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The Experiences of Doctors, Scientists and Others in the
Study of Death and Dying. In virtually all cultures
throughout history there has been an interest, indeed sometimes even a
seeming obsession, with what happens at death and in the afterlife. Particularly
in the case of the rulers and other important persons, ancient cultures often
went to great lengths to ensure that the spirits of their dead had a smooth
passage and were well-supported in the next world. The best-known example is
that of the Egyptian Pharaohs, but many others have been discovered by
archeological research. Perhaps the best account of what was believed about
the after-life in ancient times is:
This is a detailed account of the
ancient Egyptians’ understanding of the processes of death and the
after-life. "This book is simply a detailed description of a near-death
experience. It starts with a judgment scene and goes on to reveal many gods and
various voices, continues on a long boat trip through a dark tunnel, and ends
with union with a bright light." A new translation and commentary
which has been recently produced is:
In a rather different context,
there is the Tibetan Buddhist account of the passage through death and after
which was originally published as:
More recent translations of this
text are found in:
And:
"The Tibetan Book of the
Dead gives the dying person control over his own death and
rebirth. The Tibetans, who believed in reincarnation, felt that the dying
person could influence his own destiny. ... It was meant to be read after death
to help the deceased find the right path." Another, similar, early account
of the death process coming from Central America is The Aztec Song of the
Dead which tells the story of the god and legendary king Quetzalcoatl.
This work "served to enlighten the Aztecs about the world beyond."
(All the above quotations have been taken from Morse & Perry, Closer
to the Light - see page 38 above). The classical text of The
Tibetan Book of the Dead has been re-interpreted and updated in:
This is a book about living and
dying because, "... in the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as
one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life." The
continuity of life from birth to rebirth is seen here as the continuation of
mind or consciousness, rather than relating to a specific entity like the
soul as envisaged by western tradition. Sogyal Rinpoche provides us with a
comprehensive guide describing in modern terms "... the majestic vision
of life and death that underlies the Tibetan tradition ..." and shows
how we may undertake a range of practices which will transform our lives,
prepare us for death and enable us to help those who are dying. From quite early on in the
development of psychical research there was an interest in, and the
collection of, accounts of death-bed experiences and Sir William Barrett was
someone who - among other things - was involved in this area of interest.
Barrett was another famous physicist (like Sir William Crookes and Sir Oliver
Lodge) who became involved in investigating psychic phenomena. As a young
professor in Dublin in 1874 he took part in some experiments on hypnosis -
with remarkable results. He followed this up with further work on telepathy.
In spite of the very negative scientific attitude to such research at the
time, he was intellectually honest enough to realise that here was a
significant field of work which needed to be investigated. Whilst staying in
London in late 1881 he suggested the idea of founding a society of scientists
and philosophers who would open-mindedly investigate psychic phenomena, and
organised meetings which, in February 1882, led to the founding of the
Society for Psychical Research. As Colin Wilson emphasises, Barrett "...
was dragged into belief in ‘the paranormal’ against his will - even against
his better judgement." He tried to find scientific explanations for the
range of psychic phenomena which he and others were witnessing all the time,
but was unable to do so along orthodox scientific lines. Towards the end of
his life he admitted that his work had brought him to the point where he
believed in a spiritual world and in life after death. Barrett’s interest in the fact
that many people at the point of death appear to see their dead relatives led
him to collect authenticated examples of such appearances with the intention
of publishing a book on the subject. Unfortunately he died before the
manuscript was finished but it was edited and published posthumously as:
As Colin Wilson states: "In
spite of its shortness, this is one of the most remarkable and original
contributions to psychical research ever published." "... it
undoubtedly deserves its place as one of the great classics of psychical
research." Although some of the examples of visions seen by the dying
could be (and are) dismissed as being simply hallucinations this explanation
became more difficult in those cases where the dying person was unaware that
the relative seen was already dead. This collection of mainly
well-authenticated cases was the result of collaboration between Barrett and
his wife, a surgeon, who had considerable experience of the dying. A much more recent, although very
similar, account of death-bed visions has been published as:
At the Hour of Death is an account of the work of two
researchers who surveyed death-bed experiences in America and India. In spite
of considerable cultural differences between the populations, the death-bed
visions were found to be remarkably similar. Although the majority of dying
people drift into unconsciousness before death, a significant minority remain
clearly conscious to the end and these individuals often have transformative
experiences of serenity, peace and elation. They no longer have any fear of
death and may believe that they are being met by dead relatives. This
scientifically rigorous study, based on the observations of more than a
thousand doctors and nurses, concludes: "...that this evidence
strongly suggests life after death - more strongly than any alternative
hypothesis can explain the data. Neither medical, nor psychological, nor
cultural conditioning can explain away deathbed visions. Moreover , they are
relatively independent of age, sex, education, religion, and socio-economic
status. Taken in conjunction with other evidence obtained by competent
research into this question ..... we feel that the total body of information
makes possible a fact-based, rational, and therefore realistic belief in life
after death." In the West there has been an
increasing interest in the study of the processes of death and dying during
the past 50 years or more. This development has largely been undertaken by
doctors, scientists and others with a professional interest in what happens
to the individual during the time of death - and in the periods before
and after death. It has resulted among these professionals in a growing
awareness of the likelihood of the continuity of individual consciousness
from this life into further life beyond death; a possibility which their
original scientific training completely excluded. It has also resulted in a
vast literature on the subjects of death and dying. What follows is a sample
of the literature that has appeared in the past 30 years. The doyenne of the science
of thanatology - the study of death and dying - is Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
whose many books have opened up what, a few decades ago, was for most people
a taboo subject. She has also been prepared boldly to state her conclusions -
gained through many years of the study of the experiences of thousands of
dying people - that death is not the end of everything, but that we do
consciously survive the death of our bodies in full retention of our
faculties. Dr. Kubler-Ross’s seminal book is:
This and the following book are
essentially psychology/social science texts written largely for professionals
and, as such, may not be easy reading for everyone.
