Opening Heaven's Door: What the Dying Tell Us About Where They're Going - Softcover

Pearson, Patricia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1471137139 ISBN 13: 9781471137136

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2014

Synopsis

What happens when we die? People have been guessing since humans first began to think. Spirituality and religion provided the answers in the past, but in the age of science we're thrown back into the dark. If science cannot 'prove' there is life - or something - after death, then it doesn't exist. And yet ordinary people continue to experience unexplained phenomena when a friend or family member dies. These are normal people, even sceptics like Patricia Pearson. Prompted by her family's surprising experiences around the deaths of her father and her sister, Pearson set out on an open-minded journey of inquiry as a journalist. She discovered that far more people were having uncanny and transcendent experiences than generally let on: roughly half the bereaved population, plus all those who observe the dying (nurses, hospice workers, soldiers, etc.). With many years of examination into current grief research under her belt, she concludes that we cannot simply deprive people the legitimacy of these experiences until there is more solid evidence that 'we inhabit a purely material and mechanistic universe'. Pearson points to new scientific explanations around how dying is experienced, giving these luminous moments credence and understanding. As she says, 'The dying may finally be able to convey to us what they are feeling, and where they glimpse themselves to be going.' Opening Heaven's Door recounts deeply affecting stories of messages from the dying and the dead in a fascinating work of investigative journalism, pointing to new scientific explanations that give these luminous moments the importance felt by those who experience them. This riveting and intelligent work will be welcomed by the many thousands of readers of Proof of Heaven and Heaven Is for Real.

About this title

Review

'Opening Heaven's Door, will make you re-think everything you thought about death' Daily Mail

'A groundbreaking, beautifully written exploration that will forever alter your perceptions of the nature of life and death' --Kindred Spirit

About the Author

Patricia Pearson is a journalist, novelist and humourist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Huffington Post, and Business Week. A longtime member of USA Today's Op-Ed Board of Contributors, she directed the research for the 2009 History Channel documentary, 'The Science of the Soul'. Her recent TED talk was titled 'Why Ghosts are Good for You', pointing to the research that shows how important experiences with unexplained phenomena can be in helping people cope with their grief. She is based in Toronto.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1471137139
• ISBN 13: 9781471137136
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272