Several books that relate to the topic of the soul, many from a scientific perspective, have found their way into the market in the last couple of years. I've listed a few of them here, and recommend them all for the mind that wishes to enquire further. Several books that relate to the topic of the soul, many from a scientific perspective, have found their way into the market in the last couple of years. I've listed a few of them here, and recommend them all for the mind that wishes to enquire further. Many more books to follow shortly...

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Non-Local Consciousness

	Of the many books dealing with consciousness and its various interaction with the physical world The Conscious Universe (HarperSanFrancisco 1997) by Dean Radin Ph.D. is the most comprehensive and encompassing work. It deals with practically all fields of parapsychology and non-local consciousness, is focussed on research and statistics but also discusses the meaning of it all, as it were. Highly recommended!
	Miracles of the Mind (New World Library 1998) by Russel Targ and Jane Katra, Ph.D. is another excellent book, dealing in great detail with non-local consciousness and healing. Elegantly and accessibly written, though somewhat more anecdotal than The Conscious Universe, it is nonetheless a very professional and respectable work and also comes highly recommended.
	Mind Trek (Hampton Roads Publishing Company 1997) by Joseph McMoneagle deals with his personal experience of remote viewing and related subjects. Contains several examples of Remote Viewing (RV) along with its history and methods and gives you a good idea of what it's all about.
	Margins of Reality (Harcourt Brace 1987) by Robert G. Jahn (Prof. Aerospace Science) and Brenda J. Dunne (manager of PEAR laboratory) deals in great deatail with the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research programme into the interaction between the human mind and physical devices. It is not quite as accessible as the other books listed here, and is recommended to those who really want to understand the phenomena from a more technical and theoretical perspective.
	Cleve Backster's research into primary perception is dealt with in The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tomkins & Christopher O'Bird (HarperCollins 1989) and The secret Life of Cells by Robert B. Stone, Ph.D. (Schiffer Publishing 1989). Unfortunately very little seems to have been written about this fascinating subject, despite extensive research

 

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Near Death Experience Research

Mindsight (The William James Center for Consciousness Studies 1999) by Kenneth Ring M.D. and Sharon Cooper Cooper deals with near death experiences in blind subjects. In most cases studied by the authors some kind of visual aspect existed to the experience, despite the fact that many of the subjects were blind from birth. The phenomenon, as it clearly is not a case of seeing through the eyes, has been named mindsight by the authors. Highly recommended.

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Reincarnation

	The evidence provided in the chapter on reincarnation originates almost entirely from the fascinating book Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect (Praeger Publishers 1997) by Ian Stevenson M.D. The dedication of Stevenson and the scope of his work is impressive, and is a book you'll not want to miss, whether you believe in reincarnation or not. Actually, if you are a sceptic belonging to the latter group, chances are you'll find yourself in the former group after reading Stevenson. Another book you won't regret having read.
	Old Souls - Compelling Evidence from Children Who Remember Past Lives is an account of Stevenson's fieldwork by Tomas Shroder. Contains several specific cases as well as giving a detailed description of Stevenson's mothods, and lends further credability to Stevenson and his associates.

 

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Out of Body Experiences

	Far Journey (Main Street Books 1987) and Ultimate Journey (Main Street Books 1996) by Robert A Monroe, which deal with experiments and experiences of consciousness separated from the body. Eloquently written and thought-provoking, of great philosophical value. Perhaps the first book that made me realise that there is more to consciousness than meets the brain, so to speak.
	If you liked these books, you might also want to check out Cosmic Journeys (Hampton Roads Publishing Company 1999) by Rosalind A. McKnight which has a similar theme, as it deals with the authors experiences over many years at the Monroe Institute.

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Transpersonal Psychology

	Journey of Souls (Llewellyn Worldwide 1994) by Michael Newton, Ph.D. deals with the authors studies of life as a spirit between lives using hypnotism and regression techniques. These cases are particularly compelling as so many subjects report similar experiences as "spirits". The theme is developed further in Destiny of Souls (Llewellyn Worldwide 2000) by the same author. Newton seems to be alone in this highly interesting "between life" field of TP (short for Transpersonal Psychology), but demonstrates impressive scope nonetheless.
	Past life experience and practical use of reincarnation therapy is described in Past Life Recovery (Ashgrove Press Limited 1991) by Ingrid Vallieres. Ranges from theoretical discussions of TP to the reporting of specific cases, and reaches similar conclusions as do most other sources on the phenomena of TP - there is more to us than just the life we are experiencing here and now.
	Only Love Is Real (Warner Books) and Many Lives, Many Masters (Warner Books) by Brian Weiss, M.D. is another excellent example of transpersonal psychology. Well written and engaging, resting on Weiss' personal experience as a therapist, the reader is taken through the past-life experiences of several patients, as well as how these experiences shape the present life. A difficult book to put down (I attest to this myself, almost missed a flight when I started reading the fist book at a friends house in London).
	The Holotropic Mind (HarperSanFrancisco 1993) by Stanislaf Grof, M.D. and Hal Zina Bennett explores the transpersonal theme through other methods than hypnosis. A great introduction to what consciousness is capable of, a real mind-opener, highly recommended.

