Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives

by Jim B. Tucker, Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

A first-person account of Jim Tucker's experiences with a number of extraordinary children with memories of past lives, Return to Life focuses mostly on American cases, presenting each family's story and describing his investigation. His goal is to determine what happened-what the child has said, how the parents have reacted, whether the child's statements match the life of a particular deceased person, and whether the child could have learned such information through normal means. Tucker has found cases that provide persuasive evidence that some children do, in fact, possess memories of previous lives. Among others, listeners will meet a boy who describes a previous life on a small island. When Tucker takes him to that island, he finds that some details eerily match the boy's statements and some do not. Another boy points to a photograph from the 1930s and says he used to be one of the men in it. Once the laborious efforts to identify that man are successful, many of the child's numerous memories are found to match the details of his life. Soon after his second birthday, a third boy begins expressing memories of being a World War II pilot who is eventually identified. Thought-provoking and captivating, Return to Life urges its listeners to think about life and death, and reflect about their own consciousness and spirituality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Science, Paranormal, Philosophy, Religion, Audiobook

MP3 CD

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

JIM B. TUCKER, M.D. is Bonner-Lowry Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He is Director of the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies, where he is continuing the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson with children who report memories of previous lives.

Dr. Tucker was born and raised in North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree in psychology in 1982, followed by a Medical Degree four years later. He then received training in general psychiatry and child psychiatry at the University of Virginia. After he completed his training, he stayed in Charlottesville and began a successful private practice in psychiatry.

Tucker has published two books--Life Before Life and Return to Life--and numerous papers in scientific journals. He has spoken before both scientific and general audiences and has made a number of television appearances, including Today, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and CBS Sunday Morning.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about reincarnation. Most folks might stop there, roll their eyes and move on. Jim B. Tucker, M.D. would like you to give his book a chance and read through to the end. And I must say that the end is certainly the best part of the book. I don't know if reincarnation is real or not. But that doesn't bother me or other people who understand that what is 'real' changes. I have known people who feel certain they have been reincarnated. I know people who say without a doubt it is a bunch of baloney. I myself have my own ideas about reincarnation in light of what little science I can translate into a cohesive view of my own experiences. My own theory has something to do with the potential of our genetic makeup to carry memories - sort of like the ability of elastic to spring back into its original form. But alas, this isn't my blog page. Onward.
The examples of reincarnation - stories that have been investigated by open-minded scientists and medical professionals - are given in the beginning of this book. While fascinating food for thought, I was a bit disappointed. Only one particular story stands out from the rest because an actual person could be identified. The difficulty, however, of collecting data is explained and I think is a viable problem for scientists. Most 'proof' of reincarnation is heard through the mouths of young children from about ages 3 to 5, and after age 5 the memories grow dim. Many parents may think their child has a great imagination and may completely miss these experiences, especially if they adhere to a religion or science that condemns the possibility.
Dr. Tucker takes us through the experiences of parents and children, explains how the use of variables is cross-referenced - especially between cultures and what you would expect to find there regarding death experiences. The last two chapters are where I jump on board and decided to give this book a 4 instead of a 3 star rating.
Basically it is this: our current mainstream science community believes that consciousness is a mere byproduct of evolution. Only a small percentage of scientists are willing to risk their reputations to truly express their own wonder of this fantastic existence. The fly in the ointment is of course quantum mechanics or quantum theory which challenges the mechanistic view of the universe. Because what this theory does is to blow a hole in 'matter creating consciousness' as clearly there can be no universe without the observer.
The last chapter of this book explores the author's views (and shared by so many of us out there) that whatever this universe(s) is, that it operates like a gigantic mind - that there is certainly a possibility that there is a stream of consciousness that emanates from this mind.
I actually applaud Dr. Tucker for trying to go from the retelling of reincarnation experiences, to quantum theory, to his "we are all one" wrap up. I say "here here" because until we can reach out to others with an understanding of our connectedness, we will have war, we will have religious ideologies snuffing out our freedoms, we will have dictators snuffing out our freedoms and we will miss something so freaking fantastic besides our hard concrete world of matter.
For some the jump from reincarnation to quantum theory, to a stream of mind consciousness may be too much. But for me, I toast Dr. Tucker, because we live behind a veil, and that veil is mind.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars, not because it is particularly well written, but because its premise is simply mind blowing. Jim Tucker is a psychiatrist who is a professor of psychiatry and nuerobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia. He has conducted extensive research in the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies on children who report memories of prior lives. I heard an interview with Dr. Tucker on NPR, which prompted me to get the book. He started his research essentially as a non-believer in anything beyond scientific "materialism," as he terms it. His studies have convinced him that there a consciousness that exists entirely separately from the physical functions of the brain. He uses the findings of quantum physics to analyze the possibility of that. The chapter on quantum physics in beyond my ability to really understand what he is saying, the case reports are utterly fascinating.

[jiyoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know, until i got to the last third, i fully thought the writing in this book was mediocre—the contents were irrefutably stunning, but the writing was just fine. but dr. tucker really shines when writing about quantum theory; he breaks down complex ideas and concepts very well and offers a lot of evidence to break down a reader’s instinctive skepticism/rejection.

the ideas in RETURN TO LIFE blew my mind. not so much the reincarnation/children with past lives aspect of it, since i had become very open to that notion about a year ago after reading “The Science of Reincarnation” in UVA Magazine. i was more shook by the theory that matter is derivative from consciousness; that the mind is not an accidental byproduct of human evolution, but actively creates what we experience as being the “physical world.” here’s a crazy quote by sir james jean that this book references: “Mind no longer appears as an accidental intruder into the realm of matter; we are beginning to suspect that we ought rather to hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.”

this is crazy stuff!!! there’s so much we don’t know and understand about how the universe functions and how we fit into it all, and i love learning as much about it as i possibly can. would recommend; it’s a very accessible and mind-opening read.

