Near Death Experiences
Introduction
The topic of near death experiences (NDE) is an appropriate first step into a discussion on metaphysics because it has been a highly studied field of interest to doctors, psychologists and scientists of all sorts, and therefore has a wide field of respectable research backing the phenomenon. NDEs as a category have certain characteristics that are observed by all who have a near death experience regardless of their prior religious backgrounds or beliefs, including atheists who had no prior belief in an afterlife before their experience. NDEs are also quite common. In 1980 (published in ’82), a Gallup Poll found approximately 8 million American adults had experienced an NDE, accounting for nearly one person in twenty, or five percent of the adult population.(66) Surveys in Australia and Germany suggested as high as 15% of a population might have had NDEs.(67) According to the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), an estimated 774 NDEs occur every day, many of which are reported to and publicly available through the NDERF website.(68)
Dozens of studies have been conducted on NDEs, including such topics as what comprises an NDE, what attributes people have who experience an NDE, and what proof there is to support the validity of an NDE.
NDEs stand apart in the field of metaphysics because, if true, NDEs would prove that the human body (or mental conscious) has a soul that survives bodily death. People who have seemingly died from common ailments such as heart attacks and accidents are routinely brought back to life through the marvel of modern medicine. Following resuscitation, many report the most fantastic stories of an experience when they seemingly exited their bodies after the medical event. Again, an interesting aspect about NDEs is that the experiences tend to have a set of commonalities across cultural and religious boundaries, thus lending some credence to the value of anecdotal reporting.
Can an NDE be considered just a dream or the hallucination of a dying mind, becoming overactive as its neurons fire their last bursts? In short, no. Doctors and scientists have proven in many cases the mind of ‘dead’ persons who subsequently came back to life and reported NDEs had no EEG activity that might account for a vivid imagination.(69) Further troubling to that idea is the story of Dr. George Grigorievich Rodonaia, M.D., Ph.D., a Soviet dissident who was killed, but returned to life after three days. For obvious reasons, his account is particularly compelling within the field of NDEs. His story is compiled here from multiple sources.
Dr. Rodonaia
Before immigrating to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1989, Dr. George Rodonaia worked as a research psychiatrist at the University of Moscow. Dr. Rodonaia underwent one of the most extended cases of a clinical near death experience ever recorded.
From his work assisting in the publication of IBERIA, an underground freedom newspaper in the former Soviet Union, Dr. Rodonaia became known as a vocal dissident and was dubiously honored by allegedly being placed on the KGB's hit list.
In 1974, at the age of eighteen, life became complicated for Dr. Rodonaia when he was invited to pursue advanced research at Yale University in the US. Dr. Rodonaia was thrilled at the thought of studying at Yale and living in the United States, but since he did not have a wife or family members in the Soviet Union that might discourage him from seeking asylum in the US, the Soviet government would not allow him to leave their country. By 1976, however, Dr. Rodonaia was married and had a son, and the Soviet government grudgingly agreed to allow him to study in the United States.
However, on the day of his scheduled departure for the United States, the KGB allegedly tried to kill him. While waiting for a taxicab on a sidewalk in Tbilisi (now modern day Republic of Georgia) he saw a car jump the curb, drive onto the sidewalk, avoid a few trees, and head directly towards him. In an instant, Dr. Rodonaia was hit head-on at a high rate of speed and flew about ten meters, landing facedown, when the car ran over him again a second time, seemingly to ensure he was actually killed. Dr. Rodonaia suffered broken ribs, torn muscles, and mangled feet among a slew of massive and critical internal injuries.
Devoid of any signs of life, Dr. Rodonaia was shortly pronounced dead at the scene and was deposited in a Tbilisi morgue for three days. Morgues in Tbilisi are not like those in the United States. There, bodies are quick-frozen immediately and kept in that state for three days before an autopsy is performed or the body is otherwise dispensed. Dr. Rodonaia’s body was stone cold dead and frozen for three days as it laid in the morgue in Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR.
