was a descriptive term. He might as well have pronounced that she had a "skin rash." The only difference was that he prescribed a slightly stronger cream than she could have bought over the counter; and he charged her $80 or whatever it was. (Finally, she discovered on her own that she was allergic to her nail polish.)

The point is, I suspect that the diagnosis of the British woman who suddenly believed she was French is the same type of mumbo-jumbo. What brain condition that specifically makes people believe they are from another country, and speak in the language of that country, can be brought on by stress?

So, I assumed this was an instance of "xenoglossy" (another descriptive term which means, speaking in a language not native to one, that one has not learned by any normal means); specifically, that she was experiencing a sudden influx of past-life memory and past-life identity from a former life as a Frenchwoman. I immediately posted a link to the article on my "News and Announcements" page, and even created a limerick to go along with it, spoken by my new cyber-character, "Reverb". (To my credit, at least I did have the presence of mind to mention that it was not yet known whether the woman had only visited France or had lived in France.) Then, because Dr. Jim Tucker (successor to Dr. Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia) has asked me to pass on any possible xenoglossy cases, I sent the link to the article to him.

A few days later, Dr. Tucker e-mailed back with the link to another article about the same woman; but in this article, it states that the woman did, in fact, live in France. So all this case proves is that a person who already (presumably) spoke French, could develop the delusion that she was French and lived in France. It didn't prove anything about reincarnation or past-life memory.*

This is embarrassing--but, what does it really mean? Does it mean that all such proofs of reincarnation have, at the back of them, some simple ordinary explanation like this? Skeptics secretly harbor this conviction in the back of their minds; and when a case like this one turns out the way they expect, they generalize it to all cases. But this act of generalizing is not necessarily logical or warranted. It is not objective thinking. We do not know that the type of natural explanation that surfaced in this case, will be found in all cases.

In fact, it is not. Furthermore, and this is a very important point, if one does not fall under the sway of polarized thinking, one will find that it is a bit premature to dismiss past-life memory even in this example.

Logically, it is not possible for a brain disorder of any kind (no less one brought on by "stress") to create a specific type of delusion. I ran this conclusion by Dr. Tucker just to be sure, and he confirms this. There is no such thing as a brain condition which consistently causes its sufferers to speak a foreign language and identify themselves as having a different nationality--whether they have lived in the country or not. (It occurs to me that I don't know that the diagnosing doctors in this case are claiming that--perhaps they simply pronounced the diagnosis--Susac's syndrome--as the one that seemed the best fit, without claiming that Susac's sufferers always have this particular delusion.) It is also conceivable, I suppose, that it could be something like the "history" function that some computer operating systems have, taking you back to the condition of your computer on some previous date. I would have to research Susac's syndrome to see if all the other sufferers went back to their identity of previous years. I think one can push the computer-human analogy too far, and I would guess this would be pushing it too far.

Now, coming at this from my perspective as a reincarnationist, I know that it is almost impossible for a person to develop a strong interest in anything or anyone, unless there is past-life influence. Why do I say that? Well, let's quote Dr. Marge Rieder here, who has expressed it as well as anyone: "I feel that it's just part of our makeup....I think that everybody is born with "x"-number of past-life memories embedded in their psyche, and I think it's the basis for our personalities--for our intelligence quotient, for our sexual preferences, for everything that controls us."

In other words, if the woman in this case had not had a past-life connection with France, she could not have had sufficient karma to live there, and she could not have sustained a serious interest in the culture, no less develop the delusion that she was French.

So this case does not disprove past-life memory to the reincarnationist at all. What it does is to make it impossible to prove past-life memory to the skeptic. And here is where the reincarnationist is at a disadvantage--because in every case where there is a manifestation of past-life influence, there is very likely to be a manifestation of this same influence sometime in the person's present-life history. This is because it is really all the same one long life. It is called a "past life" only because of the change of bodies.

This is why Dr. Ian Stevenson tried to isolate abnormal cases of children, in which it could be shown that there was no present-life contact with the scenes of the past life. The reason that Dr. Stevenson's colleagues count only 250 or so "strong" cases among over ten times that number of total cases, is because they are trying to find "uncontaminated" cases that eliminate any possible natural explanations. NOT, as the skeptic might think, because the phenomenon itself is so tentative and tenuous.

