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Near-Death Experiences of Hindus
In 1986, researchers
Satwant Pasricha
and
Ian Stevenson,
documented 16 cases of Indian near-death
experiences in the
Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research
(77,1 15-135). Their small sample shows, Indian
and American near-death experiences resemble
each other in some respects but differ in
others. Subjects of Indian near-death
experiences do not report seeing their own
physical body during the near-death experience,
although American subjects usually do. Subjects
of Indian near-death experiences frequently
report being taken to the after-death realm by
functionaries who then discover that a mistake
has been made and send the person back,
whereupon he or she revives. In contrast,
American subjects, if they say anything at all
about why they revived, mention meeting deceased
family members who told them to go back, or say
they came back because of ties of love and duty
with living persons or say they were told it was
not their time to die.
Many people have asked
me (the webmaster) why experiences, such as
Hindu near-death experiences, are so different
than western ones. The reason is because
everyone has their own cultural and religious
background by which they see their experience.
Jody Long, a near-death researcher with
NDERF, put it best:
"One of the
near-death experience truths is that
each person integrates their near-death
experience into their own pre-existing
belief system." - Jody Long, NDERF.org
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This
important truth must be kept in the back of
one's mind when reading these different reports.
The
following Hindu near-death experiences come from
Pasricha's and Stevenson's research as well as
other sources on near-death experiences in
India.
1. Vasudev
Pandey's Near-Death Experience |
Vasudev Pandey was
interviewed in 1975 and again in 1976. He was
born in 1921 and had nearly died in his home of
what he described as "paratyphoid disease" when
he was about 10 years old. Vasudev had been
considered dead and his body had actually been
taken to the cremation ground. However, some
indications of life aroused attention, and
Vasudev was removed to the hospital where
doctors tried to revive him, using "injections,"
with eventual success. He remained unconscious
for 3 days and then became able to describe the
following experience (as narrated to us in
1975):
Two persons
caught me and took me with them. I felt
tired after walking some distance; they
started to drag me. My feet became
useless. There was a man sitting up. He
looked dreadful and was all black. He
was not wearing any clothes. He said in
a rage to the attendants [who brought
Vasudev there]:
"I had asked you
to bring Vasudev the gardener. Our
garden is drying up. You have brought
Vasudev the student."
When I
regained consciousness, Vasudev the
gardener was standing in front of me
[apparently in the crowd of family and
servants who had gathered around the bed
of the ostensibly dead Vasudev]. He was
hale and hearty. People started teasing
him saying, "Now it is your turn." He
seemed to sleep well in the night, but
the next morning he was dead." |
In reply to questions
about details, Vasudev said that the "black man"
had a club and used foul language. Vasudev
identified him as Yamraj, the Hindu god of the
dead. He said that he was "brought back" by the
same two men who had taken him to Yamraj in the
first place. Vasudev's mother, who died before
the time of the interview, was a pious woman who
read scriptures which included descriptions of
Yamraj. Vasudev, even as a boy before his
near-death experience, was quite familiar with
Yamraj.
Durga Jatav, a man
approximately 50 years old, was interviewed in
November, 1979, and again 3 months later. About
30 years before, he had been ill for several
weeks, suffering from what had been diagnosed as
typhoid. When his body "became cold" for a
couple of hours, his family thought he had died.
He revived, however, and on the third day
following this he told his family he had been
taken to another place by 10 people. He tried to
escape, but they cut off his legs at the knees
to prevent his escape. He was taken to a place
where there were tables and chairs and 40 or 50
people sitting. He recognized no one. They
looked at his "papers," saw that his name was
not on their list, and said, "Why have you
brought him here? Take him back." To this Durga
had replied, "How can I go back? I don't have
feet." He was then shown several pairs of legs,
he recognized his own, and they were somehow
reattached. He was then sent back with the
instructions not to "stretch" (bend?) his knees
so that they could mend. Durga's older sister,
who was also interviewed, corroborated his
account of his apparent death and revival.
