The Purpose: Your Soul's Emotional Journey

Fictionalized account of one soul’s discovery of the spiritual self.

Challenging conventional views of both faith and psychology, Lindal, a clinical psychologist, takes readers on a journey into what he calls the Spiritual Dimension. This dimension, at once hidden and yet accessible to people, is the home of all human souls. In a bold, helpful approach, Lindal uses fiction heavily laced with autobiography to introduce his concepts. The story follows Rikki, a man born and raised in Iceland who encounters the spiritual world, in various forms, at a young age. He eventually meets Old Soul, a wise being in the Spiritual Dimension who agrees to be his “fylgja,” a guardian spirit or supernatural mentor. Through discussions with Old Soul, Rikki learns that all people are incarnations of much older souls, which reincarnate many times in order to experience emotions, especially negative ones: “Life on Earth is essentially about discovering who you are through creation, that is, the creation of experiences that bring about emotions within you.” Through these experiences, souls mature and evolve. Rikki also learns that challenges in his life, ranging from a speech impediment to his latent homosexuality, are choices he made before his incarnation for the sake of richer life experiences. Eventually, Rikki discovers that Old Soul is in fact his own “over-soul,” a term for the spiritual manifestation of a person that exists simultaneously with the physical incarnation. A major theme of the book is that each person creates his or her own reality. This is done before life begins, but it is also done as we live life, since we have free will to make our own choices. Knowledge of this reality, the author says, is helpful to people as they struggle through life’s problems and face life’s big questions. Though Lindal’s views are out of the ordinary, they are by no means unique. His choice of fiction to couch a discussion of the Spiritual Dimension works well, as it allows the book to describe the author’s ideas in a personalized manner. Though fully readable, Lindal’s subject matter and style may confuse readers looking for a conventional self-help book. The work, therefore, has more value as an entrée to his worldview rather than as a psychological aid.

An engaging introduction to what, Lindal says, is a world just outside our grasp.