Deepak on Death
A conversation with Dr. Deepak Chopra about his new book
LIFE AFTER DEATH: The Burden of Proof
Harmony Books, October 17th, 2006
Deepak: I noticed as a physician that many patients at the time of death experienced extreme panic, then anger, then denial, and then desperate resignation. That was not necessary. My father died consciously in mediation. He said “I am leaving now, Don’t worry. Give everyone my love.” He died as elegantly as he had live.
To live and die this way, get in touch with the part of you now that does not die. In wisdom literature, that part is called the soul. Soul is that bundle of consciousness which contains meaning, purpose, context, relationships and the stories of our life. You get in touch with that part of the self. You know there is a stillness there that is the eternal, timeless core of your being, out of which all experiences are woven.
I grew up with influences of the religions of Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism, but as a scientist I also know that beliefs can be a cover-up for insecurity. You don’t have to believe in or see electricity or gravity to benefit from them. If your soul is real, you don’t have to rely on belief. You can rely on understanding, meaning and experience.
Afterlife is a place of clarity, the afterlife is not static, choice doesn’t end with death but expands, earthly images carry us into the afterlife.
Everything that we experience in the physical world is a result of the invisible part of ourselves. Where is inspiration, intention, clarity, meaning, choice-making, imagination? Where does all of this come from if not from our spirit, not from our brain. Our brain is the instrument that orchestrates that.
Death is the mechanism through which everything renews itself. Everything renews itself by dying. Our stomach cells die every five days so they can reinvent and digest food. It is not a matter of faith. Where we are now in science is that consciousness is not a product of biology, but biology is a product of consciousness. Let’s say we succeeded in conquering death and we were frozen in time. Life recreates itself through death. The only cells that do not die are cancer cells. Cancer is a vacation from death. Death is the ticket to life.
Q. Why did you choose to write a book about the afterlife?
A. To dispel the common notion, held even by scientists, that the afterlife is a matter of faith that cannot be proved. Second, and just as important, to console people who are afraid of death.
Q. Why did you wait 20 years to write this book? Is a discussion of the afterlife particularly important today?
A. Twenty years ago we began to get proof that consciousness might survive death. Near-death experiences were already gaining public recognition. But it took two more decades to provide an adequate body of research to support this possibility and bring it closer to being a fact.
Q. What may shock or surprise readers most about this book?
A. They may be shocked to find that the afterlife is a rational subject that is knowable to us before we die. Also, that such things as heaven and hell exist, not 'out there' in some mythical region but here on earth, at this moment.
Q. What do you mean when you say that death is a fulfillment of our purpose here on earth?
A. The ultimate purpose of life is to evolve, to discover who you are, and to shape your own future. After death we see much more clearly that all these goals can be attained.
Q. Why is science such an important element in your discussion of the afterlife?
A. Because after centuries of faith as the only support for life after death, we can't hope to provide rational proof without turning to science. Also, in recent decades physics has probed deeper into the subtle realms of Nature, uncovering phenomena that give us fascinating clues about a so-called "intelligent universe." Such a universe could be the same as the subtle worlds of the afterlife described in the great wisdom traditions, East and West.
Q. Why did you choose to use allegory, such as the story of Savitri and Yama, in writing LIFE AFTER DEATH?
A. To provide an emotional experience of confronting death, and also to reach into the archetypal level of consciousness, the shadow, where death is always present.
Q. Why does information theory inform our understanding of the afterlife?
A. Physics already accepts that matter and energy cannot be destroyed. Information theory posits that the same is true of all the information in the universe. This implies that our minds--the source of information in the form of thoughts--cannot be destroyed, either. The mind may undergo transformation after death, but it would still survive in some form.
Q. What do you when you say that death can be as creative as living?
A. All the mental abilities we use to create things in our life continue after death and in fact become more powerful.
Q. Did your concept of the afterlife change as you wrote the book? If so, how?
A. I became more aware of how the different spiritual traditions on earth, and their various stories about the afterlife, led back to a single source in consciousness.
Faith takes a back seat to rational proof in the book. In fact, Chopra says, the afterlife is a field where science is quickly advancing over worn-out religious beliefs. The assumption that no knowledge can be gained about 'the other side' is being disproved on many fronts.
• At the University of Virginia an ongoing program has located over 2,500 children who remember past lives, including details about former lifetimes that can be factually verified.
• Information theory is having an influence on cutting-edge physics. It theorizes that like matter and energy, information cannot be destroyed. In other words, survival of the soul may be a matter of conserving information.
• Also in physics, quantum field theory has led to experiments (at Princeton among other places) where ordinary people can change reality through intention alone--they can make a computer generate numbers, for example, in a certain pattern. This goes a long way to showing that the mind isn't confined to the brain.
• Cross-cultural studies are showing that societies as diverse as Tibet and modern America display exactly the same near-death phenomena.
Chopra has waited twenty years to write LIFE AFTER DEATH: The Burden of Proof, the first major book on the afterlife in decades. Inspiring, brilliant, and ultimately encouraging, his insights will change the minds of countless people who have pondered the mystery that lies on 'the other side.' It also contains a great gift: an antidote to our fears, so we can see clearly the full majesty of the infinite arc of birth, death and the life beyond.
Faith takes a back seat to rational proof in the book. In fact, Chopra says, the afterlife is a field where science is quickly advancing over worn-out religious beliefs. The assumption that no knowledge can be gained about 'the other side' is being disproved on many fronts.
