A Revolution Beyond Death

By Shan Tung Chang and 張善通

This book is different from a vague philosophy that emphasizes the original intention of the philosophy of life, the specificity and falsifiability of predicted results, and the examination of explanations and predictions about the universe.

It is not the same as the search for absolute truth, but the search for the highest pri

• Language: English
• Publisher: EHGBooks
• Release date: Oct 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781647842901

Book preview

A Revolution Beyond Death

Shan Tung, Chang

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Postmortem Vision

1. Exploring the world of death

(1)    The field of view of pharmaceutical science and technology.

(2)    The vision of near-death experience.

(3)    The vision of hospice care.

(4)    Religious and philosophical vision.

(5)    The field of view of the inquiry.

2. A revolution beyond life and death

Chapter 2: The Revolution Beyond Life Existence and Death

1. Carrying her dead son around for medical help

2. Pick up mustard seeds from a home where no one has ever died

3. From Knowledge to Wisdom - Understanding Death as a Life Process for All Beings

4. Get out of the confusion of my love and bereaved son and seek the way of true understanding

Chapter 3: The Way to Find the Truth

1. Two poisoned arrows in a row without knowing

2. Searching for the reality of life existence and metamorphosis and sublimation

(A) The Lament of the Great Persian Emperor

I. Seeking to understand life through reading and analyzing research.

(B) The preciousness and greatness of human life

(C)Feel the life experience quenching, understand the real meaning of life existence

II. The meaning of the existence of life, free from the whole will

III. The meaning of existence of life itself is divided into two.

01    It is the meaning of existence given by nature.

02    The meaning of existence given by human subjectivity

IV. The existence of the universe life itself, that is, the meaning and purpose

(D) The meaning of life existence and metamorphosis

Chapter 4: The Truthful Reality of the Existence of Life in the Universe

1. The meaning of the existence of life

2. Finding the way to the castle (truth and reality)

3. The real meaning of the existence of life in the universe

(1)    Buddha's experience from the time he became a monk to his enlightenment

(2)    The great masters whom the Buddha visited before his attainment of enlightenment

(3) The Buddha's Criticism of the Great Masters

(4) Comparison of the Buddha's enlightenment with that of the great masters

4. Conclusion

Chapter 5: The Perspective of the Truth Reality

1. The transcendence of time.

(1)    The recorded instant is the present moment

(2)    The present moment is equal to the present.

(3)    The present moment contains all time

(4)    The present moment is not moving, only in the present moment.

(5)    Infinite density, infinitely small volume

2. The transcendence of space

3. The Transcendence of Life

4. The transcendence of self and others

(1)    Beyond the Self

(2)    Selflessness

5. The origin of The Way.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

1. Inquiry into the nature of the universe

2. To see the essence of life?

Chapter 1: Postmortem Vision

1. Exploring the world of death

For thousands of years, many scientists, philosophers, and religious communities have tried their best to discover what happens after death.

To lift the veil of mystery after death, the most direct way is to experience death in person, even though others paint a picture and testify, it is still not as good as experiencing the process of death in person, which gives you the most direct and real evidence.

The following is an incident I personally experienced: I remember the summer when I was eight years old, I went to the sand dunes at the bottom of the river with my neighbors, fishing, catching shrimps, swimming and playing together, almost forgetting the existence of time.

At that time, everyone was interested in taking off their clothes and pants, naked one after another, jumping into the Keelung River. After a short time, I couldn't breathe because my nose was rocked by the huge amount of water after I splashed water with my companions.

When I was about to go to shore to rest, a hand suddenly pushed me into the water from behind my head. I suddenly realized that I was floating in mid-air and saw a large group of people surrounding my body.

One of them was an older stranger who seemed to be rescuing me. I also clearly saw my closest classmate (neighbor) being scolded and slapped, and I remember the location of each person very clearly ........This was the first time I had experienced death in person. The next time was when I was 19 years old.

This time it was at a hospital in Section 4, Xing Long Road, Taipei for a corrective surgery on my leg bone. After inhaling a whiff of colophon (ether) into my mouth and nose ......, I floated on the ceiling and saw that I was naked on my lower half and the doctors and nurses were using some strange tools to fix me.

