As promised, here is a chunk of the first chapter of the new book, The Buddha in Hell and Other Alarms: Distressing Near-Death Experiences in Perspective. Target date for the ebook version is May 31, 2016.
Chapter 1: The Buddha in Hell Redux
A flurry of agitation accompanied the Internet news that a former Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Burma) was claiming that in a near-death experience he had seen the Buddha in hell. He said the deity Yama, king of the Buddhist hells, had shown him a terrible lake of fire which held not only the Buddha but famous spiritual and political figures who were much loved throughout the country. Goliath was in the lake, too, the giant from the Bible. They were there, he said Yama told him, because they did not believe in the Christian God. They did not accept Jesus. [Read more…] about The Buddha in Hell Redux: Intro