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| Book Published in March 2008 |
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PEER REVIEWS
of
THE SOUL GENOME
Psychologist Joe H. Slate, Ph.D.
"I've read your book — in fact I read it twice — and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm greatly impressed with your work and depth of insight regarding this complex topic. You've make a profound contribution to our understanding of reincarnation and the nature of the "soul" — an extremely impressive contribution to the existing body of knowledge."
Psychologist Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.
“The topic of reincarnation is not fashionable in Western science, even though this belief -- in one form or another -- is held by the majority of the world's population. Paul Von Ward's provocative book is an attempt to bring this topic into scientific discourse by proposing a mechanism that embodies a person's experiences in a manner that transcends space and time, and suggests experiments that could put it to the test.
Some readers will be infuriated by Von Ward's hypothesis, others will find the case histories intriguing, and still others will find that this book resolves long-standing puzzles about their own lives. The Soul Genome will be applauded and it will be reviled, but -- in the meantime -- it will never be found boring.”
Philosopher-psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D.
“For decades, case studies of the reincarnation type have appeared both in the scientific and the popular literature. Now, finally, Paul Von Ward asks the important question: What are the theoretical implications for science if we take these cases seriously?
The tentative answers that he provides are supported by an impressive array of detail. This book makes an important contribution toward furthering the embryonic field of reincarnation research.”
Futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard
“Paul Von Ward offers us a profound hypothesis to understand reincarnation, based on a new definition of ‘soul’. As in all his works, he combines scientific method with brilliant intuition to open our minds to our own potential as the holders of the code of life-ever-evolving. This book is a vital contribution to this great quest to understand conscious evolution.”
Neurosurgeon-educator Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.
“I am humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to read your book. It has more depth of theory and research than other books on reincarnation, and offers an integral, holistic approach. It is a great addition to the methodology for scientific exploration of the phenomenon.”
Scientist-philosopher Brian O’Leary, Ph.D.
“The Soul's Genome is by far the most coherent, scientifically grounded yet mind-expanding book on our possible past lives to date. Paul Von Ward skillfully broadens the seminal work of the late Prof. Ian Stevenson in providing the best scientific evidence for reincarnation. He uses numerous case studies in which an alleged former life could be verified from historical data, while also considering alternative hypotheses that he convincingly argues do not satisfy the data nearly as well.
This highly readable and engaging book then explores the implications of the existence of a soul that survives many embodiments. Von Ward offers methods of tapping into our own possible former lives and what we could learn from them. Just as importantly, he is significantly expanding the data base of credible cases by creating an interactive website for his readers.
I stongly recommend this wonderful synthesis of science, philosophy, and common sense. This extraordinary book provides each of us hope that we can transcend the mundane and profane belief of our seeming mortality and that our essences really do survive physical death. The moral lessons we can learn from the likelihood of the law of karma, or cause and effect, carried over from prior lives, are profound. They suggest that living a life of integrity and fairness to others will create more joy and freedom in our own futures.”
Reincarnation foundation director David McAlpine
“An enjoyable, fascinating and very impressive book. Inspires the reader with new revelations and an ability to pull together all aspects of this compelling subject and raises awareness of the reality that life is eternal and that we as spiritual beings are truly immortal.”
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ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE EVIDENCE
A number of people reviewing the psychoplasm/soul genome approach that is the basis for the Reincarnation Experiment have suggested alternative explanations for various types of evidence. In response, we try to develop evaluation methods that differentiate plausible forms of evidence and/or their explanations from the less credible. One analysis that addresses some of these issues was written by reincarnation researcher Thomas Wolke.
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by
Tom Nielsen, EdD
Entering
a growing catalog of scholarly research and reports on reincarnation is
a new and different book by Paul Von Ward, author of Our Solarian Legacy and Gods, Genes and Consciousness. Whereas psychiatrists Ian Stevenson (Children Who Remember Previous Lives) and Jim Tucker (Life Before Life)
have focused on investigating, analyzing and reporting reincarnation
phenomena from several thousand cases involving, primarily, young
children, Von Ward has chosen to focus on developing and exploring a
theoretical model, genomic constructs, and new technology (instruments
and methods) for fathoming the phenomena of reincarnation as evidenced
in a select number of adult lives, past and present.
Von Ward
surveys a variety of unexplained phenomena and developments in frontier
science in order to establish the matrix upon which he grows his ideas
and thinking. He probes such phenomena as prodigies, precocity,
anomalous (unsourced) knowledge, and unbidded images in dreams,
visions, déjà vu, ‘doppelgangers’ (look-alikes), and mimiced life
events. He examines emerging theory and research in such fields as
natural philosophy, physics, biology, genetics, psychiatry, psychology,
biocommunications, and consciousness (e.g., Ervin Laszlo, Rupert
Sheldrake, Savely Savva, Cleve Backster, Carl Jung, Dean Radin, Gary
and Stephan Schwartz). These provide the nutrients for his theory,
hypothesis, and constructs of a soul genome.
Then Von Ward
plunges into the realm of theorizing, hypothesizing, measuring, and
testing an explanatory, Integral Model for reincarnation. The Integral
Model consists of an “apparent reincarnation package.” For the package
Von Ward coins the term psychoplasm—the soul-genome—which is similar to
Stevenson’s hypothesized psychophore construct. Specifically, Von
Ward’s psychoplasm is “a genome-like, energetic and information
biofield that embodies a single being’s knowledge, feelings, and
behavior patterns that transcend space-time.”
Five factors
constitute this soul/psychoplasm which Von Ward labels Physical
Phenotypes, Cognitive Cerebrotypes, Emotional Egotypes, Social
Personatypes, and Creative Performatypes. Each factor is subject to
illustration, illumination, investigation, and assessment by a set of
instruments which Von Ward has developed and applied to profile the
dimensions of and evidence for specific cases of reincarnation. He
examines in some detail the similarities in the lives of pairs of
individuals, offering the evidence found along the factorial dimensions
of the psychoplasm. In some cases the ‘subjects’ are historically
recognized figures; i.e., James and Dolley Madison, Paul Gauguin,
Marilyn Monroe, and John Denver, while the persons with which their
psychoplasms are associated are either not generally known or
anonymous. Photos, biometric data, historical and personal facts and
coincidentals, ratings on the scales developed by Von Ward to quantify
the five factors, and analyses of the findings, are included to
illustrate the evidence and support his hypothesis and Integral Model.
Von
Ward has undertaken an ambitious and challenging project, venturing
into a domain of inquiry fraught with controversial issues and
challenging problems. For this reviewer, he presents with his Integral
Model, methodology, instruments and illustrative cases a profound and
uniquely personal perspective of the soul and reincarnation. By
extending the genome metaphor and applying biological and psychological
constructs within the context of frontier science and thought, he
offers to all of us the opportunity to consider a scientific,
conceptual framework for explicating and appreciating the reported and
experienced phenomena associated with reincarnation and the soul.
(Tom
Nielsen has been a teacher and educational researcher, developer and
administrator in medical and higher education. He is currently working
on a screenplay, Willow Crowe, concerning reincarnation, and has a
website on cosmos, mind, and soul at www.enfolded.info. His email address is tom@enfolded.info.)
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