Agreement Among Sources on Nine Spiritual Hypotheses

Following are results for nine hypotheses that were tested using seven of the sources I presented on 15 Feb. 2009: Abraham, The Guides, The Lightspeakers, Edgar Cayce, Graybar, Neal Donald Walsch's Home with God, and Michael Newton. For some of the hypotheses, I did not find information from each source; also sometimes I only gave partial agreement because there was some ambiguity.

1. Souls can choose to experience alternative versions of a given life. Neal Donald Walsch describes this in some depth; not the same as the existence/creation of parallel universes from human-soul choices. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 4.

2. Souls (as humans) can change their experience of the past through the work they do to change their consciousness. Examples are forgiveness work. The above (#1) is a soul level option that is also about changing the past. Good agreement; score 4 of 6.

3. The creative process: it is initiated with thought and powered with feeling. Abraham describes how the contrasts of the physical world’s experiences fuels desire which is the first step in creation. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.

4. Death transition is a multi-stage process that starts (stage 1) with the soul leaving its human body. Subsequent stages include (stage 2) creating an experience of existence that is primarily based on the consciousness at death. It can be very earth based; what will be missing is the real physical experience. It can also include the presence of spiritual beings from the human’s religious orientation; e.g., seeing Jesus or Mohammad. Eventually, the soul consciousness will unite with itself and experience the spiritual realm without the consciousness constraints of the just departed human life. High agreement: score 4.5 of 5.

5. Guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God. Very high agreement; score 6.5 of 7.

6. God (or other names such as God Force, Source, and the Light) is the as basic energy in all and behind all life, and all life consists of energy expressing itself in a physical form. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.

7. Human and other earth life forms have evolved with the assistance and guidance of souls (intelligent design). It is a process with souls manipulating the elementary aspects of life (e.g., DNA). High agreement; score 4 of 4.

8. Karma is not a rigid process required for soul evolution. Souls don’t have to cleanse or work off all the negativity created in their last life in subsequent lives. Souls can do much if not most of their work in the spiritual realm. [Note: there is indication that “younger” souls are caught up more in the Karmic process.] Very high agreement; score 5 of 6 [only claimed partial agreement for two of the sources].

9. Love, kindness and compassion (or empathy) are important human expressions for the soul’s development. These are the natural way for souls to interact with each others since all are from the same Source. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 5. [Abraham did not agree with this at all.]

Copyright by Douglas Kinney

Primary Sources for Information on Reincarnation, Soul, and Nature of Spiritual Realm

Following are the key sources I have discovered and have been using to develop my “evidence” for Reincarnation, the Soul, Nature of Spiritual Realm, and Universe.

1. Newton and “Life between Life Regression” books. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post.

2. Ron Scolastico, channel for The Guides. Key book: The Earth Adventure: Your Soul’s Journey through Physical Reality, Universal Guidance Press. Other books: Healing the Heart, Healing the Body; Doorway to the Soul; and Reflections. Subject specific (e.g., Reincarnation) and monthly audio CDs/tapes (plus newsletter) with answers to questions. See www.ronscolastico.com.

3. Abraham-Hicks channeling material. Key books I have used to date: Hicks, Esther, Ask and It is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires, Hay House (2004), The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing, Hay House (2006). Monthly audio CDs with highlight of a workshop. Also see web site: www.abraham-hicks.com.

4. Christie Pennington channel for “The Lightspeakers” (previously The Messengers). Christie posts a monthly letter on her site. I also have a series of research audio tapes where I asked The Lightspeakers/Messengers questions on a series of research topics and one tape with the results of interviewing them on my initial list of hypotheses. In a later posting I will provide some of the dialogue. See web site: www.thelightspeakers.com.

5. The Seth material. This material was channel by Jane Roberts in the 1970s. Key books I have studied are: (1) Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul and (2) The Nature of Personal Reality. Another channel (Veronica) said the following about the Seth material: … find the Seth Books to be the best and most complete collection of metaphysical material ever published. Several web sites provide introductory information on the Seth material: http://www.secretoflife.com/seth/ and http://www.sethlearningcenter.org/

5., Neale Donald Walsch’s book Home with God: in a Life that Never Ends, Atria Books (2006). Known for his “Converstions with God” books, “God” in this book provides some wonderful metaphors and other approaches to help Walsch understand the nature of non-time in the spiritual realm, how the transition occur between earth and spiritual realm occurs, key choices we have at the transition, how we have multiple opportunities to live out our life, and others. This is can probably be considered channeling information. In this book "God" actually tells Walsch that it is his higher self who is speaking to him. www.nealedonaldwalsch.com.

6. Charles Graybar. www.beyondthebrokengate.com. Beyond the Broken Gate: an Ordinary Man’s Extraordinary Journey in Learning Who We Are, Why We Live, and Where We’re Going, Serenity Hill Press, Inc. (2003) This book chronicles Graybar’s powerful experiences in the spiritual realm with his guides. The information illustrates the role spiritual guides can play and provides detailed information on soul, soul’s journey, karma, our source, etc. As a class this would probably be considered information created from a self hypnosis state. Graybar describes using a special meditation technique to contacts his guides. Since Graybar had these experiences as a human, he is able to “come back” and describe his many non-human experiences in human language terms we can understand.