So the main point I wanted to make is that I do my best to be logical and objective and intellectually rigorous. If, on occasion, I jump the gun, or indulge briefly in some kind of "magical thinking," or my logic is faulty in some other way, it does not automatically mean that the main thrust of my presentation is off.

It's a continuum. For example, we have the work of Dr. Walter Semkiw, who identifies past-life matches with historically prominent persons, and who believes he is the reincarnation of President John Adams. This is enough for many people to dismiss his work. He also believes that many of the founders of the United States have returned to work toward a new kind of revolution, a spiritual revolution--and that these people are grouped together and have returned in what is called in reincarnationist circles, a "soul group." And I will tell you that while I think his methods are imprecise and that many of his cases do not hold up to either a legal or a scientific standard of proof, I believe his basic premise is correct. In fact, I am beginning to suspect that the Romantic writers of the 1800's are a similar soul group, that they also are back working in a similar direction, and that I am at least peripherally connected with them. Look at what they were saying in the 1800's, and look at what I am doing now. I'm small potatoes in terms of my public influence; but I may not be so ineffective at working behind the scenes. I say that because the information is high-octane, and also because I freely share seed ideas with other people working toward the same goal, who may be more publicly prominent than myself.** And I have a feeling this was also my habit in the 1800's. But I won't go into that now, I've done so in other Updates and alluded to it in other parts of this website.

The point is, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. If you claim logical objectivity, then retain that objectivity through the entire evaluation process. If you discern a logical flaw, note it and continue to look for any degree of truth in the presentation.

This requires a new kind of thinking, one that admits of shades of grey rather than categorizing things as black or white. This, in turn, requires achieving a non-polarized state of consciousness; and this requires spiritual advancement. Spiritual advancement requires a pure mind and heart.

So one will find that worldliness and a lack of ability to perceive shades of truth in presentations about metaphysical matters go together hand-in-glove. Cynics tend to be worldly-minded, because they do not have the necessary spiritual advancement to stop thinking in polarized terms. Because their hearts are clouded, their intuition is disabled. Intuition makes it possible to see with unitive, holistic vision. It is a blending of the head and heart. If the head is operating in a state separate from or in discord with the heart, and if the heart is impure (clogged with worldly desires), then intuition will not function properly. This person will think in black and white terms, and in their heart will be negativity. Hence, there is a reason why you can't prove anything metaphysical to such people. They may be eminent scholars, they may have great academic acclaim, but they will be unable to see it even if you give them strong scientific evidence, and they will (aggressively) pronounce it as fooey. Others who are in a similar state will receive their pronouncement gladly and spread it to others. And so a society in a polarized state will not be receptive, until it is tired of the superficial matters of this world and seeks something deeper. And when does that happen? Almost always as a result of tragedy and disaster, on both personal and collective levels. (Polarized thinking is quite willing to provide opportunities for personal and collective tragedy, as a glimpse at the current world scene will quickly verify, and hence there is a kind of self-regulating function.)

So, I will continue to do my best to apply rigorous thinking to this business of reincarnation education. When I make a mistake, I'll admit it publicly. And I will make them from time to time. For awhile, I wasn't even 100% sure that all the cases I presented in "In Another Life" were genuine (though I am sure of it now). I had, after all, videotaped some four different hypnotic regression sessions, and in each of them, I felt the person was mostly imagining and probably wasn't really under hypnosis. When I was sent an audio tape of a woman supposedly speaking 100-year-old Punjabi dialect from India, bewailing her son going off to war, I arranged for some native Punjabi speakers to listen to the recording, and they reported back through my contact that it was "gibberish." It is possible they could have lied due to prejudice, but not likely. Probably it really was gibberish, and the woman was inventing the "language," sincerely imagining she was speaking a real Indian dialect.

But this is not the end of it. There are many cases not so easily explained away. One of the founders of modern psychology, who was very interested in paranormal studies, William James, said that it only requires one white crow to prove that all crows are not black. And I believe he was speaking directly to this issue when he said that, if I'm not mistaken (see, I have learned to qualify most statements if I don't really know for sure). There is a great treasure-house of white-crow-sightings, carefully documented to what I call a "legal standard" (i.e., beyond a reasonable doubt), and also to a scientific standard. So much so, that I'm convinced it's clearly a "done deal," as I continue to proclaim on this website. You will find that Australian attorney Victor Zammit is sounding the same note. The question is not whether reincarnation is real--the question is what is holding back its acceptance by Western society. Behind that question is, if a crass, materialistic Western society should finally accept reincarnation, would that be a good thing or a bad thing? What would be the practical benefits or curses resulting from such an acceptance?

