...
Show More
Was hoping for more scientific comparison or at least clinical anecdotes. Still interesting and culturally anecdotal.
Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book
Life After Death: The Burden of Proof
...
Show More
Dr Deepak Chopra, the world-famous pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, addresses one of the fundamental questions of existence: what happens when we die? Drawing upon personal experience, the wisdom of ancient Vedic philosophy and state-of-the-art particle physics, Chopra helps us to overcome our fears about dying and to consider the fantastic possibilities that may await us in the afterlife.
This is the book that Dr Chopra has been preparing to write his entire life. In it, he considers the theory that death is an illusion of the senses and that the soul survives in an ongoing spiral of refinement, ending in enlightenment. Thought-provoking exercises offer a first-hand experience of these and other ideas, helping you to make sense of your own spirituality whatever path you choose to follow, and offering you your very own map of eternity.
This is the book that Dr Chopra has been preparing to write his entire life. In it, he considers the theory that death is an illusion of the senses and that the soul survives in an ongoing spiral of refinement, ending in enlightenment. Thought-provoking exercises offer a first-hand experience of these and other ideas, helping you to make sense of your own spirituality whatever path you choose to follow, and offering you your very own map of eternity.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 22,2013
This edition
- Format
-
304 pages, Hardcover
- Published
-
October 17, 2006 by Harmony
- ISBN
-
9780307345783
- ASIN
-
0307345785
- Language
-
English
About the author
...
Show More
Deepak Chopra, MD serves as the Founder and Chairman of The Chopra Foundation, and Co-Founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.
As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Chopra transforms the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Known as a prolific author of eighty books books with twenty-two New York Times best sellers in both fiction and non-fiction, his works have been published in more than forty-three languages.
Chopra's medical training is in internal medicine and endocrinology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Dr. Chopra serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, Founder of The Chopra Well on YouTube, Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Assistant Clinical Professor, in the Family and Preventive Medicine Department at the University of California, San Diego, Health Sciences, Faculty at Walt Disney Imagineering, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.
GlobeIn acknowledges Chopra as "one of top ten most influential spiritual leaders around the world." TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine."
As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Chopra transforms the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Known as a prolific author of eighty books books with twenty-two New York Times best sellers in both fiction and non-fiction, his works have been published in more than forty-three languages.
Chopra's medical training is in internal medicine and endocrinology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Dr. Chopra serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, Founder of The Chopra Well on YouTube, Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Assistant Clinical Professor, in the Family and Preventive Medicine Department at the University of California, San Diego, Health Sciences, Faculty at Walt Disney Imagineering, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.
GlobeIn acknowledges Chopra as "one of top ten most influential spiritual leaders around the world." TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine."
Readers also enjoyed
Community Reviews
Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
28(28%)
4 stars
38(38%)
3 stars
33(33%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
99 reviews All reviews
...
Show More
Chopra tackles profound questions about the afterlife in a easy to understand and entertaining manner. Easily the best book on the subject that I have read. He references many sources, facilitating further reading . Highly recommended.
...
Show More
Can we explain what happens after death? Is there really anything after death like many religions believe, or does it end like westernized science entails?
Deepak attempts to clarify our view of the death through the many religious, cultural, spiritual beliefs that exist. He doesn't necessarily go into each one individually, but instead summarizes them into their core beliefs.
When people of various cultures, religions, and beliefs were interviewed about their Near-death-experiences (usually when they are declared dead for a short time), each person gave a different perspective of what they saw.
Christians spoke to Jesus or saw the pearly gates, muslims with mohammed, Buddhists with Buddha, Native Americans to their respective spirits, Indians to their gods, and so forth.
Even individual religions, would be divided into their beliefs: catholics and protestants would each get their own interpretation of their near-death experience.
The core question though is whether human consciousness continues after death. After someone is REALLY declared dead (not just a near-death experience).
Chopra leads us, slowly but surely, into realizing that the entire universe has consciousness. Because the entire universe is made of consciousness, when we die our consciousness simply continues on into the void.
Finally, I found this little aside quite interesting about absolving of our belief/tradition/pre-disposed views of the world. Almost absolving of ego:
1. Know that you are going to identify with your world-view at every stage of personal growth.
2. Accept that these identifications are temporary. You will never be truly yourself until you reach unity.
3. Be willing to change your identity every day. Take a flexible attitude. Don't defend an "I" that you know is just temporary.