Outside the door sat my parents, and my friend's father and mother, who were talking about something. Next to me was an older woman with a mop, listening to them.

Immediately after a flash of strong white light, I was plunged into a world that seemed to be a blue vacuum. I was in the center of the space, a very strong red-orange light circled me.

At that time I felt very lonely, a feeling of homelessness, the whole space was terribly silent. I tried to break free from this strong red-orange light, but in the end I was dragged back to the center of this blue vacuum space... Immediately after .......

Immediately after a flash of strong white light, I was plunged into a world that seemed to be a blue vacuum. I was in the center of the space, a very strong red-orange light circled me.

At that time I felt very lonely, a feeling of homelessness, the whole space was terribly silent. I tried to break free from this strong red-orange light, but in the end I was dragged back to the center of this blue vacuum space... Immediately after .......

It has been puzzled, explored, and studied again by people of higher intelligence since prehistory.

Some of these explorations, however, are the study of the universe, the principles and principles of life, the nature of life's existence; others, such as the study of death, are the study of death. It is usually a study of the permanent termination of all biological life phenomena and functions relative to the existence of living organisms.

It refers to the whole process of existence of an organism from birth, growth, maintenance to aging and end.

This system of knowledge can be divided into three main parts: religion, philosophy, and science.

Religion explains the life and death of human beings, science studies birth to death, and philosophy is the whole chain of thought in time and space.

The relationship between them is the very field covered by the science of life and death. However, it explores the external circumstances and conditions of death, as well as the psychological conditions of the survivors and the attitude of society at large toward death.

Basically, while this discipline spans many fields, often in the medical, nursing, and medical sciences, it also encompasses the changes that occur in a body before and after death.

Since most of the disciplines have already studied the external environment of life in terms of becoming, living, deterioration, and emptiness. Therefore, most of the issues discussed in the science of life and death are concerned with the whole process of birth, growth, maintenance, aging, and death.

Therefore, from the viewpoint of life and death, the insights of life and death science are closely related to the social and cultural contexts of human beings and the formation and knowledge systems. The study is limited to equating life and death with deathology.

Perhaps it is because death is a paradoxical field beyond the understanding of ordinary people that the actual connotation within death is ignored in the overall life process.

Dance of Death

Human nature is probably the oldest rhythm in the study of death, and if we refer to the past history, if human beings are in a situation of poverty, war, famine, and disease, where the average standard of living is lower, then we are closer to the scythe of death. Then we are closer to the scythe of death, when the dance of death is within our reach.

Therefore, the wonder and awe of the mystery of the universe and life, artists, writers, and poets, have often used the symbols of melancholy, depression, and death. The black color, which symbolizes melancholy, sorrow, fear, and death, is often used as the center of thought in their works, and this trend still continues today.

"The Dance of Death is an allegory of death, a symbol of the Black Death in the late Middle Ages. The Black Death had a serious impact on the European population, changing the social structure of Europe and shaking the position of the Roman Catholic Church, which dominated Europe at the time.

As a result, some minority groups were persecuted, such as Jews, Muslims, foreigners, beggars, and lepers. It also changed the way people thought about death. The uncertainty of survival created an emotion of living in the present, as Boccaccio describes in the Decameron.

In fact, necrology does not directly explore the meaning of life or death, and such issues in medicine are not suitable for the study of necrology. Some medical texts even refer to the search for the meaning of life and death, which is not only beyond realistic thought or imagination, but also unhelpful.

These questions, however, are very suitable to be studied in a thoughtful and philosophical way in the process of death, with the study of the relationship between individuals, families, communities, cultures, etc.

This study explores how these questions affect a subject experiencing death, rather than the study of the questions themselves. Many people study the study of death because they believe in the value of life and that death is the end of life.

This makes it all the more worthwhile to explore these studies with the main aim of easing and improving the process of dying. The main purpose is to relieve and improve the process of death, not only for the dying, but also for those associated with death, relieving and improving the concept of depression, grief and fear.

