Harvard Neurosurgeon Confirms The Afterlife Exists

I don't see an evolutionary reason for death. The body should be mass dumping adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Is consciousness in the heart? doubtful. why? heart transplant.

the doctor had an atypical coma for sure.

God/creator(s) would bring us into a system that is familiar and comfortable to us. God would not shock a hinduist with jesus nor a jew with krishna. I don't think the creator(s) are that dumb. maybe true atheist get nothing for a while lol, and are eased into the spiritual realm.

originally posted by: woodwardjnr
The hallucinagens is also released in high doses when the brain dies. So I guess that makes me consider this as away of the brain closing down and making the death experience less frightening to the dying.

And no doubt an evolutionary adaptation formed over time as I see some say.
Why would a dying brain need to adapt to make the experience less frightening when it would make more sense, when it senses it is dying to put the person in a coma or lights out rather than full lucidity?

There have been many cases of NDEs where the people experiencing them said they felt more aware and awake than they did in waking life when the brain was dying and the heart stopped. What purpose would that serve from an evolutionary standpoint rather than lights out?

My theory is that the chemicals are there to make the transition to the spirit world more comfortable while leaving the body behind.

The information I've come across about the topic points to a MAJOR SCANDAL.

Pre-Birth Memory No 2

As an infant I recalled buildings and fields. I remembered guides and angels. I would lay around and think about what had been arranged for my life and what I had to do. I specifically recalled standing in front of a huge, white book in heaven. The book was very thick with pages and all the pages had gold trim around the edges. The book sat on a white, marble book stand or maybe I could describe it as a church pulpit. Light shined out of the book and book stand. The book lay open as I approached and stood directly in front of it. I noticed the pages were blank. I was taken to it by a guide who stood to my left and gave me some directions about how to proceed. "Look into the pages." my guide instructed.

I then looked down at the pages and the blank sheets began to display parts of my future life on earth. I watched as if it was a movie being played for me. As another life change was about to occur the page would turn again and begin the next part of my life in movie form on that page. I saw a little accident at my grandparents barn where I took a fall and many other things.

I used to sit around with nothing else to do as a child and play back those images of what I saw in the book. I could fast forward the images to see things that would occur in the future and rewind to things I saw from my life's past since birth that were played out for me within the pages. But the older I got, the less I thought about those things. I guess I just decided playing and eating were all I cared to think about. But God had a unique technique for reminding me when I was three years old.

Pre-Birth Memory No 5

Kees had not felt like reincarnating and resisted the angels who tried to convince him it would be for his own good. They practically pushed him –though they did so lovingly- back to earth, as it was time for him to get to work again. The angels told him: “You know, when you go to earth, you will be accompanied by assistants”. He would be protected after he returned. The “Big Light” told him: “To make a good life is your own responsibility.”

Pre-Birth Memory No.40

Arjan Voet (23) of Beneden Leeuwen (The Netherlands) told me in 2005 that he was repeatedly visited by a male apparition when he was a boy of about 7. The apparitional figure helped him to leave his body and showed him many things, including episodes of his past life followed by images of an afterlife. Accordingly, Arjan was approached by other discarnate spirits who wanted him to help them with their problems. He rejected all of their requests and completely concentrated on his own elated feelings of happiness and wellbeing until higher spirits told him that he had to learn more about helping others. They wanted him to choose a world (sic) and a suitable family where he could undergo valuable lessons. However, he asked them to make the decision for him. If he failed, he would simply come back to the spiritual realm and try again.

Arjan recalls there is a script for our earthly lives, which leaves a lot of room for individual freedom, but fixes certain events that simply need to happen. He remembers that a spiritual being ‘wrote’ specific things down for him.

Pre-Birth Memory No.42

I remembered standing on a cliff with another being looking out at the earth. This being was trying very hard to convince me that I had to go down to earth and I didn't want to go. I remember him saying that I had to go. I had no choice in the matter.

I asked him how long I would have to be there. He replied, "Not long, perhaps 60 or 70 years." I remember protesting loudly, "60 or 70 years! No, I can't do it!" I was very upset. I don't know how long we argued, but he was speaking in a calm tone trying to minimize the situation. I remember him saying that he would not let my life be as difficult as had originally been planned, since I was so worried about it, but that was all he would do. I still had to go.

