This book tackles head on the often tabooed subject of death. It distills sophisticated clinical work into simple language, and describes simple techniques for talking to children about dying. The author makes sophisticated material accessible to a much wider range of practitioners than trained therapists.

In "The Already Dead," Eric Cazdyn examines the ways that contemporary medicine, globalization, politics, and culture intersect to produce a condition and concept that he names "the new chronic." Cazdyn argues that just as contemporary medicine uses targeted drug therapies and biotechnology to manage rather than cure diseases, global capitalism aims not for resolution but rather for a continual state of crisis management that perpetuates the iniquities of the status quo. Engaging critical theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, he explores the ways that crisis affects perceptions of time and denies alternative ways of being and thinking.

To resist the exploitative crisis state, which Cazdyn terms "the global abyss," he posits the concept of "the already dead," a condition in which the subject (medical, political, psychological) has been killed but has yet to die. Embracing this condition, he argues, allows for a revolutionary consciousness open to a utopian future. Woven into Cazdyn's analysis are personal anecdotes about his battle with leukemia and his struggle to obtain Canadian citizenship during his illness. These narratives help to illustrate his systemic critique, one that reconfigures the relationship between politics, capitalism, revolution, and the body.

Somewhere In Between: The Hokey Pokey, Chocolate Cake and The Shared Death Experience contains lighthearted true life stories from the author's firsthand experience at the bedsides of family and friends who were dying. The primary story, "Aunt Jerry and Our Shared Death Experience" contains the most extensively documented Shared Death Experience to date, and details what it was like for Lizzy to receive psychic messages from spirits and her aunt, feel her aunt's physical pain and see parts of her aunt's life review. Throughout the story, Lizzy explores what it was like to have psychic abilities for the first time and the conflicts that arose when her family did not believe her.

This book, BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUPS, fills the gap between the challenges to conventional grief psychology and the practice of bereavement counseling. The deceased person has often been left behind in counseling conversations, requiring the bereaved to distance themselves from honoring memories that could soothe their heartache. Ironically, the stories of the dead person have not featured prominently in the grief experience. This book offers a structured guide for facilitating bereavement support groups, but is intended as more than a simple "how to" book. It will also inspire readers with invigorating practice ideas. This new way of thinking includes the stories and love that remain after death. Here is a model for folding the deceased person's values, legacies, meanings, and connections into the lives of the living. The book shows how to utilize the metaphorical presence of the deceased, accessed through stories, actions and rituals, to affirm the relationship with the deceased as more than a lost memory to be shelved next to dusty old photo albums.

Going well beyond the general case of grief, author Dan Newman examines the unique loss experienced by the incarcerated, their families, and the countless professionals involved with prisoners. The author's candid inside view exposes the countdown experience on death row. This first-hand account reveals delays, family counselling, the last meal and final visit. The journey continues from the death house to the execution chamber, where death becomes increasingly real as the execution hour nears. From the viewing room, Newman witnesses the lethal injection and the final breath: an intimate portrait of death, and grief behind bars.

The Segelberg Lecture Series explores the intersection of religious faith and public policy. This book contains the lectures of the Trust's fi rst series, which were focused on The Ends of Life. Dalhousie University's School of Public Administration managed the series through a lecture committee under the able leadership of the former Dean of Dalhousie Law School, Professor Innis Christie, Q.C.

1933. The object of these notes is to show the origin and development of the practice of the separation of the body at death into two or more parts, and to suggest the circumstances which lead to the special treatment of the heart, for which, hitherto, reasons apparently not quite adequate have been advanced.

In "Never Say Die," Susan Jacoby delivers a brave, impassioned, and exceptionally important wake-up call to Americans who have long been deluded by the dangerous myth that a radically new old age awaits the huge baby boom generation.
Combining historical, social, and economic analysis with personal experiences of love and loss, Jacoby unmasks the fallacies promoted by twenty-first-century hucksters of longevity, and reveals the hazards of the magical thinking that prevents us from facing the genuine battles of growing old. "Never Say Die" speaks to Americans, whatever their age, who draw courage and hope from facing reality instead of embracing platitudes and delusions, and who want to grow old with dignity and purpose. It is a life-affirming and powerful message that has never been more relevant.

From a psychiatrist specialized in helping patients who struggle with depression and drug and alcohol abuse, comes the tremendous and heartbreaking memoir of a doctor who must reexamine the meaning of these same psychological diseases when they strike her own daughter. Now, rather than helping her patients learns the tools of coping and survival, Elsa must look inward and discover this kind of strength and courage within herself. As this brave author fights to employ all of her expertise, motherly love, and endless empathy, she is still left with facing the hardest questions a parent can ask. What do I say to reach my daughter? How do I help her? Can I help her?

