Frequently Asked Questions,

As answered by Richard Salva,

author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh

Where did you get the idea for Soul Journey?

I first read Yogananda’s statement—that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life, and that he was reborn as Charles Lindbergh—in Swami Kriyananda’s autobiography, The Path, during the mid-1970s. Then, in 1996 I was on a plane flight and praying for inspiration for a new writing project. Within seconds the idea for this book came to me, along with a powerful feeling of guidance and inspiration.

How long did it take to write?

At first I thought it might take two years, but it ended up being more like eight because of many rewrites and different versions. I often tell people I believe in reincarnation because Soul Journey has had many incarnations.

Soul Journey is based on a statement by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Who was Yogananda, and why should we pay any particular attention to what he said?

Paramhansa Yogananda wrote the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi. He was a great master of yoga, an enlightened sage. Yogananda was like Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, who told his disciple Arjuna that he knew all of their many incarnations. The idea is that spiritually advanced souls know these things, and as we advance, we will too.

Yogananda knew things most people couldn’t possibly know. He told his disciples: "I know every thought you think,” and proved it to them again and again. There are many stories demonstrating Yogananda’s remarkable inner knowledge in Kriyananda’s book, The Path.

Once someone sent Yogananda an unsigned letter criticizing the yogi for “promoting Jesus in the West.” The letter writer asserted that Christ was a myth. Sometime later, Yogananda saw a man in a public library and sat next to him.

“Why did you write me that letter?” he inquired. The man almost jumped. “What letter?” “The one in which you claimed that Christ was a myth.”

“How could you possibly know I wrote you that?” the man asked, astounded. “I have my ways,” Yogananda replied, “and I want you to know that the same power that led me to you also lets me know that Jesus did live, and that he was just what the Bible claims he was: a great master, a true Christ.”

Since Yogananda made this statement about these two famous men, I thought it worth investigating. I was overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of connections I found between Lincoln, Lindbergh, and the ancient spiritual science of yoga.

Did anything unusual happen while you were researching this book?

Probably the most amazing thing was a continuous experience of guidance in my research. I would see a book, pick it off the shelf, open it, and find just what I was looking for on the page I had opened to. This happened many times.

Did you visit any places made famous by their association with

Lincoln or Lindbergh?

Yes, I visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Ford’s Theater, the Mall, and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and Lincoln’s log cabin home in Kentucky.

Later, I made a special trip where I visited the Lincoln sites in central Illinois—the Lincoln family home, the Lincoln-Herndon law office, the Lincoln Train Depot, and the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, and the Lincoln Historic Site in New Salem, where he lived as a young adult. The next day, I flew to Minnesota and visited Lindbergh’s childhood home in Little Falls.

What did writing Soul Journey teach you about reincarnation?

A lot! For twenty years before writing Soul Journey I had believed in reincarnation and had had some experiences of my own past lives; but seeing the many connections between Lincoln and Lindbergh made me realize how much reincarnation and past lives affect me on a daily basis. Others have told me that, while reading Soul Journey, they had come to the same understanding.

Did Lincoln and Lindbergh really have all that much in common?

(How many connections did you find?)

Well, that’s something that really blew me away while doing this research. At the beginning I thought I might find a few interesting ties, but I found nearly 500 fascinating similarities and connections between Lincoln and Lindbergh, and hundreds of connections between the two men and the teachings and the practice of yoga.

To order Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh, AND RECEIVE A FREE PAST-LIFE READING THROUGH NUMEROLOGY, click here

Could these connections be chalked up to coincidence?

Only a few of the connections I found were coincidental (such as Lindbergh being toasted by the British media in the Abraham Lincoln room of London’s Savoy Hotel). Most were in-depth; and they covered every aspect of the human condition: from the physical to the mental, emotional, spiritual, and interpersonal. Many of these shared traits were subconscious habits, like pursing the lower lip or keeping one’s cards close to one’s chest.