Pre-Birth Memory No.62

Just before he was born, he received some kind of explanation. It concerned a moment in time at which he was no longer able to make any choices, because he'd already chosen the parents

he was going to be born with. Before his physical birth, he received what seemed like a guided tour and was shown images, incomplete fragments of his parents and of himself, of the way he was going to be in the life to come. The images were not very rich, but Vincent does not exclude the possibility that he can only recall fragments of them. The images he saw of his parents seemed like photographs of what they would look like when he would be around the very age he remembered his pre-existence. In other words, they seemed to be images of the future, as if they were meant to announce what he should expect. “This is what you get for your money. You've made a choice, these are your parents, this is what they will look like. Good luck!”

a reply to: yosako
(continue)

www.nderf.org...

Above me was a small black opening. It swallowed me up. I was flying through a tunnel very very fast but it felt weird. I heard a noise, like a wind sound. It was all so crazy! The tunnel was black, pitch-black. Then it got light again. At the end of the tunnel was a light. The walls of the tunnel kept moving away from one another. It felt like I was in a cave with smooth walls. It seemed very big and damp. I didn't know what I was doing here and it seemed as though a long time had passed. This place seemed familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. I waited in the middle of the tunnel or cave. The light emanated warmth, love and happiness. It was a living light. I heard beautiful music. So I went directly into the light. Once inside it felt as though I was home again. Everything was white and full of love. I was secure here.

Shortly thereafter I landed in a large world with many beings and brilliant blue sky. In the middle was a road. I was really wowed! It was beautiful, so lush. Along the road were stones that had colors I had never seen before. And suddenly my great-grandmother was before me. She told me it was my decision to stay or to return to earth. She said it would be better if I returned. Great-grandmother seemed much wiser here than when she was alive on earth. She also emanated a lot of warmth. I told her I wanted to see just a little more here. I was curious. So I went walking. But then I thought about my mother and father. No, I didn't want to stay any longer. I decided that next time I would see this world because I knew that one day I would be returning.

I went back, back into the light which now spoke to me. It was a telepathic communication. The light showed me pictures of the future. Nice things, like one day I would get married. It showed me my future husband. I didn't know him at that moment. He was going to be very sick but would make it. I heard that it was a mycotic infection in the lungs. I didn't understand those words. I thought he would die and started to feel very unhappy. The light kept telling me that he would live through his illness. I saw doctors, nuns and nurses - whom I would meet years later. In addition I was going to forget all the details of this NDE. I would only remember much later. I heard the light say everything would be alright. I said goodbye to the light and went back to the darkness. It took a while for me to return to the ambulance. I saw my body lying on the stretcher and went back into it. When I woke up I vaguely remembered a light and darkness. At the hospital they examined me and a nun asked me where I had been, because of the light and the darkness. She thought I had dreamt it. But that didn't convince me. I didn't speak anymore about the experience and forgot about it for a few years. Then I remembered it all years later.

A scripted life, so much for free will!

www.nderf.org...

With one angel in front and two on the side, we went up high in the clouds. Then, we started moving horizontally going faster than an airplane, and they did not need wings to fly. I thought to myself, "shouldn't friction be causing me pain from wind pressure?" The angel in front spoke without using his mouth. He stated "there's no friction here." I said mind-to-mind why isn't gravity making me fall, he replied "there's no gravity here." I remembered learning that temperature in the clouds is extremely cold and I thought why aren't I cold? "There's no cold here" was my response. I started to think about my job and university and the angel told me "THERE'S NO STRESS HERE!" I asked why aren't we talking with our mouths? He responded "on earth, talking with your mouth makes your throat dry." Then, I said to him, "I'm glad you speak English, how many languages do you speak?" He said "all of them." I told him I wanted to ask some others things. I asked him what the meaning of life is. He told me "for the entertainment of the spirit realm." I asked him when the world will end and as a messenger of God he told me the answer, yet he mentioned there would be some things I would not be allowed to remember and this was be one of them.

