Invaluable insights from more than half a century of research and personal discovery into the experience of death and dying.Beyond personal history and archetypal themes, a comprehensive psychology must also address the fundamental significance of birth and death. Stanislav Grof, MD, distills teachings from ancient wisdom and modern science that suggest how to face the process of death and dying. The ultimate journey challenges us all, and how we approach it is much more than major personal issue. Those who come to terms with death in deep experiential self-exploration tend to develop a sense of planetary citizenship, reverence for life in all its forms, and spirituality of a universal and all-encompassing nature. Such radial inner transformation might be humanity's only real chance for survival. The Ultimate Journey describes ancient and aboriginal ritual and spiritual practices that help us understand the experience of death, develop effective ways of making dying easier, and integrate it as a meaningful part of life. The book also summarizes modern studies that shed new light on a variety of phenomena related to death and dying, including psycho-spiritual death and rebirth, near-death experiences, and the new expanded cartography y of the psyche that has emerged from Grofís fifty years of research of psychedelic therapy, Holotropic Breathwork, and spontaneous psychospiritual crises.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Preface by David Jay Brown
Foreword by Huston Smith
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Shamanism: The Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
2. Rites of Passage: Death and Rebirth in Ritual Transformation
3. Ancient Mysteries of Death and Rebirth
4. Death and Rebirth in the Great Religions of the World
5. The Posthumous Journey of the Soul
6. The Books of the Dead: Manuals for Living and Dying
7. Cultural Perspectives on the Nature of Reality and Consciousness
8. Dimensions of Consciousness: New Cartography of the Human Psyche
9. Consciousness on the Threshold of Death
10. The Mystery of Karma and Reincarnation
11. Messages and Visits from the Beyond
12. History of Psychedelic Therapy with the Dying
13. The Spring Grove Program
14. Psychedelic Case Histories
15. Psychedelic Metamorphosis of Dying
16. Psyche and Thanatos: Death in Western Psychology and Society
Appendix: Aldous Huxley’s Conscious Approach to Death
Literature
Sources of Illustrations
Index
About the Publisher
About the Author
