Anita Moorjani Dying To Be Me

[Wifflesnook]

Has anyone read this book? There is much in the media about it. I have just ordered it. She tells an amazing story about recovery from cancer and her experiences in a NDE. I want to read it but one thing has troubled me about it. From what i have read she seems to suggest that one can beat cancer by attitude of mind and I know this cannot be true. And people who have cancer have enough problems without the suggestion that in some way it is their fault, or that they aren't 'fighting it' effectively. But I suspect her message is more nuanced than this and I will read her book because her message about the reality of love and survival seems very powerful and maybe very comforting for those of us who hope to see our beloved ones again.

[melina]

Jan,

I read NDE accounts all the time. I frequently check up on the NDE accounts on the NDERF site (Near Death Experience Research Foundation - by Jeffrey and Jody Long). Some accounts are very inspirational and give me hope, and others, I have to say, sound a little suspicious.

I know that Anita Moorjani posted her experience on this site years ago. Her account has always bothered me for the reasons you mentioned. She makes it sound as though if only we had the right "energy" we wouldn't have cancer or other debilitating diseases. That it's not enough to get medical help, because the cancer will return due to wrong energy. How can a small child with leukemia have the wrong energy? It doesn't make sense.

Granted, I haven't read her whole book, but this type of stuff only makes me feel even more guilty. Should I have helped heal my husband in other ways? Did I burden him with the wrong energy?

I think that for some people, it's just their time, and for others, it's not. The field of medicine will probably develop to the point where cancer will be curable, but there will always be disease and there will always be death. I don't think that death is the end of life, however. Death is just a transition to a new life - one we will all have one day.

Melina

[HAP]

Dear friends,

I remember being at a seminar where someone said this kind of thing: that we bring our cancers--and our deaths--on ourselves because of negative energy. there was a young guy in the audience who had just lost his wife to cancer and he went absolutely ballistic. I had known his wife and there were few people more in love with life and love than she was. The suggestion that she had killed herself by allowing herself to get cancer struck me as absurd then just as it does now. Even more so after Jane's death. No one loved this life more than Jane did. Frankly, I find the whole idea obscene.

I hope, Jan, that Anita Moorjani takes a more nuanced approach and I look forward to hearing what you think of her book.

But I agree with Melina, there is much harm for all of us in this idea as it is most often stated. I know that having a positive attitude is one piece of having good health and/or recovering from illness. But bodies wear out, we have genetic mutations, and the plague of HIV does not care how happy we are with our lives. Death stalks these bodies every day. And while there are things we can do to keep ourselves healthy, eventually, we all die. If staying positive were that kind of cure-all we would be drowning in immortals. I haven't seen any multi-thousand year-olds wandering about. They may be there, I suppose--but I have not knowingly met any.

So I am saying we need to take all of these "positive energy gurus" with a block of salt. The science supports that people with a positive attitude tend to have more positive outcomes when facing things like cancer and heart disease, but the important word is "tend." Not everyone with a positive attitude beats cancer. Not everyone with a negative attitude dies from cancer if they get it--anymore than everyone with a negative attitude gets sick. Our bodies age whether we will it or not.

I felt for a long time enormous guilt about the end of Jane's life. We fought with everything either of us had right up to the day they told us there was nothing more they could do. Part of the guilt came from having encouraged her to fight longer than perhaps she should have. The other part came from wanting her to die as quickly and as easily as possible once there was no hope of her getting her health back. In the eyes of some churches I am likely guilty of murder: I told them to turn off her pacemaker when it was the only thing keeping her alive. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but we had talked about all of that before she went into the hospital and I knew what she wanted under those circumstances. I may roast for it, but it was still the right thing to do--and if some church hierarchy or the Gods don't like it then they need new management.

What I am saying is that "positive energy" takes many forms. Sometimes death is the most positive outcome we can hope for. When it isn't, we need to fight dirty. But eventually, it is the right course we all have to take.

Peace,

Harry

[kayc]

I think that is a very idealistic and naive approach to viewing cancer/death! Bad things happen to good people and if we could will/wish it away, we would! There are bad people who live long and good people who die. It isn't based on our goodness/badness, stuff just happens, and I think rather randomly. I think I would be infuriated if I tried to read this, it's much too preposterous! But if this book helps anyone in some way, great.