We love you so much that we mess with your memory and what you're allowed to remember or not!...Sure, gotcha!

a reply to: yosako
(continue)

Cynthia Y NDE 4020

I was enveloped in darkness, like all dark, cave dark, and I was still me but in an empty space all dark and I started to fall through a bazillion million miles of dark to this light that was a spark, the amount of energy it takes to create a thought. A miniscule amount of energy the light of a synapses, the light created from the electrical impulse of your thought. when I hit this light I was shot backwards and from this energy source the universe was created right in front of my eyes. I saw everything that has ever happened since the beginning of the Big Bang. like the discovery channel. I saw everything the whole universe from the beginning of time. And time is something humans made up, there is no such thing as time this is all a series of events. It was like a big paisley of cosmos being formed in front of me and I had superman vision. ( I told a friend what I saw and he turned me on to fractals it looked like that) I was hanging in the dark space and our universe was below me like a teacup saucer inside of a 33 gallon trash bag. I was in the bag still. I was beyond the far reaches of the universe. beyond the universe looking at it with superman vision and I could see earth and my house and inside it and all from a bazillion gagillion light years past the edge of the universe. it was really amazing.

Then of in the distance out of the blackness to my right I see a man and he slid up right up to my face, he moved like Dracula in Bram Stokes Dracula movie just boom he's in my face. he didn't walk bouncy he slid. He was the most beautiful being I ever saw. I was enveloped in pure love, a feeling that I cannot describe , pure love and peace and well being. safety. a glowing love like no other that I can't describe how wonderful it was. He was the big cheese. That is what I call him now. It was GOD. There is a GOD. a supreme being, the one. He had long white hair past his shoulders wavy the color of that fiberglass stuff in furnace filters, It looked softer than anything I ever saw he had a beard long wavy soft white to his boob area. His skin was a golden bronze color almost metal like. Polished old brass he was a perfect being, he was so pretty. He was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. He was wearing a kaftan with bell sleeves and gold embroidery around the collar sleeves and hem. with a Nuru collar. I sew. It was like a rayon thin silky flowing. you could tell he was buff under it. I was in pure love but not sexual. His eyes were not of a color that is here on earth. the color was not in our human rainbow. [B]When I looked into his eyes all the secrets of the universe were revealed to me . I know how everything works because I looked into his eyes for a moment. All the secrets of the universe, all knowledge of all time everything. He said to me "Do you know who I am?" I knew he was God the moment I looked into his eyes. [/B] I said "yes" and I was so ashamed and so unworthy and I felt just ashamed, but loved like no other. I felt loved. I was so happy to be there. and I looked down at his feet and I wanted to just lay at his feet and hold onto his leg. like a baby. He has perfect feet." he said " you have three missions then you can die".

Then out of no where slide in my face these two beings I call them. beautiful beings wearing similar outfits are in my face. one had blonde wavy hair it just past the shoulders it was masculine and the other feminine one had a wavy pageboy shorter the same color and they were bronze color a little less pretty than GOD, and they had eyes the color of coffee and cream. A soft beige color. They both grabbed me from either side of my body like a hug and said "don't worry we'll be with you" they flew me backwards through the universe at supersonic speed and when we got close to earth the disappeared but I could still feel them holding me. They follow me around on each side of me behind me. still to this day they are hear. I can't see them but I feel them behind me. One likes me a lot, the masculine one the other female is like in training or something she doesn't really want to be here. so I'm flown back to earth and I am now on the planet going down hwy 18 in the air above the ambulance. then I am on the ceiling inside and the dropped me back into my body. like someone dropping you on your back from about three feet off the ground. I open my eyes and I have a tube up my nose down into my chest and a rubber balloon in my face with a guy squeezing the bag and he is breathing for me by squeezing the bag. I grabbed his hand and his eyes got really big. I puked all over the paramedic on the other side of the gurney because the guy squeezing the bag turned my head as I started to puke. I felt perfectly fine except my lungs were not working. This man had my life in his hands. literally. When we got to the hospital they gave me a shot but people were taking turns squeezing the bag coming out of my nose. then by body started to breathe on its own and they had to get the tube out. Then I puked again, and again.

I was not breathing for about 15 minutes. A neighbor with a scanner came over when she heard it and freaked out I guess crying and all. The sheriff got to my house and one guy says " # what do we do?" the other sheriff says " wait till the FD gets here" and told my neighbor and my kid to go outside. I was purple with black lips and a grey body and cold flesh. They thought I was dead. The Fire Dept. called my parents and told them I was more than likely dead and they should get to the hospital. When I got out of the hospital and saw the FD guys in the market, ( I live in a small town) they were in disbelief that I could even walk. They call me their miracle baby as I should be dead.

