August 31, 2008

 Reviewed by T. U. Dawood
 

There has always been a lot of hype surrounding Deepak Chopra. Ever since his first book, Creating Health, was published in 1986, he has developed the mind-body connection further and brought meditation and self-awareness into the mainstream as tools for healing. His background as a doctor, and his interest in spirituality combined with his understanding of quantum physics has led him to postulate that ‘consciousness is the basic foundation of nature and the universe.’

He introduced Ayurveda-style Indian medicine to the wider world in 1991 with his second book Perfect Health. In it he teaches that healing can take place by amending the holistic balance of mind and body.

He then went on to tackle more purely spiritual and controversial topics in How to Know God (2000) and The Book of Secrets (2004), where he unpacked his belief that there was a larger essence that connects every living thing rather than the traditional western concept of God as a being.

He takes this thinking a step further in Life after Death: The book of answers. This book is the UK release and is quite scientific in substance and root, as opposed to the US version titled Life after Death: The burden of proof. It is without a doubt his most ambitious book to date and arguably his best.

It explores the meaning of death and he actually tries to dissect its various stages as well as its significance. Realising and accepting that we cannot know the answers to death’s questions, Chopra takes us on a journey of exploration and discovery.

He makes the book very personal, writing about his own mother’s death and what that meant to him. He realises that most people fear death and tries to comfort his readers. In the introduction, he quotes renowned Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore:

 

The night kissed the fading day
With a whisper
‘I am death, your mother,
From me you will get new birth.’
 

He begins by connecting birth and death and posing that they are both miracles. Chopra suggests we start thinking of death as a miracle, a thing of wonder, rather than a journey to be feared.

Traditional Indian parables and scientific approaches to death are presented side by side and in a clear, succinct and logical manner. He writes of Savitri who meets Death (known as Lord Yama) and learns he has come for her beloved husband Satyavan. She goes on a journey in attempt to save her spouse.

Along side telling her story, the author writes of Dr Van Lommel, who conducted a study of 344 patients whose heart had defibrillated (chaotic twitching and no brain activity). It was discovered that there can be consciousness with memories while there is no sign of brain activity. Only 18 per cent of patients experienced near death experiences — signs of a white light, a tunnel, seeing dead relatives and perhaps their own body — while the rest did not. There is no consistency.

This lack of consistency is a common theme in this book and leads Chopra to postulate that perhaps death and more interestingly the afterlife, is not the same for everyone. He even explores the idea that perhaps we can have an afterlife for ourselves based on our lives here. For example, patients who have near-death experiences tend to think about what is on their mind.

Chopra poses, ‘Maybe consciousness isn’t in the brain. That’s a startling possibility but one consistent with the world’s most ancient spiritual traditions. What if a NDE (near death experience) is a step into the afterlife that is still governed by memories and expectations?’

Studies involving patients who have experienced NDEs suggest that people’s experiences at that time revolve around their religion, culture and background and are not equal. Christians will dream of Christian symbols, Jews of Jewish and Muslims of Islamic, and so forth. Thus, Chopra ponders that perhaps there is no single common understanding of what is experienced because it seems in many ways to be self-created.

Together with this opaque understanding is the realisation that there is hope. Savitri’s parable has her learn about a boy who was supposed to die on his 16th birthday. However, when Death came with a noose to throw around the boy’s head, the boy bowed down at a temple and thanked God for his life. Thus, Yama missed and his noose broke some of the sacred images at the Temple’s altar instead. Thus, we learn ‘when Death comes to grab you, let him grab God instead. If God is in you, Yama’s noose will always miss. That is the secret for escaping his clutches.’

Although Chopra realises that not everyone can cheat death — because everyone ultimately dies — here he is reminding readers of the merits of being grateful for life.

In many ways, that is the purpose of this book; to help readers be more comfortable with death and to realise that it is as much a natural transition as birth in the journey of our souls. If one takes this analogy and the ideas of this book a step further, there is perhaps the concept that we should be as grateful for death, just as we are for birth.

Life after Death is interesting, edifying and engrossing. Chopra may not have all the answers but he certainly isn’t afraid to explore some poignant questions.

 

Life after Death: The book of answers
By Deepak Chopra
Rider Books, London
Available with
Paramount Books, Karachi
ISBN 978-1-84-604100-6
282pp. Rs544