4-28-06
We re-created our blog on Blogger. You can access the new blog directly through the blog link on our site. (The new blog URL is the-philosopher-stone.blogspot.com.)
Welcome
Welcome to visitunderthetree.com, the site for the spiritual novel of the near-death experience, Under the Tree, written by Greg Stone. Thanks for visiting.
Navigating the Site
For a discussion of all things spiritual, join the conversation on the Message Board where you can post thoughts, speculation, and opinion regarding the spiritual realm.
The Near Death Experience (NDE) provides evidence for the existence of the Afterlife. To access key NDE resources and links, go to near-death experience literature.
As the NDE undercuts the materialistic worldview, there are those who have tried to explain away the phenomenon with materialistic speculation. Greg Stone, author of Under the Tree, critiques the primary work in this area. Stone's critique of Dying to Live by Susan Blackmore.
The foundational concepts of Buddhism include reincarnation (or rebirth), and yet, many contemporary Buddhists adopt a materialistic view and jettison reincarnation. A misunderstanding of the “anatta doctrine” or “no soul” doctrine brings about confusion regarding rebirth. In The Buddhist Paradox, Stone clarifies the confusion. (On the Message Board, visitors to the site also discuss this issue.)
Christian beliefs include the idea of a soul surviving the death of the body and continuing on to an Afterlife, a heaven or hell. If this spirit or soul is not the body, however, how does it come into being? This question is tackled in the essay, The Christian Dilemma.
The existence of spirit and an Afterlife contradicts the premises of philosophical materialism, the most widely accepted philosophy in our scientific age. Are there other ways of viewing reality that incorporate both science and spiritual reality? The philosophy of Idealism is the only philosophy that encompasses all aspects of our world.
Does one have to abandon science in order to adopt a spiritual view? Perhaps not. Go to Science & Spirit for links to the latest scientific thought.
Consciousness links the spiritual and the material. In Consciousness Studies we consider the latest in the discipline that defeats materialistic science, and opens the door to an integration of the spiritual and material realms.
In UNDER THE TREE we journey into the spiritual realm as Ray Carte nearly dies in a crash, experiences an NDE, and must grapple with his new awareness. Download the first two chapters.