Read Online Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences by Jeffrey Long, Paul Perry - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeffrey Long, Paul Perry
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television show has done to increase knowledge of NDEs.
The skeptics’ reasoning goes like this: If the NDEr is aware of NDEs at the time of their own experience, will that affect what they share about their own experience later?
Before the 1975 publication of Dr. Raymond Moody’s book
Life After Life
there would have been no possibility of this happening because the general public did not yet know the specific elements of the NDE.
Still, as a skeptic in my own right, I conducted a study to see if the Oprah factor had indeed affected what NDErs share. The study was a simple one. I compared responses to twenty-one survey questions in our first NDERF survey from people whose NDEs occurred before 1975 with people whose NDEs occurred after 1975. 5
To tell you the truth, the results surprised me. The same NDE elements occurred in the pre-1975 group as in the post-1975 group. What is more, the same elements took place with the same frequency. This study strongly suggests that the content of NDEs is not influenced by prior knowledge of NDEs.
Another and even more convincing study was conducted by Geena Athappilly, MD, and associates in 2006. She reviewed twenty-four NDEs that were shared and recorded prior to 1975, before NDE was publicly known, with a matched group of twenty-four accounts shared after 1975. Her study found that the NDEs from these two different time periods differed only in that NDEs recorded after 1975 showed more frequent description of a tunnel. The authors concluded: “These data challenge the hypothesis that near- death experience accounts are substantially influenced by prevailing cultural models.” 6
The Oprah factor was also addressed by the NDERF survey question “Did you have any knowledge of near-death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?” Of all NDErs surveyed, 66.4 percent responded “No,” which I felt was a surprisingly high percentage.
STANDARD LOGIC DOES NOT APPLY
I have looked at thousands of case studies filled with solid evidence of a lucid death. The only conclusion I can come to is that consciousness leaves the body at death.
I know this means that standard logic does not apply—that death might not really mean a final death as we have come to know it. That is why this chapter is titled “Lucid Death.” I believe that having a vivid and conscious experience at the time of clinical death is among the best evidence available to suggest a conscious existence after bodily death. It presents one of the strongest lines of evidence of the afterlife.
4
PROOF #2: OUT OF BODY
In order to experience everyday spirituality, we
need to remember that we are spiritual beings
spending some time in a human body.
—Barbara De Angelis
An out-of-body experience (OBE) is the first element in many near-death experiences. In the way we have defined it here,
out of body
means “the separation of consciousness from the physical body.” Describing it in such a mild way seems almost too tame. Those who have OBEs may report that when they are in a state of unconsciousness and often have no pulse they are still able to see earthly, everyday events. People having OBEs may see their own unconscious body as well as the frantic activity of medical personnel who are trying to revive them.
Approximately half of all NDEs have an OBE that involves seeing or hearing earthly events. Usually the point of consciousness rises above the body. If a ceiling is present, consciousness usually does not rise above the ceiling, at least initially, and is commonly described as residing up in a corner of the room. It is uncommon for the point of consciousness to be at the same level as the body, and only rarely does the point of consciousness move to a location below the body.
Out-of-body experiences have been reported to occur spontaneously, when there is no associated life-threatening event. The term
out-of-body experience
as used in this book refers only to OBEs that occur during NDEs.
Here is an example
The skeptics’ reasoning goes like this: If the NDEr is aware of NDEs at the time of their own experience, will that affect what they share about their own experience later?
Before the 1975 publication of Dr. Raymond Moody’s book
Life After Life
there would have been no possibility of this happening because the general public did not yet know the specific elements of the NDE.
Still, as a skeptic in my own right, I conducted a study to see if the Oprah factor had indeed affected what NDErs share. The study was a simple one. I compared responses to twenty-one survey questions in our first NDERF survey from people whose NDEs occurred before 1975 with people whose NDEs occurred after 1975. 5
To tell you the truth, the results surprised me. The same NDE elements occurred in the pre-1975 group as in the post-1975 group. What is more, the same elements took place with the same frequency. This study strongly suggests that the content of NDEs is not influenced by prior knowledge of NDEs.
Another and even more convincing study was conducted by Geena Athappilly, MD, and associates in 2006. She reviewed twenty-four NDEs that were shared and recorded prior to 1975, before NDE was publicly known, with a matched group of twenty-four accounts shared after 1975. Her study found that the NDEs from these two different time periods differed only in that NDEs recorded after 1975 showed more frequent description of a tunnel. The authors concluded: “These data challenge the hypothesis that near- death experience accounts are substantially influenced by prevailing cultural models.” 6
The Oprah factor was also addressed by the NDERF survey question “Did you have any knowledge of near-death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?” Of all NDErs surveyed, 66.4 percent responded “No,” which I felt was a surprisingly high percentage.
STANDARD LOGIC DOES NOT APPLY
I have looked at thousands of case studies filled with solid evidence of a lucid death. The only conclusion I can come to is that consciousness leaves the body at death.
I know this means that standard logic does not apply—that death might not really mean a final death as we have come to know it. That is why this chapter is titled “Lucid Death.” I believe that having a vivid and conscious experience at the time of clinical death is among the best evidence available to suggest a conscious existence after bodily death. It presents one of the strongest lines of evidence of the afterlife.
4
PROOF #2: OUT OF BODY
In order to experience everyday spirituality, we
need to remember that we are spiritual beings
spending some time in a human body.
—Barbara De Angelis
An out-of-body experience (OBE) is the first element in many near-death experiences. In the way we have defined it here,
out of body
means “the separation of consciousness from the physical body.” Describing it in such a mild way seems almost too tame. Those who have OBEs may report that when they are in a state of unconsciousness and often have no pulse they are still able to see earthly, everyday events. People having OBEs may see their own unconscious body as well as the frantic activity of medical personnel who are trying to revive them.
Approximately half of all NDEs have an OBE that involves seeing or hearing earthly events. Usually the point of consciousness rises above the body. If a ceiling is present, consciousness usually does not rise above the ceiling, at least initially, and is commonly described as residing up in a corner of the room. It is uncommon for the point of consciousness to be at the same level as the body, and only rarely does the point of consciousness move to a location below the body.
Out-of-body experiences have been reported to occur spontaneously, when there is no associated life-threatening event. The term
out-of-body experience
as used in this book refers only to OBEs that occur during NDEs.
Here is an example
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