Introduction
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) are deemed by some as "evidence" for the afterlife. Why is this? Typically, NDEs involve going through a tunnel, at the end of which experients usually see a bright white light. They may also meet religious figures, such as Jesus, and, indeed, deceased family members or friends. The place that they end up at is usually a beautiful place. The post (which may be updated later on) aims to have a peek into the world of NDE experiences.
Neurosurgeon, Dr Eben Alexander, in his book, Proof of Heaven, describes his personal experience of a near-death experience which he had during a coma. In this, he saw a beautiful land, angelic beings and "someone next to me: a beautiful girl with high cheekbones and deep blue eyes. ... We were riding along together on an intricately patterned surface, alive with indescribiable colors - the wing of a butterfly."
In The Near-Death Experience by Calvert Roszell p.47, recounts the NDE experienced by a twenty-year-old man called George Ritchie:
George Ritchie tells of finding himself suddenly looking at his body in the hospital room from above, filled with panic; he calls this the greatest shock of his life. He relates that he maddeningly found himself floating through walls and doors and even people. He felt an icy lonliness settling over him that he says cannot be comprehended in terms of bodily experiences at all.
Here, Ritchie seems to find himself in an out-of-body state, which is commonly experienced in conjunction with NDEs. After that (p.48), Ritchie "reports that the dark hospital room then began ti light up all around him until it was bathed in an indescribably dazzling brilliance. At that point, what appeared to him as the shape of a man of light stepped toward him from out of the light. This figure stood by his side while a panorama of his life passed before his eyes in complete detail, and all the thoughts of his mind were laid open to this figure, whom he now calls his guide."
In Ritchie's account, there are some more parallels with the typical NDE experience: an out-of-body experience (OBE), seeing bright light around him (usually, this is described as white light and accompanies the experiencer to the spiritual dimension), seeing another person (often a spiritual guide, or family members, or even religious figures), and the undergoing of a life-review.
In her book, Conversations with Heaven p.247, Theresa Cheung claims that "near-death experiences provide us with the best evidence for communication with the departed and the most convincing proof we have that heaven is real". But are NDEs really evidence for the afterlife, or are there alternative explanations?
Whilst it may seem logical to believers that the answer is "Yes" - given that the experient has seen themselves entering a tunnel, at the end of which is a bright white or golden light, which preludes their entrance into a heaven-like world where they meet dead relatives (which would be interpreted, therefore, as a "spirit world"), others argue that NDEs are not, in fact, evidence for the survival hypothesis. One explanation brought forward is the "Dying Brain Hypothesis", which, as explained by Susan Blackmore in her book Consciousness An Introduction, p.365, is where
Severe stress, extreme fear and cerebral anorexia all cause cortical disinhibition and uncontrolled brain activity, and we already have most of the ideas needed to understand why this should cause NDEs. Tunnels and lights are frequently caused by disinhibition in visual cortex, and similar noises occur during sleep paralysis. OBEs and life reviews can be induced by temporal lobe stimulation, and the positive emotions and lack of pain have been attributed to the action of endorphins and encephalins; endogenous opiates that are widely distributed in the limbic system and released under stress. The visions of other worlds and spiritual beings might be real glimpses into another world, but against that hypothesis is evidence that people generally describe other worlds that fit their cultural upbringing. For example, Christians report seeing Jesus, angels and a door or gate into heaven, while Hindus are more likely to meet the king of the dead and his messengers, the Yamdoots.
Cases of NDEs
In their book, Life After Death and The World Beyond on p.40, authors Jenny Randles and Peter Hough cite a near-death experience that a young boy had experienced and which had been reported in the 1993 edition of Psychic News. This boy had entered a coma for three months after being struck by a car. When he woke from it, he described his near-death experience:
After passing through a tunnel and coming out into the light, he said, he continued his journey into a beautiful land which he interpreted as heaven.Young Pietro described heaven as being bright, full of sunshine and music. He met and talked with many people whose names he remembered after his recovery. His startled parents confirmed that they were long-dead family members, of whom it was unlikely that the child could have been aware. Eventually, the boy said, he was told he could not remain in heaven because his parents needed him back on earth. Reluctantly he agreed to leave, and then awoke from coma
This case has a few key features that are shared by countless other NDE reports:
1. The boy, five year old Pietro Volpato, passed through a tunnel
2. After passing through the tunnel, he came into the light
3. After that, he found himself in a "beautiful land"
4. He interacted with family members in this "heaven"
5. He was "told" that he couldn't remain in this beautiful place and so he had to return back
This case has a few key features that are shared by countless other NDE reports:
1. The boy, five year old Pietro Volpato, passed through a tunnel
2. After passing through the tunnel, he came into the light
3. After that, he found himself in a "beautiful land"
4. He interacted with family members in this "heaven"
5. He was "told" that he couldn't remain in this beautiful place and so he had to return back
Neurosurgeon, Dr Eben Alexander, in his book, Proof of Heaven, describes his personal experience of a near-death experience which he had during a coma. In this, he saw a beautiful land, angelic beings and "someone next to me: a beautiful girl with high cheekbones and deep blue eyes. ... We were riding along together on an intricately patterned surface, alive with indescribiable colors - the wing of a butterfly."
In The Near-Death Experience by Calvert Roszell p.47, recounts the NDE experienced by a twenty-year-old man called George Ritchie:
George Ritchie tells of finding himself suddenly looking at his body in the hospital room from above, filled with panic; he calls this the greatest shock of his life. He relates that he maddeningly found himself floating through walls and doors and even people. He felt an icy lonliness settling over him that he says cannot be comprehended in terms of bodily experiences at all.