A few days after Durga
revived, his sister and a neighbor noticed marks
on Durga's knees which had not been there
before. These folds - or deep fissures - which
appeared on his skin in front of his knees were
still visible in 1979. There was no bleeding or
pain in his knees other than the discomfort
engendered by Durga following the "instructions"
to keep his knees in a fixed position. X-ray
photographs we took in 1981 showed no
abnormality below the surface of the skin.
Durga had not heard
of such experiences until his own near-death
experience. He did not see his physical body
from some other position in space. He said
afterward the experience seemed like a dream;
nevertheless, he claimed it strengthened his
faith in God.
One informant for
this case was the headman of the village where
Durga lived who said at the time of Durga's
experience, another person by the same
name had died in Agra about 30 km away; however,
neither Durga nor his older sister were able to
confirm this statement.
Chhajju Bania was
interviewed in 1981, at which time he was about
40 years old. His near-death experience occurred
some 6 years earlier. He became ill with a fever
and his condition deteriorated until he was
thought to have died, at which time his
relatives began preparing his body for
cremation. However, he revived, and he gave the
following account of his experience as he
remembered it afterward:
Four
black messengers came and held me.
I asked,
"Where are you taking me?"
They took me
and seated me near the god. My body had
become small. There was an old lady
sitting there. She had a pen in her
hand, and the clerks had a heap of books
in front of them.
I was
summoned ...
One of the
clerks said, "We don't need Chhajju
Bania [the trader]. We had asked for
Chhajju Kumhar [the potter]. Push him
back and bring the other man. He
[meaning Chhajju Bania] has some life
remaining."
I asked the
clerks to give me some work to do, but
not to send me back. Yamraj was there
sitting on a high chair with a white
beard and wearing yellow clothes. He
asked me, "What do you want?"
I told him
that I wanted to stay there.
He asked me
to extend my hand. I don't remember
whether he gave me something or not.
Then I was
pushed down [and revived]. |
Chhajju mentioned
that he later learned a person named Chhajju
Kumhar had died at about the same time that he
(Chhajju Bania) revived. He said his behavior
changed following his near-death experience,
particularly in the direction of his becoming
more honest.
ChChhajju's wife,
Saroj, remembered her husband's experience, but
her account of what he told her about the
near-death experience differed in some details
from his statement. For example, she said he
told her (about reviving) at the place to where
the four men had taken him, there "was a
man with a beard with lots of papers in front of
him" (not an old lady). The bearded man said,
"It is not his turn. Bring Chhajju Kori (a
weaver)" (Not Chhajju Kumhar). Other
discrepancies between the two accounts concerned
unimportant details. Saroj remembered her
husband telling her that he had not wanted to
leave "there" and that he had been "pushed down"
before he revived.
Mangal Singh was
interviewed in March, 1983, when he was 79 years
old. He described his near-death experience,
which occurred approximately 5 or 6 years
earlier. Unlike most subjects who have
near-death experiences, he was not ill at the
time, or did not consider himself to be so. He
gave the following description of his
experience:
I was
lying down on a cot when two people
came, lifted me up, and took me along.
I heard a
hissing sound, but I couldn't see
anything. Then I came to a gate. There
was grass, and the ground seemed to be
sloping.
A man was
there, and he reprimanded the men who
had brought me, "Why have you brought
the wrong person? Why have you not
brought the man you had been sent for?"
The two men
[who had brought Mangal] ran away, and
the senior man said, "You go back."
Suddenly I
saw two big pots of boiling water,
although there was no fire, no firewood,
and no fireplace.
Then the man
pushed me with his hand and said, "You
had better hurry up and go back."
When he
touched me, I suddenly became aware of
how hot his hand was. Then I realized
why the pots were boiling. The heat was
coming from his hands.
Suddenly I
regained consciousness, and I had a
severe burning sensation in my left arm. |
The area
developed the appearance of a boil. Mangal
showed it to a doctor who applied some ointment.
The area healed within 3 days but left a
residual mark on the left arm, which was
examined.
