[Buddha-l] Being unable to imagine dying and living

[Ben Carral]

On Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 10:57:45 PM, Richard wrote:

>> And I wonder why past life regressions or near-death
>> experiences  are  not more more widely discussed and
>> taken  into  account--I  think  it  would  be  quite
>> interesting.

> I  suspect these things are not more widely discussed
> among  academics  because it is not at all clear what
> discussion  would bring to light, aside from people's
> predisposition to unsupported dogmatic claims.

   I  think  that  research  on  past life regressions,
near-death  experiences and other related phenomena can
help  us  to understand us better and that seems a good
thing to me. For instance, Kübler-Ross reports the case
of  a  born  blind  little girl who during a near-death
experience  was  able  to see. Among other things, this
calls into question our general understanding about how
our  senses  work  and  could open a promising research
field  for blind people. In addition to that, and since
rebirth   is   a   traditional  Buddhist  teaching,  it
surprises  me  that  Buddhist  scholars don't show more
interest in such phenomena.

> To  my  mind the best treatment of the topic is still
> Carol Zaleski's Otherworld Journeys (Oxford, 1987).

   Thank  you  for  the reference. I have recently read
_Dying  to  Live_  by  Susan Blackmore. She argues that
near-death   experiences   are   just   the   physhical
consequences  of  a  dying  brain.  I  have  not  found
convincing at all.

   Best wishes,

   Ben (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain)