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1. People
have NDEs while they are brain dead |
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Cardiologist
Michael
Sabom
described a near-death experience
that occurred while its experiencer
- a woman who was having an
unusual surgical procedure for
the safe excision and repair
of a large basilar artery aneurysm
- met all of the accepted criteria
for brain death. The unusual
medical procedure involved the
induction of hypothermic cardiac
arrest, in order to insure that
the aneurysm at the base of
the brain would not rupture
during the operation. The patient's
body temperature was lowered
to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, her
heartbeat and breathing ceased,
her brain waves flattened, and
the blood was completely drained
from her head. Her electroencephalogram
was totally flat...
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2. Out-of-body
perception during NDEs have been verified |
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Dr.
Bruce Greyson
documented perhaps one of the most compelling
examples of a person who had an NDE
and observed events while outside of
his body which were later verified by
others. The only way that these events
could have been observed by the experiencer
was if in fact he was outside of his
body. Al Sullivan was a 55 year old
truck driver who was undergoing triple
by-pass surgery in 1988 when he had
a powerful NDE including an encounter
with his deceased mother and brother-in-law,
who told Al to go back to tell one of
his neighbors their son with lymphoma
will live. Furthermore, during the NDE,
Sullivan accurately noticed the surgeon,
Dr. Hiroyoshi Takata, operating on him
was "flapping his arms as if trying
to fly" with his hands in his armpits.
When he came back to his body after
the surgery was over, Sullivan's cardiologist
was startled that Sullivan could describe
Dr. Takata's habit of arm flapping.
It was Dr. Takata's idiosyncratic method
of keeping his hands sterile and pointing
out to surgical instruments and giving
instructions to surgical staff.
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Article: |
Do Any NDEs Provide Evidence
for the Survival of Human Personality
after Death?,
by Cook, Greyson, et al |
Website: |
University of Virginia, Division
of Perceptual Studies, Bruce
Greyson |
Article: |
People
See Verified Events While Out-Of-Body |
Book: |
The Near-Death
Experience, Problems, Prospects,
Perspectives,
by Bruce Greyson, Charles Flynn,
et al |
Video: |
Science
and Postmortem Survival,
by Bruce Greyson |
News: |
Scientists Validate Near-Death
Experiences, ABC News |
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3.
People born blind can see during an
NDE |
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Dr. Kenneth
Ring and Sharon Cooper
completed a two-year study into
the NDEs of the blind. They
published their findings in
a book entitled "Mindsight"
in which they documented the
solid evidence of 31 cases in
which blind people report visually
accurate information obtained
during an NDE. Perhaps the best
example in his study is that
of a forty-five year old blind
woman by the name of Vicki Umipeg.
Vicki was born blind, her optic
nerve having been completely
destroyed at birth because of
an excess of oxygen she received
in the incubator. Yet, she appears
to have been able to see during
her NDE. Her story is a particularly
clear instance of how NDEs of
the congenitally blind can unfold
in precisely the same way as
do those of sighted persons...
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4.
People have been clinically dead for
several days |
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Rev.
George Rodonaia underwent one of
the most extended cases of a near-death
experience ever recorded. Pronounced
dead immediately after he was hit by
a car in 1976, he was left for three
days in the morgue. He did not return
to life until a doctor began to make
an incision in his abdomen as part of
an autopsy procedure. Prior to his NDE
he worked as a neuropathologist. He
was also an avowed atheist. Yet after
the experience, he devoted himself exclusively
to the study of spirituality, taking
a second doctorate in the psychology
of religion. He then became an ordained
priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
He served as a pastor at St. Paul United
Methodist Church in Baytown, Texas.
Rodonaia held an M.D. and a Ph.D. in
neuropathology, and a Ph.D. in the psychology
of religion. He delivered a keynote
address to the United Nations on the
"Emerging Global Spirituality." Before
emigrating to the United States from
the Soviet Union in 1989, he worked
as a research psychiatrist at the University
of Moscow.
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5.
People having NDEs have brought back
scientific discoveries |
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 Perhaps
the best example of a person having
an NDE and bringing back a scientific
discovery from it is the NDE of
Lynnclaire Dennis (www.mereon.org).
Lynnclaire had an NDE where saw a complex
geometric structure: a knot of Light
she recognized to be "the energy of
all matter," "life itself," "light",
as well as "time and space." During
her life review, a being of light told
her she would be "a catalyst for change"
and "for love" in the future. She refers
to this knot of light as "The Pattern."
With no knowledge of mathematics or
geometry, Lynnclaire provided a detailed
description of this new dynamic structure
which caught the attention of renowned
University of Illinois Chicago knot
theorist,
Dr. Louis H. Kauffman, who identified
it as a previously unknown version of
the
Trefoil knot: it is geospherical
and polarized. The matrix generated
by The Pattern was given the scientific
name "the
Mereon Matrix." Top scientists around
the world became attracted to it when
its
Prime Frequency derived by the mathematics
- a "rational" golden ratio -
generated the entire Matrix within
the natural medium of water using a
CymaScope. It is no stretch of the
imagination to say this new mathematical
discovery is the very science of life
and living. The Mereon Matrix's sequential
process generates a coherent link to
living and non-living systems whether
they are physical, mathematical, philosophical,
or social. The importance of this discovery
- the elusive "Pattern
of patterns" - is underscored by
the fact that a 600+ page academic textbook
was published about the Mereon Matrix
in 2013 by
Elsevier, the world's leading provider
of science and health information. This
textbook entitled "The
Mereon Matrix: Everything Connected
Through (K)nothing" is the culmination of Lynnclaire
being a catalyst for change and love
as revealed in her NDE. The Mereon Matrix
to currently helping humanity solve
some of its most critical problems by
offering a new way of systems modeling
applicable across a multitude of sciences.
It provides the world with an algorithm
representing the unification of knowledge
and gives a scientific framework charting
the emergent growth process of systems.
Astrobiologist
Neville Nick Woolf used the Mereon
Matrix to
map the formation of matter starting
with the Big Bang. The Mereon Matrix
defines, and sequentially and dynamically
unites, the fundamental forms we know
to be the building blocks of matter:
the
Platonic and
Kepler solids. In reference to physics,
the Mereon Matrix is a
120/180 polyhedron with triangular faces
- a geometric structure which may be
the "mother" of all physical matter
because it "breathes" and "births" new
systems. At the center of the Mereon
Matrix is a core structure that is a
pattern match for theories about the
structure of the nucleus of an atom.
The Mereon Matrix is a dynamic process
currently being used as a template for
a Universal
Systems Model. Modeling human clinical
molecular genetics is the first example
of this application. The Mereon Matrix
is currently being explored in multiple
scientific domains including alternative
energy technologies, medical informatics
and healing modalities.
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6.
NDEs have produced visions of the future
which later became true |
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Many
people were given visions of the future
during their near-death experience.
Generally, these visions foretell a
future of catastrophic natural disasters
and social upheaval followed by a new
era of peace and have actually already
come to pass. Some of them did not happen
as foretold. Many of these apocalyptic
visions are to happen within the next
few decades. Examples of events which
have been foretold by the NDE visions
of the future by
Edgar Cayce
include World War I & II, the 1929
Stock Market Crash, the fall of the
Soviet Union and communism, the discovery
of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Desert
Storm war against Iraq in 1990, and
the 9/11 terrorist attack.
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7.
Groups of dying people share the same
NDE |
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A
rare type of NDE called the "group
near-death experience"
is a phenomenon where a whole group
of people have an NDE at the same time
and location. They see each other outside
of their bodies and have a shared or
similar experience. In 1996, NDE researcher
Arvin Gibson
interviewed a fire-fighter named Jake
who had a most unusual NDE while working
with other fire-fighters in a forest.