In response to
questions, Mangal said he thought he might have
been sleeping at the time of the experience, but
he was not sure of this. He was unable to
describe the appearance of the persons figuring
in the experience. It seemed to be less visual
than auditory and tactile. He did remember the
senior "official" picking up a lathi (a heavy
Indian staff) with which he intended to beat the
lesser "employees" before they ran away. Another
person had died in the locality at or about the
time he revived, but Mangal and his family made
no inquires about the suddenness of this
person's death and did not even learn his name.
The Hindu near-death
experiences profiled here are typical of the
cases studied in India by researchers Satwant
Pasricha and Ian Stevenson. The subject does not
view his or her physical body, as do many
subjects of western near-death experience cases.
Instead the subject is taken in hand by
"messengers" and brought before a man or woman
who is often described as having a book or
papers that he or she consults. A mistake is
discovered. The wrong person has been "sent
for," and this person is then brought back by
the messengers to his or her terrestrial life;
or the subject is "pushed down" and revives. The
error supposedly made is often a slight one, as
a person of the same given name but a different
caste, or someone living in a different but
nearby village, should have died and been
brought instead of the subject of the near-death
experience. In six of their cases, the
informants said that another "correct" person
(corresponding to the subject's information from
the "next world") did, in fact, die at about the
time the subject revived; but the researchers
did not verify those deaths./span>
In contrast, subjects
of western near-death experiences usually give
no reason (in psychological terms) for their
recovery; if they do give one they may say that
they revived because they decided to return of
their own accord, often because of love for
living members of their family. Sometimes they
are "sent back" by deceased persons who tell
them their "time has not yet come." Indian
subjects sometimes report meeting relatives and
friends in the "other realm" in which they find
themselves, but these persons have nothing to do
or say about the prematurity of the subject's
death and a need for him or her to continue
living. The idea of prematurity of death, or
"your time has not yet come," occurs in the
cases of both cultures; but the persons involved
in sending the NDEr "back to life" differ.
All in all,
researchers Pasricha and Stevenson uncovered 16
accounts of near-death experiences in India.
Later research by Pasricha documented another 29
near-death experiences by people living in
India.
A comparison of Hindu
near-death experiences with western accounts
reveals the following:
(1)
In 45 Hindu near-death accounts, Pasrich
and Stevenson found no evidence of a
tunnel experience which is frequently
found in western accounts of the
near-death experience. However, another
near-death researcher,
Susan
Blackmore,
reported accounts of a tunnel experience
in her research of 8 Hindu near-death
experiencers.
(2)
Only one account contained an
out-of-body experience, which is another
aspect that is frequently found in
western accounts.
Osis and
Haraldsson
did find several accounts of out-of-body
experience in the Indian near-death
experiences they researched.
(3)
Consistent with western accounts, some
Hindu near-death accounts included a
life review. However, whereas in western
accounts the life review often consists
of seeing a panoramic view of a person's
entire life, Hindu accounts consists of
having someone read the record of the
dying person's life called the "akashic
record."
In Christian circles, this is equivalent
to reading from the "Book
of Life"
as known from the Christian doctrine of
the resurrection. In Hindu circles, it
is a traditional belief that the reading
of a person's akashic record occurs
immediately after death. This concept is
widely believed by Hindus all over
India. However, the panoramic life
review, which is commonly mentioned in
western accounts, does not appear in
accounts from India.
(4)
As in western accounts, Hindu near-death
accounts sometimes describe the meeting
of religious deities and deceased loved
ones. |
Near-death
researchers, Karlis Osis and
Erlendur Haraldsson, documented the first
major accounts of near-death experiences in
India. In their interviews with 704 people
living in India about their near-death
experiences, 64 accounts of near-death
experiences came to the surface. The remaining
accounts had to do with death-bed visions.
They published their findings in their book
entitled
At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for
Life After Death.
The
Upanishads,
the ancient set of Hindu religious texts,
postulated an eternal, changeless core of the
self called as the
Atman. This soul or "deep self" was viewed
as being identical with the unchanging godhead,
referred to as
Brahma (the unitary ground of being that
transcends particular gods and goddesses).
Untouched by the variations of time and
circumstance, the Atman was nevertheless
entrapped in the world of
samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth).