[Jülie ☼♄  · Rating 3 out of 5]

Return to Life by Jim Tucker

I read this book in two separate sittings, temporarily shelving it for several months, as it was just not holding my attention as I expected it would, being a subject I have previously read much about and which fascinates me, I thought I would be gripped from the beginning as these stories are based on true accounts.

I think, with a bit more thought given to how the finished book would read, the author could have made this book a lot more desirable to the inquisitive reader.
The individual stories are fascinating in their own right, but somehow they often get bogged down with too much detailed explanation from the scientific angle, which became quite boring at times, and I just wanted it to move along to the stories.

A fascinating subject, though a bit disappointing in its delivery, I gave it 3*s for the stories.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the case studies but slogged through his "analysis" in the last chapter. Too bad.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been better if it had more case studies and less quantum physics.

[Donna LaValley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the full title is “Return to Life, Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives,” only 75% of the book delivers. What the reader may want, having chosen the book for the title, ends on page 164. The remainder of the 240 pages holds Acknowledgments, Notes, and References, and also 2 chapters of Dr. Tucker’s attempts to tie quantum physics to the subject of reincarnation. It didn’t work for this reader. Having looked into quantum mechanics or particle physics for myself, I have a modicum of understanding, or at least a layman’s understanding, of the concepts. For me, he wasn’t able to convey any solid or memorable information or ideas. He consistently (and for me, unfortunately) kept referring to Dreams, “Working on a Dream,” the human as The Dreamer, etc. For me this is a false analogy and only confuses someone who wants to really know something. Fortunately there are other books about past lives and “between lives” that a person can read and contemplate.

I bought this book because of a story on NBC Nightly News. It must have been an update to a story in this book where a boy (“Ryan”) calmly says he died at age 61 in the former life that had been chronicled. The birth certificate of that man said death happened at age 59. “Ryan” was not defensive and didn’t back down at being shown the document. He just said, “No, I was 61.” The researcher, having already been convinced by Ryan’s many other accurate statements, later checked and found Ryan was correct: the death certificate WAS wrong. This is astounding, in my opinion. I was hoping for more details in this book, but the book doesn’t cover that particular death-certificate incident. As I said, the News story may have been an update on Ryan’s story.

Other books about these children are cited, and I’ve read some of them. Soul Survivor is a good one –James, the “soul survivor” has a chapter in this book also.

These stories are compelling and important. There are just too many cases, many of them documented, for them to be “nothing.” One of my own children made comments about a former life, and also asked me once if I’d be his mother again “next time.” He was the typical age of little ones who begin talking about other lives – 3 or 4. Mothers discuss these statements in wonder with one another and then forget them, or let them go.

The book briefly goes over some good cases but is very short and for me, disappointing.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I'm ashamed to admit that, since COVID and the intervening years, I have been thinking a lot more about death, time, and what anything means, with quite a bit of fear and anguish, while looking at the world and the trajectory we seem to be on.

All that aside, I'm glad to report I haven't slipped too far into the fog, because this was profoundly unconvincing. Let me save you the trouble -- "We heard from some parents, who said that their kid said this thing. Unfortunately, we couldn't interview the kid. But they swear!"..."We heard from some parents who knew of some other parents who knew of a kid who knew a kid who thought he was a whatever in a past life. Unfortunately, we could not speak to the child, but....!"

Occam's Razor reigns supreme here -- plus an ounce of skepticism and the basic idea that hearsay on hearsay on hearsay should not go into a book purporting to be semi-serious from a medical doctor. I think there is reason enough to not be arrogantly sure of the nature of consciousness, and of the universe. The Why at the center of it all does not seem like it is close to being solved, even if many tertiary problems...even critically, terrifyingly obtuse ones...are, justifiedly so, falling to the swords of materialism. But this is not getting us any closer.

[Jennifer Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! Coming into this, I would have considered myself a strong skeptic. However, after reading this, my mind is definitely more open to the different possibilities the author describes. I really enjoyed the analytical approach to the cases and found the last chapters around quantum mechanics to be especially interesting.

[Kacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off well enough, though it was written a bit more academically than I expected with a lot of "And then I missed my flight and could not meet the child who seemed to remember their past life" (which I really didn't care about), but THEN the entire thing took a turn in the last two chapters.

It turned into a primer on Quantum physics and I just didn't have the patience to figure out what exactly quantum theory has to do with past lives. The book probably would have explained it, but I was not in the headspace to digest quantum mechanics.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Interesting stories and fascinating subject, but I just couldn't get over the poor writing. Just like a middle schooler wrote it, and not in a good way. I don't recommend.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptional accounts of children's past life memories. He lost me on the chapters on quantum physics though. I tried...

[Miles Nilsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim B. Tucker, M.D. follows in the footsteps of the late, legendary Ian Stevenson who pioneered the investigation of past-life reports by children. The importance of relying on very early childhood reports instead of later ones is that when young children do report past lives, their past-life memories and feelings may fade and be forgotten as early as five years old and usually by seven. If, at age seven or eight, a child still maintains an identification with someone who lived in the past that they earlier claimed to be, their belief is usually contaminated with feedback from others about their earlier statements. Also, two year olds who claim to have been U.S. Navy aviators in the Pacific Theater of World War II (as one child is reported to have done in 1CReturn to Life 1D) do not usually read books or research the Internet to come up with the story.

Tucker, like Stevenson, is not the sort of person who never met a paranormal claim he didn 19t believe. (Stevenson once commented on a book by a medium who claimed to have channeled the great psychologist-philosopher William James: 1CIf the vapid writing 26 did indeed emanate from him, I can only say that this implies a terrible post-mortem reduction of personal capacities. 1D) When there isn 19t enough evidence to conclusively prove a connection between a child in the present and a claim about the past, Tucker plainly says so and more or less accepts defeat. (Technically, he says that these cases are unsolved, which is not at all the same as saying they are unproved, because none of these cases are considered proof; rather they are considered to be evidence.) He can be quite reasonable as when he relates the case of a Turkish man who admired John F. Kennedy and claimed that his son was the reincarnation of the assassinated U.S. president. As Tucker recognizes, the boy probably seconded the claim to please his father who consciously or unconsciously coached the boy on information about Kennedy 19s life which is common knowledge. There is no way to establish any truth in this claim.

