Your Soul's Plan (Book)

What can I say in description of a book that has had more healing impact in my life than any I have read in a lifetime of 62 years? As a lifetime professional counselor, I have read and studied many books focused on the prospect of healing, but Robert Schwartz's Your Soul's Plan brought the events of my life more into focus than any I have read. I say this, not only as a healer, but also as a Vietnam Veteran, ex-helicopter ambulance pilot with a lifetime of challenge to overcome my own legacy of suffering. Arranged in a series of case histories, tied together by the theme that there is an overarching life plan, planned pre-birth at a soul-level, we are made aware of how our own lives can fit the pattern he describes. With almost a hundred reviews here, I'll not go into repetition of the details so well described already. There are some things I would like to add. For those of a skeptical scientific or conventional religious bent, the gentle narrative approach of Schwartz's writing will help you explore ideas that may seem unfamiliar or threatening to you. The consistencies in his discoveries that support his theme are particularly interesting. In my line of work, we might say that - while this may not be "good science" at this point, his discoveries have clinical validity when explored at the level he follows. My own life experiences and observations allow me to be open to the validity of psychic investigation, when it is genuine. Schwartz seems to have put together a good team of psychics to pursue his study. Obviously, it is difficult to establish validation, except on a personal level - but each of us ultimately can only establish truth on a personal level. Consensus and belief about truth can only take us so far. What I find fascinating is how Schwartz is able to attain consistencies in details about each case he studies, when going from one psychic to another, without communication between the psychics. When one psychic reading of a person corroborates another of the same person, often elaborating or picking up where the other left off, even a skeptic would be hard-put to deny the significance! Such consistency in detail cannot just be made up! Beyond the attribution of clinical validity, where the person recognizes the healing/illuminating effect in his/her life, we now begin to approach the groundwork for scientific study. Most of all, though, is the warmth and gentle compassion that Schwartz brings through in his work - done in a way that opens the reader to one of the most powerful insights we could have: that a Higher Power endlessly works through us, in total love and compassion, with an endless agenda to help us grow through the endless adventure we call life. Beyond being helpless victims of fate, we need only take responsibility for finding meaning in our experiences and for our endless God-given potential.

Robert Schwartz has written an exceptional book. It provides insight on why bad things happen to good people. It is a book filled with fascinating information. I read it slowly because I had to stop, think, and digest impressions while I had an Ah Ha experience. I underlined about half of the book since I thought the ideas were so exceptional and important and I wanted to understand/remember them. On divorce Schwartz writes: "We often plan to be friends or even spouses with other people for finite periods of time. Since we have no memory of these agreements, we may view the end of a friendship or marriage as a negative event. It is not. We part ways with others when we have completed our plans with them." Schwartz is referring to what he calls pre-birth planning where everyone plans their lives here on earth. Schwartz relates stories about people with a physical illness, parenting a handicapped child, deafness and blindness, drug addiction and alcoholism, death of a loved one and accidents to make his points. He makes his philosphy and ideas come alive with truth and sensibility. If you have ever had a physical illness, lost a loved one, or had an accident this is a must read. If you want to understand the meaning of any of your life challenges this is the book for you. I would consider this a must read for everyone - no matter your faith.

There are no "accidents"! If you have been led to finding out about this book as I was, do yourself the favor of buying it. It has helped me understand so much. I had already had exposure to many of the ideas and concepts in the book, but the way that they are presented is truly unique and enabled me to see my own lessons when reading through the interviews. Thank you, Robert!