[mfh]

i doubt there is one of us who thinks or thought there is something we could have done to prevent the death of our loved one. We live in a world filled sadly with pollution. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the stress of our lifestyles. Disease happens as does the break down of our bodies. I do think attitude has a lot to do with healing. I also believe that a positive attitude means less stress and less stress means a stronger immune system among other things and that means a greater chance of healing some dis-eases. Deepak Chopra said years ago that in order to change our bodies via meditation/attitude we have to go really deep, into the quantum, the space between the cells and there we must change the programming. I doubt many of us practice or are even able to practice meditation at a deep enough level to make such an impact as to cure cancer but I do believe it is possible but not probable for 99.999% of the population right now. Jesus healed bodies, healers are vehicles used to heal. I think I believe that as wo/man)kind evolves, we will arrive at the place where we can heal our bodies but we are not there yet in my opinion. Perhaps this global interest in meditation is a step towards that as is the growing awareness of how poorly we are treating our planet and our bodies. I do agree that the thinking that became so popular in the 70s about how we can use our minds to cure cancer (Alzheimer's...anything) has been difficult for people to handle because patients then feel guilt and maybe shame that they created cancer and are not healing it for whatever reasons. As for a child with leukemia...and disease in general...I often wonder what would happen to disease if fear and stress disappeared along with pollution...and if wo/mankind started living different values i.e. we are a money driven world. If our world was driven by love and caring for each other and the earth, would disease eventually disappear? I won't live long enough to see that but who knows what lies ahead as we wake up. So many diseases are lifestyle (diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking, stress etc.) related. What would happen if we got rid of pesticides, pollution of all kinds, reduced stress of all kinds, ate well, exercised well, and created and lived with inner peace etc. Is it even possible?

[melina]

Even if we were to do away with pollution or pesticides or anything else we shouldn't be getting in our bodies, we will still die one day. Even if we all loved and cared for one another and didn't drink or smoke, and exercised every day - all of us - we'd still die. Granted, we'd be healthier while alive, but eventually we all die. I have a great uncle, a horrible man who never cared about anyone. He's just reached the age of 96, and smoked and drank every day of his adult life. I seriously doubt he has any inner peace. But all he ever cared about was making money.

I'm sorry to be so cynical, but I do agree that the world could be a lot better. And there are a lot of people out there working to make the world a better place. I wish more efforts were focused on doing away with greed and the struggle for power that costs hundreds and thousands, even millions of lives - people dying in wars, of hunger and from violence. Or people dying of diseases we've cured ages ago because they can't afford the medical treatment. And meanwhile our planet is slowly being poisoned in the name of profit.

I hope they find a cure for lung cancer one day, so that people won't have to go through what my husband did. And he never even smoked. But I also hope that they find a cure for greed so that more children will be able to grow up with enough food, education, a safe place to live and someone to take care of them.

Melina

[mfh]

I do agree...our bodies will die no matter what. And who on earth can explain the angry selfish people who abuse their own bodies but live...maybe if there is reincarnation...that would explain it...and I have no clue about many life times. I agree...curing cancer and Alzheimer's,ers and greed and abuse is a super goal....I do not see your message as cynical...rather I see it as real.

[HAP]

"I also hope that they find a cure for greed so that more children will be able to grow up with enough food, education, a safe place to live and someone to take care of them."

Amen to that, especially.

Harry

[enna]

"I also hope that they find a cure for greed so that more children will be able to grow up with enough food, education, a safe place to live and someone to take care of them."

I so agree with this quote, Harry.

Our births we have nothing to say about. The way we die - no matter what we are afflicted with - determines our characters. Most people, I believe, accept their deaths with great dignity. We do not choose what ailments are given to us but we can choose how we accept them.

I have not read the book.

[Wifflesnook]

Thank you all for very interesting and thoughtful responses. I will read Anita's book carefully and report back. I agree with what you all have said. I do know, like you do, that grief can cause illness. I'm just recovering yet again, for a low level illness which I've no doubt was triggered by the anniversary of Pete's death as well as simple exhaustion. I've had a full day today and missed my usual slot I set aside for meditation but having read what Mary wrote I think I will embark upon a short one. Jan

[Wifflesnook]

It came (thanks Amazon) and I have read it in one sitting. Yes Harry, her attitude to cancer is far more nuanced than I had thought. She does not suggest that people can cure themselves just by thinking positively. Her message needs to be read very carefully. I recommend her book, and Anne posted a poem today which echoes very much what Anita is saying about unconditional love. In some ways her experience is similar to that of Eben Alexander. Her conclusions about the oneness of everything seems to relate to the findings of quantum physics. We are still so ignorant about these things, though groping towards a partial understanding. She is certainly very sincere, her descriptions of her experiences are amazing. Her recovery from cancer in inexplicable. I would like to hear what others think about this book. But it's certainly worth reading in my opinion.

[kayc]

Thank you for letting us know, Jan. That's good to hear.