Unlike Western treatments of reincarnation,
which tend to make the idea of coming back into
body after body seem exotic, desirable, and even
romantic, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other southern
Asian religions portray the samsaric process as
unhappy. Life in this world means suffering.
What keeps us trapped
in the samsaric cycle is the law of
karma. In its simplest form, this law
operates impersonally like a natural law,
ensuring that every good or bad deed eventually
returns to the individual in the form of reward
or punishment commensurate with the original
deed. It is the necessity of "reaping one's
karma" that compels human beings to take rebirth
(to reincarnate) in successive lifetimes. In
other words, if one dies before reaping the
effects of one's actions (as most people do),
the karmic process demands that one come back in
a future life. Coming back in another lifetime
also allows karmic forces to reward or punish
one through the circumstances to which one is
born. Hence, for example, an individual who was
generous in one lifetime might be reborn as a
wealthy person in the next incarnation.
Moksha is the traditional Sanskrit term for
release or liberation from the endless chain of
deaths and rebirths. In the southern Asian
religious tradition, it represents the supreme
goal of human strivings. Reflecting the
diversity of Hinduism, liberation can be
attained in a variety of ways, from the proper
performance of certain rituals to highly
disciplined forms of yoga. In the Upanishads, it
is proper knowledge, in the sense of insight
into the nature of reality, that enables the
aspiring seeker to achieve liberation from the
wheel of rebirth.
What happens to the
individual after reaching moksha? In Upanishadic
Hinduism, the individual Atman is believed to
merge into the cosmic Brahma. A traditional
image is that of a drop of water that, when
dropped into the ocean, loses its individuality
and becomes one with the sea. Although
widespread, this metaphor does not quite capture
the significance of this merger. Rather than
losing one's individuality, the Upanishadic
understanding is that the Atman is never
separate from Brahma; hence, individuality is
illusory, and moksha is simply waking up from
the dream of separateness.
The most that the
classical texts of Hinduism say about the state
of one who has merged with the godhead is that
the person has become one with pure "beingness,"
consciousness, and bliss. From the perspective
of world-affirming Western society, such a
static afterlife appears distinctly undesirable.
Beginning at least
several centuries B.C., devotionalism rejected
the impersonalism of both the ritual strategy of
Vedism and the intellectual emphasis of the
Upanishads. Instead, God was approached as a
personal, supremely loving deity who would
respond to devotional worship. The afterlife in
devotional theism is not the static, abstract
bliss of merging into the ocean of Brahma.
Rather, the devotional tradition views the
liberated soul as participating in a blissful
round of devotional activities in a heaven world
that is comparable, in certain respects, to the
heaven of Western religions.
Along with heaven
realms, Hinduism also developed notions of hell
worlds in which exceptionally sinful individuals
were punished. Many of the torments of Hindu
hell worlds, such as being tortured by demons,
resemble the torments of more familiar Western
hells. Unlike Western hells, however, Hindu hell
worlds are not final dwelling places. They are
more like purgatories in which sinful souls
experience suffering for a limited term. After
the term is over, even the most evil person is
turned out of hell to once again participate in
the cycle of reincarnation.
Painting © The
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
www.harekrishna.com.
Used with
permission.
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"Never the spirit was
born, the spirit shall cease to be never. Never
was time it was not, end and beginning are
dreams."
- the Bhagavad Gita
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Copyright © 2013 Near-Death
Experiences and the Afterlife |
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Books on Hinduism
Afterlife |

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Dying to Be Me: My Journey from
Cancer, to Near Death, to True
Healing
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by Anita Moorjani
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In this
truly inspirational memoir,
Anita Moorjani relates how she
lost her four-year battle with
cancer resulting in an
extraordinary NDE where she
realized her inherent worth and
the actual cause of her disease.
Upon regaining consciousness,
Anita's condition had improved
so rapidly, she was released
from the hospital within weeks
without a trace of cancer in her
body! As a little girl in a
traditional Hindu family
residing in a largely Chinese
and British society, she was
pushed and pulled by cultural
and religious customs. After
years of struggling to forge her
own path, she had an epiphany
from her NDE: she had the power
to heal herself and that there
miracles in the Universe never
even imagined. In "Dying to Be
Me", Anita freely shares all she
learned about illness, healing,
fear, "being love", and the true
magnificence of each and every
human being! This is a book that
definitely makes the case that
we are spiritual beings having a
human experience ...and that we
are all One.
