#133- DGB Newsletter - February 2026

END-OF-LIFE, AFTERLIFE AND BEREAVEMENT

The Continuity of Consciousness

"The NDE can be defined as the reported memory of a range of impressions during a special state of consciousness, including several commonly occurring elements such as an out-of-body experience, unusually happy feelings, seeing a tunnel, a (being of) light, beautiful colours or a celestial landscape, hearing music, meeting with deceased relatives, having a life review, approaching a border of no return, and finally a conscious return into the body. NDEs are reported during many situations such as cardiac arrest, shock after loss of blood, coma, near-drowning or asphyxia." READ MORE...


NOTE: This photo of Dr. Van Lommel was taken at our 2016 Afterlife Conference, where we were honored to have him as a keynote speaker.

Animals and Near-Death Experiences

by Kevin Williams

"People throughout history have wondered whether animals possess souls and share in a spiritual destiny with humans beyond physical death. Near-death experiences (NDEs) consistently answer this question, offering vivid testimonies that challenge the idea that consciousness and spiritual identity belong exclusively to humans. In these NDEs, animals are encountered as conscious presences participating in the same spiritual reality that humans enter after death. They appear as companions, communicators, and expressions of the same living God that permeates all of creation." READ MORE...

Rare Video of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Talking About Children and Death

Editor's note: Most people don't know that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross spent the last 20 years of her career studying children's understanding of death. This film was made in 1993, but it was not available online until decades later. I heard about it much earlier, and purchased a VHS video of it from the small company that produced it, lamenting that it was not widely available to the public. This is a remarkable video in which she interviews dying children and reveals that many of them are not only having inter-dimensional experiences, but are very much at peace with dying.

SACRED ACTIVISM

Neighborliness is Sacred Activism

"The late sociologist Robert N. Bellah gives us a directive for charting a course as a nation: “A chance for another course, another role for America in the world, depends ultimately on the reform of our own culture. A culture of unfettered individualism combined with absolute world power is an explosive mixture. A few religious voices have been raised to say so. The question of the hour is whether our fellow citizens, much less our leaders, are ready to hear such voices.”  READ MORE...

Faith Leaders Denied Access to

Immigration Detainees in Minnesota

"A group of clergy seeking to offer pastoral care to immigrant detainees at a federal building was denied on Tuesday morning (Jan. 13)...The pastors were approached by a representative for the ICE duty desk. They made a request to offer pastoral care to detainees who self-identify as Christian, then stood waiting for several minutes. As they waited, Voelkel noted that the building is named after a religious leader — Bishop Henry Whipple, an Episcopal bishop who advocated for Indigenous Americans in the 19th century. 

When the official returned, he said they would not be allowed in because the facility is “not taking visitors at this time.” He added that the pastors would have to 'call to make arrangements,' and directed them to a phone number. The official acknowledged the number is often unreliable, saying people report hearing it ring twice before the line abruptly cuts out.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment. READ MORE...

RELIGION REPORT

WORKSHOPS, CLASSES

AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Re-imagining Loss and Grief

An Online Grief Support Workshop with Dr. Terri Daniel

If you are grieving the death of a loved one or a loss of any kind, please join us for a six-session grief support workshop where you will receive counseling, guidance and coping tools for navigating the challenges of loss and transition.  

In this interactive, educational format, you will receive professional guidance and support, along with experiential processes and exercises not typically found in traditional counseling sessions or support groups, including: 


. Interactive Group Exercises

. Healing Rituals

. Guided Meditations

. Art and Music Therapeutic Processes

 Six Saturdays: 10:00 – 11:30 am Pacific time on Zoom

Jan. 31

Feb. 14

March 14

March 28

April 11

May 2

Aloka's Road

Aloka - the dog that walks for peace - follows the Bhikkhu Paññākāra and has walked thousands of miles across America alongside the Monks to seed inner-peace through compassion, loving-kindness, and mindfulness


You can follow the monks, Aloka, and their sacred journey on FACEBOOK
Aloka even has his own FACEBOOK page!

OTHER STUFF


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