Of course, past-life stories told by children usually seem to relate to the lives of obscure people from the past, which is a two-edged sword since it means on the one hand that the children are less likely to be making it up, but it also makes it difficult and often impossible to discover a real person who matches the biographical hints given in the child 19s utterances. In one case, Tucker thought that a little girl might be remembering a life in Virginia City, Nevada, in the mid-nineteenth century, and the girl thought this was correct, but when they went to the town, the girl 19s reaction was muted, although she confessed at the airport when they were leaving that she longed to stay. Ultimately, while her past-life report did fit a description of life in the historic boomtown in many striking particulars, Tucker noted that the individual she claimed to have been could not be identified.

Even without an identification, the issue of how very young children could put together accurate portraits of other times and places is intriguing, but those cases are not as impressive as those of three boys that Tucker studied after they claimed to have been identifiable people from the past. These three individuals were not easily identified. One had been a twenty-one year old U.S. naval aviator who died in combat on March 3, 1945. It took several people years to find this individual by putting together statements from the child with information that was sometimes difficult to uncover. In the end, though, the fit was like that of a glove. Another had been a failed Hollywood actor turned talent agent. The boy only had the name of one old movie he had been in without the name of the actor, which made it difficult rather than easy to identify him 14for a long time, no one could figure out which cast member he was or whether he was an unnamed extra. (It turned out that everyone had ignored the fact that he was credited in the cast but had no dialogue in the movie, so it was impossible to determine which character he is supposed to be; a likely possibility is that he had a line in the shooting script that was omitted from the final cut.)

Still another boy also claimed to have had a career in Hollywood, but as a writer. He was also able to identify the middle name, which came up because of its similarity to his own middle name. (This is not explained in the book, but in a radio interview the author seems to have slipped and said that the boy 19s middle name was 1CCole. 1D) The middle name of the writer sounded like 1CCoe 1D from the boy 19s pronunciation of it. His parents asked him what movies he had written and ticked off a number of titles of famous movies. When they suggested 1CGone with the Wind, 1D the boy said that was one of his. His mother looked it up on the Internet and found that, although several writers worked on the script, the main credit was given to Sydney Coe Howard. Does that send shivers up your spine? It does mine, and that is the sort of thing that makes this a fun book to read.

Of course, the most striking hit Tucker reports did involve a famous person. A two year old, whose parents knew nothing about golf and cared less, became addicted to the Golf Channel on cable television and soon began insisting that he remembered being Bobby Jones, the famous early twentieth century golf pro. This might be easily dismissed for similar reasons to the JFK identification although, in this case, the parents were less inclined to encourage the claim, but when shown a photograph of Jones standing next to another man, the boy said, 1CThat 19s my friend, Harry Garden. 1D It turns out that the man 19s name was Harry Vardon. (Another chill up my spine.) What is most striking about the 1CBobby Jones 1D case is that, while the boy stopped having memories of being Bobby Jones, he became a golf prodigy. At age seven, he entered junior golf tournaments and won 41 out of 50 games. True, he had been taught by a PGA golf pro, but the golf pro only agreed to teach the boy 14from age three-and-a-half 14because he was impressed by the boy 19s natural talent.

Tucker analyses a database of over two thousand cases from around the world, and he draws from these some statistics that turn out to be spooky rather than dry. For example, while the majority of children who report past-life memories are boys, if you separate out the reports of non-violent deaths, those cases are fifty-fifty male and female. The violent death reports make up seventy percent of cases, and about seventy percent of those are male. Well, it turns out that crime statistics tend to show that about seventy percent of those who meet violent deaths are also male. In other words, the breakdown of violent deaths in Tucker 19s cases seems to reflect reality and also supports Tucker 19s speculation that a violent end could be a catalyst for a transmigrating soul to give its next incarnation nightmarish and therefore vivid and remarkable memories. For example, the little boy who claimed to have been a naval aviator began by complaining of nightmares about being in a plane crash. The boy who claimed to be the Hollywood writer complained of feeling crushed both in dreams and when his little body was constricted in any way 14even by a well-meaning hug from his mother. It later turned out that the writer had been crushed to death by a tractor in an accident on his working farm in Massachusetts. (I 19ve read elsewhere that accidents involving farm equipment have long been a leading cause of non-natural death.)

From chapter eight onward, this book explores explanations of the past life reports. The author believes in a kind of Hegelian universe in which consciousness is prior to physical matter and helps to create it. While interesting, this part of the book is speculative and necessarily tentative, although it uses for support some interesting data from the Stevenson-Tucker database.

For example, the reader might have noticed, from the case histories presented in the first seven chapters, that the children tend to report past lives within the same species, the same sex and the same nationality although there are exceptions to all of these trends. Exceptions include an Indian boy who claimed to have been a snake, and an Indian girl who claimed to have lived previously in Bangladesh. (Many Americans might not realize it, but these geographically adjacent regions are separated by many cultural and linguistic differences.) Tucker reveals that this tendency is, indeed, reflected in the database and that about ninety percent of cases involve reports of a past life in the same country and usually within the same ethnic group, although there can be interesting exceptions to that, too. (One European-American reported a past life as an African-American.)

Another interesting factoid is that the median time between death and rebirth is about sixteen months, whereas the American stories reported in this book are about lives that are sometimes separated by forty or more years.

Tucker suspects that there are psychological reasons why, assuming the reality of past lives, children 19s reports show different degrees of affinity between the two lives. For example, some children claim rebirth within the same family while, perhaps more usually, they are reborn in a different family from the past life one. Tucker suggests that this correlates with the circumstances of the death. Say, if your mother-in-law murdered you, the last thing you would want to do is be reborn into the same family.