I was pissed off at first that I was back in my messed up body, back here in this craphole of a planet,, plus I was never told what my missions were. BUT I know what the future is and I am going to eventually die of a heart attack shoveling snow on Nov 11. I don't shovel snow on that date but one day I will forget its Nov 11 and die.

Dying is the best thing that could ever happen to a person. you become perfect and all knowing and go to a way better place. I used to fear death and now I can't wait to go back. I envy old people who are ready to die. If they knew how it was they would forego all medical procedures and check out. Dying is not really dying you become a being of light and are borne into another better plane of existence. This place is a carefree place of pure love where you can make your own reality and there is no such thing as time. When you are immortal and live forever who cares what time it is you have forever to do it.
I want to go back and feel I don't belong here.

Manipulation...and pure reflected love.

a reply to: yosako
(continue)

Steven T NDE 2956

All of a sudden I'm in an extremely bright and white room with a large wooden table in the center of this room. Chiseled in the center of the table was an unknown design. (No other articles in the room whatsoever) Sitting at the table were three knights (like during the crusades with the large red cross on the clothing). Two were sitting side by side with their backs to me. The third was sitting across from the two. All three had their armor helmets resting on the table just to the right of each one of them. They never acknowledged my presence, so I don't know if they seen me or not) The knight sitting by himself stated with a firm voice "we need him now". One of the knights with his back to me stood up, slammed his fist on the table and shouted "no, it is not his time". Immediately after this I came back to life after being defibrillated two times. I immediately said to my wife who was at my side (she's was a RN at that hospital)" I got to tell you what just happened to me".

...
How do you currently view the reality of your experience: Experience was definitely real
Same as #40 but also
six years after my NDE I found the symbol that was carved in the table during my NDE. I was watching a commercial of the Freemasons and spotted the Masonic Symbol (the compass and square)

So, behind "the light" there are, "the enlightened" ones of the compass and square!

a reply to: elementalgrove

This did not explain the robust, richly interactive nature of the recollections.

Perhaps not.

But i know what does explain those robust and richly interactive experiences...D.M.T. or aka N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, which is present in small quantities naturally in our bodies and brains.

A D.M.T. experience is virtually a mirror of what this bloke experienced.

If all NDE share a similar basis of a white light at the end of the tunnel, to seeing ones life flash before their very eyes, then that would lead me to believe there some kind of possibility that there a phase all life would go through...If it were that common.

However, them seeing the various Gods of what they want to see, in fascinating colours, or the one don't want to see, to something of a hallucinogen and that what their seeing was imposed by their perceptions of reality.

Does a Christian and atheist still get to see the white light at the end of the tunnel, the difference between them is that does the Christian get to see an old guy with a beard and a halo. Or does one see an orange light at the end of the tunnel greeted by the other guy?

And what does an atheist see, bunch a math equations, or the other guy down below? Or does God personally greet them, with a V.I.P pass. What about someone who blind, and eyes or brain never seen what light or colours look like and have perception other then sensory like touch, taste, smell, and sound. Would they see it too?

a reply to: TritonTaranis

Same with me, mushrooms back in the 70s.



They did many documented experiments with '___', conducted in medical surroundings. They kept track of the subjects, and like 10 years after the experiments, they filled out another questionnaire and one of the questions was 'overall, did you consider the experience to be a positive or negative event in your life.

85% positive, 15 negative

The software filtered out certain capital letters, Lima, Sierra, Delta.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
I've read that in some operating rooms there is an object in the room that can only be seen when one 'floats above themselves' in a NDE, as in on top of a cabinet. Those that claim to experience NDE get asked to describe what they saw, the object never gets mentioned...

While an interesting strategy, that hardly is proof that it isn't happening. Who says that people experiencing NDE's are heavily scanning the room for basic objects? Perhaps there are far more profound states of being they are experiencing.

a reply to: elementalgrove

I wonder... It seems this guy has no idea what dreams are. Lets see him actually die and then ask him, because I'm pretty sure that you don't die when you're in a comma. Maybe he suffered some brain damage.

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: cosmickat
a reply to: elementalgrove

I have Dr Alexander's Proof of Heaven book, which I must admit I didn't ever read all the way through. I kinda gave up when he started sounding too religious. But I will say that when neuroscientists put forward their case for an afterlife it does add a lot of weight to the evidence even though it is still anecdotal.
I must have another try at reading it..thank you for reminding me about this.

