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The Search for Yesterday: A Critical Examination of the Evidence for Reincarnation
In this thorough and balanced account, researcher D. Scott Rogo offers a critical and scientific examination of reincarnation. He considers the various forms of past-life recall (dreams, waking visions, déjà vu), the most impressive case studies, and the history of research into reincarnation. He then concludes the book with an examination of explanatory models that can account for the phenomenon. Rogo concludes that some people can indeed tap into the memories of other people, cultures, and places long removed in time, but proposes that the evidence might be pointing to something more complex than our traditional views of reincarnation.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
D. Scott Rogo
55 books15 followersHe wrote or co-wrote 20 books and more than 100 magazine and journal articles, 7 books were reprinted in 2005 by Anomalist Books, Leaving the body was reprinted in 2008 by Simon & Schuster. Rogo was active at the Psychical Research Foundation (formerly at Durham, North Carolina) and at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. The D. Scott Rogo Award was established in 1992 to benefit authors working on manuscripts pertaining to parapsychology.
Born in Los Angeles, California and educated at the University of Cincinnati and San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge; he graduated summa cum laude from the latter institution in 1972. (His B.A. was in music; Rogo played the oboe and the English horn, and for two years played professionally with the San Diego Symphony and other ensembles.) Rogo served as a consulting editor for Fate Magazine for which he wrote a regular column; he advocated greater involvement by both researchers and skeptics in parapsychological research.
Rogo was open minded on the question of survival of consciousness after death, he wrote that he was "favourable to the survival notion" he was however skeptical about some of the phenomena involved in psychical research as he believed they could be psychological experiences. He is most well known for his book written with Raymond Bayless titled Phone Calls From The Dead (1979) in which they describe an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which people report that they receive simple, brief, and usually single-occurrence telephone calls from spirits of deceased relatives, friends, or strangers.
In his book The Haunted Universe (1977) Rogo hypothesized that strange phenomena such as flying saucers and Bigfoot are really psychic projections that are produced by the minds of the observers themselves.
Born in Los Angeles, California and educated at the University of Cincinnati and San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge; he graduated summa cum laude from the latter institution in 1972. (His B.A. was in music; Rogo played the oboe and the English horn, and for two years played professionally with the San Diego Symphony and other ensembles.) Rogo served as a consulting editor for Fate Magazine for which he wrote a regular column; he advocated greater involvement by both researchers and skeptics in parapsychological research.
Rogo was open minded on the question of survival of consciousness after death, he wrote that he was "favourable to the survival notion" he was however skeptical about some of the phenomena involved in psychical research as he believed they could be psychological experiences. He is most well known for his book written with Raymond Bayless titled Phone Calls From The Dead (1979) in which they describe an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which people report that they receive simple, brief, and usually single-occurrence telephone calls from spirits of deceased relatives, friends, or strangers.
In his book The Haunted Universe (1977) Rogo hypothesized that strange phenomena such as flying saucers and Bigfoot are really psychic projections that are produced by the minds of the observers themselves.
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March 25, 2023
A ‘MORE CRITICAL, SOPHISTICATED, SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION’ OF THE EVIDENCE
Author D. Scott Rogo wrote in the Preface to this 1985 book, “Books on reincarnation have been proliferating on the already overcrowded popular occult/psychic market. Although most of them have eagerly attempted to PROVE the case for reincarnation, practically none of them has tried to evaluate this large body of evidence critically… I have designed this book as a more critical, sophisticated, scientific evaluation of the reincarnation riddle. It offers an overview of the many different kinds of evidence that serve to support the ancient doctrine… But this book is meant to do more than merely present all this evidence. Interspersed with these case studies are discussions of various problems and possibilities raised by this material.”