If you believe in ESP but not in past lives (and who doesn 19t fit that configuration of credulity!), you might object that these children might not be remembering past lives that they lived but are, rather, merely(!) picking up information psychically about another person from another time and place. This explanation might seem peculiar, especially to someone who doesn 19t believe in ESP or reincarnation, but as Tucker himself points out, the reader has, after all, read thus far into a book about reincarnation. The issue strikes Tucker as particularly relevant when the child does appear to be able to make uncanny predictions about the future apart from his information about past lives. This appears to be so in a few of these case studies.

Tucker 19s speculation that there are what have been called by others 1COver-souls 1D might seem novel or difficult to grasp if the reader has not elsewhere encountered less tentative presentations of this idea. The idea is that if past lives are real, then the essence or 1Csoul 1D that is common to each life constitutes a more or less unitary entity that is greater than the individuals who appear in each life. That entity has its own consciousness that is both an accumulation of the different individuals and, at the same time, greater than the sum of the parts.

I would also like to say that this book contains, for me, a memorable character who rivals my favorite fictional characters, such as Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse from Neal Stephenson 19s novel 1CCryptonomicon. 1D Waterhouse is as poignantly and richly memorable as almost any character in other novels of recent memory (even while some other novels might be more satisfying over all). In this book, the boy who seems to be channeling a mid-twentieth century Hollywood talent agent is as vivid as any character in a novel. The incongruity of a three-year-old behaving like a cigar-chomping, self-important wise guy who occasionally calls other people idiots and frequently manifests precognitive abilities is funny and touching as well as infuriating, no doubt, if you had to put up with him for any length of time, and it just might make a great novel by itself.

When I was a teenager, I used to read lots of 1Cstrange mysteries 1D books, and only a few of them were ever as fun to read as are the first seven chapters of this book.

[Anmol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sort of “greatest hits” collection of reincarnation cases which is very readable and fun, compared to the other books in this field by Ian Stevenson and his proteges (Tucker being one of them). One thing that I found very interesting is that Tucker believes in an “infinite paths” paradigm to the afterlife, just like the one propagated by Ramakrishna, where a Christian sees a Christian afterlife (heaven/hell), a Hindu sees Yama and his court, etc. This acts as a response to critics who say that if near death experiences/interval memories were real, then they should have some universal characteristics. Tucker goes even further by claiming to view the universe as a consciousness-created sequence of dreams, which has much in common with the Vaishnava view of the world as a dream of Vishnu:

With the model I’m presenting, differences would be expected when people experience their next consciousness-created reality, their next dream. Just as an American Christian is unlikely to dream at night about Yama, the god of death, and an Indian Hindu is unlikely to dream about Jesus, a four-year-old’s next consciousness-created reality may have little in common with that of a neurosurgeon…It appears that expectations and experiences play a role in the next reality that a person encounters (or helps create), just as our experiences and thoughts prior to going to sleep can shape our nighttime dreams.

A flawed conclusion that Tucker draws from the data is that “people who die young or by unnatural means are more likely to return to our mind-created world to start another life”. This conflicts with the Indic view that everyone comes back, so it may be better to conclude that only those who die young or unnaturally remember their past lives, unlike the rest of us.

Here’s a beautiful quote from this book to end my small collection of thoughts:

Beneath the waterline of our individual existences, we may be part of this endless consciousness, something I am tempted to call the Mind of God…this infinite realm of thought from which all worlds, all emotions, all events from the coalescence of a new planet to the fading glow of a dying star, from the first breath of a newborn baby to the final sigh of a long life well-lived flow, this Ultimate Source of all existence must be the thing that our feeble minds can only comprehend in some shrunken, anthropomorphized, clouded facsimile we call God.

[Vasundhra Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and remarkable book for believers and non believers of Past Lives, alike. Why? Because it comes with EVIDENCE. TONS OF IT!

As Jim Tucker and Dr Ian Stevenson investigate and PROVE the memories of children considered to be remembering past lives, this book will leave you extremely surprised with what else is uncovered.

To name a few of the topics that come with this book :
* Famous people reborn
* Animals reborn as humans (WTF?)
* Multiple Personality Disorders/Schizophrenia/Hallucinating versus
* Psychic senses (with evidence)
* Bodily possession by another soul (But not as scary as you'd think)
* Out of Body Experiences
* Theory of a Collective Consciousness
* Near Death Experiences
* Scientific evaluation (quantum physics versus classic, what famous scientists day, etc)

.... And much more. I would highly recommend that you pick this underrated book up, if you're ready for something to blow your mind!

With the facts presented in this book, there's little scope left to not believe.

[Vladimir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cases are fascinating and even creepy on occasion. I could not put the book down. Not only is the content fascinating, the writing is quite compelling too. Dr. Tucker and his team seem to have researched them as thoroughly as possible, and it's really a pleasure to read something that approaches a rather exotic subject with scientific rigor. Having said that, the last two chapters slowly melt into the school of kumbaya interpretation of quantum mechanics and this is where he loses my interest, and if it took more pages he would have lost my patience too.

[Yoona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Amanda Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always wanted to read this one! Fascinating stories- whether you 100% believe then or not. It's fun to explore all of the possibilities out there when you throw the rules of organized religion out the window.

[L.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Innym razem Patrick zareagował entuzjastycznie gdy zobaczył zdjęcie Kevina. Nigdy wcześniej go nie widział, ponieważ Lisa nie trzymała jego zdjęć w domu. Trzęsły mu się ręce i powiedział: To moje zdjęcie, szukałem go."
(Rozdział 1)

