Secrets of Life and Death

Death As Snow

2012-02-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up, a snow storm was a special treat. It blanketed the streets and houses in a coat of white -- pure, quiet and full of promise. In the night, from my bedroom window, I would watch the falling snow visible under the golden halo of a street lamp and gauge it's strength. Next morning I would awake with hope and anticipation, glancing out the window at the night's accumulation as

Grief As Transformation

2012-01-23T23:50:00.000-08:00

The movie, Cherry Blossoms is about life, death, love and the journey of spirit. It is also about Butoh. I now understand Butoh. Life, death, love, grief and Butoh -- all the same. My dearly departed friend, Marianne, danced Butoh. Another friend, Sika, has just taken it up. I never understood the attraction. It seems slow and ponderous, requiring much heady focus. Although, I must admit,

Channeled Teachings About Life and Death

2011-11-19T00:07:00.000-08:00

In my last blog, I explored some of the ways people get their ideas about life after death. Religion has been the primary source of these ideas throughout most of history. Since the advent of hospice and modern medicine, we now have the first-hand experiences of people nearing death (see Final Gifts) and those restored to life after dying (see Life After Life). These new sources have provided a

NDE -- Glimpses of the Other Side

2011-10-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog, I discussed some of the ways we learn about the territory of death and after death. The most familiar resource is religion. It is the main purpose of religion to provide a theological framework for why we are here and what it all mean. Invariably religions predict a relationship between behaviors in this life and rewards or punishments in the next. It has been suggested that

Dream Guidance

2011-10-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

Dreams are an amazing resource if you can learn how to decode them. They can give you information about the purpose of your life, the state of your health, the people you have lost or the progress of your work. They can even hint at what you should do or not do. But, how to make sense of them? So many wild visuals: water, zebras, butterflies, overflowing toilets, crammed bookshelves, trains

Nonbelief or Disbelief

2011-08-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

I want to share this exchange I had with a friend about my last blog post, Understanding Death for Those Without Faith. Daniel objected to my use of the word "Atheist" as its true meaning is one who does not believe in a God. One can disbelieve in God and still believe in some form of afterlife. I started by asking if there was a more concise term for "a person who does not believe in an

Understanding Death For Those Without Faith

2011-08-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

A survey of attendees at my last film screening revealed consensus for wanting a deeper understanding of death. While our discussion was amazing in its breadth and coverage of difficult topics such as anger, acceptance, loneliness and the need for help, nothing was said about what happens when you die. No one in the room appeared to have the requisite personal experience. No near-deathers, no

Growing Old and Liking It.

2011-08-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

At my 60th birthday party Not until I reached forty did I notice any signs of aging. I had that youthful appearance that had liquor stores and restaurants carding me until well into my 30s. When I reach 40, however, my eyes started to go. I resisted, as most of us blessed with 20-20 vision resist. I only wore readers at night when reading in bed. I recall sitting in an Indian restaurant with

Departures

2011-07-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Rick Fields' Ashes In the Japanese film Departures by director Yojiro Takita, an out-of-work cellist accidentally finds a new career casketing the dead. The Japanese, we discover in this film, are as death phobic as we are in the West. This premise makes for a humorous, at times emotional, and very engaging film about life, death and relationships. The young cellist, Daigo Kobayashi, is

Mastering Life

2011-06-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month the seminar/screening of my film, Caring for Dying was cancelled because there were an insufficient number of preregistrations. It was scheduled for Saturday morning, April 4th, a day both mild and sunny with flowers bursting out from the recent rains. The beckoning of my garden and the park was irresistible. One could hardly blame people for not coming

Life Post-Mortem

2009-04-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Carolyn North's piece on life-after-death. While researching for her book, "The Experience of a Life Time: Living Fully, Dying Consciously" she came across a number of channeled accounts about the after-life, from different countries and decades apart, with startlingly similar information. She combined the different reports into an imagined chat between her and these

2009-03-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

The other shot we need to take for the "Old Man, Old Woman" folktale was tossing a rock into the water. You can guess where this might be going. So I had all these large pieces of volcanic rock which were pretty light and so easy to toss. Unfortunately they occasionally floated. The other problem was the ducks who got very interested in what we were doing and got into our shot. I lost a lot

Production photos

2009-03-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

In creating the opening folktale for the film, "Old Man, Old Woman," I went with my camera operator to a park to get shots of me tossing a cowpie into the pond. This happens when Old Man suggests that the matter of death be decided by throwing a buffalo chip into the river. It was suppose to be a buffalo chip but alas, no buffalo to be found. And it was suppose to be a river, but hey, the pond