I believe the acceptance of reincarnation is inevitable, and probably close at hand. So for me, the correct approach is a "one-two punch": prove reincarnation, and then immediately begin addressing the practical implications.

Meanwhile, on the surface of things, at least, my particular effort is a failure. I am ignored by the press and have been overwhelmingly rejected by the media. Hits on this website have dropped from 120 per day in its heyday, to a current 40 or so per day. I simply continue it because it's my hobby. (I can no-longer sell the documentary retail for $25 as I used to, in the U.S. and Canada, because of the distribution contract I signed with Films Media Group. But I will give you a little hint--if you are running Firefox and Windows 98SE as I am, with Windows Media Player 9, you may be able to watch the entire program in the streaming sample on their order page. Sorry the visual quality is substandard, I didn't create that streaming video and I can't get them to acknowledge the problem.) I get a kick out of this project whether anybody else enjoys it or not. I answer to no-one, and I put on here whatever I like and whatever I feel prompted by my intuition to put on it. And I continue to try to be 100% honest. My thought is that honesty, if it is pure enough, builds up its own power. If you maintain strict honesty long enough, cynicism cannot hold against it, because the power of honesty is greater than the power of cynicism and the power of worldliness combined. Truly honest work becomes a polished mirror which reflects the visitor back to him or herself. And at the end of my life, I want to know that I persevered, even if it had no effect at all.

*Something similar occurred a couple days after writing this Update. My girlfriend's son and his girlfriend showed me a photo they had taken with a digital camera of a live nativity scene, which had a large number of "orbs" in it ("orbs" being the round lights that show up in photographs, unseen by the naked eye, which ghost hunters have taken to be evidence of ghosts). Comparing them with photos of orbs on the web, I was about to believe that they may be real evidence, until my girlfriend sent me a link to a website showing how this phenomenon can be reproduced by shooting with a flash when dust is within four inches of the lens. So I think most if not all orbs may be created this way. Now, I would have to see "orbs" appear in photographs where a flash wasn't used, in order to take them very seriously. As I write this, I don't know if there are such photographs or not.

**Lest you think I'm totally blowing smoke here, I first filmed Jeffrey Keene in 1998 (in front of his past-life grave), when during his second venture onto the internet he found my website--which had recently been launched and was quite obscure--and called me about his case. Later, I e-mailed former IARRT president Linda Adler, who I had interviewed for "In Another Life," and asked if she knew of any strong "proof cases." She put me in contact with Capt. Robert Snow, who I wanted to interview for "In Another Life" but never could, because I couldn't get enough donations to fly out to Indianapolis (yes, I was really that poor), and because no-one who owned his past-life personality's paintings would write back once I mentioned reincarnation (and thus, I had no permission to show any of the paintings). However, I did record a telephone interview with him, and in Oct. 1999, South African magazine "Namaste" printed an article of mine in which I described Capt. Snow's case (this was their first issue--I was in good company because one of the other contributors was Dr. Raymond Moody). That article and the telephone interview went on my website, and another reincarnation website (the "Reincarnation FAQ") that ranks high in the search engines has picked up on the interview and links to it. In year 2,000, Actuality Productions e-mailed me asking for good cases, because they were producing a documentary for the Arts & Entertainment channel to be called "Beyond Death." I suggested they study my website; they did, and asked me for Jeff Keene's contact information, which I gave them in the interest of furthering Jeff's national exposure, despite the fact I was enabling them to "scoop" me. Jeff subsequently appeared in a number of programs. In 2005, the Sci-Fi Channel's "Proof Positive" featured both Capt. Snow and Jeff Keene in separate programs, and their cases were both chosen as being "proof positive." Both cases might well have gotten national exposure without my efforts; but this is a small example of how I try to promote reincarnation education from behind the scenes.

Music opening this page: "High Landrons," Eric Johnson (Ah Via Musicom album)
All I can say is, if you have a chance to see Eric in concert, don't pass it up...
sell the car and hitch to the concert if you have to.