What is death? Herman Féiel and Clyde Nabe, pioneers of deathology, have proposed a metaphor.Death is like a door or a wall. From an objective point of view, death is the disintegration of the physical substance, the collapse of the personality structure

All existence comes to a halt, in this sense - death is a wall, it is a disappearance that ends everything, not a beginning. If we look at it from the spiritual side: the reality of our being as human beings is not necessarily reflected in material existence only. Therefore, the disintegration of the body does not lead to the total disappearance of a person.

In other words, death is only a change of existence, from the organs that feel the stimulation of external things, including the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, to the virtual dimension of the eighth sense of awareness.

The tangible dimension of the senses, including the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, etc., can enter the virtual dimension of the eighth sense of consciousness, but it is the beginning of another kind of life, beyond the reality of thought or imagination.

Therefore, death is a door; not a wall. For the atheist, death would be the final end of existence. But for some, it is a doorway to the world after death. For some Christians, they believe that death begins as a wall, but ends temporarily. When the time of resurrection comes, this wall will be transformed into a doorway to eternal life.

Indian Christianity says that life never ends, and that life continues to exist from one generation to the next, changing runways. Buddhists, on the other hand, say that people will be reborn and reincarnated because of karma, until they reach enlightenment and the realization of Nirvana.

In any case, many people have their own opinions and religions have different views. The point, however, is how we view the death we are about to face, whether it is eternal death, or whether it is a thought or imagination that transcends reality. There is indeed an afterlife, and as long as one is prepared, one can certainly face the call of death with openness.

But for most people who live and die without knowing, who live and die in a daze, who are busy and at a loss for what to do with their lives. They are always eager to seek fame and fortune, to pursue the desires they desire, either in the pursuit and enjoyment of wealth, fame, appearance, food or love.

It is a life consumed with avoiding the control of the life of others in the world, facing the unexpected, troubles, pains and death.

Therefore, the communal existence with the lives of others is always willing to focus only on things that can be mastered with ease, and to be busy living in a state of busy life. I have never been aware of the existence of my life, when I can slow down the pace of my life, or even take a break, and really let go.

When can we really let go of the ties and bonds of a certain nature between people and people or between people and things, and quietly reflect on ourselves: Who are we working for? Who are you busy for?

What is the true meaning of life in the journey of conscious life with the wisdom of clarity? For example, why does the universe always exist in a state of interaction, influence, and entanglement with others, even other species, and things in the world?

The nature of death and its own existence, as well as the universe in order to achieve a certain ideal, or to achieve a certain purpose, and consciously for the operation of the orbit of the movement.

What is the connection between the existence of death and the nature of one's own life, as well as the movement of the universe in order to realize a certain ideal or achieve a certain purpose? What kind of attitude do we need to take in order to face the end of life and death?

Traceability

Around 400 A.D., in terms of the history of Western philosophy, Augustine was a great figure of the Patristic Philosophy period. He worked to harmonize the Greek philosophical tradition with the Christian religious tradition and influenced medieval patristic philosophy. He believed that God created everything. Before God created everything, nothing existed. This includes time, and for God, he is an absolute being independent of time.

The past, the present, and the future are all present to God. Augustine preferred ontology to essence.

This is because essence implies something that has an attribute, while essence is concerned with the existence of life itself, which is the fundamental characteristic of all reality.

Some philosophers, such as the Socratics, believed that any term corresponds to an actual being.

Other philosophers have argued that there are terms that do not represent existing entities, but only a collection of concepts, including all objects, phenomena, or events that exist objectively in nature, as well as abstract, virtual worlds generated by human thinking beyond reality or imagination.

These include all objects, phenomena, or events that exist objectively in nature, as well as abstract, virtual worlds that arise from human thought beyond reality, or imaginative thinking.

However, for the Augustinian view of religious philosophy, God is the same as his attributes. The unchanging nature or essence of God is three and one. Therefore, he strongly insisted on the relationship of the unity of the Trinity. Such an emphasis on the unity of God's nature would have several connotations: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not separate individuals.

They are of the same nature, and their positions are interdependent, and they are not separated. All of God's essence is represented by a unique singular number, because the essence is unique. It is the only one. He also states: "Everything is uncertain, but death is certain. Therefore, even for a person who lives and dies in a state of confusion, is life a life of wandering and solitude, thrown away in the world?