What makes it unique is that it happened
at the same time as several co-workers
were also having an NDE. During their
NDEs, they actually met each other and
saw each other above their lifeless
bodies. All survived and they verified
with each other afterwards that the
experience actually happened. Jake's
near-death experience was so interesting
that Gibson's local chapter of IANDS
invited him to tell his story at one
of their meetings. Another example of
a group NDE is described in the IANDS
publication Vital Signs (Volume XIX,
No. 3, 2000) and is described in a greater
way in Dr. Stephen Hoyer and May Eulitt's
book entitled "Fireweaver:
The Story of a Life, a Near-Death, and
Beyond."
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8.
NDEs cannot be explained by brain chemistry
alone |
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Dr. Jeffrey
Long
is a physician practicing the
specialty of radiation oncology
in Houma, Louisiana. Dr. Long
served on the Board of Directors
of IANDS, and is actively involved
in NDE research. In his book,
"Evidence
of the Afterlife: The Science
of Near-Death Experiences,"
Dr. Long documents a study he
conducted - the largest scientific
study of NDEs ever. It is based
on his research of over 1,300
NDEs shared with
NDERF.org.
Using his treasure trove of
data, Dr. Long explains how
NDEs cannot be explained by
brain chemistry alone, how medical
evidence fails to explain them
away and why there is only one
plausible explanation - that
people have survived death and
traveled to another dimension.
Dr. Long makes his case using
nine lines of evidence and they
are the following:
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Crystal-Clear Consciousness.
The level of conscious
alertness during NDEs
is usually greater than
that experienced in
everyday life - even
though NDEs generally
occur when a person
is unconscious or clinically
dead. This high level
of consciousness while
physically unconscious
is medically unexplained.
Additionally, the elements
in NDEs generally follow
the same consistent
and logical order in
all age groups and around
the world, which refutes
the possibility that
NDEs have any relation
to dreams or hallucinations.
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Realistic Out-of-Body
Experiences (OBEs):
OBEs are one of the
most common elements
of NDEs. Events witnessed
and heard by NDErs while
in an out-of-body state
are almost always realistic.
When the NDEr or others
later seek to verify
what was witnessed or
heard during the NDE,
their OBE observations
are almost always confirmed
as completely accurate.
Even if the OBE observations
include events occurring
far away from the physical
body, and far from any
possible sensory awareness
of the NDEr, the OBE
observations are still
almost always confirmed
as completely accurate.
This fact alone rules
out the possibility
that NDEs are related
to any known brain functioning
or sensory awareness.
This also refutes the
possibility that NDEs
are unrealistic fragments
of memory from the brain.
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Heightened Senses.
Not only are heightened
senses reported by most
who have NDEs, normal
or supernormal vision
has occurred in those
with significantly impaired
vision, and even legal
blindness. Several people
who have been totally
blind since birth have
reported highly visual
NDEs. This is medically
unexplainable.
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Consciousness During
Anesthesia.
Many NDEs occur while
the NDEr is under general
anesthesia - at a time
when any conscious experience
should be impossible.
While some skeptics
claim these NDEs may
be the result of too
little anesthesia, this
ignores the fact that
some NDEs result from
anesthesia overdose.
Additionally, descriptions
of a NDEs differ greatly
from those people who
experiences "anesthetic
awareness." The content
of NDEs occurring under
general anesthesia is
essentially indistinguishable
from NDEs that do not
occur under general
anesthesia. This is
more strong evidence
that NDEs occur independent
from the functioning
of the material brain.
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Perfect Playback.
Life reviews in NDEs
include real events
which previously occurred
in the lives of the
NDEr - even if the events
were forgotten or happened
before they were old
enough to remember.
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Family Reunions.
During an NDE, the experiencer
may encounter people
who are virtually always
deceased and are usually
relatives of the NDEr.
Sometimes they include
relatives who died before
the NDEr was even born.
If NDEs are merely the
product of memory fragments,
they would almost certainly
include far more living
people, including those
with whom they had more
recently interacted.
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Children’s Experiences.
The NDEs of children,
including very young
children who are too
young to have developed
concepts of death, religion,
or NDEs, are essentially
identical to those of
older children and adults.
This refutes the possibility
that the content of
NDEs is produced by
preexisting beliefs
or cultural conditioning.
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Worldwide Consistency.
NDEs appear remarkably
consistent around the
world, and across many
different religions
and cultures. NDEs from
non-Western countries
are incredibly similar
to those occurring in
people in Western countries.
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Aftereffects.
It is common for people
to experience major
life changes after having
NDEs. These aftereffects
are often powerful,
lasting, life-enhancing,
and the changes generally
follow a consistent
pattern. NDErs themselves
are practically universal
in their belief that
their experience of
the afterlife was real.
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9. The skeptical "dying brain"
theory of NDEs has been falsified |
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Two
competing hypotheses are advanced in
a book by skeptic
Susan Blackmore
entitled
Dying to Live
and they are (1)
The Afterlife
Hypothesis
and (2) Susan Blackmore's
The Dying Brain
Hypothesis.
The Afterlife Hypothesis states spirit
survives body death. The NDE is the
result of spirit separating from the
body. The Dying Brain Hypothesis states
the NDE is an artifact of brain chemistry.
According to the dying brain hypothesis,
there is no spirit which survives body
death. Skeptics who claim the author
of Dying to Live is non biased are proven
wrong; skeptics who claim she provides
scientific proof are shown, by her own
words, to be in error.
Because NDEs
have many common core elements, this
suggests that they are spiritual voyages
outside of the body. Also, if the dying
brain creates NDE illusions, what is
the purpose for doing it? If our brains
are only a high-tech computer-like lump
of tissue which produces our mind and
personality, why does it bother to create
illusions at the time of death? If everything,
including the mind and personality,
are about to disintegrate, why would
the brain produce a last wonderful Grand
Finale vision? Even if NDE elements
can be reduced to only a series of brain
reactions, this does not negate the
idea that NDEs are more than a brain
thing.
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10.
Skeptical arguments against NDEs are
not valid |
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Sociologist
Dr. Allan Kellehear
states that some scientific theories
are often presented as the most logical,
factual, objective, credible, and progressive
possibilities, as opposed to the allegedly
subjective, superstitious, abnormal,
or dysfunctional views of mystics. The
rhetorical opinions of some NDE theories
are presented as if they were scientific
(Kellehear,
1996, 120).
Many skeptical arguments against the
survival theory are actually arguments
from pseudo-skeptics who often think
they have no burden of proof. Such arguments
often based on scientism with assumptions
that survival is impossible even though
survival has not been ruled out. Faulty
conclusions are often made such as,
"Because NDEs have a brain chemical
connection then survival is impossible."
Pseudo-skeptical arguments are sometimes
made that do not consider the entire
body of circumstantial evidence supporting
the possibility of survival or do not
consider the possibility of new paradigms.
Such pseudo-skeptical claims are often
made without any scientific evidence.
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11.
