Join Satish Kumar and Rupert Sheldrake in an expansive conversation covering death, reincarnation, the afterlife, cycles, intentional dying, NDEs and more. Hosted by Guy Hayward, this discussion delves into personal memories, cultural practices, and philosophical views on death and what lies beyond. Interview questions were designed in collaboration with death doula Sierra Campbell. Video recorded in Hampstead, London, Dec 7, 2023, by Leslie Knott (Tiger Nest Films), with audio editing by Lucy Martens.

@rupertsheldrake @resurgencetrust @drguyhayward @pilgrimtrust @choosenurture @tigernestfilms @lucylnmartens

00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:46 Earliest memories of death in your life?
00:02:35 Rupert’s childhood memories
00:05:00 Satish’s childhood memories
00:07:20 Jain monkhood as an answer to death for Satish
00:09:42 Fasting to death in Jainism
00:12:27 Practical details of fasting to death
00:15:05 Death in Atheism and Christianity (Rupert)
00:17:40 Is reincarnation a good thing?
00:18:56 Celebrating death, or at least not fearing
00:20:51 When did Rupert stop fearing death?
00:21:56 Praying the Hail Mary, and to saints and angels to confront death
00:23:57 Natural world is not linear, it’s cyclic, and so we are reincarnated?
00:26:35 Christian linear view of life and death
00:28:44 Universe expanding and contracting, or expanding into light?
00:30:30 Is the spiral a way of understanding evolutionary reincarnation?
00:30:52 What does a good death look like in earthly terms?
00:31:20 Satish: Abolish care homes!
00:32:48 Satish: being with all my friends are my family, and my family, friends!
00:33:50 Rupert: prefers to die at home and possibly alone
00:36:00 What practical arrangements have you made for if your death process is not ideal?
00:37:40 Have you already had any neardeath or deathlike experiences?
00:38:20 Satish: Dreams connected with water and drowning
00:38:50 Hell or heaven in Jain tradition is a state of mind, not a physical place
00:39:20 Rupert: Tibetan belief in intermediary state of bardo
00:40:25 Christianity’s Last Judgement and the Afterlife Dream Hypothesis
00:42:00 Hell as Nightmare, Purgatory as a dream with good and bad life ordinary life
00:43:25 Satish: No need to worry what happens after life
00:44:50 Is the best preparation for death to connect to nature, soil and society? Looking after our home for when we return.
00:47:27 Live a good life now, love your enemy, and you’ll be fine in death
00:48:32 Do Rupert and Satish have teachers who have taught you about death? Vinoba and Fr Bede Griffiths
00:54:10 Did Rupert have any deathlike experiences in his life?
00:55:48 Psychedelics as providing neardeathlike experiences with LSD and DMT
00:57:10 Do you have any fears of death or the dying process?
00:58:20 Not to anticipate problems before they arrive
00:58:50 Practising Gratitude to Soil, Water, Teachers, Indigenous People
00:59:50 Satish’s teacher Vinoba fasting to die with 30,000 people visiting him lying in state, alive!
01:02:00 Would you change how you lived in any way if you found out you had 6 months to live?
01:02:48 What is the greatest gift from your life that you can pass to the listeners to help them on their journey towards death/life?
01:04:15 Rupert: In agreement with Satish about gratitude and pilgrimage
01:08:00: Wrapup by Guy


Dr Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University, as a Fellow of Clare College, he was Director of Studies in biochemistry and cell biology. As the Rosenheim Research Fellow of the Royal Society, he carried out research on the development of plants and the ageing of cells, and together with Philip Rubery discovered the mechanism of polar auxin transport. In India, he was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics, where he helped develop new cropping systems now widely used by farmers. He is the author of more than 100 papers in peerreviewed journals and his research contributions have been widely recognized by the academic community, earning him a notable hindex for numerous citations. On ResearchGate his Research Interest Score puts him among the top 4% of scientists.

https://www.sheldrake.org