A tak sobie tym razem postanowiłem zacząć od cytatu ;)
Książkę przesłuchałem w formie pliku mp3 ściągniętego z YouTube'a - jeśli ktoś chce, to nadal jest dostępny. Wprawdzie czyta automat... który brzmi o wiele gorzej niż "mój" Text-to-speech z eReadera Prestigio... ale dało się słuchać przez VLC Player na lekkim przyspieszeniu (i naprawdę polecam przyspieszyć nawet jak ktoś lubi słuchać wolniej - taki automat brzmi po prostu lepiej i trochę naturalniej).
Książka mi się podobała i podoba mi się też nastawienie autora: taki punkt widzenia jednak dosyć naukowy i racjonalny, odnoszący się do fizyki i mechaniki kwantowej ( https://racjonalista.tv/mechanika-kwa... - dobry link, warto zerknąć dla punktu odniesienia). Główna część książki (większość rozdziałów) nie jest może jakaś "wow", zwłaszcza że niektóre historie tych dzieci znałem (np. chłopiec ze wspomnieniami pilota z czasów IIWŚ), ale końcówka - ostatnie dwa rozdziały - są świetne! Autor pisze tam o naturze rzeczywistości, fizyce kwantowej, pisze w jaki sposób pamięć poprzednich wcieleń może być zgodna z obecną wiedzą naukową itp. I dochodzi do podobnych wniosków jak Pim van Lommel w książce "Wieczna świadomość". Nie, naprawdę - ostatnie dwa rozdziały, to najlepsze co przeczytałem od dawna! A może w ogóle nigdy nic lepszego nie przeczytałem ;) nawet jeśli to tylko rozważania i hipotezy, to są fascynujące!

Poza "klasycznymi" historiami ciekawa jest też historia chłopca, którzy pamiętał wcielenie wujka, który umarł dopiero po jego narodzeniu - jakby dusza wujka "wypchnęła" duszę z którą chłopiec się urodził - to znaczy taka jest hipoteza (ja bym się już bardziej skłaniał do tego, że dusza może wcielać się na raz w dwie lub więcej osób - jak była mowa w regresjach w książkach Michaela Newtona, albo że ta uniwersalna świadomość została w taki, a nie inny sposób odebrana przez chłopca). Podobnie ciekawa jest historia kobiety (rozdział 2), której zmieniła się osobowość (w tym język), wprawdzie potem wróciła jej stara, ale od czasu do czasu "włączała" się ta inna - może to też zakłócenia w odbiorze świadomości? (w końcu czemu by nie miało być w tym zakłóceń jeśli faktycznie hipoteza uniwersalnej świadomości jest prawdziwa).

A teraz będzie dużo cytowani ale muszę, po prostu muszę sobie te cytaty zanotować ;)

"Te przypadki są nadzwyczajne, nawet jak na nasze standardy. Przedstawiam je tu aby podkreślić, że choć zwykle widzimy bezpośredni związek między mózgiem a umysłem, możliwe że nie zawsze jest to prawdą. Podstawowym założeniem neuronauki jest to, że mózg tworzy umysł lub świadomość, której doświadczamy. Jak więc świadomość, początkowo powiązana z mózgiem, który od dawna nie żyje, może przejąć ciało żyjącej osoby? Alternatywnym wyjaśnieniem może być to, że świadomość przechodzi przez mózg ale istnieje poza nim, może więc stanowić byt niezależny od mózgu, zwykle połączony z nim ściśle podczas trwania życia ale i tak osobny. Przypadki, w których mózg zdaje się mieścić w sobie dwie świadomości, które rozwinęły się niezależnie, są o wiele bardziej spójne z tą alternatywną teorią niż najnowszą koncepcją, zgodnie z którą umysł jest kreacją mózgu i na tym koniec. Normalne dla mózgu jest to, że w cyklu życia gości tylko jeden umysł, to pewne. Rzadkość odmiennych przypadków nie umniejsza jednak ich potencjalnej ważności. Jak powiedział William James: "Jeśli chcesz podważyć prawo, że wszystkie wrony są czarne, nie będziesz przecież udowadniał, że wszystkie nie są. Wystarczy, że znajdziesz jedną białą wronę."
Przypadki, w których świadomość osoby zmarłej zdaje się przejmować ciało osoby żyjącej podważają wiarę w to, że świadomość jest kreacją jednego umysłu, który jest w pełni odpowiedzialny za jej wytworzenie."
(Rozdział 2, 1:06:17)

"To umacnia mój pogląd, że istnieje świadomość, która trwa niezależnie od świata materialnego. Wierzę teraz, że materia wyrasta z umysłu, to znaczy że świat fizyczny powstaje z czegoś, co możemy nazwać umysłem, świadomością lub duchowością. Zatem nasze przypadki a także prawdopodobieństwo, że dzieci pamiętają poprzednie życia, są zgodne z nowym rozumieniem egzystencji."
(Rozdział 8, 5:53:30)

"Świadomość nie jest tylko przypadkowym produktem ubocznym ewolucji. Logicznym wnioskiem z różnych odkryć w fizyce jest to, że właśnie ona, świadomość, tworzy wszechświat. Jej proces twórczy trwa i dzieje się w każdym momencie. Jak powiedział Max Plank, twórca teorii kwantowej: Postrzegam świadomość jako podstawę. Uważam materię za pochodną świadomości. Przekraczanie granic świadomości jest poza naszym zasięgiem."
(Rozdział 8, 5:59:26)

"Obserwatorzy musieli się gdzieś pojawić aby świat mógł zaistnieć. Ta koncepcja wyjaśnia dlaczego wszechświat wydaje się tak dobrze dostosowany do życia. (...) Nasz wszechświat był tylko w stanie nieograniczonej potencji do momentu, aż obserwacja spowodowała, że przeszłość zaczęła istnieć i dlatego musiała być tą, która w końcu doprowadziła do istnienia obserwatorów."
(Rozdział 8, 6:39:00)

- i dalej (niejako wyjaśnienie):

"Odkrycia wskazują, nie tylko według mnie ale także według wielu fizyków, na podstawową rolę świadomości. System kwantowy, aby działać, musi być obserwowany. Moja odpowiedź jest taka, że świadomość funkcjonuje poza systemem kwantowym, współdziała z wszechświatem fizycznym ale istnieje poza nim rejestrując i tworząc wszechświat. Świadomość nie istnieje dlatego, że istnieje świat fizyczny. To świat fizyczny istnieje dlatego, że istnieje świadomość."
(Rozdział 8, 6:50:08)

I o snach:

