According to neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist Peter Fenwick, who carried out extensive research into the experience of dying, the perception of ‘deathbed visitors‘ — visits by the dead to a dying person — are a very common occurrence in the last days and hours of life. Often they are from a parent or grandparent…
Read MoreWhen it comes to death and dying I think it pays off for us to be practical in these matters. Take the idea of a hereafter, for example. Why are we compelled to think about the hereafter in times like these? It’s because we look to hereafter for answers that may comfort us in our sorrow and uncertainty.
When we think of things like the hereafter, however, we should not be reluctant to remind ourselves that we are the ones who are here, after someone else has moved on.
Read MoreA year or two after she died, my sister appeared in a dream. She said she was fine, everything was okay. And she also happened to mention that while everything is okay, there was something she really missed: Mexican food. She kind of made a big deal out of that.
Read MoreNot all mystics are the same. There are many types, including Christian mystics, Buddhist mystics, Jewish mystics and Sufi mystics. Some would never use the term ‘mystic’ in describing themselves.
Read MorePerhaps one of the more vexing things in all of life occurs, oddly enough, when we do daily meditations on dying. Because in the process of meditations on death, we inevitably encounter coming to terms with anonymity.
Read MoreThe intangible has, I discovered — as have many before me — a way of distilling how the mind thinks. It forces us to consider that things which seem absolute and certain are often relative and varied. If forces us to confront uncertainty, and to try to find stability in an utterly relativistic universe. Where anything can shape-shift, at any time.
Read MoreMy own work here seems foolish. I have no idea whether anyone reads it or not. I’m rarely contacted. When I die, my website subscription will expire with me. That's partly because no one seems interested enough to carry it on, and partly because I haven't written any books to leave behind, books that may themselves never be discovered much less actually read.
I think part of the reason for this is that I don’t sell t-shirts, coffee mugs and clever stickers. Or maybe I am talking over people’s heads, or I’m seen as just talking out my ass on topics that are perceived as irrelevant. And there’s also the scratchy issue of not being rich or famous, not being an influencer. Actually, I’ve probably lost work/business since I decided years ago not to hide the monastery behind my personal anonymity. I don’t wave flags about it, but it’s not all that hard to search out. Anyway, however you cut it, a life’s work will disappear without notice.
Read MoreNot all mystics are the same. There are many types, including Christian mystics, Buddhist mystics, Jewish mystics and Sufi mystics. Some would never use the term ‘mystic’ in describing themselves.
All mystics are biased according to their predispositions. Some are conservative, some are progressive. Some put belief over experience, while others place experience over belief. Some meditate to achieve the stillness, while others meditate within the stillness. Some sit still, while others travel. Some are able to visit deep realms, and others are able to visit even deeper realms.
Read MoreWhere is consciousness?
As early as the 1980s, the ability of consciousness to affect matter was being discovered and revealed. At the same time, the old, well established paradigm that the mind was restricted to the brain was beginning to be demolished. Consciousness was not only being viewed as residing throughout the entire body, it was being viewed as extending beyond the body. These were highly disruptive propositions.
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