Afterlife

We all know we're going to die at some point. Yet in the modern western world we're loath to talk about death, we have only vague notions of what it means, and we mourn our loved ones with unmitigated fervour. So what really awaits us on the "other side"? Spiritual philosopher Ian Lawton has spent more than five years researching the truth behind the myths… and now presents us with the most fascinating and comprehensive view of the afterlife ever compiled.

- Ian Lawton

Does Consciousness Survive?

There are, of course, those who don't believe in an afterlife at all. "When you're dead, you're dead" is an increasingly common refrain in our materially and scientifically obsessed culture. Yet is this really the most rational position to adopt?

The evidence suggests not. This ranges from the inability of modern scientific theorists to solve the so-called "hard problem" of where consciousness originates, to the multiple fields of research that indicate beyond a reasonable doubt that our consciousness exists independent of our physical bodies and brains—and continues to exist after their demise. A huge weight of anecdotal evidence now exists where people have reported obscure information that they couldn't possibly have obtained except via their consciousness operating outside the confines of their bodies. This includes mediums channelling the spirits of the deceased, trained remote viewers, and ordinary people having near-death and out of-body experiences.

To take just one now little-known example, early in the twentieth century American life prisoner Ed Morrell was mercilessly tortured in San Quentin prison by being placed in a straitjacket that was then laced so tight he could hardly breathe. Warders could scarcely believe how he survived such inhumane torture for up to four days at a time. His own explanation? He found himself being lifted out of his body by unknown forces, after which he could rove around the San Francisco area at will while his body suffered. Not only that, but while doing so he met a number of people who he was later able to recognise as playing important roles in his life—such as the girl who would become his wife and the future governor who, as he predicted at the time of his torture, would eventually free him.

Impeccable Sources