He says of purported accounts of memories of previous lives, “The accurate information contained in such accounts is often mixed with inaccurate or unverifiable information. It is also hard to ascertain what information may already be buried in the mind of someone who suddenly recalls a previous incarnation. We potentially accumulate a huge unconscious reservoir of information through the books we read, movies, we watch, and lectures we hear. These memories may serve as the basis for the phenomenon of past-life recall.” (Pg. 4)
He states, “Cases of spontaneous past-life recall serve only as intimations of reincarnation. They cannot serve as particularly strong evidence of and by themselves. The information contained in these accounts is often too fragmented and/or unverifiable to analyze. A more revealing approach to their reincarnation question would be to track down those lucky individuals who remember a great deal of specific information about their past lives. But do such people even exist? The answer is yes.” (Pg. 41) He then provides some actual cases.
She says of the famous Bridey Murphy case, “Looking back… after close to thirty years, the case still represents an enigma. The problem was that both the believers and the debunkers took an all-or-nothing approach to the mystery it represented. To the press and readers… the case either proved reincarnation or was the product of subconscious fantasy. Few partisans realized that perhaps the case represented a mixture of both elements---a tightly-woven fantasy based on cryptomnesia, role-playing, AND paranormally acquired information.” (Pg. 91)
He asserts, “Those skeptics who wish to reject the evidence for reincarnation take three responsibilities upon themselves. They must first show that the phenomenon of cryptomnesia actually exists. They must then provide that the stories reeled out by hypnotic subjects about their past lives reveal direct evidence of psychodynamic fantasy. And they must show that these fantasies are formulated in conjunction with cryptomnesia.” (Pg. 118)
He acknowledges, “Unfortunately, there are very few cases of past-life recall that include complete language revivications… It would undoubtedly be evidential if some child… could suddenly start speaking a foreign language … linguistically correct as his past-life memories emerged. Such a case would add immensely to the case for reincarnation, because the possibility that a young child … could have accidentally picked up a foreign language unconsciously seems unlikely. But such cases just do not exist.” (Pg. 147)
He state, “Most psychologists and psychiatrists who practice past-life therapy are not really interested in confirming the historical accuracy of their patients’ stories. So from a strictly evidential standpoint, these past-life accounts do not offer very strong support for the reincarnation doctrine. The critical issue at stake is whether reincarnation therapy actually works. There seems to be little doubt that it does, but the reason may be because of simple psychological factors. On the other hand, evidence that our present behavior may reflect responses learned or inherited from a previous life is not nonexistent. Some cures implemented by pat-life therapy are also astonishing enough to keep the issue at least open, but this body of evidence must be considered inferential and cannot serve as direct support for reincarnation.” (Pg. 189)
He summarizes, “Most serious students of the literature would probably agree that the basic manifestation of reincarnation is a real, vital, and psychodynamically active process in the world. The evidence presented in this book, even with all its problems, fully supports the idea that each of us is born with a psychic heritage within our makeup. This heritage sometimes expresses itself through the memories and the adoption of behavioral traits inherited from people who died before our births. What the evidence does not tell us is what mechanism controls this ‘process of inheritance.’ Do we inherit the ‘soul’ of another individual, which expresses itself dynamically … through the formation of our individual personalities and behaviors? Or do we inherit a simple constellation of memories and behavioral dispositions that, while in a sense alien to our individual selves, INFLUENCE us by the very fact of their attachments?” (Pg. 204)
He concludes, “So, in conclusion, do I ‘believe’ in reincarnation? Based on the evidence, I suppose that I should say that I do: but not in the reincarnation of the soul, but in the fact that certain apparently vanished memories and traits of personality CAN actually be born again.” (Pg. 218)
This book will be of keen interest to those seriously studying the evidence for/against reincarnation.”
Author D. Scott Rogo wrote in the Preface to this 1985 book, “Books on reincarnation have been proliferating on the already overcrowded popular occult/psychic market. Although most of them have eagerly attempted to PROVE the case for reincarnation, practically none of them has tried to evaluate this large body of evidence critically… I have designed this book as a more critical, sophisticated, scientific evaluation of the reincarnation riddle. It offers an overview of the many different kinds of evidence that serve to support the ancient doctrine… But this book is meant to do more than merely present all this evidence. Interspersed with these case studies are discussions of various problems and possibilities raised by this material.”