Quantum theory supports concepts found in
NDEs |
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Principles
of
quantum physics
and
quantum mechanics
supports concepts found in NDEs including
a universal light (the
Big Bang),
a creator of the cosmos (Gödel’s
incompleteness theorem),
an omnipresent energy field (the
"God particle" or
Higgs field),
a cosmic memory (holographic
universe), a holistic oneness of all
things (holographic
principle), a conscious universe (fractal
cosmology), panpsychism (quantum
indeterminacy and
emergence), collective unconscious (quantum
consciousness),
consciousness creating reality (Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle),
telepathy (quantum
entanglement), mind over matter (wave
function collapse), synchronicity (space
time continuum), mind/brain dualism
(wave-particle
duality),
mind/body separation (quantum
nonlocality),
an immortal "soul" or consciousness (quantum
immortality
and the
law of conservation
of energy:
energy
can neither be created nor destroyed),
out-of-body experiences (quantum
superposition),
astral body (bioelectromagnetics),
bilocation (quantum
coherence),
the NDE tunnel (black
holes
and
wormholes),
multidimensional realms (string
theory),
a higher self (parallel
universes),
an invisible realm (dark
energy),
a Void realm (zero
point field),
a timeless realm (theory
of relativity),
entire lifetime memory (holonomic
brain theory
and
Orch-OR),
life review flashback (delayed
choice quantum eraser experiments),
life review flash-forward (many-worlds
interpretation), instantaneous spirit
travel (electricity
teleportation
and
quantum tunnelling),
reincarnation (omega
point and quantum gravity), subjectivity
as true reality (the
principle of complementarity), objective
reality as illusionary (simulation
hypothesis).
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12. The
transcendent nature of minds in NDEs
corresponds with physics
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New
developments in quantum physics show
we cannot know phenomena apart from
the observer and how the observer plays
a supreme role in creating reality.
Arlice Davenport has challenged the
hallucination theory of NDEs as
outmoded because the field theories
of physics now suggest new paradigm
options available to explain NDEs.
Mark Woodhouse
says the traditional materialism/dualism
battle over NDEs has already been solved
by Einstein. Since matter can now be
viewed as a form of energy, an energy
body alternative to the material body
can now explain NDEs. This is also supported
by
Melvin Morse
who has described NDEs that are able
to realign charges in the electromagnetic
field of the human body and wiring of
the brain. He reports on patients having
NDEs who recover from diseases such
as pneumonia, cardiac arrest, and cancer
(Transformed
by the Light, pp. 153-54) suggesting
the brain acts more like a receiver
of information much like a television,
radio, or cell phone. Signals, such
as voice or music, in the form of electromagnetic
waves, are received by the brain and
processed to make them audible to the
senses. At death, the brain (receiver)
dies; but consciousness (the signal),
in the form of electromagnetic waves,
continues to exist (in the airwaves).
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13. NDEs
support the "reducing valve" theory
of consciousness |
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One
particular theory of consciousness which
is supported by NDE research involves
the expansion after death.
Stanislav Grof,
a leading consciousness researcher,
explained this theory in the documentary
entitled
"Life After Death"
by Tom Harpur: "My first idea was that
it [consciousness] has to be hard-wired
in the brain. I spent quite a bit of
time trying to figure out how something
like that is possible. Today, I came
to the conclusion that it is not coming
from the brain. In that sense, it supports
what
Aldous Huxley
believed after he had some powerful
psychedelic experiences and was trying
to link them to the brain. He came to
the conclusion that maybe the brain
acts as a kind of reducing valve that
actually protects us from too much cosmic
input ... I don't think you can locate
the source of consciousness. I am quite
sure it is not in the brain – not inside
of the skull ... It actually, according
to my experience, would lie beyond time
and space, so it is not localizable.
You actually come to the source of consciousness
when you dissolve any categories that
imply separation, individuality, time,
space and so on. You just experience
it as a presence."
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14. NDEs demonstrate the return
of consciousness from death
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An
anecdotal example of evidence that a
person's consciousness leaves and returns
to their body during an NDE comes from
the research of
Dr. Melvin Morse.
Olga Gearhardt was a 63 year old woman
who underwent a heart transplant because
of a severe virus that attacked her
heart tissue. Her entire family awaited
at the hospital during the surgery,
except for her son-in-law, who stayed
home. The transplant was a success,
but at exactly 2:15 am, her new heart
stopped beating. It took the frantic
transplant team three more hours to
revive her. Her family was only told
in the morning that her operation was
a success, without other details. When
they called her son-in-law with the
good news, he had his own news to tell.
He had already learned about the successful
surgery. At exactly 2:15 am, while he
was sleeping, he awoke to see his Olga,
his mother-in-law, at the foot of his
bed. She told him not to worry, that
she was going to be alright. She asked
him to tell her daughter (his wife).
He wrote down the message, and the time
of day and then fell asleep. Later on
at the hospital, Olga regained consciousness.
Her first words were "did you get the
message?" She was able to confirm that
she left her body during her near-death
experience and was able to travel to
her son-in-law to communicate to him
the message. This anecdotal evidence
demonstrates that the near-death experience
is a return to consciousness at the
point of death, when the brain is dying.
Dr. Melvin Morse thoroughly researched
Olga's testimony and every detail had
objective verification including the
scribbled note by the son-in-law.
In June 2005, scientists of the
Safar Center for Resuscitation Research
at the University of Pittsburgh announced
that they succeeded in reviving dogs
after three hours of clinical death.
The procedure involved draining all
the blood from the dogs' bodies and
filled them with an ice-cold salt solution.
These dogs were scientifically dead,
as their breathing and heartbeat were
stopped and they registered no brain
activity. But three hours later, their
blood was replaced and they were brought
back to life with an electric shock
with no brain damage. A spokesman said
the technique will eventually be tried
on humans.
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15. Memories of NDEs are More Real Than
Normal Memories |
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 Researchers
at the
Coma Science Group, directed by
Steven Laureys, and the
University of Liege's Cognitive Psychology Research,
headed by
Professor Serge Bredart and
Hedwige Dehon, have demonstrated that the physiological
mechanisms triggered during NDEs lead to a more
vivid perception not only of imagined events in
the history of an individual but also of real events
which have taken place in their lives. These surprising
results - obtained using an original method which
now requires further investigation - were published
in
PLOS ONE. The researchers looked into the memories
of NDEs with the hypothesis that if the memories
of NDEs were pure products of the imagination, their
phenomenological characteristics (e.g., sensorial,
self referential, emotional, etc. details) should
be closer to those of imagined memories. Conversely,
if the NDE are experienced in a way similar to that
of reality, their characteristics would be closer
to the memories of real events. Their results were
surprising. From the perspective being studied,
not only were the NDEs not similar to the memories
of imagined events, but the phenomenological characteristics
inherent to the memories of real events (e.g. memories
of sensorial details) are even more numerous in
the memories of NDE than in the memories of real
events.
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16. Raymond
Moody's NDE study has been replicated |
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In 1975,
Dr. Raymond
Moody
published a book entitled "Life
After Life"
which described his findings
from his study on near-death
experiences. Moody's book became
a bestseller and focused public
attention on the NDE like never
before. Moody recorded and compared
the experiences of 150 persons
who died, or almost died, and
then recovered. Moody outlined
nine elements that generally
occur during NDEs: (1) hearing
strange sounds, (2)
feelings
of peace,
(3) feelings of painlessness,
(4)
out-of-body
experiences,
(5)
experiencing
a tunnel,
(6) rising rapidly into the
heavens, (7)
seeing
beings of light,
(8)
experiencing
a life review,
(9)
a reluctance to return to the
body. Dr. Ken Ring's replicated
this NDE study by Dr. Raymond
Moody. Ring's research conclusions
include:
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1. |
Dr. Moody's research findings
are confirmed. |
2. |
NDEs happen to people of all
races, genders, ages, education,
marital status, and social class. |
3. |
Religious orientation is not
a factor. |
4. |
People are convinced of the
reality of their NDE experience. |
5. |
Drugs do not appear to be a
factor. |
6. |
NDEs are not hallucinations. |
7. |
NDEs often involve unparalleled
feelings. |
8. |
People lose their fear of death
and appreciate life more after
having an NDE. |
9. |
People's lives are transformed
after having an NDE. |
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18. NDEs can be considered to be
an objective experience
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Carl
Becker, Ph.D. received his Ph.D.
from the University of Hawaii
in 1981. He has researched NDEs
in Japanese hospitals and literature
for 30 years. Dr. Becker has
published numerous books on
bioethics, death and dying,
and NDEs in both Japan and the
United States. Currently, Dr.