"Obraz jaki wyłania się z fizyki kwantowej, to świat w którym do zdarzeń nie dochodzi, dopóki nie zaobserwują ich świadome istoty. Można to zrozumieć jeżeli zdamy sobie sprawę, że przypomina to inny świat, który znamy bardzo dobrze i jest to świat naszych snów. Ludzie pojawiają się w naszych snach tylko wtedy, gdy wchodzimy z nimi w interakcje. Powstają w momencie, gdy zaczynamy ich obserwować. Innymi słowy różni ludzie znani nam z prawdziwego życia istnieją jako możliwe postacie z tyłu głowy, mogłyby pojawić się w naszych snach i potencjalnie zawsze jest taka możliwość. I chociaż nie jesteśmy świadomi tego podobieństwa doświadczając naszego życia, fizyka kwantowa pokazała, że świat fizyczny działa w ten sam sposób. Nie ma żadnej różnicy. W snach zdarzają się największe nonsensy, w niektórych możemy nagle fruwać, ale w świecie fizycznym nie będzie to możliwe. Bez wątpienia możliwości w świecie fizycznym są bardziej ograniczone. Zdarzenia, które zaczynają się od obserwacji, stają się czymś stałym, czego inni obserwatorzy nie mogą zmienić, mimo to cały proces jest bardzo podobny. Możliwości istnieją i jedna z nich staje się faktem gdy ją obserwujemy. Analogia do snów jest tak dokładne, że można postrzegać świat nie jako ogromną mechanistyczną machinę Izaaka Newtona, ale jako sen, który śni się wszystkim obserwatorom. Jego fragmenty stają się rzeczywistością, gdy jedna ze śniących osób ich doświadcza. To, czego nikt nie obserwuje, równie dobrze może nie istnieć. Aby zdać sobie sprawę z tego, że wszechświat na swoim najbardziej podstawowym poziomie wymaga świadomości żeby zaistnieć, należy zmienić swoje rozumienie świata."
(Rozdział 8, 6:50:52)

"Jeśli wszechświat fizyczny powstaje ze świadomości nie ma powodu myśleć, że świadomość konkretnej osoby kończy się w momencie fizycznej śmierci mózgu. Może ona przeżyć śmierć i powrócić w przyszłości jako nowa osoba."
(Rozdział 8, 6:56:12)

"Jeśli model wspólnego snu jest prawidłowy, to można się spodziewać więcej niż jednego życia po życiu. Każdy rozpoczyna kolejny sen w momencie śmierci, a natura snu nie musi być taka sama u wszystkich."
(Rozdział 9, 6:57:05)

"(...) nie ma dowodu na to, że każdy odradza się i powraca do tego świata jako nowa osoba. Nie widzę powodu, dla którego nie miałyby istnieć inne światy tworzone przez podświadomość, inne wspólne sny oprócz świata, który znamy. Skoro zwykle nie wracamy każdej nocy do tego samego snu, ta prawidłowość może dotyczyć także naszego życia. Choć niektórzy czasami wracają do tego wspólnego snu, być może częściej zdarza się po śmierci uczestnictwo w innych wspólnych snach. Jakie mogą być inne światy tworzone przez świadomość? Podejrzewam, że zależy to od doświadczeń jakie mieliśmy w tym życiu. Nasze nocne sny z pewnością zależą od tego, co się wydarzyło w ciągu dnia, zdarzenia te mogą się przejawiać w nocnych snach. Jeśli oglądasz horror, możesz potem mieć koszmary senne. Twoje doświadczenia mają znaczenie, mają wpływ na treść twoich snów. Podobnie twoje doświadczenia życiowe mogą wpływać na światy jakie tworzy świadomość i jakie pojawiają się po twojej śmierci. Wielu chrześcijan twierdzi, że ludzkie działania i wierzenia decydują o tym czy dusza pójdzie do nieba czy do piekła. Ale jeśli to prawda, że życie jest jak wspólny sen, to możliwe że nie istnieje tylko jedno niebo czy jedno piekło. Być może istnieje nieskończona ilość wspólnych snów, niektóre niebiańskie, inne piekielne, a niektóre takie jak nasz świat - czasem niebiańskie, czasem piekielne, a najczęściej coś pomiędzy nimi. Zauważam, że w modelu który proponuję, religie mają rację, decyzje i działania, które podejmujemy w tym życiu, pomagają ustalić jaka będzie nasza dalsza egzystencja. (...)"
(Rozdział 9, 7:13:50)

"Sądzę, że wszystkie światy, w których coś się dzieje, muszą składać się z czasu i przestrzeni, ale nie jestem pewien czy następują jeden po drugim. Wydaje się, że w niektórych przypadkach tak właśnie jest, np. gdy ludzie opowiadają o innych królestwach opisując doświadczenia NDE. Podejrzewam jednak, że ten proces jest złożony. Np. być może ludzie mogą żyć nie tylko w jednym śnie. Może pewnego dnia, gdy umrzesz, zobaczysz swoją nieżyjącą babcię, a w tym samym czasie odrodzi się ona w innym życiu. Wydarzenia nie muszą pojawiać się linearnie w sposób, który znamy. Inne przykłady, w których wydaje się, że jeden sen następuje po drugim, to takie, gdy dzieci mówią, że obserwowały z nieba zdarzenia z życia swoich rodziców, jak w przypadku Jamesa Leiningera pamiętającego podróż swoich rodziców na Hawaje lub Ryana opisującego reakcje własnej matki, gdy podczas badania USG dowiedziała się, że będzie miała małego chłopca. Te przypadki trochę trudniej wyjaśnić modelem snu. Sugerują one, że ludzie mogą czasami mieć zdolność obserwowania światów lub snów i jednocześnie doświadczać innych snów. Przypomina to sytuację, w której osoby z innego świata, innego snu, komunikują się z osobami w naszym świecie-śnie. Czasami wydaje się, że niektórzy są w stanie przekraczać granicę własnej świadomości. Nie twierdzę, że w pełni rozumiem jak tego dokonują, ale taka zdolność może świadczyć o tym, że świadomość i rzeczywistość przez nią stworzona jest bardziej płynna i połączona, niż możemy przypuszczać."
(Rozdział 9, 7:22:19)