"Through the Unknowable" is an intimate and fiercely honest look inside a family falling apart and a mother who never stops trying to pick up the pieces. This book is a must-read for anyone who knows how it feels to wander through the unknowable.

1933. The object of these notes is to show the origin and development of the practice of the separation of the body at death into two or more parts, and to suggest the circumstances which lead to the special treatment of the heart, for which, hitherto, reasons apparently not quite adequate have been advanced.

"Is there any hope that we may ever know what death is? Since it is a problem of knowing, we need to find the epistemological devices that will lead us to coming closer to it. I think this paper has something to tell on the matter something useful and perhaps significant. My own way of being convinced of this is to be found in the liberation my theory brought me, I was freed from having to carry the tension the problem had generated in me."-Caleb Gattegno

Few philosophers have devoted such sustained, almost obsessive attention to the topic of death as Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard and Death brings together new work on Kierkegaard's multifaceted discussions of death and provides a thorough guide to the development, in various texts and contexts, of Kierkegaard s ideas concerning death. Essays by an international group of scholars take up essential topics such as dying to the world, living death, immortality, suicide, mortality and subjectivity, death and the meaning of life, remembrance of the dead, and the question of the afterlife. While bringing Kierkegaard's philosophy of death into focus, this volume connects Kierkegaard with important debates in contemporary philosophy."

Now available in paperback -- Jan Hatanaka's powerful, life-enhancing book on how six people, encountering significant adversity, made a conscious choice to work to build a life of meaning.

Using six stories from her casebook as a therapist, Hatanaka explores and illustrates the complex relationships that exist between death and grief and the path that can lead to reconciling that grief.

Included in her stories is her own heart-wrenching and dramatic experience following a major health crisis. Hatanaka draws on her personal, clinical, and academic experience as she takes the reader through the Greif Reconciliation Process, describing the actual steps taken by people who manage to build a life of meaning in the face of significant adversity.

"The Choice" is brilliant in its simple, gentle, and profound exploration of the reality of suffering as part of the human experience. It exposes the hope that can be hidden in affliction.

"The Choice" will be of great help to those currently in the grips of personal adversity; the loved ones of those who are suffering; and health-care professionals, including medical practitioners, counsellors, therapists, and spiritual advisors.

About the Author

Dr. Jan Hatanaka's approach to grief and reconciliation is informed by: her personal experience; her extensive academic research on the universality of grief and loss; and her in-depth discussions with hundreds of individuals willing to recount their personal stories. The founder of Grief Reconciliation International Inc., she holds positions at York University, Toronto, in the Department of Nursing, the Religious Studies program, and the York Institute for Health Research. She has a B.Sc. in nursing from the University of Ottawa, a Master's degree in education and counseling psychology from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Wales.

From the Author

I wrote "The Choice" to introduce a process and a language that I hoped would help those who had made a choice to work toward greater understanding and wisdom concerning the reconciliation of grief in their lives.

We grieve in response to the loss of someone or something that we hold dear. While this response may manifest itself in many different ways, this book serves to illustrate the many common themes that surface in stories told by individuals relaying their personal experience in working to reconcile grief. I am pleased that this book is serving as a practical guide to those seeking help and those seeking to help others.

From the Back Cover

A dramatic, challenging, and liberating book that introduces the choice we all must make when faced with adversity &#8212 a book that traces the intense struggles and triumphs of those who have learned to reconcile grief in their lives, including, in this book: The author herself, who survived a major challenge to her health An up-and-coming student, whose fall on a football field renders him a paraplegic and takes him to the edge of suicide An MBA graduate, who discovers that unresolved grief in his family two generations back is threatening his marriage today A mother of two young children, who experiences a terrorism threat and can't reconnect with her family and colleagues A retired boxer, who faces the toughest bout of all when given the news that his condition is inoperable A woman entering her senior years who is emerging from a deep well of depression over the loss of her twenty-year-old son

Conscious Acts of Grace are those words, actions, and touches that let our loved ones know we are there for them at the end of their physical life. They are born in unselfishness, forgiveness, kindness, and compassion. They are the acts of highest love that allow us to release our loved ones from their pain and suffering with ease and caring. These true stories are valuable models that encourage and inspire. Read for personal inspiration, to share and facilitate conversation with family, friends, and medical personnel, to form a discussion or sharing group for encouragement and support, and to learn how to create Celebration Circles.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Jonathan Weiner comes a fast-paced and astonishing scientific adventure story: has the long-sought secret of eternal youth at last been found?