If you truly want a shift in your perceptions, read this book. If you truly want to move away from judging others, read this book. If you want a soothing balm for your weary soul, this will sooth and rejuvenate. It is beautifully written, thought provoking, profound and moving. It spoke to me at just the right time in just the right way and I will never forget what Mr. Schwartz has laid out so amazingly on these pages. I have honestly never read anything like it, the only other comparison I have run across are Dr. Newton's books on this subject. This one is put together in an altogether more approacable way. WHAT IF this is all true, WHAT IF these are the explanations that have so defied our LOGICAL reasoning of human behavior since the beginning of time - why else all the suffering and pain? WHAT IF this beautiful, perfectly orchestrated scenario where EVERYTHING has a purpose, no matter how it looks on the "outside" were in fact, the true reality. Just for the mere fact of expanding your awareness, shifting your perspective if only a tiny bit - this book would be well worth the money spent. The ideas contained within it's pages are enough to actually change the world, and I don't say that lightly. If we all REALLY understood that we all came from the same loving source, are made up of the exact same powerful energy, will return to the same source and we are only here to learn love in all of it's wonderful manifestations, where would all the hate, fear, anger, jealousy fit it. It wouldn't. I submit to you, one day this book will be on every table in every home, it might be a 100 years or so, but one day !!!

Robert Schwartz is an eloquent spokesman for his explorations in the realm few of us have even considered, much less explored fully: the concept of pre-birth planning as a convention of souls who make decisions about incarnation - place, time, circumstances, and challenges - that will heighten the overall improvement of not only their repeated growth in the process of rebirth but also the gift to the betterment of mankind. Schwartz' manner of writing is so tender and so lacking in preaching that he gradually draws the reader into his realm of thinking in a way that allows us to suspend any doubt or prejudice we may have about spirituality or after life or universal karma. He uses conversations with people who share their experiences of living with such 'handicaps' as physical illness, parenting handicapped children, deafness and blindness, drug addiction and alcoholism, accidents, death of a loved one and alters the word 'handicapped' to 'challenges'; 'Challenges are mirrors that reflect to us our feelings about ourselves. In that sense, they are gifts. Wisdom allows us to recognize them as such.' In addition to discussing the above challenges with particular people who have them, Schwartz introduces us to mediums and channelers who channel the souls of the people we meet, allowing Schwartz to relay to us the conversations between the spiritual world and the physical world. In this very quiet manner Schwartz offers an explanation as to why 'untoward events' happen: his conversations with the various people he shares (for instance the autistic child or the parent of that child) allow us to consider that these choices are made in the spirit world prior to our birth and that these challenges offer the opportunity to separate the physical self-centered being from the choice to make the situations examples of growth, and of revealing love to those around us. Schwartz takes no credit for the information he presents in this book. His drive is to open doors to us the readers to consider his findings and philosophy as a means to learning more about how life and the spiritual world are enmeshed. 'I have learned from the wise nonphysical beings with whom I have spoken...Through them I now understand the immense power of this most elemental truth: that we are not our bodies...If you also know that you planned your disability, that it indeed has a deep significance, then your life may become a quest to uncover that meaning. Suffering is lightened, emptiness replaced with purpose.' Writers such as Robert Schwartz challenge our inside the box thinking, encouraging us to suspend prejudice and the state of being uninformed to enter the arena of growing spiritually. The beauty of this enormously moving book lies in the simplicity of the style Schwartz has chosen to communicate. This is not a sensationalized series of speaking with the 'great dramatic séance', this is instead a welcome to another way of viewing our lives - this one and the ones that have been and will be.

In "Courageous Souls" Robert Schwartz not only discusses the concept of pre-birth planning, but he also provides an in-depth look at both the pre-birth planning process (which occurs while in spirit before each incarnation), as well as the various reasons a soul may have chosen the particular challenges they're dealing with in this lifetime. What I found particularly interesting were the personal interviews the author did with several participants & the subsequent sessions with various mediums/psychics to assess each person's pre-birth planning sessions. Together these sessions provided background information regarding each person's challenge & the reasons their soul chose that challenge for this lifetime. The types of challenges discussed include: physical illness, parenting handicapped children, drug addiction & alcoholism, death of a loved one, & accidents. Reading this book allows one to consider a whole new way to look at life's challenges - a way where each challenge does in fact serve a purpose, and a high purpose at that! A way where there is no reason to blame or judge or hate - because we're able to recognize that each person on this earth is also serving a purpose. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in spirituality & the concept of pre-birth planning - it's truly inspiring. P.S. This book also offers the names & contact information for the psychics/mediums who worked with the author on this book - a great addition for those of us who would like some assistance in accessing our own pre-birth planning sessions!