The Last Frontier: Exploring the Afterlife and Transforming Our Fear of Death Paperback – November 6, 2012

This review took me a great deal of time to ponder before submission. While I disagree with the last portion of the text, I remain in full agreement with the remainder of the readings. In spite of this, I do label this book as a `Must Read' for anyone who has an interest in what occurs to us after we die. For that reason it rates five stars.To begin with, I am most impressed with not only the author's previous secular work in the area of Eastern History and the discipline that requires, I am pleased with the fact that she obtained a PhD previous to her studies, and that, in spite of this book is in a totally different arena of study, her bibliography reflects her professional research background. Ms. Assante's study in the area of the occurrences of life both before this birth and after our inevitable deaths is well written, concise, and, most importantly, parallels many, many other studies of the same topic. There is a great deal to be said about consistency when it occurs in similar research projects. Organized religion is not cited as being totally fool-hardy nor as a sole means of population control but, rather, each religion is viewed as being one of the many facets of a beautiful diamond that, in total, is simply called `reality'. Unfortunately for the religionists, however, most, if not all, of their concepts of the afterlife are myth-driven instead of being based on the reality that we are rapidly discovering on both a scientific and metaphysical level. The author clearly has written this book as an urgent appeal to all of us to remove the stigma we have attached to death and, instead, to view it as the glorious, eternal trip that we all find our consciousness engaged in.As I mentioned the ending of the text causes me a bit of dismay. Because the author freely feels that she is in contact with the dead, she generalizes that all of us can develop this ability. While I have had a number of contacts from the other side at points of my life, speaking specifically, I know that I cannot personally develop this ability in my lifetime. I, like the rest of the world, have abilities that are personal and unique. But knowing my strengths and my abilities I also realize my weaknesses and limitations. My inability to separate imagination from spiritual encounters would be one of those. I think we should let the carpenters build the houses and not pretend that we could all be master craftsmen...........9/13 After my second full reading of this book I can only underline my initial evaluation and add a series of exclamation points. This is, by far, the very best summary of the death process that I have ever experienced. The author's observations, linked with her innate gifts, give a clear and understandable definition to what lies ahead for all of us. Without a doubt please read the first half of this book with extreme attention.The second, however, still leads to the same saddened conclusion that only the inherently gifted, such as Ms. Assante, can interact with the world of the living souls, the world of complete consciousness. I have spent my career in Mental Health and have vainly attempted to teach other therapists to view people's psyches with the same clarity that I am able to. With only one exception I failed miserably in these attempts. Why? It certainly was not for my failure to try nor my inability to communicate well with others. Why then? Now that I am retired the reason is crystal clear to me; I was born with the gift of viewing psychological dynamics in a manner that others were not. Being so, I never realized how fortunate I was while working at my profession, but now I do. The same can be said for the author; She does not realize the extent to which her abilities are an innate and unteachable talent that she, and only she, can perform............

I hardly know where to start. Julia Assante takes the fact of after-life survival seriously. She doesn't treat people who have had communications with their dead loved ones as crazy, evil, or even super special. She traces the history of how what was once accepted as normal became forbidden. The demand for loyalty to specific gods led to people who admit to having communicated with disembodied souls being labeled as insane or dangerous. She shows how we have been socialized to deny abilities that in other times and places were considered perfectly normal. Unlike many mediums who claim to have special magical, mystical powers, Assante, herself a medium as well as a scholar, claims that what she does is something that anyone can do. Rather than exploiting clients' grief by encouraging them to depend on her she teaches them and her readers specific techniques for making contact for themselves. She gives many examples of how people have been helped to recover from disabling emotional states such as PTSD by being able to communicate with people who are no longer in their bodies.When I spontaneously started receiving communication from someone who was having a near death experience, later when he was in a coma and still later after he died, I didn't know where to turn. I knew that what was happening to me was not "super-natural" and I didn't want to deal with people who thought it was. I also found no help from people who were willing to take my experience seriously but only if I provided absolute proof that what was happening was real. Assante deals with the question of proof and points out that scientific people require much more rigorous proof of life after death than they do of nearly anything else. The division between what is considered scientific and what is not creates a nearly escape-proof catch. She describes how life-after-death communication is treated as superstition or imagination or worse because it supposedly has never been proven scientifically. But then she explains that no one with appropriate credentials dares attempt to prove it because they would be dealing with a subject that is not scientific. They would stand to lose careers, grants, tenure and the respect of their colleagues. Dr. Assante suggests that communication with the dead should not be subject to scientific standards of proof but proof as it is understood in a court of law. The case for communication with the dead should be based on the testimony of people who have experienced the so-called para-normal or supernatural contact with deceased friends or family members. She is convinced that if everyone who had these experiences felt safe to speak freely the body of evidence would eventually become overwhelming.This is an amazing book for people who have had so-called para-normal experiences. It's a must-read for people who yearn to contact deceased loved ones, friends or comrades. It's fascinating for anyone who has a casual-to-obsessive interest in mediumship or the afterlife. People who are fully committed to the idea that the world we know as physical and three dimensional is all there is and that death is the absolute end will probably not find anything in this book that will change their minds. But it wouldn't hurt them to read it anyway. It might help them to understand someone they know who talks to dead people but otherwise seems perfectly sane. Only Varieties of Religious Experience by William James and Systems of Survival by Jane Jacobs have had this much of an impact on my life and world view.

