A unique NDE

buz/p

buz/p

Padawan Learner
This book was just down loaded onto my Kindle which has been anticipated with great interest.

Proof of Heaven A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. Written by a respected brain scientist- Eben Alexander, it is an extraordinary account of his journey into the other side during a seven day coma in which his neo-cortex was completely shut down. It is a NDE experience in that the "Ultra- real" was experienced without any higher brain functions recorded. A former skeptic of any possibility of mind separate from brain, he is now in the strange position of proving himself wrong.

The book is new so I realize that not many may have read it yet. But I am quite interested in what any of you think of it.
 
This story was also carried on SOTT. :)

http://www.sott.net/article/252437-Heaven-Is-Real-Neurosurgeon-who-claims-to-have-visited-the-afterlife

http://www.sott.net/article/252093-Heaven-Is-Real-A-doctors-experience-with-the-afterlife
 
buz/p said:
The book is new so I realize that not many may have read it yet. But I am quite interested in what any of you think of it.
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I have not read this book but I have read the NDE research done by Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross who collected data on thousands of such experiences. There are remarkable similarities in these experiences which clearly point towards a far more expanded view of reality than what the materialists would allow for. If one is bought into the materialistic view that " the brain and body produces consciousness", then such accounts are a challenge to the existing paradigm - like it was for Dr Alexander. Even if one is not looking for "proof" that consciousness transcends the body, reading about such experiences may help somewhat in mitigating the fear associated with physical death. I know it helped my mother when she was suffering from a terminal case of cancer.

Beyond that however, I think we pass into fuzzy territory where people start interpreting such experiences according to pre-existing memes and biases - as is indicated by the title of the book. Dr Alexander's experience made him a more avid church goer - some others may go down the New Age love and light route through such experiences. In so-called spiritual circles, there are efforts to recreate such experiences for the "feel-good" factor - it is termed "enlightenment" by some. Such efforts to indulge in and/or recreate such experiences generally lead to an alienation from the physical reality that we inhabit with our bodies. In that sense, such experiences can act like spiritual drugs if they are taken too seriously.

My 2 cents
 
obyvatel said:
buz/p said:
The book is new so I realize that not many may have read it yet. But I am quite interested in what any of you think of it.
Click to expand...

I have not read this book but I have read the NDE research done by Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross who collected data on thousands of such experiences. There are remarkable similarities in these experiences which clearly point towards a far more expanded view of reality than what the materialists would allow for. If one is bought into the materialistic view that " the brain and body produces consciousness", then such accounts are a challenge to the existing paradigm - like it was for Dr Alexander. Even if one is not looking for "proof" that consciousness transcends the body, reading about such experiences may help somewhat in mitigating the fear associated with physical death. I know it helped my mother when she was suffering from a terminal case of cancer.

Beyond that however, I think we pass into fuzzy territory where people start interpreting such experiences according to pre-existing memes and biases - as is indicated by the title of the book. Dr Alexander's experience made him a more avid church goer - some others may go down the New Age love and light route through such experiences. In so-called spiritual circles, there are efforts to recreate such experiences for the "feel-good" factor - it is termed "enlightenment" by some. Such efforts to indulge in and/or recreate such experiences generally lead to an alienation from the physical reality that we inhabit with our bodies. In that sense, such experiences can act like spiritual drugs if they are taken too seriously.

My 2 cents
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This is a reasonable reaction to the book title. I grew up in a fundamentalist family. When I managed to break away by the time I went to college I was left with a number of 'trigger' words that evinced a gut reaction from me- one of which was the word Heaven. Whenever I would see or hear the word heaven I judged the context negatively based on that one word. There are many other words of course. Since then I have decided to withhold that judgement until I read or heard the entire story. It is difficult I know. I am not always successful.

Throughout the book I constantly ran into triggers. But I still tried to read Dr. Alexander's account without prejudging based on those triggers. Since I have just finished the book I will need a bit more time in which to determine to my own satisfaction what I can accept and what may be what you might call fanciful or new agey. He is after all a brain scientist and neuro-surgeon who tries to follow and respect the scientific method of finding the truth. All in all I believe his story is worth a look.