7. Children who Remember material. The book I read was Tucker, Jim B., Life Before Life, St. Martin’s Press (2005). It includes many references including the classical by his mentor Ian Stevenson, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation. (rev. ed.). McFarland, 2001. This material provides a different source of evidence: an earth-based one where information is provided in human testimony and physical evidence (scars and birthmarks). Doctors at the University of Virginia Medical Center, beginning with Dr. Ian Stevenson, have conducted research into young children’s reports of past-life memories. http://www.lifebeforelife.com/ and http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/

8. Edgar Cayce’s material. There are a large number of books on Cayce and the information he provided. I have primarily used: (1) Kevin Todeschi, Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records, ARE Press (1998); (2) Henry Reed, Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self, Warner Books (1989); and (3) Noel Langley, Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation, Warner Book (1967). The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) web site contains references to many other Cayce sources, including transcripts of his sessions with clients. http://www.edgarcayce.org/

9. Dr. Helen Wambach collected statistical data on past life and life between life experences in following books: Helen Wambach: (1) Reliving Past Lives, (2) Life Before Life (both Bantam Book, 1979).

I only included “Life Between Life” regression information from Dr. Newton, but there are many other investigators doing “Life Between Life” hypnosis research. Books by several other prominent ones I read are:
1. Brian L. Wess: Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love (2001); Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy (2005); Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives (1988).
2. Joel Whitten: Life Between Life (with Joe Fisher)
3. Helen Wambach’s Life Before Life (Bantam Book, 1979)

There is a number of quality channeling sources currently available to us. I have concentrated on Scolastico’s The Guides, Abraham-Hicks, and The Lightspeakers by Pennington because of the following: (1) I found them all to be “quality” channels and (2) their works were accessibility for me. Relative to accessibility: For Abraham I could attend workshops and discuss their information with a friend who has followed them for 10 years. For The Guides, I have good friends who have known Ron Scolastico since they were together 30 years ago in an Iowa University graduate program. It was during this period Ron became a channel, and my friends have been following his channeling information for the whole time. For The Lightspeakers, their channel, Christie Pennington, is member of local spiritual group I am in and also a friend. I had easy access to her and was able to “interview” her source many times.

Recently I have been studying several of the Delores Cannon books and the Kryon material. I would appreciate other recommendations from readers.

Copyright by Douglas Kinney

Scientific Method, Concept of Evidence, and Evidence of an Afterlife

The issue of evidence is always present when writing and talking about reincarnation and the soul. Today I will explore this. As a man trained in science and engineering, I am acquainted with the scientific method: the dominant method for proving “truths” in our world. It works well for the physical sciences and only so-so for the medical sciences. Here is a brief summary of the scientific method (from Wikipedia (2-14-09).

Scientific method refers to bodies of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. … Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results.

An implicit assumption relative to the empirical and measurable element in almost all scientific investigations is that the observing does not affect the experiment. In human and social behavior it is difficult to achieve this condition because we as human are influenced by our beliefs: if you believe something, you will tend to “see” or “find” evidence supporting the belief. This is very prominent in “scientific” tests of how well a new drug works to “cure” particular physical symptoms. Because of the power of human beliefs, medical researchers have to use “double-blind” methods where one group of research subjects is given the new drug and the second is given a “placebo” (a benign substance/technique that is said to be the drug). In the “double-blind” approach, both the subject and the medical person dispensing the drug believe that it is the real thing. I remember reading a medical research critique on the use of angiogram to improve symptoms of heart discomfort. With the actual angiogram use, 50% of the patients “felt” an improvement in their conditions. Interestingly, 40% of those given the placebo “felt” an improvement. Not much different.

So, what does that have to do with evidence for reincarnation and the soul? It means those of us who believe will find evidence to support our position and those who don’t believe will find the opposite. We are already predisposed to an answer. What can be done with this situation?

My efforts to close this divide have focused on creating “good” information that can be considered as evidence. For this I am using two filters: (1) limiting information to that from “quality” sources that provide a “density of information [evidence] and (2) checking for repeatability and predictability. I have been working with these two filters for some time. Let me focus on the quality and density of evidence filter first. In practice I have put these two together in selecting information sources and gathering evidence: I am only using sources that can provide a large quantity of “quality” information on the subject. Density means that the source has all or most of the following: book(s) covering many aspects/experiences relative to the subject, active website with significant information, and other sources (e.g., academic research paper, magazine article, and audio readings for channeling source).

My quality filter is an integrative, time moving filter that gets feedback from checks on the repeatability, or consistency, of information from the different sources. That is, I have a moving and expanding set of what I consider to be supportable information on the subject. In my next Blog I will summarize my top sources that I have been using. Any new source added to provide evidence for my database must have significant overlap with what I currently have as valid or open hypotheses.

For repeatability and predictability, I have adapted key criteria from the scientific method. My key criteria are:
• Repeatability. We must have the same information from more than one source: a minimum of at least three or four and desirably eight to ten. With this test, I have been able to build up a body of reliable information in which I have good confidence.
• Prediction. The information must be valid: consistent with other sources of spiritually related information that have demonstrated repeatability.

My current focus has been limited to the repeatability criteria. Using it I have created a set of hypotheses that I have “tested” out with my quality sources. Let me give an example. My hypothesis was the following: “Spiritual guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self (their full soul) are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God.”
When I initially tested this in the fall of 2006, I had eight quality sources. I found information in all of the sources that agreed with my hypothesis, though in one of the sources there was some confusion as to whether it as the soul’s higher self, God or both. With seven to eight positive responses there is enough information to perform a statistical test for significance on this hypothesis.

I have not been able to follow up yet on the prediction criteria. An example of applying this would be to take hypotheses on the nature of the death transition that passed my repeatability test and see if it is consistent with the vast literature on near-death experiences that have been studied in great depth by many medical doctors. Another example is the literature on memories of children of their previous lives that could be “verified” because key family members are still living. These have been studied in great depth by many trained observers (e.g., psychiatrists). There might be a hypothesis that could be tested here.

Copywright by Douglas Kinney