Full Description
Explores ancient Jewish beliefs in life after death as well as contemporary spiritual experiences.
Exploring afterlife theories from the ancient world as well as contemporary afterlife encounters, Carla Wills-Brandon, Ph.D., reveals references to Jewish mysticism and afterlife encounters in ancient Hebrew texts, including the Torah, the Talmud, the Zohar, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the writings of the early Kabbalists. She shows how these works describe not only the realms of heaven but also near-death experiences (NDEs), after-death contact, reincarnation, and deathbed visions of crossed-over loved ones. Drawing on her background in psychology and her experience as a licensed therapist, she explains how acknowledging an afterlife as well as spiritual encounters can help you find peace after loss, discover inner spiritual light, and heal from destructive emotional patterns and ancestral trauma, including intergenerational wounds such as those from the Holocaust.
Sharing profound accounts of modern-day premonitions, spirit visitations, dream encounters with the dying, NDEs, and other psychic manifestations, the author shows how similar our contemporary mystical experiences are to those of our ancestors. Looking at the strong emotional resonances created by unresolved trauma, she explains how many survivors of World War II developed PTSD, which has been passed down from one generation to the next. She shows how believing in life after death and speaking about spiritual experiences can help heal emotional trauma and release difficult memories stuck psychically in our personal and ancestral past.
Revealing how spiritual seekers can benefit not only from a belief in the afterlife but also from expressing their visions of the unseen, the author shows how knowing that physical death is not final fosters a healthier preparation for one's own death and the deaths of those we cherish as well as a more fulfilling life.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Bruce Greyson, M.D.
Preface:
Why Seven Heavens? Introduction: Secrets We Keep
ONE
Where to Start
TWO
The Afterlife in the Jewish Tradition
THREE
An Angel Named Damus
FOUR
Experiencing Auschwitz with Nuinui
FIVE
Where Was God?
SIX
The Effect of PTSD on Faith in the Jewish Community
SEVEN
Facing Our Ancestral Past to Heal Future Generations
EIGHT
What Is an NDE or Near-Death Experience?
NINE
Reincarnation in Judaism
TEN
Afterlife Experience as a Conduit to the Divine: Beyond Religious Abuse
ELEVEN
We Are Not Alone . . .
And It's a Good Thing
APPENDIX A
Self-Awareness Inventory: Reviewing Your Own Life Book
References
Index
