I’ve seen Dopers, time and again, pull off the seemingly impossible, locating old songs, short stories, television episodes, quotation sources, you name it. You’ve even helped me in such a manner a number of times before. Now I need your help again.
In the mid-to-late '80s, I went through a New Age phase. I think it was a fad of popular culture at the time. I had books by the dozens, covering all manner of New Age-related subjects. I even once had a past life regression done for me by a professional psychic. After a span of time, I moved on, but that’s a long story in and of itself. I did learn many things, and read of many other things that made sense. Being young and impressionable, I was following the lead of others in my life at the time. I make no claims for or against any beliefs that may fall under the category of New Age; I certainly do not denigrate those who embrace these beliefs.
Here’s the crux of what I remember about this particular book:
It was about the subject of reincarnation
It may have been titled “We Have Lived Here Before” or “You Have Lived Before” (or something very similar along these lines)
The author’s last name may have been Adams, but this memory is very untrustworthy, I think
This particular book stuck with me, or at least some of its ideas did. In explaining reincarnation and its purpose, it described us (humans) as “sparks struck from God,” separate from him so that we could enjoy his creations. In exploring said creations, we got too close to the physical plane and too far from the plane where God existed. We were stuck as physical beings here on Earth, unable to remember that we were spirits from a higher plane. Those of us not mired in flesh descended close enough to the physical plane to help our comrades ascend without becoming (re)trapped ourselves. These helping spirits could be known as angels, spirit guides, something along those lines.
I don’t remember the exact specifics for the reason(s) behind reincarnation, but in general, it was so that we could become better beings, improving through multiple lifetimes. Eventually, we could free ourselves from the physical plane, but it’s an all or nothing deal: all of us must be freed (no one left behind!) so all of us could again ascend to God’s plane of existence. Those who ascended high enough to no longer be trapped in the physical plane stayed around to help those less advanced.
For all I know, all books on reincarnation are like this, so my vague description above may be of no help whatsoever. Still, I would like, if I can, to re-read this book and re-visit the ideas it presented that have stuck with me, however dimly, through the last 25 years or so.
I have no doubt that my faith in all of you will be proven justified. My only question now is how many minutes it will take to come up with an answer for me. 