Customer Reviews

Life Before Life: Children's Memories of Previous Lives

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In "Life Before Life," Dr. Jim Tucker, successor to Dr. Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia Division of Personality Studies, presents their work in a way that is rigorous enough for the scientific community, and yet readable by the lay audience. Dr. Tucker's approach is disarmingly straightforward, as he rationally examines all sides of the issue. In a non-threatening manner, he presents evidence which, if taken seriously, is inherently radical. Where I would characterize the stance of mainstream science with red flags like "in denial," Dr. Tucker calmly acknowledges that mainstream science is by nature conservative; where I would say something like "reincarnation has been proven, already, let's get on the stick," Dr. Tucker carefully explains what the alternative interpretations are, the extent to which they are plausible, and the extent to which they probably are not.

If it were possible to convince mainstream science with a calm, rational, non-threatening explanation, this book would do it. To borrow from something philosophy professor Dr. Robert Almeder told me when I interviewed him for "In Another Life," if it were possible to calmly and rationally explain to a man that his brother is a murderer, without his going into denial and ridiculing you, then Dr. Tucker is the man who could do it.

In short, the information is here. The work has been done, and the results are in. To use one of Dr. Stevenson's own analogies, the tennis player has hit the winning shot, and it was in-bounds. Now it is up to the scientific community, and the society at large, to come to grips with it. In order to do that, they will have to admit that much of our currently-accepted philosophy is wrong, psychology is wrong, genetics is wrong, and much more. It's like the 75-cent accounting error that leads to the international hackers--if the materialistic view of the world is correct, this research simply shouldn't be there. But it is, and Dr. Tucker is just sitting down with you on a fine Sunday afternoon with a glass of tea, and telling you. (If you don't cup your hands over your ears and say "yah, yah, yah," though, you may spill your tea.)

One of the subtle points that Dr. Tucker makes several times in this book, addresses the various objections to the work that have been put forth by skeptics. He points out that these alternative explanations, what he terms the "normal" explanations, may (if stretching) fit the facts of a particular class of cases, but not all. Another such explanation may fit another class of cases, but again, not all. If the cases are taken as a whole, however, then these explanations aren't adequate. In other words, one has to isolate out a group of cases while deliberately ignoring others, in order to infer that these explanations are reasonable, because the cases one is ignoring would invalidate the explanation. Similarly, Dr. Tucker points out that if there exists an adequate number of extremely strong cases, then by inference, most likely the cases that couldn't be proven so conclusively still have similar characteristics. As an example, if we have quite a few cases in which notes were taken of the child's statements about his past life, showing conclusively that it was not a matter of the two families mis-remembering or exaggerating what the child had remembered; then by inference, the other cases, in which we don't have that conclusive evidence, probably were also not a result of the two families mis-remembering or exaggerating. If your grandfather mysteriously goes outside twice a day, and on three occasions you have hidden behind a bush and have seen him smoking a cigar when he's gone outside, the most logical explanation is that twice a day he sneaks out to smoke a cigar. Dr. Stevenson and colleagues have "caught grandpa" outside smoking the cigar on several occasions, as it were, by obtaining notes taken of the child's statements before the two families had the chance to share information. Therefore the most likely interpretation is that this kind of sharing is not behind most of the reports, even when notes had not been taken beforehand. What the skeptics are doing, is to deliberately set aside the incidents where Grandpa was observed smoking, and then state that the rest is mere speculation. Well, the rest may be speculation to one degree or another--but it most definitely is not mere speculation. And therein lies the logical flaw.

This book contains the gist of over 40 years of work by Dr. Stevenson and colleagues, which is ongoing. They have 2,500 cases, and this book presents some of their strongest, as well as drawing briefly on statistics from large numbers of cases which can be grouped into various categories. It is not a substitute for reading Dr. Stevenson's reports directly, but it is an excellent introduction and a must-read for anyone interested in the field of reincarnation studies, afterlife studies, the mind-body relationship or any aspect of the Dualism vs. Materialism controversy.

Dr. Tucker has produced a sensible, straightforward book packed full of real-life evidence. With an easy narrative, he explains how quantum physics makes the possibilities real. There are more than forty years of research of over 2,500 children, in which Dr. Tucker gleams stories, both coincidental and precise, to support the very possibility of reincarnation. Dr. Tucker was trained as a pediatric psychiatrist and takes a very fresh look at this contentious subject. The book is very pragmatic and scientific in its approach of the subject. Some of the stories will make your hair stand on end, but one gets a real sense that reincarnation is not fantasy, but reality.