Becker is a Professor of Bioethics
and Comparative Religion at
Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Carl Becker examined four ways
in which NDEs may be considered
objective:
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1. |
Paranormal knowledge that is
later verified |
2. |
The similarity of deathbed events
in different cultures |
3. |
Differences between religious
expectations and visionary experiences |
4. |
Third-party observations of
visionary figures, indicating
that they were not merely subjective
hallucinations (Becker, 1984). |
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19. Out-of-body
experiences have been validated in scientific
studies |
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In
1968, a paper by
Dr. Charles Tart was published entitled
"Psychophysiological
Study of Out of the Body Experiences
in a Selected Subject"
which documented the out-of-body experience
of a young woman who was one of his
research subjects. What makes her particular
out-of-body experience remarkable is
that she was able to leave her physical
body, read a 5-digit number from a significant
distance, and correctly recall the number
to Dr. Tart upon return to her body.
The odds of guessing a 5-digit number
correctly are 1 in 100,000. Her OBE
is an outstanding example of "veridical
out-of-body perception" - where verified
events are observed while in an out-of-body
state.
Read more here..
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20.
The replication of OBEs satisfies the
scientific method |
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In
2002, Neurologist Professor
Olaf Blanke
and colleagues at
Geneva University
Hospital in Switzerland
were using electrodes to stimulate the
brain of a female patient suffering
from
Temporal Lobe
Epilepsy.
They found that stimulating one spot
- the "God
spot"
- the
angular gyrus
in the right cortex - repeatedly caused
out-of-body experiences.
The doctors did not set out to achieve
this out-of-body effect - they were
simply treating the women for epilepsy.
Apparently the increased electrical
activity in the brain resulting from
seizure activity (abnormal electrical
activity in the brain), makes sufferers
more susceptible to having near-death
experiences. The doctors believe the
angular gyrus plays an important role
in matching up visual information and
the brain's touch and balance representation
of the body. When the two become dissociated,
an out-body-experience may result. Writing
in the journal Nature,
Electrodes Trigger Out-of-Body Experiences,
the Swiss team said out-of-body experiences
tended to be short-lived, and to disappear
when a person attempts to inspect parts
of their body (autoscopy).
Professor Blanke told BBC News Online
that "OBEs have been reported in neurological
patients with epilepsy, migraine and
after cerebral strokes, but they also
appear in healthy subjects. Awareness
of a biological basis of OBEs might
allow some patients who suffer frequently
from OBEs to talk about them more openly.
In addition, physicians might take the
phenomenon more seriously and carry
out necessary investigations such as
an EEG, MRI, and neurological examinations."
However, It must be pointed out that
Blanke views OBEs as merely induced
mental self-images and not an actual
experience of consciousness separating
from the physical body. Nevertheless,
Blanke's study does show that OBEs satisfy
the scientific method as being a real
phenomenon worthy of scientific research.
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21. Autoscopy
during NDEs have been validated in scientific
studies |
|
Pim
van Lommel led a 2001 study concerning
the NDEs of research subjects who had
cardiac arrest and the results were
published in the prestigious medical
journal The Lancet.. The findings of
the study suggests that research subjects
can experience consciousness, with self-identity,
cognitive function and memories, including
the possibility of perception outside
their body during a flat EEG. Those
research subjects who had NDEs report
that their NDE was a bonafide preview
of the afterlife.
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22. Experimental
evidence shows NDEs are real experiences |
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Science
demands verifiable evidence which can
be reproduced again and again under
experimental situations.
Dr. Jim Whinnery,
of the National Warfare Institute, thought
he was simply studying the effects of
G forces on fighter pilots. He had no
idea he would revolutionize the field
of consciousness studies by providing
experimental proof that NDEs are real.
The pilots were placed in huge centrifuges
and spun at tremendous speeds. After
they lost consciousness, after they
went into seizures, after they lost
all muscle tone, when the blood stopped
flowing in their brains, only then would
they suddenly have a return to conscious
awareness. They had "dreamlets" as Dr.
Whinnery calls them. These dreamlets
are similar to near-death experiences
and they often involved a sense of separation
from the physical body. A typical dreamlet
involved a pilot leaving his physical
body and traveling to a sandy beach,
where he looked directly up at the sun.
The pilots would remark that death is
very pleasant.
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23. Dream
research supports NDEs and an afterlife |
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One
of the strangest cases in the history
of dream research is described in the
documentary,
The Secret World
of Dreams.
It describes the amazing story of a
woman named
Claire Sylvia.
She was a professional dancer with several
modern dance companies. As the years
passed, Claire's health began to deteriorate.
Claire Sylvia had to undergo a heart
and lung transplant. Soon after the
transplant, she began having strange
and incredibly vivid dreams about a
young man she didn't recognize. Eventually,
Claire realized that the young man in
her dreams was the eighteen-year-old
organ donor whose heart and lungs resided
in her chest. Through her continuing
dream contacts with her donor, she learned
a lot about him including his name.
She then decided to do the research
to find out if this "heavenly" information
was correct.
Yale University
Pediatric Cancer specialist
Dr. Diane Komp
reported that many dying children have
NDEs which often occurred during dreams.
One boy, for example, told Dr. Komp
that Jesus had visited him in a big
yellow school bus and told him he would
die soon. The boy died as he predicted.
According to
the celebrated psychiatrist and dream
analyst,
Marie Louise
Von Franz,
and based on her analysis of over 10,000
dreams of the dying, the meaning being
communicated is that the light of the
individual, one of the common metaphors
for life that we've heard so often,
goes out at death but is miraculously
renewed on the other side. In other
words, the spirit seems to live on.
This dream then illustrates perfectly
a profound insight of the great psychoanalyst
and mentor of Dr. Von Franz,
Carl Jung, MD,
who has said: "The unconscious psyche
believes in a life after death." According
to Jung, dream symbols which exist in
the very depths of the soul behave as
if the psychic life of the individual
will continue. In Dr. Von Franz' words:
"These symbols depict the end of bodily
life and the explicit continuation of
psychic life after death. In other words,
our last dreams prepare us for death."
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24. Deathbed
visions supports NDEs and an afterlife |
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Dr.
Carla Wills-Brandon has researched,
in depth, the universal phenomenon of
the
Deathbed Vision (DBV) and has included
her findings in her book,
One Last Hug Before I Go. Complete
with her own personal encounters, and
those of numerous other DBV experiencers,
this revolutionary work explores DBVs
throughout history, from ancient Egypt
to modern-day America. Through the visions
and experiences common to all dying
people, one can learn more about the
spiritual journey that begins with death.
According to recent studies, only about
10% of people are conscious shortly
before their death. Of this group, 50%
to 67% have DBVs.
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25. Remote
viewing supports NDEs and an afterlife |
|
On
April 23, 1984, the Washington Post
reported: "The
Race for Inner Space"
about the CIA's remote viewing program.
On August 12, 1985, the Deseret News
reported: "The
United States is Still Involved in ESP-ionage."
Other media attention followed. One
theory about how remote viewing works
is that gifted or trained people can
tap into a "Universal Mind." NDE research
also suggests the reality of a Universal
or Collective Consciousness.
