Introduction

Chapter 1 Life, Disease, and Death
Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Death Experienced in the Medical Field
Chapter 3 Death Does Not Exist
Chapter 4: End-of-Life Experiences: Visions Just Before Death
Chapter 5: Is there an unknown world after death?
Chapter 6: The Afterlife as Seen Through Hypnotic Regression
Chapter 7: On Reincarnation
Chapter 8: If Death Disappeared, Would It Be a Blessing or a Disaster?
Chapter 9: A Great Death and a Beautiful Ending
Chapter 10: Perspectives on Euthanasia
Chapter 11: Why You Shouldn't Commit Suicide
Chapter 12: How to Prepare for Death

In closing the book
Appendix: Writing an Advance Directive for Medical Care
References

Death is dignified when prepared for!

Professor Jeong also began preparing for his own death.
He donates laboratory supplies and materials to the school's Medical History and Culture Center, donates blood five times a year, and provides copies of his lecture notes to those who request them.
He wrote an organ donation pledge, a will, and an advance directive for life-sustaining treatment that requested that he not be intubated or receive life-sustaining treatment if he became irreversibly ill. He also saved music to be used at his funeral on a USB drive and wrote an advance funeral directive requesting that he be dressed in a white burial suit instead of a shroud, cremated, and his ashes scattered at sea.
Professor Jeong advises facing death as early as possible and developing one's own view of death.
Rather than dying a lonely and miserable death on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, it emphasizes that if you have lived a good life, whether you are seventy or eighty, you need to end it well rather than meaninglessly prolonging it.


Death is not a wall but a door, not an extinction but a transition!

"Why We Don't Need to Fear Death" begins with the author's long-term research and empirical reasoning.
Chapter 1 examines various diseases and causes of death, and examines how techniques such as the Heimlich maneuver and cardiopulmonary resuscitation developed to prepare for sudden death.
In particular, the case of a near-death experience directly experienced by a scientifically minded doctor during a CPR course suggests that a change in the social perspective on death is necessary.
Chapter 2 deals with the various aspects of death experienced in the field due to advances in medical technology.
The author says that most people these days are 'dying' in hospitals.
Medical professionals also do not view a patient's death as a beautiful ending or a process of ending life, but rather as a defeat or failure of medicine.
Ultimately, this kind of misconception is creating a culture in which patients, the very ones who are dying, are not properly informed of the truth about cancer, or are only trying to avoid death rather than properly facing it.

“The human body is nothing more than a shell surrounding the immortal self.

“Therefore, death does not exist, there is only a transition to another dimension.”
_Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Chapter 3 continues with a rebuttal to the claim that near-death experiences are unscientific—that they are nothing more than hallucinations, illusions, or wishful thinking.
Drawing particularly on the case studies of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the author adds that near-death experiences are not simply a matter of belief, but of knowing.
It also emphasizes that common characteristics emerge from near-death experiences.
Therefore, dismissing the confessions of near-death experiencers as mere ‘brain malfunctions’ may be the mindset of a frog in a well.
Various research findings make it clear that death is not a closed wall, but an open door, a transition to another dimension.


A great death and a beautiful ending

The following content expands the discussion and provides concrete solutions based on the basic problem framework of Chapters 1 to 3.
In particular, chapters 4 to 6 cover numerous case studies and various aspects of end-of-life experiences and the world after death, and chapter 7 points out the problems with the existing theory of reincarnation and says that reincarnation should be expanded into a discussion of karma (in the expanded sense of the concepts of compensation and learning).
Furthermore, chapters 8 and 9 emphasize that our society's perspective on death must change based on the aforementioned changes in perception.
In particular, the author says that rather than being obsessed with the fantasy of 'living to 100 years old' and making indiscriminate efforts, we need to praise 'aging' and make proper 'investments' in death.
According to the author, “death is a golden opportunity for the human spirit to grow.”


Korea is a country with the lowest quality of death.
In a 2010 survey of 40 countries around the world, the quality of death ranked 32nd.
On the other hand, in the UK, which ranked first, the government is informing people that death is a natural part of life and is suggesting specific ways to live well and die well (writing a will, making a funeral plan, making a retirement care plan, etc.).
While we shower newborn babies with love and care, we show indifference and avoidance toward those who are dying.
The author points out that this phenomenon is because “nowhere in Korean society is there any teaching about well-dying (along with well-being).”
The level of concern and courtesy shown to the dying is a measure of the maturity of a society.
In order to achieve the “good death” that the author speaks of in Chapter 9, shouldn’t we first raise society’s awareness of death?
This also leads to a global debate on 'euthanasia' in Chapter 10.
“Euthanasia is allowed for animals, so why is it not allowed for humans?”
For example, in Switzerland, out of the approximately 60,000 deaths per year, approximately 1,600 people choose euthanasia.
In this way, euthanasia is becoming a way for people to choose death while maintaining their dignity.

However, the author shows a critical attitude towards suicide only in Chapter 11.
In Korea, where the suicide rate among the elderly is very high, suicide is close to social death.
In this situation, suicide affects those around the person through the Werther effect, leaves great scars on family and friends, and above all, there are no problems that can be solved through suicide.
Rather, the author says, we can discover the meaning of life in despair and pain.
The last 12 chapters contain information about Professor Jeong Hyeon-chae's own preparation for death, who has been teaching death studies for the past 11 years.
It describes specific preparations for death, such as signing a pledge to donate blood and organs, an advance directive for life-sustaining medical care, and a will, preparing a memorial photo, and requesting that the deceased be dressed in white and buried at sea.
As an appendix, we have attached ‘Writing an Advance Medical Directive’ to persuade readers that writing a directive has a positive meaning.
Now is the time for us too to prepare for a dignified and beautiful death, a death we “welcome” rather than “death we experience.”