Is There Life After Death?: Why Science is Taking the Idea of an Afterlife Seriously Book

It’s a rare thing for me to rave about a book. I love to read and consequently, I read a lot of books and am often disappointed. Not so with “Is There Life after Death” by Anthony Peake. In fact, this was a book that I couldn’t and didn’t want to put down and yet had to just to think about its content. It’s well researched, well written and frankly well published in the sense that it’s a quality book too for the price. Peake has a slightly humorous writing style yet delivers on content and punch.

So what is the book about? Well, it’s really not about life after death and to some extent the title seems an odd choice. Peake lucidly explores quantum physics, medicine, psychology, certain aspects of occult thinking, gnosis, history and more besides, to progressively and comprehensively build a picture that supports his thesis. It’s a book that needed writing because, as I have noted many times, many disciplines are coming together to point to some startling conclusions about reality and Peake manages to communicate the complex with simplicity.

One of the most interesting parts of the book deals with ‘deja vu’ and also with foretelling the future. This is skillfully inter weaved with findings on epilepsy, what happens in the brain when we die, near-death experiences and more besides to set up Peake’s theorem. By starting with quantum physics, he is able to show convincingly scientific, medical and psychological support for his views which are neatly and simply summarized in the penultimate chapter of the book.

He deftly explains the nature of reality and time as constructs of the brain. He uses the idea of the Higher Self or Daemon as a sort of eternal life partner that co-habits our brain and has a totally different perception of what is really ‘out there’. In essence, he argues that our brain ‘dumbs’ down actuality so that we can create a holographic reality that we can deal with and continue to create that reality through our life. He calls it a ‘Bohemian IMAX’ going on in our head and nothing, not one detail off that life is forgotten ” it’s all there, stored in the brain in a sort of hologram but not usually accessible. Until, that is, we die”..

It’s unfortunate because I really want to talk about what happens when we die in Peake’s theory but to do so would be the ultimate spoiler for the reader of this book. Needless to say, his theory is startling and yet believable. If you have seen the movie “Vanilla Sky” then there are some similarities and indeed, Peake uses that movie as an example in the book. In essence, on death, we fall out of time and thus we are eternal. Our Daemon sees everything for what it is and might try to guide us through our life choices indirectly or directly. In supporting these ideas, Peake draws upon research in all areas of science but finds much evidence in the arena of epilepsy to provide a glimpse into a different kind of reality.

The book made me think. I had to stop reading and assimilate and think periodically. In those moments of profound thought, personal examples assailed me and provided a sense that this is close to the ultimate truth.

How Peake managed to write this book is a marvel in of itself. It is so densely packed with information and so well written that it must have been a nightmare to organize and structure to make the sense that it does. Yet, it is written in a style that makes one smile from time to time and that anyone could comprehend.

None the less, the book does leave some issues unanswered in my view. What about the idea of reincarnation and past life memory? Where would this fit in Peake’s theory? And, more sinister, if Peake is right, why wouldn’t we just commit suicide if life isn’t going right? Where do new people come from and what is the chance I won’t be born at all? In fact, the more you think (and think you will), the more questions arise. And that to me is the proof that this is a great book and it deserves to be very successful.

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