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Physics of the Soul: The Quantum Book of
Living, Dying, Reincarnation and
Immortality
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by Amit Goswami
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At last, science
and the soul shake hands. Writing in a
style that is both lucid and charming,
mischievous and profound, Dr. Amit
Goswami uses the language and concepts
of quantum physics to explore and
scientifically prove metaphysical
theories of reincarnation and
immortality. In Physics of the Soul, Dr.
Goswami helps you understand the
perplexities of the quantum physics
model of reality and the perennial
beliefs of spiritual and religious
traditions. He shows how they are not
only compatible but also provide
essential support for each other. The
result is a deeply broadened, exciting,
and enriched worldview that integrates
mind and spirit into science. One of
today's pioneering thinkers in science
and spirituality, Dr. Goswami taught
physics for 32 years, was a professor of
Theoretical Science at the University of
Oregon, and is currently senior resident
researcher at the world-renowned
Institute of Noetic Sciences. He is an
advocate of "monistic idealism," the
philosophy that defines consciousness,
not materiality, as the primary reality.
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Jesus in India: A Reexamination of
Jesus' Asian Traditions in the Light of
Evidence Supporting Reincarnation
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by James W. Deardorff
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With impetus
provided by the accumulated historical
and textual evidence supporting
reincarnation, this book first examines
Gospel evidence that Jesus actually
taught reincarnation and karma rather
than resurrection. Deardorff's
compelling analysis bolsters other
studies indicating that the concept of
resurrection displaced reincarnation in
earliest Christianity due to its
pre-belief by certain Pharisee converts,
and specifies how the Gospels came to
reflect this belief. Jesus in India
reexamines the evidence that the "lost
years" of Jesus' youth were spent in the
India. Deardorff's analysis brings out
the plausibility of Jesus having gained
knowledge about reincarnation and
related spiritual matters under certain
yogis in India. This well documented
research constitutes an important
addition to the existing literature on
comparative religions and a thought
provoking contribution to the on-going
debate on the historicity of a wide
range of New Testament passages.
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Life
After Death:
The
Burden of Proof
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by Deepak Chopra
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Deepak
Chopra has touched millions of
readers by demystifying our deepest
spiritual concerns. Now he turns to
the most profound mystery: What
happens after we die? Is this one
question we were not meant to
answer, a riddle whose solution the
universe keeps to itself? Chopra
tells us there is abundant evidence
that “the world beyond” is not
separated from this world by an
impassable wall; in fact, a single
reality embraces all worlds, all
times and places. In Life After
Death, Chopra draws on cutting-edge
scientific discoveries and the great
wisdom traditions to provide a map
of the afterlife - a fascinating
journey into many levels of
consciousness. But far more
important is his urgent message: Who
you meet in the afterlife and what
you experience there reflect your
present beliefs, expectations, and
level of awareness. In the here and
now, you can shape what happens
after you die. By bringing the
afterlife into the present moment,
Life After Death opens up an immense
new area of creativity. Ultimately
there is no division between life
and death - there is only one
continuous creative project. Chopra
invites us to become co-creators in
this subtle realm, and as we come to
understand the one reality, we shed
our irrational fears and step into a
numinous sense of wonder and
personal power.
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Children Who Remember Previous Lives
[Kindle]
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by Ian Stevenson
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This is the
revised edition of Dr. Stevenson's 1987
book, summarizing for general readers
almost forty years of experience in the
study of children who claim to remember
previous lives. For many Westerners the
idea of reincarnation seems remote and
bizarre; it is the author's intent to
correct some common misconceptions. New
material relating to birthmarks and
birth defects, independent replication
studies with a critique of criticisms,
and recent developments in genetic study
are included. The work gives an overview
of the history of the belief in and
evidence for reincarnation.
Representative cases of children,
research methods used, analyses of the
cases and of variations due to different
cultures, and the explanatory value of
the idea of reincarnation for some
unsolved problems in psychology and
medicine are reviewed.
