It's one
thing to have a Near-Death Experience (or NDE, for short), but to have three? Could
it be that fate shepherded Emmy nominated art director and author Robert
Kopecky away from three potential near-death catastrophes in
order to finally convince him to commit his experiences to the page and share
what he's learned with others?
Kopecky never planned on personally
investigating the nature of death and how to live a more fulfilling life. But in his entertaining memoir and self-help
book, How to Survive Life (and Death): A Guide for Happiness in
This World and Beyond, he delivers his insightful and inspiring
personal story, which puts mortality into perspective while offering strategies
to improve and experience life to the fullest. Crafted in simple, accessible
prose, and filled with lots of good humor, the author intersperses details of
each of his NDEs, which occurred via various culprits in three distinct
generations of his life. The author's disembodiment experiences—and each aftermath—taught
him valuable life lessons that ultimately enlightened him about the nature of
time, how to face fear and suffering, why "radical kindness" and
compassion, along with forging a spirit of generosity and forgiveness, are
essential to keeping faith and hope alive.
Kopecky ties
cosmology, metaphysics and quantum reality together with his own spiritual
experiences, while also weaving in theories from Buddhism, Hinduism, the
teachings of Gandhi, excerpts from the apocryphal Gospels
of Thomas and the more contemporary views of Joseph
Campbell. In the end, Kopecky's miraculous passages back from the
brink of death make for a compelling narrative—for believers, nonbelievers and
garden-variety skeptics. He demonstrates how love and surrender are liberating,
healing powers that can ultimately bring us "out of this world"—and
sometimes back again, too!
Publication Date: April 1,
2014