Or to enjoy all the glory and wealth and have many children and grandchildren; or to take any serious and in-depth study of it

Or to discuss personal problems that concern him; or to uncover the philosophy of life that is so eagerly awaiting the existence of life. All of them are of no interest to him, and it is difficult for him to avoid the untimely encounter with the subject of death.

Strictly speaking, death has never been a major issue that people want to study or discuss, or a major option that needs to be addressed. However, the use of death as a major point of study or discussion has a long and storied history in various cultures and religions.

People are afraid because they are afraid of the possibility of existence in this world, of not being able to grasp it, of not being able to choose. We do not know where to go in the unknown existence of life. This unexplained fear makes people feel like they have no home to return to.

This unexplained annoyance and anxiety, even if we have been afraid of the existence of strange and unknown environment all our lives because of our own nature. I hope that I will be able to wake up and understand the true meaning of life and existence before I die.

I also hope to understand the true meaning of life's existence when I face death, so that I can leave in peace and tranquility.

But the world after death, the inner state and the process of experience after death. It is always beyond the reality of thought or imagination, and its unpredictable encounter cannot be anticipated, believed, or expected.

Although various religions, metaphysics, and philosophies have attempted to speak with certainty in this area since ancient times, they are still mostly beyond realistic thoughts or imaginary speculations, and there is very little obvious and definite evidence.

In fact, the view of death has never been just as a thought beyond reality, or imagination, a realm of pursuit and aspiration, beyond metamorphosis and sublimation. Rather, on the basis of the existing information, according to certain methods and rules, we make calculations on future events in order to understand in advance the process and development of things.

The process and result of the development of things in advance is an indispensable element of the experience of reality on this shore. Death, in its unthinkable form, is an indispensable part of our existence on earth, of our life.

We can analyze these long-standing discussions of death as a theme into the following five categories. First, the perspective of medical technology. Second, the perspective of near-death experience. Third, the perspective of religious philosophy. Fourth, the perspective of hospice care. Fifth. The perspective of inquiry.

In order to clarify the causes of these different inquiries into death, we will explore what kind of world is after death.

I. Medical explanation

Although, in our life, apart from birth, there is another thing that we have no control over, and that is death. Everyone is afraid of death, and the very mention of the word death makes us shudder and feel uncomfortable.

Death is a word with a strange, strange and mysterious, unknown territory. Most people have an attitude towards death, that is, they do not want to pay attention to it, but they have to face it. Yet they have to face it, because it is the choice that will eventually come to human life cycle.

But even if death is the destiny from which everyone cannot escape. But ironically, the ideas, cultures, morals, customs, arts, institutions, and behaviors that have been passed down through history.

There is an invisible force of influence and control that tells us about the fear of death. As a result, we have been exposed to very little awareness of death education itself from childhood to adulthood.

Social factors such as customs, morals, habits, beliefs, ideas, etc., that have been passed down from generation to generation around the world, and which have symbolic or special meaning in the folklore, are depicted in relation to death. When we die, what happens to our consciousness and our body? The term soul has been circulating for a long time.

The majority of people believe that when we die, the soul that is created in the moment of death begins to slowly detach from the body and float into the air. It will float into the air and keep spinning, and finally float out of the window, but this is only a folklore legend.

What happens when a human body dies?

The causes and processes of death can vary widely. Therefore, let us assume that the parameters of death are natural death and that one is, at this moment, gradually experiencing the process of death.

First of all, it should be clear that there is no precise moment of death, because sleep, coma, thoughtlessness, and funereality are very similar to death in terms of the appearance of the body.

Therefore, death is a gradual process with many gray areas in between, and there are many details that we humans are still in the process of figuring out and do not know.

But even so, we can still roughly divide the process of death into two levels. First, the internal sensory changes, and second, the external physical changes of the body's shell.

First, the internal physiological changes.

In the process of death, what kind of internal physiological changes does a person experience?

James Hallenbeck, a palliative care specialist at Stanford University, answers these questions in the medical field.

The last few days of life are medically known as the active death phase.

During this phase, humans begin to rapidly lose various natural physiological desires and most of their senses.

According to Hallenbeck, the sequence of events in this stage may be as follows.

No more hunger.

No longer feeling thirsty.

No longer able to speak.

Vision is becoming blurred.