In the introduction, Dr.
Kubler-Ross states that, among other things, the "... book attempts to
familiarize the reader with [many] aspects of death and dying, with the
viewpoints of other people, other cultures, other religions, and
philosophies..." and in particular it covers the Jewish, Buddhist and
Hindu approaches to death. The final four pages, entitled Omega, contain many
spiritually-oriented passages such as: "Death is the final stage of
growth in this life. There is no total death. Only the body dies. The self or
spirit ... is eternal."; and: "Death ... may be viewed as the
curtain between the existence that we are conscious of and one that is hidden
from us until we raise that curtain."
This short book (82 pages) is a
collection of four essays which summarises her many "years of ‘working
with the dying and learning from them what life is all about,’ in-depth
research on life after death, and her own feelings and opinions about this
fascinating and controversial subject." Three of the four essays - Living
and Dying, There is no Death, and Life, Death and Life After Death -
are particularly appropriate to the subject of survival.
The Wheel of Life is Dr. Kubler-Ross’s autobiography. In it
she "traces the events that shaped her intellectually and spiritually,
and inevitably led her to explain her ultimate truth - that death does not
exist but is a transformation." Dr. Sukie Miller is a
psychotherapist who has undertaken extensive research into the attitudes in
many cultures worldwide toward life after death. As she states in the
introduction to her book After Death, from her studies she
"...knew that almost every culture throughout history encompassed in its
belief system an idea of the afterdeath. Wide reading on the subject brought
me into contact with detailed landscapes, even finely drawn maps of
landscapes beyond life as we know it." Her book seeks to address the
important question - "What happens to us after we die?" -
and her extensive cross-cultural research identifies four distinct stages of
the afterdeath journey: Stage 1 is the waiting place where the dead
individual is transformed from a physical to a spiritual being. Stage 2 is
the judgement phase where some form of judgement takes place and the
individual’s future is determined. Stage 3 is the realm of possibilities
where the individual enjoys, or suffers, the results of the judgement. Stage
4 is the return, or rebirth, where the individual returns to life in the
physical world with a new body and personality. Her studies also help us to
understand that with peoples who live in close contact with their dead the
border between life and death is highly permeable; there is often no border
at all.
Another individual who, like Dr.
Kubler-Ross, has worked for many years with dying patients is Kathleen
Dowling Singh. Her experiences as a hospice nurse, combined with her own
Buddhist philosophy, have led her to write the following book:
"In this remarkable book
Kathleen Dowling Singh offers us a rich and rewarding path to understanding
the process of dying. She helps us to see death as safe and natural - a stage
of enlightenment, of finally coming home to our true self. Examining the end
of life in the light of current psychological understanding, religious wisdom
and compassionate medical science, she offers a fresh, deeply-comforting
message of hope and courage as we contemplate the meaning of our mortality.
With profound insight, she balances expert analysis with moving accounts
drawn from her experience working with hundreds of dying patients at a large
hospice. Written for those aware that life
is coming to an end, those who care for the dying and, ultimately, for all of
us who inevitably face our own death and the deaths of the people we love, The
Grace in Dying reveals that dying is the most transforming and
spiritually enriching of life’s experiences."
Death and Bereavement is essentially a textbook giving a
comprehensive account of the psychology of death and bereavement, written by
the former director of St. Mary’s Hospice, Birmingham. Nevertheless, it is
written in a very readable style and provides much information which is
pertinent to the subject of this bibliography. The early chapters (Chs. 2 - 8)
give an overview, across the world, of attitudes and beliefs on death and the
afterlife from religions great and small, old and new; showing that
"Running like a connecting thread through all religions is a steadfast
belief in the existence of an afterlife." There is also a great deal on
related subjects such as funeral rites and mourning customs. The final chapters (Chs. 22 - 24)
deal with: In between these first and last
sections is much useful material on the themes of dying, death and
bereavement. The whole is fully referenced and indexed On to section 7. Personal Experiences of Ordinary Individuals |