First Officer Matthew Bell was a friend of a friend of mine. He died flying a UPS plane in Dubai this Labor Day weekend, along with another pilot, Captain Doug Lampe. I know of Matt, his wife Dawn, and their daughter indirectly. I heard they were a loving couple. And so when death knocked on their door, I immediately felt a heaviness in the pit of my stomach.
I read books about death because it’s certain that one day it’ll be part of my experience, so I’ve a curiosity about it. Surprisingly there’s a lot written about death. The more I read the more I discover that it’s possible to be sort of comfortable with it. We prepare for many things in life. The ancient and modern wise ones say we should also prepare for death. I know this sounds rather gruesome to some people. All I have to say is, as with all subjects, with the learning eventually comes the understanding, making it possible to gain an entirely new perspective. To spend time on this mysterious subject is a good opportunity to rethink about things learned once upon a time from here and there, and to plant the seeds for other ways of thinking and feeling.
When someone I know either directly or indirectly dies, I start to marvel at the wonders that make up the universe, and in praying for the newly departed, I say a short prayer for all of us.
Have you read the book Divine Interventions by Dan Millman and Doug Childers? Well, the book helps enormously to open the reader to the amazing possibilities in this life and the next – some of the possibilities seem to not correspond to our material world, but then again, it’s simply an extension of the borders of the material world.
Praise for the book Life After Death by Deepak Chopra covers 13 pages. Suffice it to say that it could possibly be the perfect choice of all the books there are on this subject.
“Deepak Chopra has written a masterpiece that is long overdue in our spiritual culture. Life After Death: The Burden of Proof is a bold and comforting guide into the afterlife. Eternity is the true home of the soul, yet we fear to explore experience of death and our place beyond now. Deepak has brilliantly accomplished this journey on our behalf.”
-Caroline Myss
“East meets West in Life After Death. This treasure of a book is graceful and thoughtful, inspiring and enlightening, practical and mystical, an adventure of the mind and heart. If Deepak Chopra is correct-and contemporary afterlife research supports his belief-we should not fear death, but ‘respect it as a miracle’ and celebrate our inherent ability to conceive and experience the eternity of life. Prepare to be awakened.”
Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D., professor and director, Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health University of Arizona, and author of The Afterlife Experiments and the G.O.D. Experiments
“With great clarity and depth of insight, Deepak Chopra guides us through the process of understanding who we truly are, and leaves us with a richer, more complete awareness of the miracles of both life and death.” – Laurie Monroe, president and CEO, Monroe Institute
“Here is the paradox: life’s greatest mystery-death-seems to be its opposite and its very denial. However, anyone who reads Deepak Chopra’s penetrating and insightful investigation into this great mystery with an open mind will come to realize that the opposite of death is birth, not life. Life, which in essence is consciousness, is eternal and has no opposite. There is no death, only the metamorphosis of life-forms, consciousness appearing as this or that. This is the liberating truth the book continuously point to.”
-Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now
“If I had any doubts about the afterlife, I don’t have them anymore. Deepak Chopra has cast his inimitable light on the darkened corners of death. I think this is his greatest contribution yet.”
-Marianne Williamson, author of The gift of Change
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May Matthew Bell find amazing possibilities on his next journey, and may Dawn Bell find strength and loving support as she continues on this journey.
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