Evidence for reincarnation: Ruickbie excerpt #9

Psychologist Leo Ruickbie writes in “The Ghost in the Time Machine,” his 2021 prize winning essay in a competition sponsored by the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies:

Scientific research into the phenomenon was pioneered by Dr. Ian Stevenson, beginning in 1960. He wrote some 300 papers and fourteen books on reincarnation, collecting and investigating some 3,000 cases over forty years.As well as confirming memories of past lives by matching them with facts known about those past lives, he also found evidence of birth marks and defects in supposedly reincarnated people matching injuries received in the previous life (35%).Despite being skeptical in 1972, as noted above, he later said that “I think a rational person, if he wants, can believe in reincarnation on the basis of evidence.”

The two most compelling cases are those of James Leininger and Ryan Hammons. James Leininger (1998– ) started remembering his life as a WWII fighter pilot between ages two and five, firstly by demonstrating an unusual interest in aircraft and level of knowledge beyond his age, and later by mentioning names from his former life that were confirmed. He had been called James, flown a Corsair from a ship called Natoma, had had a friend called Jack Larsen, and was shot down near Iwo Jima – all these details and more were later confirmed. When Ryan Hammons (2005– ) was four, he started remembering details of a life that were finally matched with actor and Hollywood agent Marty Martin (born Morris Kolinsky, 1903–1964). Ryan’s mother contacted researcher Dr. Jim Tucker, who confirmed fifty-five statements concerning Ryan’s former life as Martin, including correcting a mistake on Martin’s death certificate.

As well as statements from people claiming to be reincarnated, there is confirmation from other areas of research. After an NDE about 70% report a belief in reincarnation, against 23% of the general population. It is also more than just belief, people also report NDEs directly relating to reincarnation. In some accounts, people described being told about reincarnation or seeing others waiting to be reincarnated. One NDEr reported a life review that extended into past lives:

My whole life went before me of things I have done and haven’t done, but not just of this one lifetime, but of all the lifetimes. I know for a fact there is reincarnation. This is an absolute. I was shown all those lives and how I had overcome some of the things I had done in other lives.

Even taking into account all of the criticisms of Stevenson’s work, his research and that of others, is overwhelmingly convincing. The implications are clear: reincarnation must mean that consciousness persists after physical death. Having died, a person's consciousness should be a thing of the past. What, then, does that mean about the past? 

 

Leo Ruickbie, “The Ghost in the Time Machine,” his 2021 prize winning essay in a competition sponsored by the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies. Ruickbie teaches psychology at Kings College and the University of Northamptom in the United Kingdom. Footnotes have been deleted from these online excerpts from his essay. The entire essay may be downloaded at the Bigelow site, https://bigelowinstitute.org/contest_winners3.php.