 

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Biology

	Another interesting publication dealing directly with the evolution of form is A New Science of Life by Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. It created quite a stir in the scientific community, but so far no one appears to actually have proven Sheldrake wrong. Dogs That Know When their Owners Are Coming Home, by the same author, deals with research into non-local consciousness in pets, mainly dogs, cats, horses and birds. A great read, especially if you are convinced that your pet senses stuff before you do, but you've never been able to prove it. Also highly recommended.
	Though perhaps only indirectly related to the issue at hand, professor of microbiology Michael J. Behe's book Darwin's Black Box on the topic of microbiology and the controversy that has risen between this discipline and neo-darwinism is well worth reading, as it suggests a radically different perspective on the evolution of the human form (and all other forms as well).Interesting in that it suggests that one of the foundations of modern scientific thought, evolution, might not be able to explain life as we know it, at least not as completely as its proponents would claim.

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Physics & Cosmology

Several interesting books deal with the fascinating world of sub-atomic physics, the following but a few of those both accessible and worth reading:

	The Dreaming Universe (Touchstone Books 1994) by Fred Alan Wolf Ph.D. is nothing less than a completely new hypothesis as to why we dream.An encompassing work from a gifted author and philosopher that deals with a great many aspects of dreaming, non-local consciousness and quantum axioms. Wolf argues that dreaming is far from the sub-conscious babble of the sleeping mind dealing with the day that has passed, instead we are communicating with the universe at a much deeper level during sleep. Recommended. Read it and sleep.
	The Quantum Self (Flamingo 1991) by Dana Zohar, Ph.D. concerns the sense of self from a quantum perspective. Highly readable and thought provoking, as well as a good introduction to quantum physics. Actually, it contains a few hints on both personality, psychology and consciousness, all that I have found to be quite helpful.
	The Self-Aware Universe (Jeremy T. Tarcher/Putnam 1993) by Amit Goswami, Ph.D. with Richard E. Reed and Maggie Goswami, develops the notion that consciousness rather than matter is the stuff of creation, and also comes highly recommended. I was especially pleased with the authors conclusions as these seem to agree with my own ones described in the final chapters of Beyond Death. At the time of writing the book, I was unaware of how many physicists shared this view, albeit from a theoretical perspective.
	The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot explains the holographical paradigm eloquently. A good introduction to the concept of the hologram, which is being employed as a model for so many systems these days. Talbot uses the hologram to explain the entire universe, and a universe that makes allowances for much of the empirical data reported in, among other places, the books above. Needless to say, it is also recommended.
	Quantum Questions (Shambala 1985) edited by Ken Wilber is a collection of essays from all the great quantum physicists of the last century, dealing with the mystical implications of their discipline, such as the existence of spirit.

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Sceptical Perspectives and Alternative Explanations

Whatever you choose to believe it is always a good policy to challenge your standpoint from the opposite perspective. The following books regard at least some of the evidence presented in Beyond Death and attempt to reconcile it with he reductionist perspecive. Recommended to those readers with a deeper interest in science and its methods of arriving at the ever elusive truth.

	Dying to Live by Susan Blackmore looks at the near-death experience from the reductionst perspective, and concludes that there is nothing in the experience that warrants the survival of the soul, others realms or any aspect to consciousness other than the traditional brain chemistry. Though, as argued in Beyond Death, several cases have been reported since Blackmore's book was published that seem to challenge many of the explanations presented therein, it still warrants serious consideration.
	Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer is a reasonably encompassing introduction to scepticism. Though Shermer does not seem to be very up to date in the field of non-local consciousness and hence quite dismissive of the phenomena, most of the arguments presented are valid to some degree, as they would be in any area of research. A quite invaluable book if you plan to conduct experiments in non-local consciousness by yourself, though.

 

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