Some of the most
credible remote reviewers, such as
Joseph McMoneagle,
received their remote viewing powers
from a near-death experience.
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26.
People having NDEs are convinced they saw
an afterlife |
|
In
1977, Dr. Kenneth Ring was a brilliant young
professor of psychology at the University
of Connecticut who read
Dr. Raymond Moody's
book,
Life After Life,
and was inspired by it. However, he felt
that a more scientifically structured study
would strengthen Moody's findings. He sought
out 102 near-death survivors for his research.
He concluded:
"Regardless of
their prior attitudes - whether skeptical
or deeply religious - and regardless of
the many variations in religious beliefs
and degrees of skepticism from tolerant
disbelief to outspoken atheism - most of
these people were convinced that they had
been in the presence of some supreme and
loving power and had a glimpse of a life
yet to come."
(Dr.
Kenneth Ring)
For the multitude
of near-death experiencers who know they
have left their bodies and received a glimpse
of life after death, there is no amount
of clinical explanation that will ever convince
them otherwise.
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27. Atheists
believe in an afterlife after having
NDEs
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Atheists
have deathbed experiences and near-death
experiences just like everyone else
does. The
philosophy of
Positivism,
founded by the famous atheist named
A. J. Ayer,
is the philosophy that anything not
verifiable by the senses is nonsense.
Because NDEs mark the end of the senses,
Positivists believe the survival of
the senses after death is nonsense.
But this philosophy has been challenged
by its founder A. J. Ayer himself. Later
in life, Ayer had an NDE where he saw
a red light. Ayer's NDE made him a changed
man: "My recent experiences, have slightly
weakened my conviction that my genuine
death ... will be the end of me, though
I continue to hope that it will be."
(Ayer, 1988 a,b) (Read more about it
from an article in the National Post
and an article by Gerry Lougrhan: Can
there be life after life? Ask the atheist!
(by Gerry Lougrhan, Letter From London,
March 18, 2001.)
A non-NDE
example comes from
Antony Flew, a champion of atheist
beliefs for more than 50 years. In a
news article titled "Atheist
Discovers 'The Science of God'":
"One of Britain's most prominent atheists
has decided that God might exist after
all. Professor Antony Flew now believes
there is scientific evidence supporting
the theory of some sort of intelligence
behind the creation the universe. Professor
Flew, 81, a professor emeritus of philosophy
at the University of Reading, said that
this was the only explanation for the
origin of life ... "I'm thinking of
a God very different from the God of
the Christian and far and away from
the God of Islam, because both are depicted
as omnipotent Oriental despots - cosmic
Saddam Husseins," he said in his new
video, "Has Science Discovered God?"
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28.
Childhood NDEs are remarkably similar
to adult NDEs |
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The
NDE researcher
P.M.H. Atwater
has pointed out the fascinating anomaly
that an amazing number of people important
to the evolution of humankind may well
have had such an episode during their
childhood. She discusses this at length
in both of her books,
Future Memory
and
Children of the
New Millennium.
Some of the notable child NDEs she came
across were Abraham Lincoln, Mozart,
Albert Einstein, Queen Elizabeth I,
Edward de Vere/the 17th Earl of Oxford
(who most likely is the real Shakespeare),
Winston Churchill, Black Elk, Walter
Russell, plus several others.
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29.
NDEs have been reported for thousands
of years |
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Reports
of near-death experiences are not a
new phenomenon. A great number of them
have been recorded over a period of
thousands of years. The ancient religious
texts such as The
Tibetan Book
of the Dead,
the
Christian Bible,
and the
Koran
describe experiences of life after death
which remarkably resembles modern NDEs.
The oldest surviving explicit report
of an NDE in Western literature comes
from the famed Greek philosopher,
Plato,
who describes an event in his tenth
book of his legendary book entitled
Republic. Plato discusses the story
of Er, a soldier who awoke on his funeral
pyre and described his journey into
the afterlife. But this story is not
just a random anecdote for Plato. He
integrated at least three elements of
the NDE into his philosophy: the departure
of the soul from the cave of shadows
to see the light of truth, the flight
of the soul to a vision of pure celestial
being and its subsequent recollection
of the vision of light, which is the
very purpose of philosophy.
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30. The
expansion of consciousness occurs during
NDEs |
|
 |
The following NDE descriptions
of consciousness expansion
supports the theory
of consciousness described
above by
Stanislav Grof.
It theorizes that the
brain acts as a reducing
valve of cosmic input
to produce consciousness.
At death, this reducing-valve
function ceases and
consciousness is then
free to expand. The
following NDEs support
this:
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1. |
"I realized
that, as the
stream was expanding,
my own consciousness
was also expanding
to take in everything
in the Universe!"
(Mellen-Thomas
Benedict) |
2. |
"My mind felt
like a sponge,
growing and
expanding in
size with each
addition ...
I could feel
my mind expanding
and absorbing
and each new
piece of information
somehow seemed
to belong."
(Virginia
Rivers) |
3. |
"In your life
review you'll
be the universe."
(Thomas
Sawyer) |
4. |
"This white
light began
to infiltrate
my consciousness.
It came into
me..It seemed
I went out into
it. I expanded
into it as it
came into my
field off consciousness."
(Jayne
Smith) |
5. |
"My presence
fills the room.
And now I feel
my presence
in every room
in the hospital.
Even the tiniest
space in the
hospital is
filled with
this presence
that is me.
I sense myself
beyond the hospital,
above the city,
even encompassing
Earth. I am
melting into
the universe.
I am everywhere
at once." (Josiane
Antonette) |
6. |
"I felt myself
expanding and
expanding until
I thought, "I'm
going to burst!"
The moment I
thought, "I'm
going to burst!",
I suddenly found
myself alone,
back where this
being had met
me, and he had
gone." (Margaret
Tweddelll) |
7. |
Susan had an
out-of-body
experience where
she left her
body and grew
very big, as
big as a planet
at first, and
then she filled
the solar system
and finally
she became as
large as the
universe. (Susan
Blackmore) |
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31. NDEs triggered by drugs satisfies
the scientific method
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 |
Dr. Karl Jansen
is a Member of the Royal
College of Psychiatrists
and is the world's leading
expert on
ketamine.
He has studied ketamine
at every level. While
earning his doctorate
in clinical pharmacology
at the University of
Oxford, he photographed
the receptors to which
ketamine binds in the
human brain. He has
published papers on
his discovery of the
similarities between
ketamine's psychoactive
effects and the near-death
experience during his
study of medicine in
New Zealand. Because
there exists a biological
basis for NDEs and a
method to replicate
NDEs, this satisfies
the scientific criteria
for NDEs being a real,
scientific phenomenon.
However, this is not
to say there are no
problems with comparing
hallucinations with
NDEs as will be shown
later in this web page.
Dr. Karl Jansen's ketamine
research findings include:
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32. NDEs are different from hallucinations
|
|
 |
NDEs
are not a denial of reality,
as is often seen in drug or
oxygen deprivation induced hallucinations.
There are not the distortions
of time, place, body image and
disorientations seen in drug
induced experiences. They instead
typically involve the perception
of another reality superimposed
over this one. For example,
one young boy told
Dr. Melvin
Morse
that "god took me in his hands
and kept me safe" while medics
were frantically trying to revived
his body after a near drowning.
He said and understood everything
happening to him, but simply
perceived something we usually
don't perceive at other times
in our lives. German psychiatrist
Michael Schroeter-Kunhardt
in his extensive review of all
published near death research
states there is no reason to
believe NDEs are the result
of psychiatric pathology or
brain dysfunction.
