In this fascinating book, M.V. Kamath helps to answer the most crucial question of existence: "What is the meaning of death?" Drawing from the wisdom, of major religions and cultures of the East and West, Kamath presents a clear, highly informative study on the experience of Life and Death. Included are the thoughts and reflections of 55 famous men and women during their experience of dying. Among them are Henry David Thoreau, Socrates, Madame Curie, W.B. Yeats, Queen Elizabeth I, Swami Vivekananda, Beethoven and Anne Boleyn. One conclusion the author draws from his examination of these intriguing experiences is that "those who are well-integrated die bravely and calmly and at peace." This book is an excellent guide to a better understanding of the experience of Life and Death.

About the Author:

M.V. Kamath (born September 7, 1921) ex-editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India, has had a distinguished career as reporter, editor and journalist in Mumbai, Bonn, New York, Paris and Washington, D.C. He has served as editor of the Free Press Bulletin, Bharat Jyoti, U.N. Correspondent, Correspondent of the Pres Trust of India, contributing editor of United Asia, and Sunday editor and Washington correspondent of the Times of India. Besides Philosophy of Life and Death he also authored Jaico Book of Baby Names, Sai Baba of Shirdi: A unique saint.

Author's Note	xi
Introduction	xiii
PART I
Life of Death, The Questionable Pursuit	1
Savitri and Satyavan : The Power of Love	5
The Story of Nachiketa : The Quest for Meaning	7
The Bhagavad Gita : The Interpretation of Death	15
Theory of Rebirth : The Endless Chain of Life and Death	18
The Doctrine of Lokayata : There Is No Life But This	22
Is There Life After Death? : New Evidence to the Fore	25
Reincarnation : Life, Death and the Question of Rebirth	32
Karma Revisited : Shaking One's Own Hand in Another Life	36
Nirvana : The Deliverance of the Soul	40
The Way of the Buddha and the order of the Universe	45
Bardo Thodol : A Traveler's Guide to Other Worlds	53
The Theosophist : Understanding Life and Death	57
Reincarnation and the Life Eternal	60
The Pervading Influence of the Reincarnation Doctrine	62
Sri Aurobindo on Death and Reincarnation	68
The Socratic Concept : Death and the Nature of the Soul	74
Osiris and His Forty Two Assessors	80
Zoroastrianism and the Concept of Future Rewards and Punishments	81
The Three Great Semitic Religions : Judaism, Christianity and Islam	84
Judaism and the Doctrine of Free Will	87
Man Can Control His Passions and Be a Force for Good	89
The Purpose of Creation and the Relevance of Man	91
Jewish Attitude Toward Death	93
Islam and the Idea of a Future Life	95
Iqbal's Theory : Koranic View of the Destiny of Man	97
Islamic Concepts of Heaven and Hell	100
Sufism and the Mystic of Islam	102
Christian Faith and the Concept of Personal Responsibility	105
Immortality, Life Eternal and Everlasting Life	109
Destiny, Fate and Predestination	110
The Roman Catholic Understanding Sin	112
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone	114
The Sacraments and the Attaining of Salvation	115
Karl Barth and the Humanity of God	118
Dark Night of the Soul : Toward Perfect Union	120
The Question of Being : Between Finitude and Infinity	122
The Need for an Everyday Philosophy of Death	123
A Personal Philosophy	129
References	150
PART II	157
The Lord Krishna	161
The Buddha	163
Socrates	165
Cicero	168
Jesus Christ	170
Alexander	176
Ramakrishna Paramahansa	178
William Shakespeare	181
St. Francis of Assisi	184
Sigmund Freud	187
Albert Einstein	189
Aurangzed	193
Lenin	196
Mahatma Gandhi	198
Leo Tolstoy	202
Anne Boleyn	206
Ivan Turgenev	209
Voltaire	211
Thomas More	214
Muhammad	216
Dag Hammarskjold	219
Napoleon	223
Martin Luther King Jr	227
Oliver Wendell Holmes	230
General Tojo	233
John, Duke of Marlborough	235
Swami Vivekananda	237
Thomas Jefferson	241
Pope John XXIII	245
Henrik Ibsen	248
Goethe	250
Akbar	253
Isaac Newton	256
George Gordon Byron	258
John Keats	262
Percy Blysshe Shelley	264
Queen Christina	267
Gogol	269
H.G. Wells	272
Abraham Lincoln	274
Thomas Alva Edison	277
Samuel Johnson	279
Joseph Stalin	281
Chinghis Khan	284
George Washington	287
Benito Mussolini	289
Adolf Hitler	292
Ludwig van Beethoven	296
Victor Hugo	298
Queen Elizabeth	301
Marie Curie	304
Lord Nelson	306
William Butler Yeats	310
Henry David Thoreau	312
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	315
Summing Up	317
Bibliography	326
Index	333

 Review this item

Share this Page with a friend

Printer Friendly Version

Viewed

times

since 2nd Oct, 2008