Eternal Life and How to Enjoy It is a real-life tour of what awaits us in the afterlife, as told by a guide Henry, who just happens to be dead. Author Gordon Phinn has been in communication with Henry for many years and brings us the tragicomic tale in his own inimitable style.
Henry, a so-called "boring accountant," relates how—immediately after being killed in a car crash—he is welcomed by the affable Jack, who guides him on his first day dead. We see this new world through Henry's eyes and feel his amazement at every turn. Even better, we witness this stuffy "bean counter" let go of his suffering and guilt and turn into the fun-loving, carefree soul he truly is.
After Henry gets used to the place, he becomes an afterlife guide himself, indulging the newly deceased in any whim or fantasy that will help them to "wake up and realize they're dead." Henry explains that most people have the afterlife experience their cultural and religious belief systems set them up for—including all the heavens, all the hells, and all the purgatories in between. When really, he says, we can view the afterlife as a constant progression towards the reunion with the god consciousness that we put aside to practice the art of being human.
Same Old Stuff This book seems to have borrowed a lot of its ideas from Anthony Borgia's "Life in the World Unseen," but throws in some amoral sophistry, like nothing is really right or wrong. The trouble with all books of this ilk is that they don't really answer the important questions like: why do humans exist? What is the point of it all? Why are we created so imperfect in the first place that we have to go through countless torturous incaranations to "perfect" oulselves? Instead, these types of books are content to chatter about what may be termed astral gossip--who's doing what silly things with whom on the Astral Plane. Who cares? He introduces so many characters that I felt like I was reading a Tolstoy novel. The end-point, the author implies, is, after progressing through all these planes, to merge with one's higher self, an amorphous blob of bodiless energy that just sits there like a toad waiting to lap up the flies of our incarnation experiences. Phinn compares the higher selves to glowing onions! (which may be apt since onions stink and make you cry). Phinn also seems to have a vested interest in plugging the Monroe Institute for OBE's. If these books are really dictated or inspired by someone in spirit, why don't they prove it by telling us something useful, like the cure for AIDS or a cheap energy source to replace oil. This guide, Henry, seems flipant, frivolous, and deceitful (he likes to dress up as someone else and lie to people--for their "own good" of course.) The whole book seems fictional.
Confirmation and right on !! I could not put this book down. Ended up rereading several sections because it was confirmation of what I had also experienced in some of my OBE's ( Out of Body Experiences ) ! That was so amazing.
Gordon has a "laid back" style of writing that makes it easy to understand and get a feel for what he has to say. It's like being there and watching it as it unfolds. He does not place "tags' or labels on the scenes as they unfold.
Was especially intrigued by what happens to people who short circuit their life's plan and suicide out of here. Have several friends who have done this. Rescued one of them from the other side. Could not find the other ones. It's nice to know that it is not all as bad as it appears to be for the ones that did it. Still, it's an option to be avoided at all cost's. For them , it's not the end. Most of them just hit the "reset" button and will try again later. Bob :-)
Fiction at best This book is fiction at best. There is not an element of truth in it. It's not worth the penny I paid for it. If you really care about the truth of the afterlife you will want to avoid this account.
Highly recommended I found Gordon's book to be utterly delightful and have recommended it to a number of friends.
An aspect of the descriptions that was compelling to me was the lack of traditional karmic consequences in the afterlife, other than the one's we made for ourselves. I felt this to be a deep affirmation of unconditional love as the basis of life in the universe. We are forgiven and the purpose in living is simply to expand ourselves into the fuller complete dimensions of existence regardless of our history. Very liberating!
The story unfolds fluidly with utter fascination. A joy to read.
A Must-Read If You Are Interested in the Afterlife! I've been involved with afterlife explorations now for three years and Gordon Phinn's book is one of the best I've read. Basically, it's a primer on life after physical death, seen through the eyes of Henry, Gordon's non-physical guide. In the first part of the book, Henry, who died in the early 1960's, shares his own experiences, starting with his physical death and entry into the afterlife. In Part II, he gives us guided tour of the afterlife, taking us to the different levels and explaining the different types of experiences one can have. Jane Robert's Seth often said in his book that we "create our own reality." Well, this is just as true in the afterlife (possibly even more so) as it is in physical life. Gordon and Henry amply demonstrate this throughout the book
Gordon writes in a humorous, breezy manner, taking what can be complex concepts and breaking them down into digestible and thoroughly entertaining bits. This is an amazing feat considering he covers a lot of material in little over 200 pages. And he does so without dipping into dogma or preaching -- in fact his slightly irreverent style is meant to shake us out of our cobwebby concepts about life after death and show us a truer reflection of what that experience might be.
I can't think of a better book to recommend for those interested in what happens after we leave our physical existence. I have a friend, a nurse, who will be going into hospice work. I'm definitely buying this book for her!
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