A yoga master made a startling statement: that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life. Lincoln delivered a proclamation establishing Thanksgiving as an American holiday in 1863. Research sheds light on a possible Hindu origin for the American celebration of Thanksgiving.

"The holiday of Thanksgiving has a Hindu origin," says Richard Salva, author of a book on the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln entitled 'Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindbergh' which is based on a statement by the great master of yoga, Paramhamsa Yogananda, who declared that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life. "During my search for signs of a past-life yoga practice," Salva said, "I noticed that President Lincoln repeatedly chose Thursdays - the holiest day in the week for Hindus - as national days of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving.