Death, Dying, and the Afterlife: Lessons from World Cultures

Overview

Explore how great faiths, philosophies, and cultures all over the world perceive death (and life), guided by a religion scholar and award-winning professor.

Course No. 6822

After thousands of years of pondering it, we still find death one of life’s most perplexing mysteries. Many cultures have viewed death as a window into the true meaning of life.

These 24 lectures look at this often-feared subject as an uplifting, meaningful, and multidisciplinary exploration of life’s only certainty. Bringing together theology, philosophy, biology, anthropology, literature, psychology, sociology, and other fields, they form a brilliant compendium of how human beings have struggled to come to terms with mortality. You’ll encounter everything from ancient burial practices and traditional views of the afterlife to the five stages of grief, the question of killing during wartime, the phenomenon of near-death experiences, and 21st-century theories about transcending death itself.

With personal and cultural enlightenment as the overarching goal, Professor Berkson provides you with eye-opening answers to several major questions surrounding death, including: How do we think about death? How do religions approach death? When (if ever) is it justified to take a life? You’ll also hear a chorus of voices from multiple disciplines, cultures, and ages offering sometimes shocking and sometimes refreshing perspectives on death, including the Buddha, St. Paul, Albert Camus, Dylan Thomas, and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.

“Many religious traditions teach that a form of regular death reflection can deepen one’s appreciation for life,” Professor Berkson notes. “And in some traditions, it can actually lead to spiritual transformation or awakening. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, ‘Whoever rightly understands and celebrates death at the same time magnifies life.’”

Video Lectures

• Death’s Place in Our Lives

Start your exploration of this profound topic with a helpful overview of how we, as human beings, think about death. What place does it occupy in our lives? How have our attitudes about it changed over time? What symbols and euphemisms do we use to talk about it?

32 min

• Defining Death

Discover how the definition of death exists on multiple levels and how each of these levels—the religious, biological, philosophical, cultural, legal, and political—determines when a living being becomes a dead one.

29 min

• Death, Illusion, and Meaning

Explore how it’s possible to find meaning in life even when confronted with its finality. Learn how forms of death denial serve to allay fears about our insignificance and how we can cultivate meaning in the face of mortality.

30 min

• Is It Rational to Fear Death?

Should death be considered “bad”? Reflect on philosophical arguments by ancient Epicurus and modern Thomas Nagel as you consider the possibility that both sides are right.

29 min

5. Understanding and Coping with Grief

Unpack the feelings and behaviors of the grieving process, explore the evolutionary benefits of grief, and learn about the five stages of grief laid out by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.

30 min

6. Death Rituals and the Corpse

Probe the various ways human civilizations have disposed of corpses, from burial and mummification to cremation and natural exposure.

30 min

• American Death Rituals

Chart the evolution of American funerals by looking at three major periods: traditional, modern, and post-modern.

30 min

8. Approaches to Dying Well

Discover how others have faced death and the practical ways we can make the best of our deaths when our time comes.

31 min

• Judaism on Death and the Afterlife

Explore evolving views on death and the afterlife in Jewish history, focusing on the importance of mourning and burial rites.

31 min

• Death and Hope in Christianity

Investigate Christian views of death and the possibility of physical bodies in the afterlife, including hell, purgatory, and limbo.

32 min

• Islam on Returning to God

Consider how the primary forms of Islam-Sunni, Shia, and Sufi-approach the concepts of paradise, hell, and treating a corpse.

32 min

• Death, Rebirth, and Liberation in Hinduism

Ponder the concept of the Atman and learn what rituals can prevent a spirit from becoming stuck between worlds.

32 min

• Buddhism on Impermanence and Mindfulness

Learn about the Buddha’s responses to the experience of dying, focusing on impermanence and mindfulness.

32 min

14. The Process of Dying in Tibetan Buddhism

Focus on Tibetan Buddhism’s teachings on the actual process of death and rebirth.

32 min

• Confucian Remembrance, Daoist Forgetting

Explore how Confucianism and Daoism find meaning in life while approaching death.

32 min

• Death and Syncretism in China

Investigate Chinese traditions involving spirits and the multiple possibilities for a soul’s destination.

31 min

• Suicide Examined

Investigate this stigmatized subject, examining what great philosophers have said about suicide.

33 min

• The Choice of Euthanasia

Examine the controversial subject of euthanasia and the experiences of suffering people.

31 min

19. Killing in War and the Pacifist Challenge

Consider whether deliberate killing during wartime can be justified and how civilizations morally justify war.

32 min

20. Considering Capital Punishment

Discuss the nature of capital punishment and the moral arguments for and against it.

32 min

• Killing Non-Human Animals

Explore the moral and spiritual dimensions of killing non-human animals and what that reveals about our views of mortality.

32 min

22. Near-Death Experiences

Delve into the mysterious topic of near-death experiences (NDEs) and the passionate debates surrounding them.

32 min

23. The Pursuit of Immortality

Examine methods people have used to attempt immortality and the implications of such pursuits.

31 min

24. The Value of Death

Conclude by pondering how death might make a meaningful life possible.

36 min