For what it's worth, I originally had similar problems with Michael Cremo's book, Forbidden Archeology. I have been an amateur student of Archeology since I was a teenager and continued that interest into college. I thought that I had a pretty good handle on ancient history. But I slogged through Cremo's book and imagine my surprise when he convinced me that things were not quite what they seemed.

As we know, knowledge can come from almost any where. We need to cultivate an open mind in order to receive it. After I read something if I then decide that it is doubtful or down right bunk then I chalk it up to at least having a larger base of information. As a fair diagnostician as a plumber I realized that finding all of the things which didn't create the problem led me inexorably to what did create the problem.
 
I have not read the book but many years ago I had an experience where I was out of my body and I could see my body lying in bed asleep; I was able to move around with complete independence. The whole experience made it obvious to me that I was more that just the body and it definitely took away any fear of death I may have had.

It does change the way you look at the world. I would imagine that your beliefs may color how you experience this " out of the body " event. Do you see or experience what you are conditioned to believe in or is what your experience independent from your beliefs?
 
DavidHP said:
I have not read the book but many years ago I had an experience where I was out of my body and I could see my body lying in bed asleep; I was able to move around with complete independence. The whole experience made it obvious to me that I was more that just the body and it definitely took away any fear of death I may have had.

It does change the way you look at the world. I would imagine that your beliefs may color how you experience this " out of the body " event. Do you see or experience what you are conditioned to believe in or is what your experience independent from your beliefs?
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I agree about one's belief system coloring the NDE experience. It has been found that the reports seem to follow cultural patterns. However, there are also many commonalities which tend to cross those cultural boundaries. It is those commonalities which are of interest to NDE and OOB researchers. One of the most interesting to me is the transformation that takes place in the person after the experience. As you say, there is no longer any fear of death. Another is that most times they don't want to come back to this physical realm.
 
buz/p said:
DavidHP said:
I have not read the book but many years ago I had an experience where I was out of my body and I could see my body lying in bed asleep; I was able to move around with complete independence. The whole experience made it obvious to me that I was more that just the body and it definitely took away any fear of death I may have had.

It does change the way you look at the world. I would imagine that your beliefs may color how you experience this " out of the body " event. Do you see or experience what you are conditioned to believe in or is what your experience independent from your beliefs?
Click to expand...

I agree about one's belief system coloring the NDE experience. It has been found that the reports seem to follow cultural patterns. However, there are also many commonalities which tend to cross those cultural boundaries. It is those commonalities which are of interest to NDE and OOB researchers. One of the most interesting to me is the transformation that takes place in the person after the experience. As you say, there is no longer any fear of death. Another is that most times they don't want to come back to this physical realm.
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Yes, unfortunately NDE experiences are determined by not only the cultural, religious, social etc. background of the individual but they can also just be a manifestation of something that has been lurking in their subconscious or what the PTB wants him to believe, whatever the reason may be.

Off the topic: I think the 'under 5 years old rule' can be more on point and real. That usually is not influenced by what the cultural, religious, social background of the individual might be. Like the kid in this video that's supposedly banned because it seems to prove the theory of reincarnation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF3KqGpxXvo
These experiences, memories to me seem more real and independent from anything. Of course, if we bring soul attachments into the theory, even stories like these might be debunked. I don't think this one is one of those cases though, that could be debunked. Seems pretty solid.
 
I am still interested in reactions and critiques from those who have read the book. I notice that SOTT ran another article about Alexander and his book. Dr. Alexander's experience is a unique NDE in that his brain was supposedly shut down at the time of his experience.
 
I did read the book and found it much different from most others I have read. This one, I feel is the closest to what I think of being in a nonphysical conscience awareness as could be translated to our physical awareness as possible.
Other NDA's I read compared to this are too attached with our physical world, the connection to loved ones as we knew, or others we have known in our 3D understanding which I think does blur the truth of what we truly are. With The doctors experience, he did not have any connection to his physical world until he gained more knowledge on what he experienced, much after his recovery. The connection he found turned to be a very touching part for me.
This book tries to bring a scientific explanation to this phenomenon and I think the book does a good job.
Part of what I understand is that this experience was written without the doctor reading other material on this subject, so it is coming from a pure science viewpoint.
I did notice there was some religious connections, but I think to sell these books, you have to attract to an audience which is looking for more connections with a known, current God.
One part I found interesting, was the explanation that we live and experience life in a evil world, which is uncommon in the multiverse. This was for free will to exist and needed to be so, which was our choice to experience.
He does bring a vast reference of material in his appendix, some of which I read a while back and found inspirational too.