Also, I didn’t include in Soul Journey all the connections I found. I left out things that didn’t seem to fit the book, or were too similar to something else I had included. I tried to put the best in, but I left out a lot.

Anyone reading Soul Journey who is open to the possibility of reincarnation will get a strong impression of connection between the two men; but my impression of the Lincoln/Lindbergh connection, after working on this book and knowing all that I left out, is stronger.

You say this book “offers a vicarious experience of reincarnation.” What do you mean by that?

People tell me that, while reading Soul Journey, they really get a sense of how reincarnation and karma work. They become more aware of their past lives and how those lives affect this one. It’s almost a day-by-day chronicle of how past lives impact one’s current life, as seen through the life experiences of two famous Americans.

What is karma?

And did you see any evidence of it while comparing the lives of

Lincoln and Lindbergh?

People mistakenly think karma means “punishment,” but karma means simply “action”. It’s the spiritual equivalent of Newton’s 3rd law of motion: “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.’ It’s an impersonal law, a spiritual teaching tool that governs our experience of life.

I found a number of examples of the karmic law at work: Lincoln avoiding visiting his father when his father was dying, and Lindbergh not being able to see his dad right before he died; Lincoln helping generals during the Civil War and generals aiding Lindbergh during World War II; there are many such instances in Soul Journey.

Do you think any of Lincoln’s loved ones were reincarnated in Lindbergh’s family? (For instance, did Lincoln and Lindbergh marry the same woman?)

At first I wondered whether both men had married the same woman. But just as I was about to compare Mary Todd Lincoln with Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a friend suggested another possibility—that Lincoln’s legendary first love, Ann Rutledge, had reincarnated as Anne Morrow.

I think my friend was right. The two wives’ personalities were too different: Mary was subject to intense emotional extremes and Anne wasn’t. Mary vented her pains outwardly, while Anne held her feelings in. Mary tried to mold Abe much more than Anne ever did Charles. Etc.

(There were some superficial similarities between the two wives, which I believe had to do with Lincoln/Lindbergh’s personal preference in women: both wives came from prominent families; both had secondary schooling; both spoke French, etc.)

On the other hand, the Two Ann[e]s did have similar personalities: both were sweet, almost angelic. Furthermore, they had other characteristics in common, which are listed in Soul Journey.

To me it was curious that, although we didn’t have that much information on Ann Rutledge, pretty much all of what we do have matches what we know about Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

If the premise of your book is true, then why, in your opinion, did Lincoln reincarnate as Lindbergh?

Abraham Lincoln died almost immediately after his great work of holding the country together during the Civil War and freeing the slaves. He therefore received very little reward for his titanic efforts, and died with a huge “payment due” stamped on forehead.

Charles Lindbergh, at a very young age, reaped everything that was due Lincoln: fame, universal adoration and respect, financial stability, etc.

You wrote that “Lindbergh was Lincoln on vacation.” What do you mean by that?

Lincoln’s life was very structured. He deserved a vacation at the end, but was killed at the end of his great work. Lindbergh, from early in his life, did exactly what he wanted to do. Even his career in aviation was a natural extension of several of Abraham Lincoln’s personal interests (mechanics and transportation).

To order Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh, AND RECEIVE A FREE PAST-LIFE READING THROUGH NUMEROLOGY, click here

Are there any correlations between the famous Lindbergh kidnapping and the life of Lincoln?

It’s interesting that both men lost male sons while centered in public eye. Lincoln, while president, lost his son Willie to typhoid; and Lindbergh, soon after his famous flight to Paris, lost his firstborn son, who was killed while being kidnapped.

There are other correlations related to the kidnapping in the pages of Soul Journey.

Yogananda said that Lincoln had been an advanced Himalayan yogi in a past life. Are there any signs of that in the lives of Lincoln and Lindbergh?

