The Body Dies, but the Spirit Lives On

By R. J. R. Rockwood

In this unusual autobiography R. J. R. Rockwood describes the end of his previous
incarnation, and how relieved he felt at separation from his physical body. He then
viewed his future parents from the Aft erlife. He was spiritually present during his own
birth, aft er which his spirit became attached to his newborn self.
Rockwood describes an invisible playmate and interactions with various ghosts.
Aft er mindreading demonstrations at recess with his fi ft h grade classmates, he terrifi ed
a new boy and was sentenced to detention, during which he projected his spirit out of
body to fl y over the playground. At the University of Florida his telepathic ability became
the basis of a Master's thesis.
Th is and other experiences in Rockwood's life are described in his latest literary
endeavor, Th e Body Dies but the Spirit Lives On.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796072952

R. J. R. Rockwood

Author Bio Robert John Remington Rockwood has a B.A. in English and German and an M.A. in English and Russian from the University of Miami; a Ph.D. in English and Linguistics from the University of Florida; and he has done advanced study in historical linguistics at the University of North Carolina. For the year 1973-1974 he was a Fellow of the Medieval Institute of Western Michigan University. Rockwood has studied the following languages and dialects: Latin, Greek, Gothic, Old Norse, Old English, Middle High German, Middle English, German, Russian, French, and Icelandic. Rockwood has served as a full-time faculty member at Florida Southern College, University of Florida, and Georgia Institute of Technology. From 1978 through 2001 he worked as an industrial technical writer, editor, and web designer at such companies as Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin), Unisys, and NCR. From 2002 through 2013 he taught online courses for the University of Phoenix. The Spirit of Alchemy (2017) is Rockwoods eighth book published by Xlibris. The others are: Leopardo da Gotcha (2002) The Passing of Merlin Zauber (2005) The Last Ant (2007) Dillons Rocking Bear Invisibility Chair (2013) I Dont Talk to Earthlings (2016) Too Often Beside Himself (2017) The Primrose Path (2017) Robert Rockwood lives in Roswell, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta. His e-mail address is [e-mail]. For further information, visit his website at www.rjrrockwood.com.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by R. J. R. Rockwood.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-7960-7296-9

                eBook            978-1-7960-7295-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/19/2019

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CONTENTS

Cover Art

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

COVER ART

T he cover art is acrylics on canvas by R.J. R. Rockwood. My practice is always to do the cover art before I start writing the text. This was no different. I was in the hospital room the moment my stepfather died. At that moment I heard a Swoosh sound and saw something leaving his body. This cover is my attempt to recreate that moment.

The hospital bed depicted is from Adobe Stock photo-fotilia.com Royalty Free Image id/29309193.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to David Winkler, my former student at Florida Southern College, and afterwards a good friend and frequent email communicant. David persuaded me to write a book about my Bengal cat Leopardo da Gotcha and to submit the manuscript to Xlibris. So far this present book is my eleventh published by Xlibris.

CHAPTER

One

T he physical body serves as a temporary dwelling for the spirit—also referred to as the soul. There are those who imagine that bodily death amounts to individual extinction. They fail to realize that the spirit doesn’t know death. Furthermore, nearly everything worthwhile about a person is already contained in the sp irit. I endured many months of excruciating pain before death finally ended my previous incarnation. Death brought sudden relief from pain followed by great happiness. In fact, I felt more alive dead than when I was alive.

I suddenly found myself floating near the ceiling of the hospital room where my body lay. I was flabbergasted to discover that although I was totally separated from my physical body, I could see, hear, and think quite normally. When the doctor pulled the sheet over my body’s head, I figured it was time to leave. I floated