I do recommend this for people looking for an new understanding in this area, without the fluff and connections to our current views and expectations.
 
King Tiger- I too found this book to be different than most all of the other NDE accounts I have read. What intrigued me was that Alexander's complex conscious experience happened while he was in the hospital connected to instrumentation which showed his brain function was essentially absent. And yes, his experience also didn't follow most of the common events reported by many others. I am still processing this and will probably re-read the book. At least I think it is worth a second look.
 
Dr. Eben Alexander NDE

Something that is interesting, or so I think :

Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress.

Then, Dr. Alexander's own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion—and in essence makes us human—shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander's eyes popped open. He had come back.

Alexander's recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, Alexander journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself.

Alexander's story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SLdl_yMTOMM
 
I hadn’t read too much about NDE before reading the book, but found the author’s NDE with his brain totally shut down and his explanation about it due to his background as a doctor worth the time to read. I think the best chapter in the book was by far Chapter 33 ‘The Enigma of Consciousness.’ I think he succinctly explains the problem that science has with dealing with the issue. The author helped form an organization _http://www.eternea.org/Postulates.aspx and lays out seven postulates (the website won’t let me copy them so that I can paste here) that in many ways align in part with what is discussed here minus the duality of STS/STO, the existence of psychopaths, etc that would help form a deeper knowledge of the universe and our existence.

The author also mentions a program called Hemi-Sync _http://www.hemi-sync.com/shopcontent.asp?type=HowHemiSyncWorks which is a meditation-like program that is supposed to help a person expand consciousness, etc. I don’t know if it is worth checking out, but the below quote and other info at the link below that it is similar to hypnosis gives me pause. From my understanding EE is engaged meditation for the purpose that a person doesn’t want to leave oneself open to outside forces/influence without protection when in the state produced by meditation. Thought I’d mention the program here though since it does seem interesting and maybe worth investigating.
_http://www.hemi-sync.com/shopcontent.asp?type=FAQs
Q: Is Hemi-Sync® like hypnosis?
A: Yes, they are similar. Hypnosis is an induced, altered state of mind, in which the body is deeply relaxed, sufficient to be temporarily ignored, except for demands like bladder fullness, etc. It is sometimes described as "focused concentration." This "state" is one in which the participant has perhaps even more control over the body and self than in "ordinary" states of consciousness. Witness the fact that hypnosis is sometimes used for pain control in minor surgeries, childbirth, and even dentistry. It is an expanded state of awareness, in which one can be fully aware of the sensory data from the environment, (sound, light, temperature, etc.) and at the same time can develop awareness of other data sources as well, such as past lives, out-of-body information, information from guides, one's inner self, etc. Neither state can "make" you DO anything. You are able to maintain your faculties for choice and value systems, including choosing to follow suggestions from the therapist or not. Hemi-Sync® is designed to leave control in the hands of the listener as well. In this sense, it's somewhat related to self-hypnosis. Hemi-Sync® does not "make" you do anything. It simply creates an effect that helps you move into a certain state, providing that you relax and are open to responding to the Hemi-Sync® process.
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My next NDE book I'm going to read is 'Heading Toward Omega'.
 
As the feed-back continues to trickle in I thought I would update a bit on a connection. I have given my wife the book to read as she has asked for an entry into what 'ails me'. ;) As she has displayed an aggressive bias against Laura as leader of a dangerous cult none of the other literature impresses her. So I have decided to introduce peripheral sources to begin to show her that this stuff doesn't just come out of thin air (that is, of course, except for the Cs stuff- ahem) So far she is buying Alexander's experience. That is good because she and I have reached a crisis point in our relationship which must be resolved before I can move on.
 
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