Here, Ritchie seems to find himself in an out-of-body state, which is commonly experienced in conjunction with NDEs. After that (p.48), Ritchie "reports that the dark hospital room then began ti light up all around him until it was bathed in an indescribably dazzling brilliance. At that point, what appeared to him as the shape of a man of light stepped toward him from out of the light. This figure stood by his side while a panorama of his life passed before his eyes in complete detail, and all the thoughts of his mind were laid open to this figure, whom he now calls his guide."
In Ritchie's account, there are some more parallels with the typical NDE experience: an out-of-body experience (OBE), seeing bright light around him (usually, this is described as white light and accompanies the experiencer to the spiritual dimension), seeing another person (often a spiritual guide, or family members, or even religious figures), and the undergoing of a life-review.
After-effects of NDEs: How experients cope after their experiences
In The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences by Dr Penny Sartori p.26, a first-hand account is given by an NDE experient concerning what it is like to return to normal life after the profound, and often life-changing, experience of having an NDE:
... Not all NDE experiencers remain uplifted and joyously positive throughout every day of their lives post event. ... My NDE made me drop out of my BA Honours Sports Studies degree course because I couldn't deal with the back-biting, the competitiveness, the 'posiness', ... it all seemed so artificial ... I later got a job in the NHS and have been very happy in my role ... but this led to a 'burn-out' moment where I was trying to up-hold the rights of the elderly, trying to ensure that the sick were getting the best quality in all the investigations they received. I have put everyone else's health and happiness before my own, so that now at 40 I realize I have very little for myself, ... I have gone through great bouts of depression ... even repeatedly considering 'going back to that peaceful place' ... as an NDEr you feel like a misplaced person...
Rather than necessarily seeing his having had an NDE as a blessing, this person seems to find it, at times, as something of a curse. Whereas before they had the NDE, they felt as if they fitted in to society, but since the NDE, they feel as if they no longer "fit in". As he goes on to say, some NDErs struggle to come to terms with their experience, in that they can't find people with whom they can share their experience, and what they personally could draw from.
The NDE experience can change people in many different ways. For many, it heralds the dissolving of a fear of death - clearly due to having apparently just escaped the clutches of death during the time that they had their NDE, as well as being due to "glimpsing heaven" - in which the experient found themselves in a beautiful place where they encounter deceased family members.
Proof of Heaven?
In her book, Conversations with Heaven p.247, Theresa Cheung claims that "near-death experiences provide us with the best evidence for communication with the departed and the most convincing proof we have that heaven is real". But are NDEs really evidence for the afterlife, or are there alternative explanations?
Whilst it may seem logical to believers that the answer is "Yes" - given that the experient has seen themselves entering a tunnel, at the end of which is a bright white or golden light, which preludes their entrance into a heaven-like world where they meet dead relatives (which would be interpreted, therefore, as a "spirit world"), others argue that NDEs are not, in fact, evidence for the survival hypothesis. One explanation brought forward is the "Dying Brain Hypothesis", which, as explained by Susan Blackmore in her book Consciousness An Introduction, p.365, is where
Severe stress, extreme fear and cerebral anorexia all cause cortical disinhibition and uncontrolled brain activity, and we already have most of the ideas needed to understand why this should cause NDEs. Tunnels and lights are frequently caused by disinhibition in visual cortex, and similar noises occur during sleep paralysis. OBEs and life reviews can be induced by temporal lobe stimulation, and the positive emotions and lack of pain have been attributed to the action of endorphins and encephalins; endogenous opiates that are widely distributed in the limbic system and released under stress. The visions of other worlds and spiritual beings might be real glimpses into another world, but against that hypothesis is evidence that people generally describe other worlds that fit their cultural upbringing. For example, Christians report seeing Jesus, angels and a door or gate into heaven, while Hindus are more likely to meet the king of the dead and his messengers, the Yamdoots.
As Explaining the Unexplained by Hans J Eyesenck and Carl Sargent p.155 put it:
A severely injured or stressed person is inevitably affected by powerful physiological changes such as depleted oxygen supply to the brain, sensory isolation, and the like. Some of the characteristics of an NDE are by no means unique to it. The sensation of travelling along a chute or tunnel is one encountered in epileptics, migraine sufferers, and sometimes when just about to fall asleep ... Drugs and anaesthetics may indeed elicit some of the simplest phenomena associated with NDES, athough there are abundant cases of NDEs from people who were not under the influence of drugs or anaesthetics at the time of their experience.
Furthermore, the nature of the NDE - which is termed as the 'phenomenology of the NDE' -'appears to be quite independent of a person's cultural background. Whether people believe in angels and spirits, Christ, Vishnu or Buddha does not appear to make any difference. Indeed stereotyped accounts of Heaven and Hell are very rare in NDE reports. Social class, education, and economic status do not correlate with the frequency or nature of NDEs either.'
References
Life After Death and The World Beyond - Randles, J and Hough, P
Proof of Heaven - Alexander, Dr E. -
The Near-Death Experience - Roszell, C
The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences - Sartori, Dr P.
Conversations with Heaven -Cheung, T
Consciousness An Introduction - Blackmore, S.
Explaining the Unexplained by Eyesenck, H. and Sargent, C.
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