He says of purported accounts of memories of previous lives, “The accurate information contained in such accounts is often mixed with inaccurate or unverifiable information. It is also hard to ascertain what information may already be buried in the mind of someone who suddenly recalls a previous incarnation. We potentially accumulate a huge unconscious reservoir of information through the books we read, movies, we watch, and lectures we hear. These memories may serve as the basis for the phenomenon of past-life recall.” (Pg. 4)
He states, “Cases of spontaneous past-life recall serve only as intimations of reincarnation. They cannot serve as particularly strong evidence of and by themselves. The information contained in these accounts is often too fragmented and/or unverifiable to analyze. A more revealing approach to their reincarnation question would be to track down those lucky individuals who remember a great deal of specific information about their past lives. But do such people even exist? The answer is yes.” (Pg. 41) He then provides some actual cases.
She says of the famous Bridey Murphy case, “Looking back… after close to thirty years, the case still represents an enigma. The problem was that both the believers and the debunkers took an all-or-nothing approach to the mystery it represented. To the press and readers… the case either proved reincarnation or was the product of subconscious fantasy. Few partisans realized that perhaps the case represented a mixture of both elements---a tightly-woven fantasy based on cryptomnesia, role-playing, AND paranormally acquired information.” (Pg. 91)
He asserts, “Those skeptics who wish to reject the evidence for reincarnation take three responsibilities upon themselves. They must first show that the phenomenon of cryptomnesia actually exists. They must then provide that the stories reeled out by hypnotic subjects about their past lives reveal direct evidence of psychodynamic fantasy. And they must show that these fantasies are formulated in conjunction with cryptomnesia.” (Pg. 118)
He acknowledges, “Unfortunately, there are very few cases of past-life recall that include complete language revivications… It would undoubtedly be evidential if some child… could suddenly start speaking a foreign language … linguistically correct as his past-life memories emerged. Such a case would add immensely to the case for reincarnation, because the possibility that a young child … could have accidentally picked up a foreign language unconsciously seems unlikely. But such cases just do not exist.” (Pg. 147)
He state, “Most psychologists and psychiatrists who practice past-life therapy are not really interested in confirming the historical accuracy of their patients’ stories. So from a strictly evidential standpoint, these past-life accounts do not offer very strong support for the reincarnation doctrine. The critical issue at stake is whether reincarnation therapy actually works. There seems to be little doubt that it does, but the reason may be because of simple psychological factors. On the other hand, evidence that our present behavior may reflect responses learned or inherited from a previous life is not nonexistent. Some cures implemented by pat-life therapy are also astonishing enough to keep the issue at least open, but this body of evidence must be considered inferential and cannot serve as direct support for reincarnation.” (Pg. 189)
He summarizes, “Most serious students of the literature would probably agree that the basic manifestation of reincarnation is a real, vital, and psychodynamically active process in the world. The evidence presented in this book, even with all its problems, fully supports the idea that each of us is born with a psychic heritage within our makeup. This heritage sometimes expresses itself through the memories and the adoption of behavioral traits inherited from people who died before our births. What the evidence does not tell us is what mechanism controls this ‘process of inheritance.’ Do we inherit the ‘soul’ of another individual, which expresses itself dynamically … through the formation of our individual personalities and behaviors? Or do we inherit a simple constellation of memories and behavioral dispositions that, while in a sense alien to our individual selves, INFLUENCE us by the very fact of their attachments?” (Pg. 204)
He concludes, “So, in conclusion, do I ‘believe’ in reincarnation? Based on the evidence, I suppose that I should say that I do: but not in the reincarnation of the soul, but in the fact that certain apparently vanished memories and traits of personality CAN actually be born again.” (Pg. 218)
This book will be of keen interest to those seriously studying the evidence for/against reincarnation.”
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