Welcome to
The Afterlife Advocate
A Conversation
about Conscious Dying, Conscious Grieving
and the Journey of the Soul
Issue # 28 - April 2017
Published by The Afterlife Education Foundation,
producer of the Original Afterlife Conference
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Portland, OR May 4-6
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with Hollister Rand
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Earlier this month a man in my neighborhood was dying, and his wife contacted me for end-of-life support. She
honored their Buddhist tradition of keeping the body at home for three days after death.
When it was time for cremation, with the help of home funeral expert Jerrigrace Lyons (who will be speaking at this year's Afterlife Conference), a small group of family and friends gathered at the crematorium, and I was honored to be included (it was the first time I'd witnessed a cremation). We held hands around the cremation chamber signing the Heart Sutra, and it was a beautiful send-off.
What I didn't know prior to this -- and most people don't -- is that bones don' actually burn into "ash." They come out intact, and they are then put into a giant grinder that turns them into the coarse "cremains" with which most of us are familiar.
Consider some creative ways to use cremains in sacred ceremony. Instead of scattering them in one place, keep
some to use in future rituals. Sprinkle them in your garden or into a river every year on a birthday or death anniversary, or use them to create sacred space (for example, when I built my house, I put some of my son's ashes in each of the four corners of my property). You can do this every time you move to a new house or plant a new garden. It's also possible to have cremains used in blown glass art objects, or mixed in to tattoo ink!
There are many imaginative ways to use cremains, and it does not have to be formal or somber. Because my son loved to travel, I divided some of his ashes into tiny, decorated bottles and gave one to each of our closest friends to carry with them on their vacations and business trips. His DNA is now part of the lands and waters of at least
a dozen countries
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Rev. Terri Daniel, MA, CT
Founder, The Afterlife Conference
Interfaith Chaplaincy, Bereavement Support
office@afterlifeconference.com
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A Dying Woman's View of Physician-Assisted Death
by Aliyah Alexander
Many opponents to this law call it assisted "suicide." As a licensed psychotherapist, I evaluated suicidality in people. People who are suicidal want to die, but most people who are dying and considering the prescription actually want to live. They just want to have some choice in how they die. READ MORE...
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Participate in an Academic Study
on After-Death Communication
Have you personally experienced after-death communication (ADC)? If so, please consider taking part in a University of North Texas online survey examining people's experiences with ADC. It will take about 20 minutes, and may provide you with a meaningful reflective experience (while furthering academic understanding of the subjective experience and impact ADC). Find the survey HERE.
For any questions, contact the principal investigator for the study, Dr. Janice Holden at (940) 565-2919 or Jan.Holden@unt.edu.
It's very important for us to participate in these studies. Academic research on these topics gives credibility to our spiritually-transformative experiences!
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Just prior to our conference in Portland, in May 2017, people from all over the world will also gather in Portland to celebrate, be inspired, and find the tools needed to create and enliven spiritual movements within our communities. Together we will explore sacred oneness, Christ Consciousness, Buddha Nature, eco-spirituality, social justice and the way of universal and personal transformation that honors the Divine in all.
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When Helping Hurts
featuring Dr. Jessica Zitter
If you haven't yet seen the documentary film
Extremis (available on
Netflix streaming
), get yourself a glass of wine, a bowl of popcorn and a box of tissues, and prepare for an eye-opening education. As a hospital chaplain, I've been in those rooms with those patients and their families many times, and this film really captures the emotions and the ethical questions surrounding extreme life-sustaining interventions.
The physician featured in the film, Dr. Jessica Zitter, was recently interviewed by our friend Dr. Karen Wyatt for her Death Expo series, so after watching the film, you can listen to the interview
HERE
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For Professionals Needing CEUs
for MFT, LCSW or RN
In this workshop, you'll learn the essential elements of the
Shared-Death Experience (SDE), a profound end-of-life phenomenon that strongly suggests communication across the boundary between physical life and the afterlife. The curriculum includes a review of the research, video case studies, guided visualizations, simulations, group work and discussion.
It is not necessary to attend the full conference to participate in this workshop, but we hope you will decide to experience the whole weekend!
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For our Northern California Friends...
Afterlife Conference founder Terri Daniel
is offering two
FREE presentations in the Bay Area in April.
A
ll attendees will receive a coupon for $50 off general admission to the c
onference.
Berkeley, April 17
and
Saratoga, April 18
Near-Death Experience:
Now That we
We've heard the stories and we've read the research. We know that consciousness continues after the body dies, and we, as a culture, have been intellectually and spiritually elevated by learning about these life-altering experiences. So what's next? How do we teach and support conscious dying and a metaphysical understanding of birth, death and beyond?
Hosted by
The International Association
of Near-Death Studies (IANDS).
April 17, 7:30 PM - Berkeley, CA
Rudramandir Center for Spirituality and Healing
830 Bancroft Way (at 6th)
MAP
April 18, Saratoga, CA. - 7:00 PM
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
13601 Saratoga Ave.
MAP
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