I purchased the book because I found Julia Assantes's name in a footnote of a different, more popular scientific book about scientifec experiments with telepathy at a university. The footnote was referring to a book of a certain Julia assante who was participating in the experiments and who was delivering results that were far beyond chance on a regular basis.I was expecting some kind of esoteric literature but to my surprised this book is a down to earth and well structured guide to death and afterlife, probably quite helfpul for people who are involved in a situation that in related to death and dieing and who aks themselves about what comes next. This question is answered by the author based on her personal experiences as a medium - a well grounded medium.

Following the loss of my mother earlier this year and after always being of an agnostic/atheistic persuasion, I found I had big questions that needed answers; do we survive our physical deaths or is it just wishful thinking?? I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the sheer amount of information out there that suggests it may be possible, even reality. And not the fluffy books written by the (in) famous tv mediums who have often been discredited/exposed as fraudulent ( the Colins/Dereks/Sylvias of the world) but real genuine scientists & academics who are finding more & more evidence that consciousness may not be generated by the brain but exists independently of it and does not dissolve upon death of the body, existing in alternate realities alongside previously passed on consciousnesses. Previous such notions may have been once the preserve of the world's religious systems or the superstitious but where you may have thought science would only debunk them, open minded researchers are now finding things that not only do not discredit but actually endorse the idea of survival after death. I doubt there will ever be 100% proof for obvious reasons but I for one am at least convinced of the possibility and am a comfortable 50/50 which isn't the worst odds.On to this book, its one of the best of the dozen or so I have so far read on the subject, it marries the anecdotal & philosophical with a scientific approach. The author has solid academic credentials and writes in an easy to digest, relaxed but informative style; never too hard but neither too fluffy either. She has a lot of sound information relating to the process of dying, especially from the pov of the soon to be deceased, information that isn't strictly limited to the subject of an afterlife. I wish I had owned this book in the days leading up to mum's passing, it would have helped immensely, particularly in understanding that someone in their 80s reaches a point where they have had enough and are ready to go. There is no doubt that 1000s of people in the days or hours before their departure have very real experiences of visits from loved ones who have gone before or of beautiful destinations tantalisingly within reach. Many of these cannot be explained purely as hallucinations either, as the book very clearly sets out to show. I certainly had a real feeling that my mother was glimpsing 'something' over my shoulder come the very end and this was before I had done any investigation whatsoeverOf course you need to take on faith, her personal accounts of her own mediumship. I don't know for sure she is really conversing with the deceased but I do have the impression that she believes it to be so. Much in life has to be taken with such an approach. Even established theories of evolution and the big bang have gaps and questions to be answered. Death is yet another realm that needs more investigation.After all, we will all travel there whether it is a nowhere or an elsewhere. I for one, am more interested in this destination than I am on the composition of some rocks on mars!!

I completely enjoyed this book. Julia Assante is that wonderful blend - mystical scientist. I too believe that communicating with the "dead" is natural and easy. She points out some wonderful ways to strengthen the bond and techniques to conquer the fear of dying. As she says (I paraphrase), What a different world it would be if no one was afraid of dying. Thank you, Julia, for bringing your credentials to this subject, that can be pushed off as being paranormal. There is nothing more normal or natural than continuing our relationship with our loved ones that have crossed over. The Last Frontier: Exploring the Afterlife and Transforming Our Fear of DeathThe Last Frontier: Exploring the Afterlife and Transforming Our Fear of Death

excellent material - not a quick read as there are many ideas to absorb - certainly challenges our concept of death and what is beyond - it is time for us to rethink our ideas of the afterlife and to end the fear of it

Ich schätze diesen Hype um Jenseits-Kontakte nicht so. Für mich ist das eher ein Randbereich der Spiritualität, wenn auch einer, der vielen den Zugang zur Spiritualität erleichtert, und als solcher ist er sehr wichtig und wertvoll. Was ich an diesem Buch jedoch besonders schätze, ist der bodenständige und - ja! - intellektuelle Zugang zur Spiritualität und sein Petitum: "Geht doch bitte entspannter mit dem Thema Tod um. Mit welcher Einstellung man stirbt, entscheidet darüber, was Euch nach dem Tod erwartet!"Das ist ein fantastisches Buch, um denjenigen die Existenz einer jenseitigen Welt nahezubringen, die sehr stark einem materialistischen Weltbild verhaftet sind. Insbesondere wer Angst vor dem Tod hat, ist mit diesem Buch gut beraten. Denn dieses Buch nimmt die Angst.Dass ich persönlich ein anderes Bild habe davon, wer oder was Gott ist, steht auf einem anderen Blatt.