Afterlife: Is There Consciousness After Death?

by Daniel Pinchbeck

MP3 CD Format One of the deepest questions we can ask What happens after we die? For the past centuries, with the rise of scientific materialism, the prevailing answer to this has nothing. Our conscious self-awareness is simply an accident of evolution, arising from the increasing complexity of the physical brain. There can be no awareness outside of the brain. However, scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, particularly in physics, flipped this over, supporting what mystics have said throughout Consciousness is the underlying reality, the "ontological primitive," and the physical universe is a transitory expression of this indivisible, instinctive consciousness. This revolution in scientific thought gives us reasonable grounds to reconsider a great deal of evidence pointing toward an afterlife. This includes children who spontaneously recall their past lives, mediums able to bring information from the deceased, Indo-Tibetan death meditation practices, and near-death experiences. In Is There Consciousness After Death? , New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pinchbeck ( Breaking Open the Head , 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl ) builds the philosophical foundation for a new understanding and acceptance of our existence as souls and spirits within a larger continuum of consciousness, connecting contemporary scientific knowledge with ancient esoteric and shamanic wisdom traditions. Changing our relationship to the afterlife will also transform our relationship to this world. As the worldview of monistic or analytic idealism displaces the obsolete model of reductive materialism, the values of our civilization will also change profoundly. Hence, on every level, this is a subject of primary importance for humanity's future.

1 pages, Audio CD

Published August 30, 2022

About the author

Daniel Pinchbeck is an American author. His books include Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, and Notes from the Edge Times. He is a co-founder of the web magazine Reality Sandwich and of the website Evolver.net, and edited the North Atlantic Books publishing imprint Evolver Editions. He was featured in the 2010 documentary 2012: Time for Change, directed by Joao Amorim and produced by Mangusta Films. He is the founder of the think tank Center for Planetary Culture, which produced the Regenerative Society Wiki.

Reviews

[Diana T-C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the Audible narrated version of this book. This book had been set aside while I spent time with more fiction than nonfiction books these past few years. This week I finished listening to this book. It's very good.

Many books I had already read were mentioned, perhaps a few sentences quoted, but more often cogent points made by the other authors in their books were pulled in for this author to discuss. I really enjoyed seeing great ideas and thoughts or experiences pulled from other familiar books and explored, usually in agreement, at least once, gently not in agreement (I think the remark was more like "overplayed or overreached - that's the gist, I cannot recall the exact phrase)

I suppose I have read hundreds of books, at least, on topics of NDEs, consciousness, UFOs, and spirituality. My introduction to these books where we exist beyond our physical self were first-person stories and have probably been read by many people. This book is more intellectual and from a farther viewpoint, looking at what it all means - gathering other viewpoints across time and cultures.

It's broad in sources but specific in points made.

Very enjoyable listening because it made me think and gave me a chance to consider ideas and conclusions offered by people who spent a lot of time thinking about consciousness.

Highly recommend if you've read NDE, OBE, consciousness, UFO, and some quantum physics books because here you'll see connections made. Some name dropping, but it's necessary because long time well-known researchers and their books are included. Might be too hard as a first book for someone who hasn't done previous reading about these topics.

Narration is very good too.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked more delving into ideas.