Yes. In fact, the whole second half of my book is a study of the evidence in the words and habitual actions of both men of a past-life immersion in the study and practice of the higher teachings of yoga—starting with the central path of yoga—The Yoga Sutras and Eightfold Path of Yoga taught by Patanjali, a great sage of ancient India—and following with the branch paths of yoga and other esoteric Hindu teachings.

Did Lindbergh show any signs of having been a

president in his past life?

Oh, yes! 

Lindbergh had a presidential way of looking at the world; he argued with people from other countries as if he represented America; he happily turned his international visits into unofficial U.S. goodwill missions; he had strong views of where America should be headed, politically.

He also magnetized the trappings of the presidency around him during his lifetime: he crossed the Atlantic in the U.S. flagship after his Paris flight; he inspected troops, ships, planes, and armaments as if he were commander in chief; the Star-Spangled Banner was often played when he entered a room; the American flag was often displayed before where he sat. There’s more in Soul Journey.

How about signs of being a lawyer?

(Before being elected president, Lincoln was an attorney.)

That, too.

In personal disagreements, Lindbergh argued just like lawyer Lincoln. Also, when in court, Lindbergh projected a remarkable self-confidence and authority.

Does your book explain why Lindbergh fought against

America’s entry into WW II?

I believe so.

At first, I couldn’t understand why someone would fight against a righteous war (WW II) after having promoted one in his last lifetime (the Civil War). Then I studied how the Civil War had affected Lincoln, and suddenly all of Lindbergh’s anti-war activities made perfect sense.

There is much more about this, including many more detailed connections, in Soul Journey.

Some believe that Lindbergh was an anti-Semite.

How could Abraham Lincoln reincarnate as someone like that?

This question is related to the previous one, because the main reason people wonder whether Lindbergh had been anti-Semitic has to do with something he said during an anti-war speech.

I wondered about this conundrum too, when working on my book. However, when I studied the histories, I found that all the questionable moments in Lindbergh’s life were connected with something in Lincoln’s life, and apparently explained by those connections.

Furthermore, this is a spiritual and moral question, and the second half of my book demonstrates that—perhaps surprising to many—Lindbergh matched Lincoln almost perfectly in daily, habitual, spiritual and moral traits and actions.

What about the connections between Lincoln and JFK?

Some believe these connections point to reincarnation.

There were some interesting similarities between Lincoln and JFK, mostly surrounding their assassinations. But the argument for Lindbergh is much stronger than the one for JFK.

For one thing, from what I have read, the connections between Lincoln and JFK number somewhere between 35 and 50. And most of these connections were circumstantial and seem coincidental. Examples: That both men's assassins had the same number of letters in their names. Or, that one assassin fled from a theater to a warehouse (Booth), while the other fled from a warehouse to a theater (Oswald). And so on.

Another point is that JFK didn't really resemble Lincoln in body or personality, whereas Lindbergh, as I show in my book, was such a close match.

Also--and this is an important point--I just don't believe that Abraham Lincoln, with all the good things he did in his life, with all the ways he helped this country, would have the negative karma to be assassinated again.

It is true that we learn by going through the same or similar experiences in multiple lifetimes. But what can one learn from being assassinated from behind? You are shot, you lose consciousness, and within a short period of time, you leave your body. In this scenario, one doesn't have time to learn anything. One scarcely knows that something has happened.

I think the Lincoln / JFK connections point to a national karma, not a personal one.

Is your book a “proof” of reincarnation?

The spiritual transcends the physical. It may manifest through the physical world, but it can never be defined by it.

I therefore don’t believe it is possible to present definitive, conclusive proof of a spiritual reality in the material world.

But I think Soul Journey comes awfully close!

Here we have a statement of a famous case of reincarnation made by a great man of God, and when we look closely into the details of the lives of these two men, we find hundreds of significant connections between them.

At the very least, this is remarkable and should give us food for thought.

To order Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh, AND RECEIVE A FREE PAST-LIFE READING THROUGH NUMEROLOGY, click here