"I must give up what I am, in order to become what I must be "

So, one thing in the whole spirituality 101 thing is that people experience what they expect.
This neurosurgeon guy may have been a bit of an atheist, but before he was, he was religious. he discusses how he had religion but when he became a doc, it sort of ebbed away from him..simply from learning about the brain and such, natural.
So then he had a nde
now, regardless of what may have really happened, what he believed was happening was..he was experiencing a afterlife..and so, pulling from his expectations from a earlier life, no doubt he would start seeing symbols of his belief
If he was buddist, he would probably have met krishna, or if he was muslim, muhammed, etc..that kind of thing.
It was his reference point of such subject matter.
So..I guess if he is telling the truth to the best of his ability, and something truly did happen to him outside of just the last dance of a dying brain, it still doesn't mean its the truth..just his perception and perhaps desired view of it all.
Same with people who say they experienced hell. programming.

That still doesn't explain the blue eyed girl that was his guide that he later found to be identical to his dead birth sister who he had never previously met or seen. It wasn't until 4 months after his NDE that he saw her picture for the first time.

a reply to: elementalgrove

This is just a straightforward, garden variety NDE anecdote, of which there are many. They all suffer from the same naïve presumption that their NDE must have occurred during the period of unconsciousness which led to them nearly dying; and, because it is impossible for the unconscious brain to dream, this is 'proof' that the experience was supernatural in nature (because, presumably, unlike dreams, supernatural experiences can occur even when the recipient is unconscious).

My own view can be summed up by one of the doctors who criticised Dr Alexander: "Even in cases where the brain is alleged to have shut down, its activity must return if the subject is to survive and describe the experience. In such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline."
en.wikipedia.org...(author)

Also I understand that this doctor has a history of malpractice. Read his wiki page and scroll down to 'Criticism and reaction'.

originally posted by: s3cz0ne

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: cosmickat
a reply to: elementalgrove

I have Dr Alexander's Proof of Heaven book, which I must admit I didn't ever read all the way through. I kinda gave up when he started sounding too religious. But I will say that when neuroscientists put forward their case for an afterlife it does add a lot of weight to the evidence even though it is still anecdotal.
I must have another try at reading it..thank you for reminding me about this.

"I must give up what I am, in order to become what I must be "

So, one thing in the whole spirituality 101 thing is that people experience what they expect.
This neurosurgeon guy may have been a bit of an atheist, but before he was, he was religious. he discusses how he had religion but when he became a doc, it sort of ebbed away from him..simply from learning about the brain and such, natural.
So then he had a nde
now, regardless of what may have really happened, what he believed was happening was..he was experiencing a afterlife..and so, pulling from his expectations from a earlier life, no doubt he would start seeing symbols of his belief
If he was buddist, he would probably have met krishna, or if he was muslim, muhammed, etc..that kind of thing.
It was his reference point of such subject matter.
So..I guess if he is telling the truth to the best of his ability, and something truly did happen to him outside of just the last dance of a dying brain, it still doesn't mean its the truth..just his perception and perhaps desired view of it all.
Same with people who say they experienced hell. programming.

That still doesn't explain the blue eyed girl that was his guide that he later found to be identical to his dead birth sister who he had never previously met or seen. It wasn't until 4 months after his NDE that he saw her picture for the first time.

and thats what makes this whole thing fun

originally posted by: CJCrawleyIn such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline."

Thats one thing that always interests me about the NDEs, not the discussions of what they seen in heaven or whatnot, that could just be dreaming, but when they discuss things that are unknown, such as doctors discussions that can pinpoint timeframes, then others where they say they go visit relatives and such and discuss what they were doing, things like that...physical confirmations to establish first off a timeframe and verifiable actions and conversations. Those get me more interested
You're right, there is no timestamp on these things and all this..stuff could be coming when the person is dying, or waking back up...so unless there is a way to establish time or space, then it moves from potential evidence to really just a personal account..a story that has no way to be verified.
Still a interesting thing to consider, especially when it comes from someone who is meant to have an critical mind (not saying this specific person has a critical mind, dont know much about him outside of he is a doc)

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: s3cz0ne

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: cosmickat
a reply to: elementalgrove

I have Dr Alexander's Proof of Heaven book, which I must admit I didn't ever read all the way through. I kinda gave up when he started sounding too religious. But I will say that when neuroscientists put forward their case for an afterlife it does add a lot of weight to the evidence even though it is still anecdotal.
I must have another try at reading it..thank you for reminding me about this.