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At the Hour of Death: A New Look at
Evidence for Life After Death
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by Erlendur Haraldsson and Karlis Osis
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In this classic
book, veteran psychical researchers
Karlis Osis, Ph.D and Erlendur
Haraldsson, Ph.D collated compelling
evidence suggesting that we, as
conscious beings, do survive physical
death. This book is the product of
extensive interviews of over 1,000
doctors and nurses who have been present
when cases of "post-mortem existence"
have occurred. Extensive computer
analyses of their observations have been
made. The results are reported in this
first truly scientific investigation of
the experiences of the dying at the hour
of death. What these doctors and nurses
have witnessed cannot be explained away
by medical, psychological, cultural, or
other conditioning. Yet it may answer
the fundamental question of human
existence. "Finally, a book that probes
death and dying with modern research
techniques. Osis and Haraldsson present
compelling evidence that the deathbed is
the gateway to another existence. The
visions of the dying appear to be not
hallucinations but glimpses through the
windows of eternity." - Alan Vaughan,
editor of New Realities Magazine. "A
major contribution to the scientific
study of the question of post-mortem
existence." - Raymond Moody, M.D.,
author of Life After Life.
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Hindu Hell: Visions, Tours and
Descriptions of the Infernal Otherworld
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by Eileen Gardiner
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In the long
tradition of Hindu literature there was
a significant development in the concept
of hell from the period of the Vedas (c.
1500-1000 BCE) through the period of the
Puranas (c. 300-1500 CE). The earliest
descriptions are vague, particularly in
terms of topography, alluding only to an
underground, dark, putrid place for
punishing sinners. Later descriptions
calculate the huge dimensions, and
designate almost innumerable
subdivisions, of hell. Hell descriptions
have been collected here from eight
Hindu texts: The Rig-Veda, Atharva-Veda
[Veda of the Wise and the Old], The
Mahabharata, The Ramayana, The
Markandeya Purana, The Vamana Purana,
The Padma Purana, The Agni Purana.
Includes notes, glossary, web resources.
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A Second Chance : The Story of a
Near-Death Experience
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by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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The law of karma
reveals how we’re all responsible for
our actions. When we do unto others, the
same will be done unto us. Death is the
crucial moment when this mysterious
force acting behind the scenes
determines our destiny. At a time when
reincarnation, OBEs and NDEs are quickly
gaining acceptance, “A Second Chance” is
an amazing narrative is based on an
ancient book of Eastern wisdom called
Srimad-Bhagavatam. It shows us how we
can employ the techniques of meditation
and bhakti-yoga to overcome the
obstacles of materialism, meet the
challenge of death, and ultimately
attain spiritual perfection.
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Life After Death: A Study of the
Afterlife in World Religions
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by Farnaz Masumian
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What happens to
us when we die? What is the soul? Where
are heaven and hell? Is there a
reckoning with the Creator? Questions
such as these about death and dying have
frightened and fascinated humanity since
the beginning of time. This book
explores these questions in detail by
providing a general overview of answers
from the scriptures of seven world
religions: Hinduism, Zoroastrianism,
Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam,
and the Bahá'í Faith. The book examines
the viability of reincarnation and
transmigration theories, as well as
various ideas that attempt to explain
near-death experiences. Theological
scholarship combined with insight and
sensitivity make this book thoroughly
readable, a simple introduction to
profound and complicated subjects.
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Ancient Near Eastern Hell: Visions,
Tours and Descriptions of the Infernal
Otherworld
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by Eileen Gardiner
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Surviving texts
from the Ancient Near East reveal a
cosmology that included a dark
underworld realm, principally associated
with fertility cycles and describing
fertility gods and goddesses who are
captured and imprisoned in this realm.
In this underworld contrary gods live
permanently in a world without joy where
there is only dust to eat and drink.
This land also served as a great
warehouse for dead mortals. It was not
conspicuously a place of punishment, but
hints of judgment and retribution are
already evident, and these elements
became significant elements in other
cultures as the idea of hell developed.
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