- to też jak w książkach M. Newtona ;) widzę tu analogię, ale może to po prostu inna interpretacja tego samego zjawiska :)

"Wracając do modelu snu, w moich snach nocnych występuję w swojej postaci ale czasami mogę być kimś innym. Będąc postacią w moim śnie jako człowiek śpiący istnieję niezależnie od mojego snu. Na tej samej zasadzie możemy być kimś więcej, kimś kto ma świadomość każdego ze snów poszczególnych żyć i tworzy kolejne sny, czyli inne życia lub światy."
(Rozdział 9, 7:24:26)

(czytana/słuchana: 19-20.01.2023)
5/5 [10/10]

[Margy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting to read about these well documented and researched cases. But the book lost me the last few chapters as he brought in a bunch of physics and far out concepts.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!
This book has really given me something to think about. I feel like now I hold the knowledge of the universe. I understand the term "my purpose in life."
Highly recommend!

[Caroline The HEA Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird

Yes and no....the second half of the book doesnt really float my boat but it's the author's point of view. Still interesting

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an audio book experience and well worth the listen. I wish there was more information included here on the results of this author's mentor- Ian who in his era gave up his advanced academic position to do research in this field.

This quest for more exact diligent scientific level record is beyond difficult when the window of most of this kind of memory is in extremely early human life. In Western cultural climates such mutterings of babies is in great majority rejected or ignored. And with the influences of media abounding, it is ever more impossible to filter with a dependent variable in source.

Nevertheless, this is almost a 4 star. It would have been that level if so many Strange Mystery or other media based and supported reality tv shows were not in the mix.

There are numerous proven examples of this kind of memory documented every year in the Far East and Indian sub-continent areas.

Not only past life memory but also extreme affinity for a certain shape or object or activity viewed by a newborn and clearly understood for what it is or "was" or how it had been used, that has always interested me. And I have definitely viewed that in mere infants when I worked in trials. Became interested because one of my children, a son, was in love with wheels from birth. Or anything that could rotate in a circle- like the drum of a clothes dryer.

This book's ending upon the dream state? It was interesting- but not at all any kind of proof.

Several of these cases deserve the level of inquiry received- as the James who remembered being shot down in a plane so clearly. And the mannerisms or birth marks that are identical- or knowledge that could only have been known by the deceased? Clearly something is at play.

[Rishi Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was overall an entertaining and informative introduction into the topic but I was expecting more scientific rigor and it had a few holes and the author had some weird comments that showed he used basic stereotypical generalizations that were concerning to say the least. For example:

"Her Husband, Kevin, a police officer, seemed out of central casting for an Oklahoma lawman with his stock build, his closely cropped hair, and Southwestern drawl. He definitely did not come across as someone you would expect to promote the idea of past lives"

As in somebody who fits the typical southwestern culture is less likely to commit fraud? Or he doesn't fit the archetypal model of somebody who believes in spirituality because he is southwestern (I know reincarnation is explicitly mentioned instead of spirituality but this seemed like the undertone)? There were things like that that made me seriously question the validity of the bias he had when he took on these interviews.

Another complaint is the lack of quantitative data. He focuses on the relationships people got right, but just briefly mentions that they got a few things wrong then tries to come up with explanations. I get it, the after-life is not within human bounds and logic, but if you're going to include all the cases he was right, I think it's important to include the parts that were wrong as well. If there exists a database of data he keeps, running numbers in a table format would not be difficult.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always had an interest in reincarnation. I have tried past life regression therapy in the past and even as a child I remember I'd look in the mirror and would often get this sick feeling to the pit of my stomach and would think 'this isn't me, who is this stranger looking back at me?'. I never understood why I felt like that at the time, it was only when I got older and became interested in the concept of reincarnation that made me question if that was why I felt like that as a child. It doesn't seem to matter how many case studies I read on the subject, reincarnation absolutely fascinates me. What I especially enjoyed about reading this book, which I believe ranks it higher than other reincarnation books I have read is that the author delves into the subject of quantum physics and covers potential scientific explanations as to how reincarnation may be possible. He also does it in a way that makes it easy to understand for the reader without being patronising. I highly recommend this book. Especially to those who are open minded and have a deep curiosity to understand why we exist.

[dead letter office · Rating 2 out of 5]

He gives the impression of trying a bit too hard to believe. He's constantly offering excuses when his subjects fail to substantiate their connection to previous lives.

After one subject shows no sign of recognizing anything from his previous life as the guy who wrote Gone With the Wind during a visit to the old homestead: 'Perhaps if we had gotten there six months earlier, things would have been different.' On another, who thought he was Hollywood actor Marty Martyn: 'Were some of the details that Ryan gave that didn't match Marty Martyn part of a flood of information about other people's lives that Ryan perceives because of his psychic abilities?' (Is psychic ability really the best explanation for a kid not knowing the details of Marty Martyn's past life?)

The final chapter on quantum mechanics as the justification for all kinds of mysticism is especially half-baked.

[Krzyniu_pyniu · Rating 1 out of 5]

New age through and through. The book is as bad as pseudo-documentary TV series can be. A mixture of nonsense and ignorance. The author with a smile on their face dismisses every stupidity and inconsistency with the words - we can overlook that. Reading about excrement would bring more value to life than this product of mental defecation. Shallow musings that will only satisfy uncritical, thoughtless, and already-believing readers. It's an intellectual torment that makes a lobotomy sound like a massage. I warn anyone who wants to waste a few hours of their life. Watching grass grow would be more interesting.

[David Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this may be one of those books that tries to convince the reader of reincarnation, but that one's predisposition to the idea is stronger than the book itself. Or maybe I don't want to live in a universe where little children have repeated nightmares of dying in a horrible plane crash because they have been "reincarnated" as a person who, in their previous life, you guessed it, died in a horrible plane crash.

