Social anthropologist, consciousness researcher, Professor at Sofia Univ, and curious explorer of culture, science, and the wonder of it all.

Blog

20 May

Posted at 18:16h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

[caption id="attachment_1919" align="alignleft" width="99"] Lee Lipsenthal[/caption] Someday you will face your own mortality. At that moment, I hope you see that your life has been well led, that you hold no regrets, and that you loved well. On that day, I hope that for you, it has become a good day to die. - Lee Lipsenthal, Enjoy Every Sandwich Lee Lipsenthal was fifty-three years old when he was told by his doctor that he was dying. He’d been living with esophageal cancer for two years. After a dance with remission, the disease had returned full force. As a physician who was married to...

24 Apr

Posted at 14:14h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, Transformation

Experiences that bring us close to death have an enduring impact on our lives. Marilyn Schlitz, author of the Death Makes Life Possible book, will be interviewed on the popular radio program Coast-to-Coast AM about how these experiences have the power transform. Tune in on Wednesday April 29th from 10:00PM to 12:00AM to hear the insightful conversation. You may also enjoy the following Death Makes Life Possible book excerpt which explores these themes.   Simon Lewis was a rising film producer. With the production of Look Who’s Talking under his belt, he had set up a deal for Nick Nolte’s next...

27 Feb

Posted at 10:24h in Death Makes Life Possible, News and Press, Transformation

Earlybird Rates End February 28th CLICK HERE TO REGISTER The Science of Being. The Spirit of Community. July 22 – 26, 2015 Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort near Chicago Picture yourself at an inspiring gathering of fellow explorers and like-minded friends. The menu of options speaks to your deepest passions, and luminaries from science, the environment, and wisdom traditions spark new insights. Music, dance, conversations that matter, and exercises that help deepen your experience are woven into a rich tapestry of renewal and transformation. You share your dreams and your vision, find inspiration, celebrate, reorient toward your deepest purpose, and take away tools you can...

10 Feb

Posted at 18:41h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

In my book, Death Makes Life Possible, I have emphasized that death awareness can serve as a fundamental catalyst for our individual and collective transformation. We have the means to harness our shared intention and attention and use them to shift the widespread fear and terror associated with death. In this process, we can wake from a cultural trance that has estranged us from our natural relationship to mortality. Crafting a new story for humanity may help us to identify a more expanded set of possibilities for our lives and those of future generations. Finding language to share our deepest...

06 Feb

Posted at 13:50h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

  I am Deepak Chopra and I am proud to be a part of this important program that is redefining death by helping people transform their fear into an inspiration for living. As this program shows so powerfully, coming to terms with our own beliefs about death can liberate us. The key to the conquest of death is discovering your true self, who you really are. When you do, you realize that death makes life possible. This is a program and a movie that goes deep into the nature of an event that we’re all going to experience. We’re all going to...

31 Jan

Posted at 14:54h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, News and Press

A recent online article in the Huffington Post named the Death Makes Life Possible film in step 5 of its 5 Action Steps to Improve End-of-Life Care in Your Community. Under action step 5, "Host a Film Screening and Discussion," author Karen Wyatt, MD encourages readers to  feature a film at a local screening and to facilitate transformative dialogue among the audience after watching the movie. Dr. Wyatt recognizes the potential of Death Makes Life Possible to catalyze shifts in the way we think, act, and talk about death. Indeed, throughout the United States, many community organized viewings of Death Makes Life Possible have already...

27 Jan

Posted at 22:34h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, News and Press

The Death Makes Life Possible team recently traveled to Nevada City for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. A sold out audience attended the screening of the film, and afterwards engaged in some passionate and moving dialogue with the filmmakers. Wild & Scenic featured Marilyn Schlitz, Executive Producer/Writer,  on their radio interview series during the event, and also produced a short video interview. Please enjoy these media and some other photos from the festival below!   Marilyn Schlitz, Death Makes Life Possible at Wild & Scenic   KVMR Radio Broadcast from Wild & Scenic Film Festival Media Reception [audio mp3="http://deathmakeslifepossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WSFF_Media_Reception_on_KVMR_MSchlitz.mp3"][/audio]   Photos             ...

