Mystery of Reincarnation: The Evidence & Analysis of Rebirth [Paperback]

J. Allan Danelek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2005

In 1952, an American housewife under hypnosis recalled living a previous life in eighteenth century Ireland as Bridey Murphy. Examining this case from viewpoints of science, religion, psychology, and logic, J. Allan Danelek helps readers understand the controversial issue of reincarnation from all sides. He takes a discerning look at past life regression, scientific explanations, common religious/philosophical objections, and reincarnationist concepts in Gnostic Christianity. Danelek also poses theories that explain the mechanical process and purpose of rebirth.

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About the Author

A native Minnesotan who currently resides in Colorado, Jeff Allen Danelek has been working as a graphic artist and technical illustrator since leaving the Navy in 1984. While he has been writing as a hobby for fifteen years, it is only in the last few years that he began pursuing it as a full-time vocation. Besides writing, his hobbies include military history, religion and spirituality, numismatics (coin collecting), general science and things like Bigfoot and other mysterious beasties, Atlantis, UFO’s and anything that goes bump in the night. An avid reader and careful researcher, he enjoys presenting alternative theories on increasingly popular subjects dealing with the strange and inexplicable world around us.

Danelek is regularly featured at seminars and conferences around the country, speaking on the topics of ghosts, reincarnation and UFOs. He has been published in FATE magazine and has been a frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and the X-Zone with Rob McConnell. He has also been a guest on Dreamland with Whitley Strieber, the Hilly Rose show, Erskine Overnight, and many popular podcasts. His books include The Case for Ghosts, Atlantis: Lessons from a Prehistoric Civilization, and UFOs: The Great Debate. His latest book is 2012: Extinction or Utopia. Danelek is also a novelist and instructor at Colorado Free University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (May 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073870704X
• ISBN-13: 978-0738707044
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,273,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reincarnation Primer, Plus..., March 11, 2006

By 

Victor E. Smith (Boulder CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mystery of Reincarnation: The Evidence & Analysis of Rebirth (Paperback)

"What's the big brouhaha about reincarnation and what does it have to do with me?" If, as a novice to the subject, you are asking some such question with a bit of healthy curiosity, then J. Allan Danelek's MYSTERY OF REINCARNATION will suit your needs admirably. His matter-of-fact approach to this difficult topic-known to provoke emotions like those sparked by a discussion, say, of abortion-disarms the defenses, pro or con, and allows the reader to reason through both sides of the historical, physical, social, psychological, ethical, and religious evidence and draw his own conclusion.

Still, the author's tone is conversational and personal throughout the book, nothing pedantic about it. He announces his bias in favor of reincarnation upfront, and, though somewhat abashed, he dares to share a personal story, one that led him to deduce that he was a German soldier during World War II his last time around.

While the first of the book's two parts, "Weighing the Evidence," will be old hat to reincarnation studies' veterans, it starts, properly for the novice, with the Bridey Murphy story, the first case for reincarnation subjected to rigorous forensic examination. The other detailed case study presented, that of "James, the Submarine Man," an individual who "discovered" through hypnotic regression that he had died during the sinking of the USS Shark in 1942, is not only an intriguing story in itself, but also its presentation is an excellent demonstration of the necessary and difficult analysis required to prove or disprove a prior existence as a specific individual.

In the first section, also, is a chapter entitled "A Very Brief History Lesson," and, regarding reincarnation, it is just that-brief. Again, it gives a novice the overview, although it might have been backed up with a more extensive bibliography. One who gets hooked on the study from this book should be aware that much further research will be required-and credit the author, he makes this point in the introduction, "This is a reincarnation `primer' if you will; designed not to provide a complete and comprehensive understanding of the subject...but instead provide a base for intelligent discussion."

But it is in Part II, "The Mechanics of Reincarnation," in my opinion, that Danelek hits a stride vigorous enough to engage the veteran also. Here he offers thought-provoking views about how reincarnation might actually work, why we reincarnate, how beings relate to each other across lifetimes, and how we might have a choice in the form and frequency of rebirth. His chapter, "A New Perspective on Karma," as applied to reincarnation, is indeed innovative, inviting a fresh look at this ancient concept, which, in New Age speak, has become the hackneyed answer for everything that is not right with us.

We live in an era where it is fashionable to tout ourselves as independent thinkers. Yet, we as a nation can be led into mischief, even cruel wars, on the mere word of authorities when a few probing questions beforehand might have proved their case faulty. THE MYSTERY OF REINCARNATION, in a gentle voice, asks hard questions-"What happens to us when we die?" is its opening line-and suggests an hypothesis-reincarnation-previously suppressed by the authorities here in the West for reasons dogmatic and political rather than scientific, psychological, moral or spiritual. Danelek's book is a brave but courteous invitation to lift the lid on this mystery box that has long been in our midst, a chest that might just contain the treasure of our own immortality, or at least strong clues to such a possibility. A "must read" for novices and a pleasant refresher on the big picture, plus some, for adepts.