To Dr. Rodonaia’s sense of self, however, there was no loss of consciousness. He experienced one of the most extensive and convincing Near Death Experiences ever recorded if based on no further input than the fact he was clinically dead and his body was frozen in a morgue for three days during which his near-death experience occurred. It is therefore worth considering Dr. Rodonia’s NDE as he related it, in summary.(70)
The first thing Dr. Rodonia could recall about his NDE was that he discovered himself in a realm of total darkness. He had no physical pain, and was still aware of his existence as ‘George,’ but he did not understand where he was or why. The darkness that surrounded him was utter and complete darkness – the greatest darkness he could ever imagine; darker than dark, blacker than black. The darkness seemed to press upon him as a physical entity and the experience terrified him. He was shocked to find that he still existed, and realized that he should be dead following the car crash, but his current state confused him. The one thought that kept rolling through his mind was: How can he be conscious when he knew he should not? The conundrum troubled him.
Slowly he got a grip on himself and began to think about what had just happened to him in order to try to figure out what was going on. The exercise, however, resulted in no beneficial conclusions. He could not understand why he was in the darkness and could not figure what he should do to rectify the situation. And then he remembered Descartes' famous line, Cogito, ergo sum: “I think, therefore I am.” The realization relieved him of a huge burden for it was then he knew for certain he was still ‘alive,’ although inexplicably located in a very different dimension of reality. Interestingly he pondered if he continued to exist that should be just cause for a positive outlook on the situation. He would be happy merely with the comfort that he continued to exist.
Expanding that thought, he wondered what could be positive in darkness. The answer was immediate and obvious: light would be a positive turn of course. Immediately, with that thought of light, there was light and Dr. Rodonia was in the light. The light was bright white, shiny and strong; exceptionally bright. At first the brilliance of the light was almost painful and he could not look at it directly. However, little by little he began to relax. Within the light, he realized that he felt warm and comforted, and all of a sudden everything seemed okay. Any concern he previously had for his body melted away, because it was clear to him at that point that he did not need his body anymore. The body was suddenly seen as a limitation of one’s true self.
Once Dr. Rodonia was in the light, he gained the impression that the sequence of events merged together as if time as he had known it had suddenly come to a halt; past, present, and future were inexplicably fused together in a timeless unity.
Dr. Rodonia recalled experiencing a life-review process, during which he saw his life from beginning to end, complete and in perfect detail but the entire sequence was relived in an instant though perfect in every detail. He participated once again in the real life dramas of his ‘past’ life, almost like they were holographic images in which he was immersed. During the review he did not experience any sense of guilt or remorse for things he had done, and neither did he feel concern about his faults or joy about his achievements. Rather, his life had simply been an experience for what it was and he was content with that. He accepted his past life for the experience of what it was.
Throughout this entire period, the light radiated a sense of peace and joy to Dr. Rodonia, and he was happy to be in the light. Suddenly, he understood what the light meant and what it was. He learned that all the physical rules of human life were nothing when compared to the unified reality of the light. He also came to see impressions of darkness were just another aspect of the infinity that is the light. He realized this reality was everywhere: The light was everywhere. The light was an integral part not only of Earthly life but also of the infinite life. Because of the light, everything was not only connected, everything was also ‘One.’ Dr. Rodonia felt a perfect connection to and wholeness within the light; a sense that all was right with himself and the universe. All was as it was meant to be.
After three days in the morgue, Dr. Rodonaia's body was removed from the freezer vault and wheeled to an autopsy room. A team of doctors then commenced splitting apart his lower torso. As the blade cut through flesh, Dr. Rononaia amazingly and spontaneously came back to life, felt the pain of the incision and opened his eyes. One doctor, thinking this a mere reflex, closed Dr. Rodonaia’s eyes, but Dr. Rodonaia promptly opened his eyes again. Again the doctor closed them and once more Dr. Rodonaia’s eyes popped open, only this time the doctor jumped backward – and screamed.