Hearing gradually disappears.

The sense of touch is gradually disappearing.

Other common accompanying reactions include shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, extreme fatigue, confusion (possibly due to lack of oxygen), constipation or incontinence, and feelings of nausea and retching.

At this time, your brain is gradually extending your life by sacrificing some of your body's non-essential functions. At this point, the skin starts to cool, the color starts to become dull, and even spots begin to appear.

Soon, the body will become so weak that it will be difficult to cough or swallow, and breathing will make a strange sound due to the accumulation of fluid in the throat.

In medical science, it is called death throat sound. However, in the eyes of doctors, the death throats themselves are not harmful, even if they sound very painful to the uninitiated.

However, doctors' knowledge of the painfulness of this phenomenon is actually very limited, because the patient is unable to describe his feelings at this time.

At this point, the body is approaching what is known as clinical death, in which the heartbeat, breathing, pulse and internal circulation gradually stop.

However, for the next 4-6 minutes, the body's cells remain alive until the onset of biological death. At this stage, brain cells begin to die and from this point on, death is irreversible and the patient cannot be revived.

Second, the external physiological changes

Generally speaking: the changes that occur within 24 hours after death are called early cadaveric phenomena. After 1 minute of death, the blood that has been clotted will cause the skin of the whole body to start to change color.

At this time, the body's muscles will slowly relax and the intestines and bladder will gradually empty. After 3 minutes of death, brain cells will die in batches.

After 4 to 5 minutes of death, the pupils of the eyes slowly dilate and lose their luster. The eye begins to slowly flatten out from the sphere, and 7-9 minutes after death: the brain stem dies.

After 1 to 4 hours of death, the body muscles begin to harden and the hair stands on end, and after 4 to 6 hours of death, the stiffness slowly begins to spread.

The blood clotted together will make the skin darker. If the stiffness formed is destroyed artificially, the stiffness can still occur again soon, but the intensity will be weaker than before.

This is what we call re-stiffening. After 6 hours of death, some anaerobic physiological reactions will continue. After 8 hours of death, the carcass is completely cold.

The changes that occur after 24 hours of death are called late postmortem phenomenon. After 36 to 48 hours of death, the rigor mortis phenomenon will slowly disappear and the body will begin to slowly become soft again.

After 48 hours, the overall weight will be reduced by 21 grams. After that, there will be a series of changes such as necropsy, necropsy odor, necropsy green and swelling, and white ossification.

Medical technology is fundamentally based on biophysiological measurements to determine the conditions of death. Traditionally, the three characteristics of death are: permanent cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, and loss of pupil reflex to light.

However, due to technological advances in the accumulated knowledge of nature, society, and thinking, patients can maintain respiratory and cardiac functions with the help of equipment. This evolution of the means and methods of controlling and changing the natural environment

As a result, the concept of death has also changed, and the responsibility of determining it naturally falls on the physician.

When an individual is facing death, there are three types of death.

First, cardiac death: the heart stops beating, the blood cannot supply the whole body, and the organs and tissues lose their functions, resulting in death.

Second, lung death: breathing stopped without oxygen supply, so that the heart, brain and other organs and tissues dysfunction and death.

Third, brain death: refers to the brain stem death, when the brain has serious diseases (such as trauma, stroke, tumors, etc.)

The brain stem, which controls the heartbeat and respiratory center, undergoes sequential lesions, resulting in the complete loss of brain stem reflexes. After a period of time, the heart and lung functions are also lost.

The modern medical definition of death is a gradual process and does not end at a specific point in time.

It is passed down from generation to generation, from one group or society to another.

The determination of death with symbolic or special meaning is not pronounced only after all cells of the body have died.

Therefore, in medical science, there is the concept of brain death is death. This concept is not to overturn the original traditional method of determination, but only to advance the time of determination.

In law, the definition of brain death is death is also adopted. According to Article 2 of the Procedures for Determining Brain Death published by the Department of Health of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China on September 17, 1987, the determination of brain death is the same as the traditional result.

"In current judicial practice, brain death is only one of the criteria for determining the fact of death, and it is only applicable to certain areas (such as organ donation and transplantation).

For example: brain death. The importance of such words is not only to determine when a person