LIFE AFTER DEATH: The Burden of Proof
Harmony Books, October 17th, 2006
Deepak: I noticed as a physician that many patients at the time of death experienced extreme panic, then anger, then denial, and then desperate resignation. That was not necessary. My father died consciously in mediation. He said “I am leaving now, Don’t worry. Give everyone my love.” He died as elegantly as he had live.
To live and die this way, get in touch with the part of you now that does not die. In wisdom literature, that part is called the soul. Soul is that bundle of consciousness which contains meaning, purpose, context, relationships and the stories of our life. You get in touch with that part of the self. You know there is a stillness there that is the eternal, timeless core of your being, out of which all experiences are woven.
I grew up with influences of the religions of Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism, but as a scientist I also know that beliefs can be a cover-up for insecurity. You don’t have to believe in or see electricity or gravity to benefit from them. If your soul is real, you don’t have to rely on belief. You can rely on understanding, meaning and experience.
Afterlife is a place of clarity, the afterlife is not static, choice doesn’t end with death but expands, earthly images carry us into the afterlife.
Everything that we experience in the physical world is a result of the invisible part of ourselves. Where is inspiration, intention, clarity, meaning, choice-making, imagination? Where does all of this come from if not from our spirit, not from our brain. Our brain is the instrument that orchestrates that.
Death is the mechanism through which everything renews itself. Everything renews itself by dying. Our stomach cells die every five days so they can reinvent and digest food. It is not a matter of faith. Where we are now in science is that consciousness is not a product of biology, but biology is a product of consciousness. Let’s say we succeeded in conquering death and we were frozen in time. Life recreates itself through death. The only cells that do not die are cancer cells. Cancer is a vacation from death. Death is the ticket to life.
Q. Why did you choose to write a book about the afterlife?
A. To dispel the common notion, held even by scientists, that the afterlife is a matter of faith that cannot be proved. Second, and just as important, to console people who are afraid of death.
Q. Why did you wait 20 years to write this book? Is a discussion of the afterlife particularly important today?
A. Twenty years ago we began to get proof that consciousness might survive death. Near-death experiences were already gaining public recognition. But it took two more decades to provide an adequate body of research to support this possibility and bring it closer to being a fact.
Q. What may shock or surprise readers most about this book?
A. They may be shocked to find that the afterlife is a rational subject that is knowable to us before we die. Also, that such things as heaven and hell exist, not 'out there' in some mythical region but here on earth, at this moment.
Q. What do you mean when you say that death is a fulfillment of our purpose here on earth?
A. The ultimate purpose of life is to evolve, to discover who you are, and to shape your own future. After death we see much more clearly that all these goals can be attained.
Q. Why is science such an important element in your discussion of the afterlife?
A. Because after centuries of faith as the only support for life after death, we can't hope to provide rational proof without turning to science. Also, in recent decades physics has probed deeper into the subtle realms of Nature, uncovering phenomena that give us fascinating clues about a so-called "intelligent universe." Such a universe could be the same as the subtle worlds of the afterlife described in the great wisdom traditions, East and West.
Q. Why did you choose to use allegory, such as the story of Savitri and Yama, in writing LIFE AFTER DEATH?
A. To provide an emotional experience of confronting death, and also to reach into the archetypal level of consciousness, the shadow, where death is always present.
Q. Why does information theory inform our understanding of the afterlife?
A. Physics already accepts that matter and energy cannot be destroyed. Information theory posits that the same is true of all the information in the universe. This implies that our minds--the source of information in the form of thoughts--cannot be destroyed, either. The mind may undergo transformation after death, but it would still survive in some form.
Q. What do you when you say that death can be as creative as living?
A. All the mental abilities we use to create things in our life continue after death and in fact become more powerful.
Q. Did your concept of the afterlife change as you wrote the book? If so, how?
A. I became more aware of how the different spiritual traditions on earth, and their various stories about the afterlife, led back to a single source in consciousness.
Faith takes a back seat to rational proof in the book. In fact, Chopra says, the afterlife is a field where science is quickly advancing over worn-out religious beliefs. The assumption that no knowledge can be gained about 'the other side' is being disproved on many fronts.
• At the University of Virginia an ongoing program has located over 2,500 children who remember past lives, including details about former lifetimes that can be factually verified.
• Information theory is having an influence on cutting-edge physics. It theorizes that like matter and energy, information cannot be destroyed. In other words, survival of the soul may be a matter of conserving information.
• Also in physics, quantum field theory has led to experiments (at Princeton among other places) where ordinary people can change reality through intention alone--they can make a computer generate numbers, for example, in a certain pattern. This goes a long way to showing that the mind isn't confined to the brain.
• Cross-cultural studies are showing that societies as diverse as Tibet and modern America display exactly the same near-death phenomena.
Chopra has waited twenty years to write LIFE AFTER DEATH: The Burden of Proof, the first major book on the afterlife in decades. Inspiring, brilliant, and ultimately encouraging, his insights will change the minds of countless people who have pondered the mystery that lies on 'the other side.' It also contains a great gift: an antidote to our fears, so we can see clearly the full majesty of the infinite arc of birth, death and the life beyond.
Faith takes a back seat to rational proof in the book. In fact, Chopra says, the afterlife is a field where science is quickly advancing over worn-out religious beliefs. The assumption that no knowledge can be gained about 'the other side' is being disproved on many fronts.
posted by Dr. Joe at 4:09 AM
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