Dr. Rononaia’s body was cold from being dead and frozen in a morgue for three days and he began to shiver. The team of doctors immediately stopped the autopsy and took Dr. Rodonaia to the hospital, where he remained in intensive and rehabilitative care for the following nine months, most of which were spent under a respirator.
Another notable feature of Dr. Rodonaia’s NDE – and this is common to many – is that he was radically transformed by the experience. Prior to his near death experience, Dr. Rodonaia worked as a neuro-pathologist. He was also an avowed atheist. Yet after the experience, he devoted himself to the study of the psychology of religion and eventually obtained a second Ph.D. in that subject. He became an ordained priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and served as an associate pastor at a Methodist Church in Nederland, Texas, until he passed away in 2004.
NDE Traits
Near Death Experiences were seemingly made famous through the extensive work and publishing of Dr. Raymond A. Moody, M.D. who published his famous treatise Life after Life: The investigation of a phenomenon; survival of bodily death in 1975. Dr. Moody found that there were at least nine, and as many as 15 typical traits of Near Death Experiences.(71)
Despite many striking similarities among various NDE accounts, no two accounts are ever identical. Further, the order in which a separated conscious experiences the various stages or traits of a near death experience may vary and are not stuck to a hard-and-fast model. Dr. Moody found there was no one element of the composite experience that every single person reported. However, a few of the elements of near death experiences come fairly close to being universal experiences.(72) Extremely few persons experience all of the common NDE traits, and even persons who have had more than one NDE in their lifetime may experience different traits in each of the subsequent NDEs; again, no two NDEs are ever exactly the same.
Dr. Moody hypothesized the number of traits experienced and the depth of the near death experience itself may be connected to the manner in which death occurred and the amount of time a person was considered clinically deceased. Generally, persons who experienced death for longer periods of time had more developed experiences, including more traits of the common NDE model, than did those persons who were merely on the verge of death, or were quickly resuscitated.(73)
Following Dr. Moody’s groundbreaking work in the field, NDEs have been widely studied by doctors, scientists, and many others, thus adding to the template model of common NDE traits. Given the fact that no two NDEs are ever the same, people experience individual traits within their NDE, and no one experiences every possible trait that has ever been reported in the NDE literature. Thus, there is no one standard clinical NDE model of the 9 - 15 accepted NDE traits. Therefore, a composite model of NDE traits is presented herein of example traits I found to be common throughout much of the NDE literature.
Composite Model Near Death Experience Traits include:
1) A Sense of Being Dead. This may include seeing one’s ‘dead’ physical body, remembering the event that caused one’s death, or simply realizing their consciousness was no longer in a physical body or physical state of reality.
2) Peace, Calm and Painlessness. The process of physical death often includes abrupt physical pain so the sudden absence of that pain may come as a striking reality where feelings of peace, calm and painlessness suddenly fill one’s reality and focused attention with their prior expectation for continued physical pain.
3) Out of Body Experience. A consciousness that leaves a physical body may still have occasion to witness physical reality for a brief time in the region near where the body remains. This experience can add much for “proving” the validity of NDEs, especially when a person is resuscitated and is able to describe physical events, persons or items for which they should not have otherwise been aware during the time they were “dead.”
4) Tunnel Experience. Many NDErs describe being sucked into a dark tunnel shortly after exiting their physical body, and then sense their movement towards a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
5) Rising Rapidly into the Heavens/Light Phenomenon. Once the consciousness has left the physical body it is rarely allowed to remain long in or near the physical realm. In the absence of a tunnel experience, the consciousness will likely feel that it is rapidly ascending above the Earth and into “the Heavens” where it soon enters “the Light.” NDErs describe everything in Heaven as being composed of light: plants, buildings, people, etc. Differences between entities as well as perceived levels of heaven tend to be based on the frequency of one’s light and the concentration of conscious energy therein.
