Dr.
Stanislav Grof, M.D.,
is a psychiatrist and one of the leading
researchers into non-ordinary states of
consciousness. In Tom Harpur's NDE documentary,
Life After Death,
Dr. Grof explains a theory of consciousness
based on these non-ordinary states. Dr. Grof
theorizes consciousness to be nonlocalized and
that the brain may instead function as a "reducing
valve" minimizing the cosmic energy input
bombarding our body. Consciousness then arises
as a product of this reducing function of the
brain. Whenever the reducing function of the
brain is altered
(through various triggers such as out-of-body
experiences, hallucinogenic drugs,
mental psychosis, psychic visions, etc.) or even
shut down completely as in NDEs, the reduced
cosmic energy input that once made up our
consciousness is then free to expand. This
expansion of consciousness, in theory, accounts
for these various types
of mental phenomena and for the many "triggers" altering
the
reducing valve function of the brain. From the large
collection of NDEs on this website, you can see
how these triggers are capable
of inducing NDE related phenomena.
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