(spiritual emergency). In conclusion, I would like to mention briefly some of the broadest possible implications of this material. Whether or not we believe in survival of consciousness after death, reincarnation, and karma has very serious implications for our behavior. The idea that belief in immortality has profound moral implications can be found already in Plato, who in Laws has Socrates say that disconcern for the post mortem consequences of one’s deeds would be “a boon to the wicked”. Modern authors, such as Alan Harrington (Harrington 1969) and Ernest Becker (Becker 1973) have emphasized that massive denial of death leads to social pathologies that have dangerous consequences for humanity. Modern consciousness research certainly supports this point of view (Grof 1985). At a time when a combination of unbridled greed, malignant aggression, and existence of weapons of mass destruction threatens the survival of humanity and possibly life on this planet, we should seriously consider any avenue that offers some hope. While this is not a sufficient reason for embracing uncritically the material suggesting survival of consciousness after death, it should be an additional incentive for reviewing the existing data with an open mind and in the spirit of true science. The same applies to the powerful experiential technologies involving NOSC that make it possible to confront the fear of death and can facilitate deep positive personality changes and spiritual opening. A radical inner transformation and rise to a new level of consciousness might be the only real hope we have in the current global crisis. References Alexander, Franz. 1931. ”Buddhist Training As Artificial Catatonia.” Psychoanalytic Review 18:129–145. Bache, Christopher. 1988. Lifecycles: Reincarnation and the Web of Life. New York: Paragon. Becker, Ernest. 1973. The Denial of Death. New York: The Free Press. Bozzano, Ernesto. 1948. Dei Fenomeni di Telekinesia in Rapporto con Eventi di Morti. Casa Editrice Europa. Delacour, Jean Baptiste. 1974. Glimpses of the Beyond. New York: Delacorte. Foerster, Heinz von. 1965. ”Memory Without A Record.” In The Anatomy of Memory, edited by Daniel P. Kimble. Palo Alto: Science and Behavior Books. Flynn, Charles. 1986. After the Beyond: Human Transformation and the Near-Death Experience. Englewood-Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Greyson, Bruce, and Charles Flynn (eds.). 1984. The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas. Grof, Stanislav, and Joan Halifax. 1977. The Human Encounter with Death. New York: E. P. Dutton. Grof, Stanislav, and Christina Grof. 1980. Beyond Death. London: Thames & Hudson. Grof, Stanislav. 1985. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. Albany: SUNY. Grof, Stanislav. 1988. The Adventure of SelfDiscovery. Albany: SUNY. Spirituality Studies 1 (2) Fall 2015 29 (27)
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