"I must give up what I am, in order to become what I must be "

So, one thing in the whole spirituality 101 thing is that people experience what they expect.
This neurosurgeon guy may have been a bit of an atheist, but before he was, he was religious. he discusses how he had religion but when he became a doc, it sort of ebbed away from him..simply from learning about the brain and such, natural.
So then he had a nde
now, regardless of what may have really happened, what he believed was happening was..he was experiencing a afterlife..and so, pulling from his expectations from a earlier life, no doubt he would start seeing symbols of his belief
If he was buddist, he would probably have met krishna, or if he was muslim, muhammed, etc..that kind of thing.
It was his reference point of such subject matter.
So..I guess if he is telling the truth to the best of his ability, and something truly did happen to him outside of just the last dance of a dying brain, it still doesn't mean its the truth..just his perception and perhaps desired view of it all.
Same with people who say they experienced hell. programming.

That still doesn't explain the blue eyed girl that was his guide that he later found to be identical to his dead birth sister who he had never previously met or seen. It wasn't until 4 months after his NDE that he saw her picture for the first time.

and thats what makes this whole thing fun

I suppose. It kinda makes it a bit creepy to me. Creepy and a bit hopeful all at the same time!

originally posted by: Specimen
Does a Christian and atheist still get to see the white light at the end of the tunnel,

yes.
thats the optic nerves shutting down. you get tunnel vision, light becomes blurry and just white and as your eyes shut down more, it becomes more and more tunneled (making you feel you are zooming to the white light)
thats science..is that always the case? well who knows, but that specific thing is known as a physical reaction to a brain shutting down..(going into conservation mode)

does the Christian get to see an old guy with a beard and a halo.
And what does an atheist see, bunch a math equations, or the other guy down below? Or does God personally greet them, with a V.I.P pass.

Thats when you default back to the spirituality 101 I suppose. you get the environment that is comfortable to you and your views in life.
If you're a christian, meeting christ, some angels, loved ones, etc would be ready for you.
Atheists have a mixed view..some atheists were theists first and so end up having a quasi-religious experience based on their childhood views, whereas others have talked about mostly just a waking up experience and it being more a realization we are these super advanced beings of energy verses the primate..we are basically bodysnatchers riding the human like a horse.
according to spiritualists and such, most high level animals are inhabited..dolphins, monkeys, etc. not sure about things like ants and stuff though..seems like such a tiny existance. In saying that, ants have purpose, they get drunk, have partys almost nightly, etc...fun nature facts.

What about someone who blind, and eyes or brain never seen what light or colours look like and have perception other then sensory like touch, taste, smell, and sound. Would they see it too?

nde's of people who never had or lost senses say they had them back, and more.
whats odd is sometimes people with nde's seem to lose some senses, and are then replaced with other senses they find trouble in explaining.

interesting stuff anyhow, almost a lore behind it now with all the accounts.
I wonder how much of it is real...guess we will all know one day (unfortunately)

a reply to: SaturnFX

How does one account for the consistency with regard to NDEs that has been recorded across various cultures and religious beliefs? I personally believe that the soul is real and the non-physical realm in which it exists is real as well. I am also well schooled in the scientific method, as I've mentioned in previous posts I went to school for Anthropology and Archaeology. Back then I was strictly an atheist. One, at least as of now, cannot, with tangible evidence, prove or disprove the existence of an afterlife. That unfortunately puts it outside of the scope of the scientific method. If only personal accounts were recreatable and testable. Alas they are not.

While it is possible that the good doctor was falling back on childhood beliefs it seems a bit unlikely as he was apparently showing no brain activity. Furthermore he claims that his neocortex was completely shut down making hallucinations and the like impossible. He also argues against a D.M.T. dump as the cause. I'm sure that you've read the five points that were listed in the OP; the guy is a Harvard Neuro Surgeon, my guess would be that the first thing he did after writing down his memories was to try to find a scientific explanation for his own experience. Somehow it still remains quite mysterious and what he has described, again, seems to cross cultural boundaries. Either the soul and afterlife are real or the common experience of those who suffer a NDE is something that science cannot yet explain. This man seems to be a great case study as he himself is a neurosurgeon and has listed, as I just mentioned, numerous reasons why it was in fact a trip into the afterlife for him. Honestly; I think at some point in the relatively near future we may actually be able to prove the existence of another realm or dimension in which souls dwell. Perhaps we in the lower realm?