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33. NDEs change people unlike hallucinations
and dreams
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No
matter what the nature of the NDE,
it alters lives. Alcoholics find
themselves unable to imbibe. Hardened
criminals opt for a life of helping
others.
Atheists
embrace the existence of a deity,
while dogmatic members of a particular
religion report "feeling welcome
in any church or temple or mosque."
Nancy Evans
Bush,
president emeritus of the
International
Association for Near-Death Studies,
says the experience is revelatory.
"Most near-death survivors say they
don't think there is a God," she
says. "They know." In 1975, when
Raymond Moody
published
Life After
Life,
a book that coined the term "near-death
experience" (NDE) to describe this
hard-to-define phenomenon. Moody
interviewed 150 near-death patients
who reported vivid experiences (flashing
back to childhood, coming face to
face with Christ). He found that
those who had undergone NDEs became
more altruistic, less materialistic,
and more loving.
Bruce Greyson
and
Ian Stevenson
have been instrumental in gathering
evidence indicating that religious
backgrounds do not affect who is
most likely to have an NDE. They
have mapped out the conversion-like
effects of NDEs that can sometimes
lead to hardship. "They can see
the good in all people," Greyson
says of people who have experienced
the phenomenon. "They act fairly
naive, and they often allow themselves
to be opened up to con men who abuse
their trust." They have gathered
reports of high divorce rates and
problems in the workplace following
NDEs. "The values you get from an
NDE are not the ones you need to
function in everyday life," says
Greyson. Having stared eternity
in the face, he observes, those
who return often lose their taste
for ego-boosting achievement. Not
even the diehard skeptics doubt
the powerful personal effects of
NDEs. "This is a profound emotional
experience," explains Nuland. "People
are convinced that they've seen
heaven."
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34.
NDEs have advanced the field of medical
science |
|
 |
Another example
of bringing
back scientific
discoveries
resulting from
an NDE comes
from
Mellen-Thomas
Benedict.
After his NDE,
Mellen-Thomas
Benedict brought
back a great
deal of scientific
information
concerning
biophotonics,
cellular communication,
quantum biology,
and
DNA research.
Mellen-Thomas
Benedict currently
holds eight
U.S. patents
and is always
working on more.
In
a 2007 interview
with Guy Spiro
of Lightworks,
Mellen-Thomas
discusses this
phenomenon:
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|
"One
of the
things
I did
that
got
me a
lot
of attention
was
working
with
the
University
of Texas.
I was
brought
in with
Dr.
Ken
Ring
and
not
told
what
it was
going
to be
or any
details
whatsoever
and
I didn’t
know
anything
until
we entered
the
room.
By the
way,
this
was
videotaped
and
recorded.
At that
time,
I could
do almost
a self
hypnosis
and
get
to the
light.
"So,
the
University
of Texas
sat
me down
and
they
said,
'Today,
we are
going
to be
working
on something
call
CNT.'
That
was
all
the
information
that
they
gave
me,
that
it was
a medical
problem,
and
then
I did
my technique.
In those
days,
the
only
tools
that
I brought
with
me were
a big
pad
of paper
and
large
Crayola
crayons.
I could
sit
there,
go to
the
light
and
still
speak
to you
and
draw
pictures
while
seeing.
"With
this
experiment,
I went
to the
light
and
asked
'What
information
can
we bring
back?'
I almost
immediately
started
drawing
and
I drew
something
that
to me
looked
like
two
horse
shoes.
A big
horse
shoe
facing
down
on the
bottom
and
a smaller
horse
shoe
facing
up on
top.
I said,
'The
answer
is in
this
upper
horse
shoe
and
it’s
these
three
segments.'
I numbered
them
exactly
and
I said,
'That’s
where
the
problem
is and
the
real
problem
is in
this
third
piecing
which
is this
thing.'
I was
pointing
out
a gene,
but
I didn’t
know
any
of that.
And
then
I drew
picture
and
I said,
'There
are
two
heads
on it
and
one
head
is normal
and
the
one
that
isn’t
right
is overriding
the
head
that
is.
If we
can
figure
out
a way
to cleave
that
head
off,
I think
we can
cure
this.'
"It
turns
out
that
I was
exactly
right.
I helped
decode
a genetic
disease
and
the
information
was
very
accurate.
Everybody
thanked
me and
I went
away.
Then
about
three
months
later,
I started
getting
letters
and
calls
saying,
'My
God,
you
hit
it right
on the
head!
This
is astounding.
There
is no
way
you
could
have
had
this
information
in advance.'
I did
a fair
number
of projects
like
that
and
a fair
number
of think
tanks,
all
of which
you
have
to sign
nondisclosures
and
promise
to never
talk
about.
I worked
in a
lot
of think
tanks
with
some
very
impressive
world
class
scientists
over
the
next
ten
years
until
I retired
from
all
that
in 1995."
(Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
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35.
NDEs have advanced the field of psychology |
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In
a hospital in Switzerland in 1944, the
world-renowned psychiatrist
Carl G. Jung,
had a heart attack and then a near-death
experience. His vivid encounter with
the light, plus the intensely meaningful
insights led Jung to conclude that his
experience came from something real
and eternal. Jung's experience is unique
in that he saw the Earth from a vantage
point of about a thousand miles above
it. His incredibly accurate view of
the Earth from outer space was described
about two decades before astronauts
in space first described it. Subsequently,
as he reflected on life after death,
Jung recalled the meditating Hindu from
his near-death experience and read it
as a parable of the archetypal
Higher Self,
the God-image within. Carl Jung, who
founded
analytical psychology,
centered on the
archetypes
of the
collective unconscious.
During his near-death experiences, he
met the avatar of the physician who
was treating him and was still
living on Earth.
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36.
NDEs have advanced the fields of philosophy
and religion |
|
Philosophies
and religions were founded on NDEs. The
famed Greek philosopher,
Plato,
described at the conclusion of his legendary
work entitled
Republic,
the NDE account of
a soldier named Er
which has greatly influenced religious,
philosophical, and scientific thought for
many centuries.. Plato integrated at least
three elements of this NDE into his philosophy:
(1) The departure
of the soul from "the
cave of shadows"
to see the light of truth, (2)
The flight of the soul to a vision of pure
celestial being, (3) Its
subsequent recollection of the vision of
light, which is the very purpose of philosophy.
When it comes to
religion, one NDE was responsible for making
Christianity a world religion. The apostle
Paul once persecuted Christians until he
converted to Christianity himself because
of an NDE which he described as follows:
"I know a person in Christ who fourteen
years ago was caught up the third heaven.
Whether it was in the body or out of the
body I do not know - God knows. And I know
that this person - whether in the body or
apart from the body I do not know, but God
knows - was caught up to paradise. He heard
inexpressible things, things that people
are not permitted to tell. (2
Corinthians 12:2-4).
In this letter, Paul based his authority
as an apostle on this NDE. Some or all of
his revelations of Jesus certainly came
from this NDE. The inspiration of much of
the New Testament can therefore be attributed
to Paul's NDE.
Tibetan Buddhism
is a religion based upon the NDEs of "deloks"
which are described in
the Tibetan Book
of the Dead,
whose actual title is "The Great Liberation
upon Hearing in the Intermediate State"
or "Bardo Thodol." This holy book describes
what happens after death and has striking
parallels with modern NDEs. The Bardo Thodol
is a guide that is read aloud to the dead
while they are in the out-of-body state
between death and reincarnation in order
for them to recognize the nature of their
mind and attain liberation from the cycle
of rebirth. The Bardo Thodol teaches that
once awareness is freed from the body, it
creates its own reality as one would experience
in a lucid dream. This dream occurs in various
afterlife realms (bardos)
in ways both wonderful and terrifying. Overwhelming
peaceful and wrathful visions and beings
appear. Because the deceased may be in a
state of confusion due to its disconnection
from its physical body, it might need help
and guidance in order for enlightenment
and liberation (Nirvana) to occur. The Bardo
Thodol teaches how we can attain Nirvana
by recognizing the heavenly realms instead
of entering into the lower realms where
the cycle of birth and rebirth continue.
