Near Death Experience
The
Near Death Experience (NDE) is a powerful argument for the existence of the
afterlife. As medical resuscitation techniques are being improved more and more
people are being brought back from the border of clinical death. A number of
them recount an intense profoundly meaningful experience in which they seem to
be alive and functioning outside their body. For many, a
near death experience is an extremely powerful emotional and
spiritual experience.
The evidence for the
NDE is consistent, overwhelming and
esoteric - experienced by the many. The
NDE experiential evidence is also consistent with other experiential
evidence for psychic phenomena - including the
OBE, with the information obtained from mental and physical mediums,
apparitions and survival. Although some closed minded skeptics refuse to
believe there is such a thing as a
near death experience, the more informed and the more formally educated
closed minded skeptics now acknowledge that there is no dispute at all about the
existence of the
NDE. The dispute now is narrowed to understanding what it means.
Psychics say that in a crisis situation, where death is almost inevitable or is
perceived to be inevitable, the
duplicate physical body, the
astral or etheric body, leaves the physical body and experiences the first
stages of the afterlife. When death does not occur, the duplicate body resumes
its place in the physical body. Skeptics say that there is no such thing as a
duplicate body and whatever one experiences has to do with the problems of the
physical body itself - it's all in the mind.
Studies have shown that NDE's occurred following illness, surgery, childbirth, accident, heart attack and suicide attempt.
The pioneer in this area was a medical doctor and philosopher, Dr Raymond Moody Jr, who began his work as a skeptic and is now totally convinced of the reality of life after death. His first book Life After Life in 1975 is considered the classic work which opened this area to modern research was followed by two others in 1983 and 1988.
Since 1975 there have been many studies in many countries - so much so that there are now several international associations and journals for the investigation of near-death studies.
"Skeptic" vs. "Believer" debate
Religious groups and scientists are divided on the issue, of the
near death experience, and if it offers any evidence of life after death.
Most religious groups believe in life after death but only within the systematic
standard of doctrine. Some religious groups support the
near-death experience and others debunk it as the "work of Satan." Scientist
main argument is on the chemistry of the brain. The
near-death experience is as controversial as much as it is a mystery.
Science
SCIENTIFIC REDUCTIONISM
Providing a scientific explanation for the phenomenon of near-death experience has been a difficult challenge for scientists ever since data in the form of NDE testimonials started appearing in the mid 1970s. Some of the scientific arguments against the validity of NDEs (i.e., that they are only hallucinations) are also applicable to out-of-body experiences in general since out-of-body experiences are an important component of most NDEs.
When examining the Near-death experience, we might first
ask the question, "Why did the NDE concept emerge when it did?"
One explanation is that prior to the 1970s, ambulances were little more than
transport services whose personnel had little knowledge of emergency medicine.
The result of this was that most serious injuries resulted in the death of
patients before they reached the hospital or shortly thereafter. The medical art
of resuscitation was in its infancy, and the well known role of the Emergency
Medical Technician did not yet exist. Thus, few patients came back to describe
their near-death experiences. The large amounts of data necessary to develop the
NDE concept probably came into being as a result of improvements in emergency
medicine.
As NDEs became better known, psychologists, physiologists, and neurologists
began looking for ways to account for NDEs using physical and medical
explanations. Reducing complex psychological phenomena to simpler material laws
and processes is a primary occupation of scientists. The goal is to explain away
the supernatural, and reduce it to physical causes such as brain chemistry
(neural noise, hypoxia, etc.), psychological states (wish fulfillment or
reliving the birth trauma), and sociological factors (religious fantasies based
on social conditioning). The scientist's refusal to accept supernatural
explanations for natural phenomena has in general been very advantageous for
society, and resulted in many of the advances in material comfort that we see
today. Their skepticism is therefore something to be praised and makes a
valuable contribution to the world we live in.
SPIRITUAL
TRAVEL.ORG
- The science of quantum physics is beginning to help people understand what is happening in these mystical experiences. (NDE's)
- "Einstein felt that energy was the root principle of the universe and everything else manifested from that. But there are some paradoxes that cannot be explained if this is true."
- "They can be explained if you make intelligent consciousness the root principle from which matter and energy manifest, as a few people in the forefront of quantum physics now hypothesize."
- "This is exactly compatible with what yogis and mystics have been saying for thousands of years and it's compatible with all the great spiritual traditions which have said there is a super-intelligent consciousness behind the universe.''
Near Death Experiences in Ancient Times
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 Bible, and Koran describe experiences of life after death which remarkably resembles modern NDEs. The oldest surviving explicit report of a 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. Plato's Testimony of a Soldier Named Er
Journal of Near-Death Studies
IANDS is also responsible for the publishing of the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal in the field. It is cross-disciplinary and published quarterly. Between the years of 1997-2003 the journal was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, but this arrangement was discontinued upon completion of Volume 21. Since 2003 the Journal is published by The International Association for Near-Death Studies, printed and distributed by Allen Press.
Video
TestimonyWith the popularity of YouTube, many people are on line in the cyber community sharing their testimony of the near death experience. Ordinary people of all walks of life are coming together and sharing their tales of an extraordinary experience beyond death. See: On line Videos
Hollywood
Dorothy becomes unconscious, travels through a tunnel, finds herself in an enchanted wonderland, meets unusual beings, is taken to an "Emerald City" to see a powerful God-like being, and eventually returns to Earth. (Kevin Williams.) Migliaccio has identified The Wizard of Oz as “the absolute best movie capturing most of the key NDE elements” and, he conjectures, it would “take hours to make all of the connections” between the two. In 1978 we find the movie, Resurrection, which, according to Migliaccio, is the first movie to be specifically based on Moody’s research. In it, a woman briefly experiences the afterlife as the result of a car accident. She returns to her hometown to recuperate and discovers that she has a strange power to heal people, evidently a result of her short trip to the other side (AMG). John Migliaccio, - IANDS Convention, July 1991. The Near Death Experience in Western Cultural Traditions
Spiritual
and Mystical Experiences Blog
David King shares insights and experiences from his childhood 'near death experiences' and 'death experiences.' David was diagnosed with an extremely rare cardiac condition at the age of 7. His Doctors felt the prognosis was grim, serious and terminal. His condition led to a prolonged series of cardiac arrests and respiratory failures. He would amaze family members and professionals by bouncing back to life after loss of vital signs. His condition led to a stage of denial and acute global amnesia in an effort to put the pain and suffering behind him. His childhood memories of his medical condition and his series of near death experiences have returned. He captures his experiences in a 'spiritual blog' as he journals his memories as they return to him after many years.
