Review: Life on the Other Side, by Sylvia Browne

by Sterling D. Allan
March 28, 2010

I have mixed emotions about endorsing Sylvia Browne's book, Life on the Other Side: A Psychic's Tour of the Afterlife.  There is a lot of good stuff in there that provides food for thought, but there is also a lot of stuff that seems wrong, and which is self-contradictory.

What I like about this book is that it gives a rather thorough look at the whole process of dying, hanging out over there, and choosing what circumstances our next lifetime will involve.  So at least it gets you thinking about things along those lines, whether or not you agree with her.  I would say she is around 33% accurate, or lower.

As I read her book, I kept thinking of the Movie, What Dreams May Come, which depicts the other side as largely a function of the outlook of the person experiencing it.  Sylvia's book is a depiction of the other side based on where she is at, and her outlook on life.  It is not a one-size-fits-all, accurate depiction of what everyone will encounter when they get there. 

She is obviously very right-brained, and not analytical at all, so she doesn't see inconsistencies in her presentation.  For example, on one page, she says that the Other Side is located just three feet above the Earth's surface as we know it.  Then within a page or two she says that the land masses over there are not separated but are joined back together.  It's one way or the other.  Can't be both.

I strongly disagree with her depiction of essentially two states of being over there.  One are those who "take the left door" when they die, choosing not to go to the other side, and they are immediately recycled back into another lifetime, with no period of hanging out between lifetimes.  This contradicts many NDE accounts that tell of a hellish spiritual state in the spirit world for those who are of a dark temperament -- the addicts who can't satisfy their cravings because they have not physical body, etc.  She also said that those who take the left door are essentially hopelessly locked into a cycle of darkness and that reaching out to them is a lost cause.  They don't have any guardian angels.  I don't buy that for a second. 

The other extreme of existence is a blissful state in which everything is perfect, peaceful, blissful, beautiful; no arguments, no conflicts, everyone respects everyone else; and everyone has a full memory of who they are and all their previous incarnations.

While I don't disagree that such a state of existence might be possible, I don't agree that these are the only two states of existence that are found on the Other Side.

Though things will usually be much better over there, I still think there is a wide gradation of experiences over there, depending on how evolved someone is spiritually.  On the one hand, she says that all the churches that exist here also exist over there, and people usually belong to the same one there as they were involved with here on earth.  On the other hand, she says that there are no disagreements or conflicts between these different churches, but that everyone is respectful.  This seems ridiculous to me, inasmuch as church dogmas are very much a function of mortal blindness to a true eternal perspective.  Though there might be some versions of earthly churches on the other side, I would think that they would be far more advanced and evolved, and that would be why the conflicts between various perspectives would be minimal.

She said that some of the beings over there never incarnate, including the wise council who people confer with before heading back down for another lifetime.  That makes no sense whatsoever.  How could a being be wise and provide a final approval and advice for someone incarnating if they have never incarnated themselves?

She also says that there are no family relationships over there.  Everyone is single, and very happy that way.  This is obviously something she finds appealing, seeing as she has had a series of failed relationships in this life.  But to say everyone would be fine with that over there is just silly.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Sylvia's book was her description of 44 life themes that people choose from as a primary theme for their lifetime, with another as an antithesis theme to create a struggle that helps in the refinement process.

Another thing I thought interesting, as food for thought, was her saying that each life chart includes five different possible "exit points".  Previously, I had tended to view life as having one intended exit point -- once the experience is completed.  Maybe there are predetermined times along the way when in a subconscious review, such as during sleep, that a person might say, "I am ready to call it done for this lifetime."

When it comes to analytical detail, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, I would score Sylvia's book as being about a two.  But when it comes to insight regarding spiritual phenomenon, I would say her book scores about an eight.

If one of you know of a book like this one but which is far more enlightened, I'd like to know about it.  I enjoyed this book, despite the many frustrations with how off she was so often.

For me, reading this book elicited feelings of longing for the other side -- a homesick feeling.  While there is much I enjoy about life, the challenges are huge and sometimes feel overwhelming.  "Why did I agree to go through so much?"  But on the other hand, a reminder of the other side helps keep things in perspective here, so I don't take myself so seriously.  I can relax a little as I remember that all this was charted out beforehand, and that solutions will appear when and how they are supposed to -- not that everything is set in stone, because all along the way our ability to make choices remains fully in place.

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