4. Allow your ability to quietly observe without judgement to replace the ingrained idea you reach for automatically.
5. When you have the impulse to struggle, use that as an immediate signal to let go. Open a space for a new answer to unfold on its own.
6. When you can't let go, forgive yourself and move on.
7. Use every opportunity to tell yourself that all viewpoints are valid, every experience valuable, every insight a moment of freedom.
Interesting read, and definitely something that I haven't read before. 4/5
Deepak attempts to clarify our view of the death through the many religious, cultural, spiritual beliefs that exist. He doesn't necessarily go into each one individually, but instead summarizes them into their core beliefs.
When people of various cultures, religions, and beliefs were interviewed about their Near-death-experiences (usually when they are declared dead for a short time), each person gave a different perspective of what they saw.
Christians spoke to Jesus or saw the pearly gates, muslims with mohammed, Buddhists with Buddha, Native Americans to their respective spirits, Indians to their gods, and so forth.
Even individual religions, would be divided into their beliefs: catholics and protestants would each get their own interpretation of their near-death experience.
The core question though is whether human consciousness continues after death. After someone is REALLY declared dead (not just a near-death experience).
Chopra leads us, slowly but surely, into realizing that the entire universe has consciousness. Because the entire universe is made of consciousness, when we die our consciousness simply continues on into the void.
Finally, I found this little aside quite interesting about absolving of our belief/tradition/pre-disposed views of the world. Almost absolving of ego:
1. Know that you are going to identify with your world-view at every stage of personal growth.
2. Accept that these identifications are temporary. You will never be truly yourself until you reach unity.
3. Be willing to change your identity every day. Take a flexible attitude. Don't defend an "I" that you know is just temporary.
4. Allow your ability to quietly observe without judgement to replace the ingrained idea you reach for automatically.
5. When you have the impulse to struggle, use that as an immediate signal to let go. Open a space for a new answer to unfold on its own.
6. When you can't let go, forgive yourself and move on.
7. Use every opportunity to tell yourself that all viewpoints are valid, every experience valuable, every insight a moment of freedom.
Interesting read, and definitely something that I haven't read before. 4/5
...
Show More
Like many religious people, Chopra presumes to inform you what happens after death. But he does it in a whimsical way, unlike the solemn theological certitude I’ve often heard from Western preachers. He tells the Hindu folktales he heard as a child. He believes that near-death experiences are real, but shaped by personal expectation: “A child can come back from heaven and report that it was full of baby animals at play, a cardiac patient can report sitting on God’s lap, and being told by the Almighty that he must return to earth ….”
Although Chopra weaves in accounts from many cultures, his mainframe world view is Vedantic cosmology. And in this universe, all things are naturally evolving toward higher consciousness through many manifestations: “Depending on your level of awareness, you project your own heavens, hells and purgatories, to work through on the physical plane as well as astral planes.”
In this reality, different levels of awareness seem to be more than mental states—they are altered states of matter and energy. As beings grow more aware, their “frequency” (or “vibration”) gets higher, but we can only perceive beings within our own frequency range. At higher levels, “There are an almost infinite number of astral planes, divided into a higher and lower astral worlds, and even the lowest ones vibrate at a higher frequency than the material world.” Also, “During the astral journey souls meet other souls vibrating at a similar level of evolution. You may meet some souls that you encountered in the physical world if they are on your frequency.” It’s a metaphysics were spirituality, radio frequency, and maybe temperature down to absolute zero, all seem to be functions of vibration rate.
Chopra explains all this with reference to groundbreaking research in physics, medicine, and psychology. He aims to meet “the burden of proof” regarding eternal life, but I’m unclear what his impressive evidence proves. Anyway, I like it: “You can take your mind beyond walls. There is freedom outside, and having achieved it, you will never have to go the heaven or hell again.” Furthermore, “Hell is the suffering you think you deserve.”
Although Chopra weaves in accounts from many cultures, his mainframe world view is Vedantic cosmology. And in this universe, all things are naturally evolving toward higher consciousness through many manifestations: “Depending on your level of awareness, you project your own heavens, hells and purgatories, to work through on the physical plane as well as astral planes.”