Given my Lutheran upbringing, I've always been suspicious of claims of reincarnation. These feelings have been eroded lately with my study of Buddhism and a news report that I saw where a four year old boy clearly demonstrated memories of life as a World War II fighter pilot. As such, I was pleased to find this book. It's not your typical new age psuedo-science hodge-podge of anecdotal accounts, but rather is a legitimate scientific examination of the possibility of reincarnation, explored through children's accounts of past lives, usually starting around the age of 2 or 3 and fading around 7 or 8. Dr. Tucker has documented over 2,500 cases in countries all around the globe. He examines different types of accounts and attempts to address the various explanations for each.

While a book like this could come off about as exciting as reading the Yellow Pages, Dr. Tucker takes care to discuss interesting individual accounts in addition to explaining the results of his studies. If you have an open mind concerning reincarnation, this book will raise your awareness and provide you with the information necessary to develop your own informed opinion.

I am still reading it and have had trouble putting it down! I have many many books on this subject and most just left me feeling emply, needing more. This book is not that way! The people whose stories he write about glues you to the pages and make you reflect before reading on.
This is the kind of book that can change the way we think about living and life in general. The messages are full of hope and give me peace of mind. SO many people THINK they are living but they are just doing that, living, going about daily taskes mindless NOT experiencing the Fullness that life has to offer.
These Stories offered here open not just the heart but the mind as well and MAKE you think about why you are here and how you can improve life for others as well as your own..WELL WORTH THE READ!

I highly recommend this book over any other book on the subject of past lives. Dr. Tucker, who has taken over the practice since the passing of his predecessor Dr. Ian Stevenson began this project, researches and studies subjects using a scientific approach, which few others do such as Carol Bowman, at least she never mentions any in her book but instead just accepts people's claims. Dr. Stevenson's work was brilliant but this book removes the rather dry scientific case study approach and makes it more readable. What makes Tucker's stories amazing is the subjects are children between the ages of about 4 - 7 who remember previous lives that are verifiable because often the previous persons died shortly before these children were born. The studies take these children to villages or to families of the deceased to verify or "solve" the question of whether this person really is the deceased person incarnate. The stories will astound you and have you convinced that we've most likely all been here before and will no doubt be here again.

Dr. Tucker does an amazing job of presenting straight-forward facts. This book is filled with fascinating case histories that have been meticulously documented by Drs. Stevenson and Tucker. They are inexplainable in their detail and are incredibly complex. Dr. Tucker focuses mainly on past-life recall through memories of children, matching birthmarks, facial similarities through face recognition software, and other documentable evidence. It might disappoint some that he stays away from memories from hypnosis, but the book is undeniable in its strong evidence because of his focus.

This review is long overdue... One of the cases in Dr. Tucker's book involves members of my family. I was initially a bit leery about giving Dr. Tucker permission to use our story, even with the aliases. Unfortunately, I have learned from "sharing" that journalists often take liberties with the truth and that skeptics can muster a whole lot of cruel anger. I don't need convincing regarding reincarnation and my mission in life is not to convert doubters, so there was no reason for me to subject myself to another attack of skeptical criticism. Concerns notwithstanding, I like and respect Dr. Tucker immensely and gave him the go-ahead. I was not disappointed. He stuck to the facts while respecting my family's privacy. For that I am deeply appreciative. I am also grateful that Dr. Tucker has written such a wonderfully informative book, one that I am proud to share with my friends and family, both the believers and the cynics.

To someone who has never had any interest or knowledge about reincarnation, this book is a real eye-opener. If even one of the stories could be proven to be real, the cat would be out of the bag. We would all know for sure that SOMETHING happens to us when we die. And some of the evidence Dr Tucker presents is seriously compelling. The book has to be read for this to be understood.
And what makes it even more compelling for me, is that the author never concludes that the evidence proves reincarnation. He keeps his personal opinion away, and allows the reader to make his own conclusions. This is much better than a religious book which rams everything down your throat with a forthright "I must be right" opinion.
Topics regarding reincarnation must remain open to all of us as they simply cannot be proved or disproved. This book is a classic on showing you what's going on out there.

This book takes you methodically through individual cases of early childhood memories of past lives. These cases are thoroughly and professionally documented, researched and objectively judged as plausible or not...all in a scientific manner. More compelling proof that reincarnation exists.

I already think reincarnation in some form is a given, so the parts of the book that ponder other explanations for the research reported in this book didn't interest me that much, but I loved reading the stories and really loved the correlations he conducted. I would have liked more of those - I'm sure that's something that will come in the future. Most important, I think this book demonstrates the positive balance between the scientific model and the psycho-spiritual approach. Neither one approach throwing out the other, but using the best of each to enhance the other. Easy to read and extremely interesting!