In recent years, the dream of eternal youth has started to look like more than just a dream. In the twentieth century alone, life expectancy increased by more than thirty years--almost as much time as humans have gained in the whole span of human existence. Today a motley array of scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs believe that another, bigger leap is at hand--that human immortality is not only possible, but attainable in our own time. Is there genius or folly in the dreams of these charismatic but eccentric thinkers?

In Long for This World, Jonathan Weiner, a natural storyteller and an intrepid reporter with a gift for making cutting-edge science understandable, takes the reader on a whirlwind intellectual quest to find out. From Berkeley to the Bronx, from Cambridge University to Dante's tomb in Ravenna, Weiner meets the leading intellectuals in the field and delves into the mind-blowing science behind the latest research. He traces the centuries-old, fascinating history of the quest for longevity in art, science, and literature, from Gilgamesh to Shakespeare, Doctor Faustus to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

And he tells the dramatic story of how aging could be conquered once and for all, focusing on the ideas of those who believe aging is a curable disease. Chief among them is the extraordinary Aubrey de Grey, a garrulous Englishman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Methuselah (at 969 years, the oldest man in the Bible) and who is perhaps immortality's most radical and engaging true believer.

A rollicking scientific adventure story in the grand manner of Oliver Sacks, Long for This World is science writing of the highest order and with the highest stakes. Could we live forever? And if we could...would we want to?

This commentary is based on the six bardos teachings from a series of hidden treasure texts known as the Profound Dharma of Natural Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones (Zab chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol), discovered by the great terton Karma Lingpa in the fourteenth century. The word "bardo," made popular in the West through the English translation of the Bardo Thodol or The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which also belongs to the same series of treasure texts, means an intermediate or in-between state. The practice of the six bardos, according to the hermeneutics of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, is essentially the meditative practice of living and dying. Natural Appearances, Natural Liberation not only contains very practical advice, but also has many teachings of the Nyingma tantric tradition embedded in it. The original text is not intended as a study of spiritualism or psychology. Neither is it intended to be viewed as handbook for taking care of the deceased, nor as a treatise on emptiness. The intention is to condense the very deep and profound tantric teachings of the six bardos into practices approachable by all sentient beings so that many can swiftly attain various states of liberation. This book offers a scholarly but accessible explanation of the ancient wisdom embedded in this ancient Buddhist classic. Tam Shek-wing (1935-) is a Buddhist scholar, painter, poet, writer and social critic. He is the founder of the Vajrayana Buddhism Association and Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Studies Association in North America. Master Tam was born in Guangzhou, China. As a young man, he received systematic training in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche. In 1986, Master Tam emigrated from Hong Kong to Hawaii, and then to Toronto in 1993. As early as the late 1970s, Master Tam began publishing writings on Buddhism, with an emphasis on the teachings and meditative practice in Vajrayana Buddhism. To establish Sino-Tibetan Buddhist studies as a legitimate field in Buddhology, Master Tam helped organize publication of the Monograph Series in Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Studies. The published works sparked interest in establishing new curricula in Buddhist Studies in a number of universities in China, including Renmin University of China in Beijing, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, and Nanking University in Nanjin. Since 2008, Master Tam has been a visiting professor at these universities, where he lectures on the tathagatagarbha doctrine and its practice.

A journey through 20,000 years of history and myth in search of the answer to a single question: Do animals have souls?
Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a cherished pet has wondered about the animal soul. Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer--taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul.
Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth's first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world's various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today--from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit--"The Divine Life of Animals" paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, "The Divine Life of Animals" also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess.
The "Divine Life of Animals" offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.

"From the Hardcover edition."

In "Death with Dignity," Robert Orfali makes a compelling case for legalized physician-assisted dying. Using the latest data from Oregon and the Netherlands, he puts a fresh new slant on perennial debate topics such as "slippery slopes," "the integrity of medicine," and "sanctity of life."His engaging writing style brings clarity to these issues. The content is thought-provoking; the arguments are well-researched, air-tight, and original.

This extraordinary book provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. It examines the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You'll learn about terminal torture in hospital ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. With laser-sharp focus, Orfali scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He provides an insightful critique of the practice of palliative sedation. The book makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. Reading this book, above all, may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call "end of life." It can be your gentle and informed guide to "a good death" in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention.

