About this project
In the bardo, a realm between death and the next life, or death and heaven, thoughts and desires quickly become reality. The illusions that take form can be pleasant or nightmarish, but the imperative is the same.
To realize it is just a dream.
After moving to a retreat center in Northern California, Makaria attends a death ceremony and unexpectedly finds herself in the bardo of the deceased. The woman, who died during childbirth, is disoriented and grieving, but Makaria is too confused to help her. A Tibetan monk intercedes, but when he realizes what Makaria can do, he begins teaching her the secrets of bardo healing.
Makaria learns the way of the Masters, the Magicians, and the Secret Healers. Her excursions into stalled afterlives take her from the surface of the moon to the ocean floor, from dark alleys to steamy motel rooms.
She learns one final secret before entering the bardo of a man she cannot wake up. Instead of healing him, she sinks ever deeper into his reality.
What she discovers overturns everything she learned. Makaria is driven by one burning desire. To alleviate suffering. To see wholeness everywhere she looks. In a realm where thoughts and desires become reality, she gets her wish.
Birthing the Novel
The Afterdream explores the nature of suffering and what it truly means to be a healer. After earning my degree in psychology, in adamant silence and solitude, this story began pouring out of me like sweat in a sauna. The story wrote itself and forever transformed how I see life and death, reality and love.
Giving It Life
The Afterdream is 98% complete. Your pledge will make possible the final edits and the publication and distribution of the book.
In this collective consciousness, perhaps you helped me write this story. It seems only fitting that it find its way back to you.
With deep gratitude,
Lisa
FAQ
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4
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$100.00
pledged of $800 goal
0
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on October 15, 2011.
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Receive a handwritten thank you card with original artwork from the author.
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Receive an electronic copy of the book.
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You will receive the book, beautifully printed by a professional publisher.
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You will receive a signed copy of the book as well as the PDF version.
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You will receive a signed copy of the book and the PDF version, your name will be listed in the acknowledgments, and I invite you to connect with me in person, by phone or email, to share thoughts, musings, inquiries, comments, and stories.
Project By
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I earned my Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I studied the relationship between thought, emotion, and the body. For two years, I was a student in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Davidson, internationally known for his neuroimaging research on meditation and brain activity in Tibetan monks. I received my bachelors degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, where I studied conceptual metaphor.
Currently, I work as a researcher and evaluator at The Journey program, which uses story, myth, and metaphor to help emotionally disturbed children cultivate lasting well being.
Meditation has been a huge part of my life, beginning nearly twenty years ago with an accidental glimpse of inner silence. I am a single mother of two little boys. We live in Oklahoma.