In this reality, different levels of awareness seem to be more than mental states—they are altered states of matter and energy. As beings grow more aware, their “frequency” (or “vibration”) gets higher, but we can only perceive beings within our own frequency range. At higher levels, “There are an almost infinite number of astral planes, divided into a higher and lower astral worlds, and even the lowest ones vibrate at a higher frequency than the material world.” Also, “During the astral journey souls meet other souls vibrating at a similar level of evolution. You may meet some souls that you encountered in the physical world if they are on your frequency.” It’s a metaphysics were spirituality, radio frequency, and maybe temperature down to absolute zero, all seem to be functions of vibration rate.
Chopra explains all this with reference to groundbreaking research in physics, medicine, and psychology. He aims to meet “the burden of proof” regarding eternal life, but I’m unclear what his impressive evidence proves. Anyway, I like it: “You can take your mind beyond walls. There is freedom outside, and having achieved it, you will never have to go the heaven or hell again.” Furthermore, “Hell is the suffering you think you deserve.”
...
Show More
This book has made me a life-long fan of Chopra's, and it's helped get me through a difficult time in grieving the loss of my beloved Grandmother. This book presents itself in a way that let's me know that Death (at least the illusion of it) is nothing to be afraid of nor does it mean the end of seeing loved ones and encountering newly acquired vigor in an afterlife or higher life that's part of the evolutionary process. It makes for both an uplifting and illuminating read concerning the beauty of natural phenomena that is consciousness. Highly recommended for anyone whose either suffered a major loss and has a liberated, spiritual mindset to help ease the grieving process or simply to pique one's interest in what the Hereafter and its nuances connecting it to this realm has to offer.
...
Show More
There were some interesting ideas in this book; many that I agree with but my mind just kept wandering. I just could not stay focused on this book so I'm calling it done. I got about half way thru it.
...
Show More
I thought this book would be much better then it was. Deepak was talking about what he believes happens to people after we die. He tried to incorporate Christian beliefs, Hindu beliefs, and Buddhism. If he had done them more individually, I think it would have been better. However, he combined all of them in the same chapters so it turned into a study assignment instead of a book that I was reading.
He had a very long parable that he broke up so that it was at the beginning of each chapter. Again, it was a good story that had WAY TOO much in it. I was very impressed that the character in the parable was able to keep up with all the lessons that she was supposed to be learning on this day long journey.
And the physics! He started going into Schroedinger's Cats and string theory and it was hard to follow. I basically forgot what the book was supposed to be about anymore.
I do not recommend this book at all.
He had a very long parable that he broke up so that it was at the beginning of each chapter. Again, it was a good story that had WAY TOO much in it. I was very impressed that the character in the parable was able to keep up with all the lessons that she was supposed to be learning on this day long journey.
And the physics! He started going into Schroedinger's Cats and string theory and it was hard to follow. I basically forgot what the book was supposed to be about anymore.
I do not recommend this book at all.
...
Show More
I love this guy! He is so intriguing. I have seen him on TV and always thought what he said made sense. So I bought this book... my first Deepak Chopra book. I feel that he has many important things to say, but uses long confusing sentences when he could have easily gotten away with a simpler one. I found myself rereading sentence after sentence. Its not that the vocabulary was difficult, its just that some of the wording can be a bit convoluted. Here is an example.. picked out of the book...
"If there is only one reality, as the rishis declare, then life is not a struggle between good and evil, but a tangled web where all actions, good and bad, move us closer to reality or deeper into illusion."
I mean really, that was a random example, but I had to read that twice... slowly, to get what he was saying.
"the erosion of faith has not left Paradise untouched."
So does that mean it left Paradise touched? I am not sure. The whole book is like that. But, when you finally 'get' what he is saying, it is truly profound. It just takes awhile. Or maybe its just me.
"If there is only one reality, as the rishis declare, then life is not a struggle between good and evil, but a tangled web where all actions, good and bad, move us closer to reality or deeper into illusion."
I mean really, that was a random example, but I had to read that twice... slowly, to get what he was saying.
"the erosion of faith has not left Paradise untouched."
So does that mean it left Paradise touched? I am not sure. The whole book is like that. But, when you finally 'get' what he is saying, it is truly profound. It just takes awhile. Or maybe its just me.
Leave a Review