23 Jan

Posted at 11:21h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

With Part 1 of this series, I introduced Terror Management Theory and discussed the implications for society when the idea of death is approached with anxiety and fear. Transforming the way we think about death and dying into a process of joy and inspired living may in turn transform the way we interact with others and lead to a more peaceful world. But where and how does this transformation begin? In this blog I share the words of an individual on this path of transformation. Yassir Chadly, a Sufi man I interviewed for the Death Makes Life Possible book and movie, holds a worldview that embraces religious and...

15 Jan

Posted at 19:51h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, Non-Fiction, Transformation

[caption id="attachment_1796" align="alignleft" width="300"] Paris, France. Thousands come together in solidarity for peace after the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris.[/caption] How can we use our own awareness around mortality to help overcome our aggressions and promote peace? Some social theorists assert that much of the violence and strife in our world is fundamentally the result of a shared cultural fear of death. As we look at the recent incidents in France, as well as other ethnic conflict around the world, we begin to see the application of this theory. The existence of alternative worldviews can cause us to question our own convictions and...

05 Dec

Posted at 14:57h in Featured, Transformation

As we approach the holiday season it's a time for us to reflect and examine our own beliefs and worldviews. In this post we explore a powerful transformative tool: the labyrinth. The following is an excerpt from my book Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life.   For Episcopal priest Lauren Artress, the ancient symbol of the labyrinth is a portal to the sacred. She quoted William Blake to us, "To the imagination, the sacred is self-evident" and then continued: The self-evidence of sacredness to the imagination is something we want to nurture. The labyrinth is a great place to do...

20 Nov

Posted at 09:00h in Featured, Non-Fiction, Transformation

According to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, almost two thirds of Americans with a 'great deal' of stress feel they have no control over it. Although we may be aware of how stressed we are on an every day basis, we may be less aware of simple practices that can help reduce stress and its debilitating effects. The book I co-authored, Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life,  includes a number of practices that can help in reducing and managing our stressful lives. One of these practices was inspired by an interview with Swami Veda Bharati, a teacher and spiritual...

11 Nov

Posted at 09:00h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

In the United States we celebrate our veterans, and the patriotism, the courage, and the sacrifice that they embody in service to the country. It is especially important to remember and honor those who gave their life in such service. Today, Veteran's Day, I want to share with you a scene from the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, in which I interview veterans about their experience of life and loss. I have also included a sneak-peek excerpt from my upcoming book of the same name. In this excerpt veteran’s speak about their experience in war and how these experiences shaped their perspective on...

29 Oct

Posted at 09:00h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, News and Press

Every year, immediately after Halloween a unique cultural event occurs. It's an event that celebrates our mortality by honoring the lives of those who are no longer physically with us. This day is called Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This holiday originates in Mexico, but is now becoming more and more popular in the United States as well. From city parades, to children's movies, how we approach death and dying in our culture seems to be shifting. Below is a sneak peak of a clip from the Death Makes Life Possible movie, and also an excerpt from my upcoming book of the same name (to be published in...

24 Oct

Posted at 10:00h in Featured, News and Press, Transformation

In June 2014, I had the privilege of leading a two-day Worldview Explorations train-the-trainers workshop at Zi-Zhu-Lin Purple Bamboo Monastery in Southern Taiwan. Worldview Explorations is a research-based experiential program I helped create (in collaboration with the Institute of Noetic Sciences) for middle school, high-school, and college students. The program's mission is to develop and increase access to curricula and tools that help youth and lifelong learners contemplate and understand the fundamental role that worldview plays in the perceptions and behaviors of themselves and others. At the gathering an interpreter translated for me as I shared with an attentive and enthusiastic group of 120...