J. Allan Danelek - The Case for Reincarnation: Unraveling the Mystery of the Soul

About the Author

A native of Minnesota but a resident of Colorado since 1969, J. Allan Daneleks life has been a journey that has taken him down many different paths. Besides writing, his hobbies include art, political and military history, religion and spirituality, numismatics (coin collecting), paleontology, astronomy (and science in general), and Fortean subjects such as Bigfoot, UFOs, and things that go bump in the night. His personal philosophy is that life is about learning and growing, both intellectually and spiritually, and that is the perspective with which he approaches each project he undertakes. Jeff lives near Denver with his wife, Carol, and their two sons.

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

The Case for Reincarnation: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Soul 2010 by J. Allan Danelek.

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First e-book edition 2010

E-book ISBN: 9780738726212

Cover art Grant Faint/Photographers Choice/PunchStock

Cover design by Ellen Dahl

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Some passages in this book originally appeared in, or are adapted from, Mystery of Reincarnation: The Evidence & Analysis of Rebirth , also by J. Allan Danelek, and published in 2005 by Llewellyn Publications.

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Acknowledgments

It is said that nothing of importance is ever accomplished without the help of friends, and that is as true of writing a book as it is of shoveling a sidewalk. As such, I would be remiss not to acknowledge those who have been in the loop in putting this manuscript together, both for their willingness to read through the earliest draftswhen a work is still encased within its primordial gooand for their willingness to make helpful suggestions. Id especially like to thank Jim Schwartz for his invaluable assistance in explaining the process of hypnotism and past-life regression to me, as well as for sharing his personal opinions and anecdotes about some of the theories articulated in this book with regard to how they play out in his own work as a hypnotherapist. A special note of appreciation also goes to my sister, Cheri, for permitting me the rare opportunity of witnessing a past-life regression firsthand, and for allowing me to be a part of both her past and her present. And, finally, my wife, Carol, deserves special thanks for holding down the fort while I spent many an hour laboring away at the library. She is a young soul who travels well, and she fills my life with love and laughter. Thanks to all.

Contents

The Quest for Immortality

The Evidence for Reincarnation

The Purpose of Reincarnation

Defining the Soul

Soul versus Personality

Echoes

A Tale of Two Worlds

The Roles of Time and Free Will in Reincarnation

The Role of Evil in Reincarnation

The Karmic Dance

Old Souls and Soul Mates

Between Incarnations

Choosing the Next Incarnation

Coming Into the Flesh

The End Game

T he reader may be aware that this is my second book on reincarnation and may be wondering why I need to revisit the issue. The answer is simple: my first book was largely a treatment of the evidence for and against the teachings I gleaned from my studies in the subject over the years, with a small section that described the mechanism of how it worked from a laypersons perspective. Since then Ive come to understand that most of my readers, already inclined to accept the belief beforehand, wanted to know more about how it all worksthe mechanics of the process, so to speak. This book, then, is essentially a greatly expanded version of the second half of that earlier book, designed to consider the intricacies of reincarnation in greater detail. It is a collection of ideas, theories, and thoughts that I have come to believe about the mechanics of reincarnationhow it works, what its trying to do, and what it all means.

Additionally, while much of this material is largely a rework of my first book, Ive since come to some fresh insights and understandings of the process that were absent from my earlier work. The reader will also notice the different tenor of this work compared to my earlier effort. In my previous work I attempted to present reincarnation in a balanced, objective manner. In this one, I make no such attempt at objectivity but am instead intent on demonstrating the superb rationalism that drives the entire processa process that is quite logical once one can get past the notion of postmortem survival and acquire the ability to view the universe from a fresh perspective. Thats not to say I may not play devils advocate from time to time or present multiple hypotheses that need to be carefully weighed against each other, but lets just say that I am no longer looking to persuade my readers that reincarnation is true as much as I am interested in getting them to understand how I understand it to operate. I am content to leave it to my readers to judge whether I have been successful in this effort.

Finally, my original title for this work was Soulquest , for in many ways thats exactly what reincarnation is to me: the journey, or quest, our soul takes on its path toward spiritual maturity or, as some would call it, enlightenment. It is the culmination of my own journey from cynical skeptic to believer, all designed to demonstrate how anyoneeven a former hard-core Christian fundamentalist like myselfwho opens themselves to spiritual truth can find that truth if they pursue it with integrity and persistence.