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38. Contact
with the deceased have occurred under
scientific controls |
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On
October 4, 1999, the University of Arizona
announced a study conducted by
Dr. Gary Schwartz:
"UA
Researchers Look Beyond the Grave"
concerning scientific evidence supporting
a theory of the existence of a Universal
Living Memory. This was achieved by
testing highly qualified psychic mediums
to see if they could contact the dead.
The success of this study is important
in that it supports NDE research in
providing a scientific foundation toward
investigating the survival of consciousness
after death.
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39. Many
people have experienced after-death
communications |
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 An
after-death communication (ADC) is a
spiritual experience that occurs when
a person is contacted directly and spontaneously
by a family member or friend who has
died. During their seven years of research,
Bill and Judy Guggenheim at
www.after-death.com collected more
than 3,300 firsthand reports from people
who believe they have been contacted
by a deceased loved one. Their
book,
Hello From Heaven, documents
many such experiences.
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40. A
transcendental "sixth sense" of the
human mind exists |
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On
September 11, 2003, new research by
the
Institute of
Psychiatry
caused British scientists to announce
that there is convincing evidence that
people are capable of paranormal feats,
such as premonitions, telepathy, and
out-of-body experiences. The
British Association
for the Advancement of Science
was told an increasing number of experiments
support the theory of a human "sixth
sense" - an ability which may have its
roots in our past, when the ability
to sense the presence of a predator
was a matter of life or death. The view
that people are capable of paranormal
feats, such as premonitions, telepathy,
and out-of-body experiences, is supported
by new research by the Institute of
Psychiatry, which suggests the human
mind may exist outside the body like
an invisible magnetic field. The research
is being led by
Dr. Peter Fenwick,
a neuropsychiatrist at London University,
who has just completed a survey of heart
patients claiming to have had "near-death
experiences" after their hearts had
stopped beating.
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41. The
brain's connection to a higher power
has been validated |
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Dr. Melvin Morse
is the former Associate
Professor of Pediatrics
at the University of
Washington and has studied
near-death experiences
in children for over
15 years and is the
author of several outstanding
books on the subject.
In his book,
Where God Lives,
Morse makes the case
that a connection to
the right temporal lobe
of the brain (the "God
Spot") to a higher power
or "force" in the universe
has been validated in
the merging of scientific
and paranormal research.
Such research includes
the following:
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42.
Apparitions of the dead have been induced
under scientific controls |
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Dr.
Raymond Moody,
who became famous for his pioneering
studies of NDEs, has been working on
ways of inducing facilitated apparitions
in a controlled setting. He took as
his model
classic works
from ancient Greece
which suggested that when people wished
to contact a deceased loved one they
consulted with an 'oracle' at a
psychomanteum.
A psychomanteum is a specially built
laboratory using mirrors to help facilitate
the psychic process. Part of the actual
psychic process includes the sending
of telepathic messages, sending vibrations
- to the selected recipient in the afterlife.
Moody has reconstructed the process
with astonishing results - 85% of his
clients who go through a full day of
preparation do make contact with a deceased
loved one - but not necessarily the
one that they are seeking to meet. In
most cases this occurs in his specially
build psychomanteum but in 25% of cases
it happens later in their own homes
- the client wakes up and sees the apparition
at the foot of the bed (Moody 1993:97).
According to
Dianne Arcangel,
an associate of Dr. Moody, in some cases
when contact is made with intelligences
from the afterlife information is transmitted
to reveal something that the person
seeking contact does not know (1997).
Moody gives full instructions on how
to create your own psychomanteum in
his book
Reunions: Visionary
Encounters with Departed Loved Ones
and on
his Psychomanteum
page.
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43. Studies
show prayer to be effective under scientific
controls |
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On
October 25, 1999, BBC News reported:
"Healing
Power of Prayer Revealed" about
a study at a university hospital in
Kansas City, U.S. about scientific evidence
of healing through the power of prayer.
Then on June 5, 2000, BBC News reported:
"Prayer
Works as a Cure" about a different
study conducted at the University of
Maryland providing more evidence of
healing through prayer. These findings
support NDE research findings which
demonstrates the reality of a transcendent
consciousness.
Dr. Larry Dossey
has done extensive research on the efficacy
of prayer and has written several excellent
books on the subject.
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44. Scientific
evidence of reincarnation supports an
afterlife |
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On
June 11, 1992, at Princeton University,
Dr. Ian Stevenson presented a paper
entitled: "Birthmarks
and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds
on Deceased Persons" providing scientific
evidence suggestive of reincarnation
which was published in the Journal of
Scientific Exploration. These findings
support reincarnation in NDE research
findings as well. Reincarnation has
been called by some to be the greatest
unknown scientific discovery today.
In the last chapter of Dr. Ian Stevenson's
book entitled Twenty Cases Suggestive
of Reincarnation (1967), he provides
rigorous scientific reasoning to show
how reincarnation is the only viable
explanation that fits the facts of his
study. He considers every possible alternative
explanation for his twenty cases of
young children who were spontaneously
able to describe a previous lifetime
as soon as they learned to talk. He
was able to rule out each alternative
explanation using one or more aspects
of these cases. Later research has even
bolstered his case in favor of the existence
of reincarnation. His study is also
completely reproducible which means
that anybody who doubts the validity
of this study is perfectly welcome to
repeat it for themselves. I believe
it is only a short matter of time before
his discovery of the existence of reincarnation
is finally realized by the scientific
community and the world to be accepted
as one of the greatest scientific discoveries
of all time.
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45. NDEs
support the reality of reincarnation |
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Amber
Wells was a student at the University
of Connecticut and wrote a research
paper based on her study of the near-death
experience for her senior honors thesis
under the direction of
Dr. Ken Ring.
Her paper was published in the Journal
of Near-Death Studies in the fall of
1993. In her study, 70 percent of
the group of near-death experiencers
demonstrated belief in reincarnation.
Claims have been documented by other
researchers of direct knowledge of reincarnation
which became available during the near-death
experience itself. An example of this
type out-of-body research of knowledge
can be seen in a letter written to Dr.
Ken Ring by John Robinson: "It is a
matter of personal knowledge from what
the being with whom I spoke during my
near-death experience told me about
my older son, that he had had 14 incarnations
in female physical bodies previous to
the life he has just had."
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46.
Xenoglossy supports reincarnation and
an afterlife |
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One
of the most amazing psychic phenomena,
which religionists, skeptics and atheists
have continuously and deliberately ignored
is xenoglossy - the ability to speak
or write a foreign language a person
never learned. After all other explanations
have been investigated - such as fraud,
genetic memory, telepathy and cryptomnesia
(the remembering of a foreign language
learned earlier), xenoglossy is taken
as evidence of either memories of a
language learned in a past life or of
communication with a discarnate entity—
a spirit person. There are many cases
on record of adults and children speaking
and writing languages which they have
never learned. Sometimes this happens
spontaneously but more often it occurs
while the person is under hypnosis or
in an altered state of consciousness.
