Sleeping, Dreaming and Dying

This book has been on my shelves for far too long, long enough for the editor and narrator to have passed on! It represents a report of Mind and Life IV seminar involving a small group of scientists and the Dalai Lama and makes for gripping reading for anyone concerned with the deeper issues of consciousness studies. The themes covered are the self, the nature of sleep, dreams in relation to the unconscious and yoga, bodily death, and the NDE. This last section was of greatest interest to me, and was presented by Joan Halifax. Here the Dalai Lama questions some of the standard interpretations of the NDE by comparing them with his own knowledge from the Buddhist tradition. In some cases, for instance when he denies the possibility of seeing dead relatives because they will have been reborn, one has the impression of preconceived ideas coming in, but in other cases he makes valid points about the difference between sudden and natural death - the latter is the main preoccupation of his tradition. The dialogue is reported in a lively way which brings the reader right into the room.