William Walker Atkinson (December 5, 1862 - November 22, 1932) was an attorney, merchant, publisher, and author, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. He is the author of the pseudonymous works attributed to Theron Q. Dumont and Yogi Ramacharaka. He wrote an estimated 100 books, all in the last 30 years of his life. He was mentioned in past editions of Who's Who in America, in Religious Leaders of America, and in similar publications. His works have remained in print more or less continuously since 1900.

By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or embodiment in flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's nature. The term "Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the same sense, the definition of the latter term being: "The passage of the soul, as an immortal essence, at the death of the body, into another living body." The term "Transmigration of Souls" is sometimes employed, the term being used in the sense of "passing from one body into another." But the term "Transmigration" is often used in connection with the belief of certain undeveloped races who held that the soul of men sometimes passed into the bodies of the lower animals, as a punishment for their sins committed during the human life. But this belief is held in disrepute by the adherents of Reincarnation or Metempsychosis, and has no connection with their philosophy or beliefs, the ideas having sprung from an entirely different source, and having nothing in common. There are many forms of belief--many degrees of doctrine--regarding Reincarnation, as we shall see as we proceed, but there is a fundamental and basic principle underlying all of the various shades of opinion, and divisions of the schools. This fundamental belief may be expressed as the doctrine that there is in man an immaterial Something (called the soul, spirit, inner self, or many other names) which does not perish at the death or disintegration of the body, but which persists as an entity, and after a shorter or longer interval of rest reincarnates, or is re-born, into a new body--that of an unborn infant--from whence it proceeds to live a new life in the body, more or less unconscious of its past existences, but containing within itself the "essence" or results of its past lives, which experiences go to make up its new "character," or "personality." It is usually held that the rebirth is governed by the law of attraction, under one name or another, and which law operates in accordance with strict justice, in the direction of attracting the reincarnating soul to a body, and conditions, in accordance with the tendencies of the past life, the parents also attracting to them a soul bound to them by some ties in the past, the law being universal, uniform, and equitable to all concerned in the matter. This is a general statement of the doctrine as it is generally held by the most intelligent of its adherents.

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Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions. This doctrine is a central tenet of several religions including Buddhism and Hinduism. It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found in many tribal societies around the world. In this classic work on reincarnation by William Walker Atkinson, the author explores the subject from a diverse range of perspectives that are as relevant today as when they were written: THE EARLY RACES. What is Reincarnation?--Transmigration of Souls--The Something That Persists After Death--The Soul Not a Fresh Creation, but a Traveler on a Long Journey. THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.. The Egyptian Idea of the Soul--Forty Centuries of Occult History--The Inner Teachings of Egypt--The Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine--The Ancient Druids and Their Teachings. THE ROMANS AND GREEKS The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual Knowledge--Why the Greeks were Advanced--Pythagoras; Orpheus; Plato--The Various Grecian Teachings Regarding the Soul and Its Future Life--Plato's Wonderful Teachings and Philosophy. THE JEWS, ESSENES, AND EARLY CHRISTIANS The Inner Teachings of the Jewish Priests--The Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines--The Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and Nephesh--A Mysterious Brotherhood--The Christian Inner Doctrine--The Mysteries of Jesus. THE HINDUS India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and Present--The Aryan Teachings--The History of the Belief Among the Hindus--Fundamental Hindu Philosophy. THE MODERN WEST Reincarnation in the Modern Western World--The Revival of Interest and Its Cause--Theosophical Society--Madame Blavatsky--The Western School of Yogi Philosophy: Its Fundamental Teachings--The Spiritists, and Their Doctrine--The Teachings of the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies--Is Earth a Hell?--Christian Reincarnationists and Their Beliefs. BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS How Long Between Incarnations?--Necessity for Mental and Spiritual Digestion and Assimilation--The Advanced Teachings--Earth-bound Souls--Advanced Souls and Their Rest Period--Where Does the Soul Dwell Between Incarnations?--What Happens at Death--The Great Astral World and Its Planes and Sub-planes--Where the Soul Goes After Death and What It Does There--Rebirth and Its Laws--What is the Final State of the Soul?--The Message of the Illumined. THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its Future Life--Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only Philosophical Theory that Reconciles Facts with Theory--The Law of Karma Automatic and Enforces Itself--Every One Their Own Judge and the Executor of Their Own Destiny THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION Natural Laws Universal--If the Soul is Immortal, it Must Have Always Been So--A Mortal Thing Cannot be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made Something--Future Life Implies Past Life--Varient Experiences Necessary for the Soul's Education--Advancement Necessary to Enjoyment of the Soul's Higher States of Being THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience Demanded by Science--Such Proofs Possible and Have Occurred to Many of the Race--The Remembrance of the Details of Past Existence Common to the Race--Interesting Cases Given on Good Authority--Messages from the Past. ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some--The Answers to the Objections--The Proof of the Existence of the Soul--Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and Derived from Pagan and Heathen Sources? THE LAW OF KARMA What Karma Means--Does Karma Punish or is it but the Workings of a Natural Law?--The Various Kinds of Karma--The Advanced Mystical Doctrine--The End is Absolute Good--There is No Devil but Fear and Unfaith.

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By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or embodiment in flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's nature. The term "Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the same sense, the definition of the latter term being: "The passage of the soul, as an immortal essence, at the death of the body, into another living body." The term "Transmigration of Souls" is sometimes employed, the term being used in the sense of "passing from one body into another." But the term "Transmigration" is often used in connection with the belief of certain undeveloped races who held that the soul of men sometimes passed into the bodies of the lower animals, as a punishment for their sins committed during the human life. But this belief is held in disrepute by the adherents of Reincarnation or Metempsychosis, and has no connection with their philosophy or beliefs, the ideas having sprung from an entirely different source, and having nothing in common.