Preface

What happens after we die? Oblivion? Eternity in heaven or hell? An infinite reward or punishment for the finite actions of one brief lifetime?

Or is life a school that we attend over and over, learning and growing, receiving an equal and just reward or punishment for our good and bad actions, moving from one grade to the next as we pass through many lifetimes, until we graduate and return to our blissful home in Spirit?

In hope of bringing greater clarity to these questions, and to increase the reader's understanding of how reincarnation and karma work in his or her daily life, I offer this study of one soul's several incarnations. In it, I highlight the connections I perceive between Abraham Lincoln, Charles A. Lindbergh, and the teachings and practices of Himalayan yogis. (The basis for this study is explained in Chapter One.) . . .

A multilifetime study of famous subjects has an advantage in that a wealth of information widens the number and type of connections. By reading the past-life ties between famous people, we can learn more about the connections in our own lives, for the principles of reincarnation, if they exist, must function just the same for famous people as they do for us "average Joe"s.

Readers may experience another benefit from this book, for it indirectly addresses the question: How is greatness achieved? One hears stories of historic figures like Abraham Lincoln and wonders how it is possible to become like them. Part Two [of this book] presents a point-by-point analysis of Lincoln's greatness, and explains how that greatness was gained by a conscious, focused application of spiritual principles in a past life. These principles, listed in this book, are universal and can be adopted by everyone. In fact, even those with no interest in reincarnation can find inspiration and instruction in Part Two.

 

Chapter One: Soul Journey

“Abraham Lincoln [in a past life] had been a yogi in the Himalayas who died with a desire to help bring about racial equality. His birth as Lincoln was for the purpose of fulfilling that desire. He has come back again in [the twentieth] century as Charles Lindbergh.”

This statement was made by Paramhansa Yogananda, a master of yoga and one of the pioneer teachers of meditation in the West (best known for his spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi).

I first read these words in 1977 when they were published in Swami Kriyananda’s autobiography, The Path. Twenty years later they returned to my mind, and I wondered, considering the wealth of historical detail recorded from the lives of Lincoln and Lindbergh, what hard evidence existed to support Yogananda’s words. I felt that my own, extensive study and practice of the teachings of Himalayan yogis would aid my search.

The results of that search are in your hands. In this book I draw hundreds of connections that span every aspect of human individuality, connections that link Abraham Lincoln with Charles Lindbergh and the lifestyle of Himalayan yogis. Not only that, but the connections demonstrate how past lives affect you and me in countless ways on a daily basis, and how we evolve in wisdom as our souls make the journey from lifetime to lifetime.

Was Yogananda right? Was Abraham Lincoln a Himalayan yogi in a past life? And did he return to his beloved America as Charles Lindbergh?

I don’t ask you to accept what Yogananda said at face value. Read this book, weigh the facts, and make your own judgment.

 

                                       

Paramhansa Yogananda