Robert Orfali, the guru of client/server systems in the early days of Silicon Valley, co-authored three best-selling books that demystified the complexity of these mission-critical systems and made them understandable to a whole new generation of programmers. The books sold over a million copies. In this book, Robert uses his analytical skills to deconstruct the most complex system he has yet encountered: our modern end-of-life system. He wrote this book after helping his soulmate and coauthor, Jeri, navigate her death from ovarian cancer in 2009. The deep emotions Robert felt allowed him to look at how we die from a different perspective, another angle. Robert also wrote "Grieving a Soulmate."

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This book is a guide to the afterlife. It's for those that want to know the truth about death.It will teach you what to do, where to go after your physical passing, making the transition from life to death easier. It is not meant for entertainment but more as a learning tool. The author, whom has empathic and sensitive qualities since the age of five years old, has decided to share what she has learned from souls on the other-side. Her teachings came from visitations, empathic feelings from those who have passed and Evps (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) of the dead speaking with the use of professional audio recording equipment. It became apparent to the author, from years of visitations, and many numerous cries for "Help," that there needed to be a guide written to help us move on after death. Even the most innocent of souls can be lost after death from lack of knowledge as to where to go. I hope that this book will alleviate that confusion and prepare us all for that journey. This book will hopefully will teach you there is NO end to us. For more information on author and to check out her Cd of spirit voices captured, visit her website at; http: //www.spookmanor.com

A GOOD GOODBYE: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die provides the information, inspiration and tools to plan and implement creative, meaningful and memorable end-of-life rituals for people and pets. Just as talking about sex won't make you pregnant, talking about funerals won't make you dead - and your family will benefit from the conversation. Learn how to save money, reduce family conflict, and avoid stress at a time of grief.

Julie Mughal has written a moving, compassionate and eloquent book that is ultimately about the strength of the human spirit, even when confronted with unimaginable adversity. It is especially about the strength of wives and mothers who struggle through their own grief and deprivation to see that their fatherless children continue to have hope for a brighter future. Only someone who has experienced this reality in her own life could have the understanding that makes these stories so illuminating. In spite of the many different ways societies support or oppress the widows in their midst, Land Without Hats is ultimately another reminder that the devotion of mothers to their children supersedes all boundaries and helps us "bear unbearable sorrow."
Dr. Charles MacCormack, President, Save the Children
Julie Mughal's story of her own grief and renewal woven into the stories of widows' severe losses and hardships gives a voice to widows worldwide. Too often, widows and their children are swept away by the culture of neglect and abuse and Land Without Hats can only help to support their collective struggles. Her book is a call to widows of the world to come together to create change and hope for all.
AnnMarie Ginella, founder of WidowSpeak
This global tour of grief shimmers with the beauty of the infinite differences among cultural traditions. At the same time it offers comfort through the shared familiarity of human loss. It's a lovely tribute to widows and the men they mourn in every part of the globe.
Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu Daughter of the Wind
Julie Mughal has written a stirring book, one that will touch the heart of anyone who knows what it feels like to suffer a shattering loss. She began this project as a way to make sense of the sudden death of her husband, but what she has produced is nothing less than a testament to the plight of widows and their children in some of the most desolate and dangerous parts of the world. The women whose stories Mughal brings us have survived hardships that will be all but unimaginable to many readers. But survive they have. And that, ultimately is the message of this heartfelt and deeply moving book.
Phyllis Kosminsky, PhD, author of Getting Back to Life When Grief Won't Heal
Unseen and unheard, widows in many countries still suffer appalling treatment because of traditional practices. They and their children are often forced into poverty at a time when they are most vulnerable. This book is a timely call for action to alleviate this fundamental breach of human rights.
Patsy Robertson, Chair of Widows' Rights International.

WINNER 2011 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NURSING When Plato was asked to sum up his life's work, he simply stated, "Practice dying." Last Acts of Kindness allows a glimpse into this practice through the stories of those who have lived and died among us. In these chronicles of a midwife to the dying, Judith Redwing Keyssar speaks eloquently and from her heart about her extensive experience in the field of palliative care-providing nursing expertise along with emotional and spiritual guidance and support. Her stories describe people she has eased in their dying processes in hospitals, residential facilities and in their homes. Keyssar offers us lessons to help navigate this complicated and inevitable journey. She encourages us to examine our personal relationships to impermanence and to consider the changes needed in our healthcare system to better serve us all at the end of life.