So, if you are predisposed to the idea of reincarnation, and are looking for stories to afirm your beliefs, this is the book for you.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is something of a sequel to Tucker’s other work Life Before Life , and consists, for the most part, of Tucker again presenting case after case of his investigative work into the lives of children who report having lived previous lives. Anyone who has not read these accounts will find the cases mysteriously fascinating. However, what is different about Return to Life is Tucker’s attempt, at the end of the book, to connect it all to new discoveries in physics, which is poorly done because Tucker is clearly not a physicist. For those interested in better understanding what Tucker is trying to say, I would recommend Maku’s Parallel Worlds , which covers the material with much better clarification.

What If It Were True?

Of course, the physics hoopla is presented to allow the reader to evaluate the repercussions of what it would be like if people did in fact actually reincarnate. In that situation, we would all have to ask ourselves a lot of the same questions that religions have been asking for hundreds of years. How would it change our relationships with others? Certainly, we would be quick to welcome children back into the world and abortion would likely be totally illegal. We would, of course, scrutinize the imaginations of children much more intensely, and perhaps begin to assess the ages of souls.

Recognition of our continued existence might motivate us to better nurture the earth, and one another. Education would necessarily come to include the process of bringing out our prior (and perhaps better) selves; or, in other words, to access our prior knowledge so that we might continue to improve and grow our spiritual selves. None of this is likely so long as we persist in indoctrinating our young children with narrow, mind-numbing religious doctrines that paralyze creative thought.

Evolution Favors Conscious Awareness

Until recently, evolution has demanded the full domination of our ego-consciousness for the sole sake of survival. When life is tough there is much less time to dwell upon the inner self, past lives, or really any sort of introspective contemplation, for we are much too busy securing food, defending ourselves, looking for shelter. As a result, we have been tied evolutionarily to the immediate limitations of our conscious life, with too little time to explore inward.

Even though we descend into the unconscious world when we sleep or meditate, we have evolved to quickly forget inward encounters so the consciousness can quickly resume control when we awaken. Similarly, the newly born appear to rise slowly out of the unconscious realm as they age, and as their ego-consciousness demands domination over imagination, as becomes necessary for survival.

Creativity Invades Conscious Awareness

However, with his neophyte foray into physics, this author suggests that the very act of conscious observation necessarily involves our creativity, because we must interpret what we see. The reality is that humans tend to conjure things forth through their observations. For example, some see a desert landscape as uniquely beautiful while others see a desolate barrenness. Some see a dead body as annihilation while others see it as the leftover husks from the process of maturation into spiritual form, like a butterfly ascending out of a cocoon. Some see a ghost while others see fog, and on and on. In this sense, Tucker speculates that our deceased loved ones are found where we imagine them to be: in suspended animation, in heaven, in hell, in purgatory, joyful, suffering, reincarnated, or floating about as ghosts in the ether. Similarly, we can easily envision our loved ones in the personas of other people.

Tucker suggests that we can gain much insight into the supernatural if we better learn to access these sorts of sensory portals and communicate with those we find there. This would entail a more permanent connection between our conscious existence and what Carl Jung called the collective unconsciousness, from which emerge our creative impulses, dreams, intuitions, mythologies, and the like. Establishing this connection could open a freeway of information vital to our progression, both individually and as a species.

Most of us spend our entire lives in achieving only the first step, the process Jung called individuation, or what is more widely referred to as gaining awareness, being saved, or finding oneself. However, if we help our children to explore their mental capacities sooner, that is to achieve individuation sooner, they’ll have a much longer opportunity to advance, discover, and expand self-awareness over the course of their lifetimes.

Humans can discern a more proper path forward once they know where they’ve been. Thousands of years of vital human history have elapsed with scant record of its nature, which makes our foundation less solid than it actually could be. A reorientation in human cognizance must occur so that spirituality is treated more reverently and encouraged in every person. Every instance of supernatural phenomenon should be investigated to the fullest extent so that we may begin building the foundations needed for an enhanced understanding of the dimensions within death. Tucker is just beginning this process.

-End-

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I feel grateful to Jim Tucker for sharing these stories with the world and for all the families that shared them with him and Ian Stevenson. The stories in this book have made me feel profoundly different about how I see death and I feel validated in some of the things I have experienced (not past live memories, but events that I felt intuitively were connected to a dead relative).

Tucker is not a skilled or poetic writer, so despite the fascinating subject, there were moments where I had to push through his writing. But that is fine because not everyone needs to be an eloquent writer to write books that are still interesting and worth reading.

Tucker provides at least a couple of cases with solid evidence and facts to back up the claims of children with past lives. I also appreciate how he includes a variety of cases and you begin to see a common pattern in them: that proximity seems to be a factor in death and rebirth; a person that dies in one part of the world is likely to be reborn somewhat in the same geographic location. There also seems to be an element of choice involved. The concept of reincarnation always frightened me a bit… the idea that we get sucked into a new life and family without any choice. But some of the children talked about choosing their parents.

A couple of the stories provide a possible explanation for child geniuses. Particularly the Bobby Jones rebirth case. Tucker brings up a good point that perhaps Mozart and other geniuses could be someone who developed a strong skill in their previous life and are able to carry that into the next. Perhaps polyglots that can speak 10 languages are really old souls that have lived in different parts of the world.

The one part that bothered me in the book was his mention of the research of Helmut Schmidt on the subject of quantum physics. A quick search on this scientist shows that his “experiments on extrasensory perception were widely criticized for machine bias, methodological errors and lack of replication.” And “Critics also noted that necessary precautions were not taken to rule out the possibility of fraud.” (from Wikipedia). Including Helmut Schmidt weakened some of the points that Tucker was trying to make and made me question some of the other things in the book, because I felt like Tucker wasn’t as thorough in his research as he should have been.

I was surprised that Tucker included a chapter on his own theories about consciousness and the “mechanics” of life and rebirth. He makes some large leaps but I did enjoy his theories about how we are all sharing a dream in our waking lives and how there could be other dreams/universes that are completely separate from the one that we are all currently inhabiting.

Overall this is a must read for anybody that has wondered what happens after we die and has an open mind about the possibilities.