As I mentioned I was previously an atheist. I still have no religious affiliation and do not wish to have one. I came to my own belief in the soul, afterlife and what I see as a sort of cosmic intelligence, others call it God, through my own experiences. I personally dislike organized religion and have a very hard time taking texts like the Bible, Tanakh, Quran and many others very seriously. They were, after all, written down by human beings and ones trust must lie with the scribe. Trust I'm not very comfortable bestowing. Then, as now, there were too many agendas at play. Power. Control of the masses. All the rest.

I feel that various Gnostic traditions as well as various Eastern spiritual beliefs have much to offer in terms of understanding our own existence and purpose. Reading accounts of people's near death experiences is also helpful. They seem to add another piece to an already enormous jigsaw puzzle. That many of them seem to intersect with regards to the details? That makes it that much more plausible to me.

a reply to: s3cz0ne

Have you heard of the Noetics Institute? It was begun and supported by Edgar Mitchell and friends. I did get their newsletter and they talk about what you talk about. I may be remembering the name wrong.

I'm not sure if any of you know, but around the time of Moody's "Life After Life" book came out in the mid-seventies, NDE was not a phenomenon widely-known in the public arena. I consider that period the most fruitful of reports, because by 1980 onwards, NDE had entered into the public consciousness.

At first, NDE was considered the devil's work in Christian society, and I took this to be the Christian response to the reports by NDE experiencers that religion was not important, but more the understanding of how all existence is connected, and how all existence impacts on itself and how it also responds to the impactful consequences. Where sentient intelligence plays a part as an aspect within the spectrum of all existence, unconditional love introduces a counter cycle to negativity and helps to arrest negative thoughts and actions. It doesn't make life any easier, not by any stretch of the imagination, as one remains within range of others negative thoughts and actions. However, the true understanding is not to seek to correct what others think and do, but to correct what each of us think and do personally as a response.

NDE (according to reports) teaches us one thing, it asks each of us personally to 'be unto others as you would have them be unto you'. It's a percept of high ideal, an abstract utopian concept which is especially difficult to live by in today's fractured world. Even though I am not an experient of NDE, I have studied it for many years, going back as far as the mid-seventies when I read Moody's book, but religionists have gone from calling NDE the devil's work, to appropriating it for its own evangelical zeal...simply to affirm Christian faith, which is where I believe Alexander is being disingenuous, and ultimately, a disappointment. He was not an atheist before his alleged experience, but a practising Christian.

The early reports of NDE are far more life-affirming and richly anecdotal than those post '90s, because they don't come with religious baggage, and they don't give any religion any particular weight at all, because religion isn't a teacher, life is, and it is to come into an understanding of life itself and all its interconnections and not religious ideas as the reason why we have life at all. The key word for life is experience, you have to live it to understand it, and make that understanding a part of the very fabric of yourself, because that is the only thing you can take with you.

According to NDE reports (the early ones), you will undergo a 'life review', and if anything this is the second most profound aspect of NDE (the first is experiencing death as not the end). The life review is said to be undergone within the presence of an entity who exhudes nothing but unconditional love, and it is essential that the entity does so, because without that sense of unconditional love, no one will successfully undergo the life review. Every second of your life, every frame of memory is revisited and reviewed, only in this instance, your consciousness will immerse fully with the conscious experience of all and everyone you came into contact with and made an impact on, human and animal, and you will perceive yourself from their point-of-view, from their perspective. You will feel what they felt about you, unfiltered and uncensored and extremely raw. Whatever love and happiness you caused you will feel again. Whatever pain and hate you brought about you will feel that, too. Whatever consequence you caused, and all of its ripples, you will experience, and there are no mitigating excuses as a defence. It is the lesson of lessons, and places your life into a context of true understanding and appreciation.

Think on, right now, and from this second forth, you are consciously determining the lessons of the life review you will at some future point undergo. How long do you want it to last?