6) Seeing People of Light. Once in the light, the recently deceased consciousness may see other people in the light. Descriptions of these people attest to them being comprised entirely of light. Oftentimes those people are deceased loved ones and friends who are greeting them upon entry into the light. Sometimes spirit guides will assist a recently deceased consciousness to find the tunnel/light, and encourage them to move towards and enter the light.
7) Experiencing a Supreme Being of Light. A Supreme Being of Light is often described as an entity far above – wiser; more loving and powerful – one’s normal friends and family members gathered to greet the recently departed upon entry into the light. The Supreme Being of Light is always reported to emanate love and make the newly deceased consciousness feel welcome and secure. The Supreme Being of Light may lead a life review, and is often attributed as the force that insists on the spirit’s return to the physical body.
8) A Life Review. A life review is always described as having occurred in a manner outside of the normal concepts of time. A person’s entire life events are witnessed in toto while a guide or the Supreme Being of Light discusses each of the events with an attitude of querying what knowledge was gained or what benefit was attained by the experience as a consequence of a person’s actions. Further, life events are re-experienced as if the soul was living them again, but not only from a first-person perspective but also from the perspective of everyone touched by the event. If one caused pain, that pain is thus experienced from the other person’s perspective. The NDEr thus understands the emotional and wider ranging impact of their humanly actions on Earth.
Amazingly, NDErs report there is no external judgment or condemnation in this life review process. Any judgments of right/wrong for any individual action is applied only by one’s own self during the life review. The guide or Supreme Being of Light often acts as intermediary so that one does not place too much negative self judgment on the actions conducted during life, but rather encourages the soul to learn from the experience; a tacit imploration to improve and make better decisions upon one’s return to physical life.
9) Altered Concepts of Space and Time. Space and time seem to function differently than when one is in the physical body; i.e. linearly in a forward direction. Generally, time in the nonphysical realm is described as being an infinite state of Now with no past, present, or future differentiation.(74)
Spatial relations are likewise different in that travel across seemingly infinite space can be instantaneous, and yet there are sometimes impressions that even space itself does not exist when there is only a “Unity.” The latter concept is extremely hard for a human to consider as having any range of validity, but in a nonphysical reality where nothing exists but consciousness, and consciousness creates the reality it desires to experience, space and spatial separation or distances are theoretical constructs that only exist in one’s imagination for the benefit of the consciousness and the experience(s) consciousness desires to create for itself.
10) Complete Knowledge of Reality. NDErs often describe their experience in the nonphysical realm as being more real than reality.(75) Senses tend to be heightened, and experiences are not only instantaneous but completely transparent and fully understood. It is as if a veil of amnesia was suddenly lifted from the consciousness and the spirit suddenly understands the meaning and purpose of life. The fact that one can experience a high level of consciousness while physically unconscious or clinically dead is medically inexplicable. Further, the NDEr understands their connection to everything around them, and a seeming flood of information about life and the nature of the universe suddenly becomes available and completely clear to them. Thoughts become clear and incredibly rapid, and communications between the soul and other entities is instantaneous via a form of telepathy.(76)
11) Being One with Reality. NDErs may experience infinite connections with everyone and everything around them, and that experience often has a very tangible effect on their behaviors upon return to the physical world of the living. This is especially so when coupled with the effects of learning the tangible impacts and consequences of their own actions on others, and having experienced self-judgment of those actions during the life review. As such, returning NDErs may feel one of the most important commandments for a fulfilling life on Earth is to love – everyone and everything around them – and to be nonjudgmental of others’ actions.
12) Reluctance to Return. The experience of heaven is euphoria. NDErs uniformly characterize their experiences as ineffable, i.e. inexpressible.(77) It is hardly surprising that once a near death experience must be concluded, the consciousness is reluctant to leave and must be forcibly returned to the body even though the spirit may plead or resist the need to return. Upon return, the conscious is often described as feeling a need to shrink or somehow squeeze to fit back into the physical body. The physical body is also characterized as a restrictive coat of heavy/dense energy; quite a shocking change from being a free-floating, light-based energy form.