In some cases it is only a few words
remembered but in other cases the person
becomes totally fluent and able to converse
with native speakers sometimes in obscure
dialects which have not been in use
for centuries. There are literally thousands
of xenoglossic cases, many hundreds
of which have been documented. They
involve modern and ancient languages
from all over the world. Psychic investigators,
such the highly credible
Dr. Ian Stevenson,
used scientific method to illustrate
xenoglossy and claim that there are
only two possible explanations — either
spirit contact or past life memory both
of which are evidence for the afterlife.
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47. Past-life
regression supports reincarnation and
an afterlife |
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Past life regression
such as that practiced
by
Dr. Michael Newton,
simply involves placing
a person under hypnosis
and asking them to go
back through their childhood
to a time before they
were born. In many cases
the person begins talking
about his or her life
or lives before the
present lifetime, about
their previous death
and about the time between
lives including the
planning of the present
lifetime. The main reason
why at least some of
these claims must be
considered as evidence
are:
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1. |
The regression
frequently leads
to a cure of
a physical illness.. |
2. |
In some cases
the person regressed
begins to speak
an unlearned
foreign language. |
3. |
In some cases
the person being
regressed remembers
details of astonishing
accuracy which
when checked
out are verified
by the top historians. |
4. |
The emotional
intensity of
the experience
is such that
it convinces
many formerly
skeptical psychiatrists
who are used
to dealing with
fantasy and
imagined regressions. |
5. |
In some cases
the alleged
cause of death
in an immediate
past life is
reflected by
a birthmark
in the present
life. |
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48. The
Scole Experiments supports NDEs and
an afterlife
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Victor
Zammit
is a lawyer who has collected a large
body of evidence supporting the reality
of an afterlife. Zammit has an excellent
article concerning what many regard
as the greatest afterlife experiment
in the world. The evidence collected
over a period of more than four years
and with more than 500 sittings by the
Scole Experiments
and the afterlife team is absolute,
definitive and irrefutable. Scole is
a village in Norfolk, England. Using
it as a base, mediums Robin and Sandra
Foy and Alan and Diana Bennett and other
experimenters produced brilliant evidence
of the afterlife in England, the U.S.
Ireland and in Spain. Their results
are being repeated by other groups around
the world and will convince even the
toughest open-minded skeptic. The group
began with two mediums delivering messages
from a non-physical group. Many of these
messages contained personal information
that nobody else could know about. Soon
the messages came in the form of voices
which could be heard by all in the room.
Then came the actual materialization
of people and objects from the non-physical
side.
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49. Electronic
voice phenomena supports NDEs and an afterlife |
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For
more than 50 years, experimenters all over
the world have been tape recording "paranormal
voices" - voices which cannot be heard when
a tape recorder is playing but which can
be heard when the tape is played back. Many
of these messages have been reported to
be from loved ones who have passed on. Such
messages would include the experimenter's
name and also answers to the experimenter's
questions. It is a phenomenon known as "EVP"
or "electronic
voice phenomenon"
and there are thousands of researchers around
the world researching this fascinating psychic
phenomenon. This phenomenon is particularly
relevant to evidence supporting the survival
hypothesis because it follows strict scientific
procedures and have been duplicated under
laboratory conditions by various of researchers
in many different countries.
Friedrich Jürgenson
(pictured above) is considered
to be the "The father of EVP" because he
was the first to capture EVP successfully
on a recording device. One particular recording
changed his life forever. After playing
back on of his recordings, he was shocked
to hear his mother’s voice say “Friedel
can you hear me. It’s mammy.” Friedrich's
mother had long ago passed away and the
endearment he heard was used exclusively
by her. Jürgenson was now convinced these
unusual audio transmissions were voices
from the afterlife. In 1964, Jürgenson published
a book on his EVP research entitled "The
Voices From Space."
After reading Friedrich
Jürgenson's book,
Dr. Konstantins Raudive
(1909–1974), a Latvian psychologist who
was a student of
Carl Jung,
meet with Jürgenson and conducted EVP experiments
with him. As a result, in 1965, Raudive
began to conduct his own EVP research and
with the help of various electronics experts,
Raudive recorded over 100,000 audiotapes,
most of which were conducted using strict
laboratory conditions. Raudive would confirm
the accuracy of his recordings by inviting
listeners to hear and interpret them. Over
400 people were involved in his EVP research
and all heard the voices. This culminated
in his 1968 book entitled "Breakthrough:
An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication
With the Dead." Raudice's research into
EVP gave experimenters various methods for
recording EVP’s including the EVP classification
scale that is used by researchers today.
The popular paranormal TV series called
"Ghost
Adventures"
features an overwhelmingly number of convincing
EVP recordings as they occur.
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50. Psychometry
supports NDEs and an afterlife |
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According
to Wikipedia.org, "psychometry"
is a psychic ability in which the user
is able to relate details about the
past condition of an object or area,
usually by being in close contact with
it. The user could allegedly, for example,
give police precise details about a
murder or other violent crime if they
were at the crime scene or were holding
the weapon used. About.com's Paranormal
Phenomena website lists information
about several of the most convincing
psychometrists.
Stefan Ossowiecki,
a Russian-born psychic, is one of the
most famous psychometrists. Ossowiecki
claimed to be able to see people's auras
and to move objects through psychokinesis.
His psychic gifts enabled this chemical
engineer to locate lost objects and
missing people, and he assisted in several
criminal investigations. In 1935, he
participated in a test of his psychometric
powers - a test devised by a wealthy
Hungarian named Dionizy Jonky that involved
a sealed package. Jonky stipulated that
this test was to be conducted eight
years after his death. (Jonky and Ossowiecki
did not know each other.) First, 14
photographs of men were placed in front
of Ossowiecki, one of which was of Jonky.
Ossowiecki picked out the correct photo.
Next, Ossowiecki accurately described
many details of Jonky's life and correctly
identified the man who held the package
for the past eight years. Finally, Ossowiecki
was presented with the sealed package
Jonky had prepared before his death.
Ossowiecki touched the package and concentrated.
"Volcanic minerals," he said. "There
is something here that pulls me to other
worlds, to another planet." Oddly, he
also sensed sugar. Inside the package
was a meteorite encased in a candy wrapper.
In later
experiments, Ossowiecki performed remarkable
psychometric feats with archeological
objects - a kind of psychic archeology.
These tests were conducted by Stanislaw
Poniatowski, a professor of enthology
at the University of Warsaw who could
verify the accuracy of what Ossowiecki
"saw." While holding a 10,000-year-old
piece of flint, Ossowiecki was able
to describe in amazing detail the lives
of the prehistoric people who made it.
In other tests he provided similar descriptions
of people who lived as long ago as 300,000
years. Some of the information he provided
was not even known by experts at the
time, but confirmed by discoveries years
later!
Ossowiecki
described his visions as being like
a motion picture that he could watch,
pause, rewind and fast-forward - like
a videotape or DVD.
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51. Other
anomalous phenomena supports an afterlife |
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Other anomalous phenomena
supports the Afterlife
Hypothesis including
astral projection research
such as that done by
Jerry Gross.
Also anomalous phenomena
associated with the
following:
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52.
The burden of proof has shifted to skeptics
of an afterlife |
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All
neurological theories concluding NDEs
to be only a brain anomaly, must show
how the core elements of the NDE occur
subjectively because of specific neurological
events triggered by the approach of
death. These core elements include:
the out-of-body state, paranormal knowledge,
the tunnel, the golden light, the voice
or presence, the appearance of deceased
relatives, and beautiful vistas. Perhaps
the final word should go to
Nancy Evans Bush,
a NDEr with the International Association
for Near-Death Studies, who said: "There
is no human experience of any description
that can't simply be reduced to a biological
process, but that in no way offsets
the meaning those experiences have for
us - whether it's falling in love, or
grieving, or having a baby."
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