13) Disappointment at Being Revived. There can be unpleasant feelings, including loneliness and depression, even anger or tears at the realization they are now back in their physical bodies and no longer in the utopia experienced on the other side.(78)
There are many more potential traits not included here because: not every trait is universally perceived; not every person is equally impacted by the trait, limiting its spontaneous recall; and lacking foreknowledge of the potential trait, an interviewer might not specifically query every possible trait’s presence within the near death experience.
For example, one experiencer related there was a problem trying to express what had happened during the NDE. The human vocabulary is based on words needed to describe three-dimensional experiences but life in the NDE was distinctly multidimensional. As such, the reporter did not have an adequate vocabulary or means to relate the experience.(79)
Returning to the near death experience related by Dr. Rodonaia, despite the fact that he had an exceptional NDE that lasted three days in human, physical terms, even he did not experience all of the so-called common NDE traits listed above. This simply reinforces Dr. Moody’s conclusion that everyone’s NDE is unique to his or her own circumstances. The absence of any NDE trait does not deflect from the potential validity of their experience. Further no NDE trait could be required to occur for researchers to positively identify whether or not an NDE occurred.
I would suggest descriptive experiences of NDEs should be both compared to the template model for potential conformity as well as anecdotal correlations, if any, sought when conducting analysis of the probability of the validity of any near death experience. This idea seems to correspond to a reporting structure also followed by the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (www.nderf.org), which posts and summarily analyzes NDE reports from respondents all across the globe.
Logical and Medical Support of NDE Traits
Dr. Jeffrey Long, M.D. and journalist Paul Perry collaborated on one of the most important works in the NDE research field, Evidence of the Afterlife. According to Dr. Mario Beauregard, Ph.D., Neuroscientist at the University of Montreal, Canada, Dr. Long’s work on NDEs provides compelling evidence that mind and consciousness cannot be reduced to merely overactive brain activity at the moment of death. Thus pointing to a need to reconsider the possibility consciousness could plausibly survive bodily death. Further, using the treasure trove of data from first-hand accounts of NDEs available from the NDERF website, Dr. Long found medical evidence fails to explain these reports, eventually concluding there was only one plausible explanation – that people survive bodily death and have traveled to another dimension during their NDE. The following are some of the arguments that would support a conclusion that the human’s consciousness does not expire after death:
1. Consistent Traits. Elemental traits in NDEs are generally consistent in all age groups, religions and ethnicities around the world. They are also irrespective of gender, social class, education level or marital status. This fact refutes the possibility that NDEs have any relation to dreams or hallucinations, which are never universally congruent.(80)
NDEs from non-Western countries are also incredibly similar to those that occur to people in Western countries.(81) That is, NDE traits may be similar, but their interpretations may allow for cultural and religious differences. Christians may experience the ‘Supreme Being of Light’ to be Jesus while Muslims might interpret the being to be Mohammad, and Spiritualists to consider the being a high-level spirit guide.
Within these cultural filters, there is no right or wrong perception. That which is presented to the departed conscious is that which the consciousness is ready and prepared to experience, and so it makes sense that a Christian might believe the loving, Supreme Being of Light is Jesus. The belief and interpretation of the experience is neither right nor wrong; it is simply culturally appropriate according to their preconceived expectations. There will be more on this topic later in the book that will help the reader understand why this experience is culturally appropriate while fulfilling the conundrum of being neither right nor wrong.
2. Realistic Out-of-Body Experiences. Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are one of the most common elements of NDEs. What NDErs report seeing and hearing of physical, Earthly events in the out-of-body state is almost always realistic. When the NDEr or others later seek to verify what the NDEr observed or heard during the OBE, the OBE observations are generally confirmed as accurate. Even if the OBE observations during the NDE included events that occurred far from the physical body’s location on Earth, and thus far from any possible sensory awareness of the NDEr, the out-of-body observations are still almost always confirmed as accurate. This fact alone rules out the possibility that near-death experiences are related to any kn