In Chapter 28 of A Year to Live, Levine discusses what he calls “After-Death Experiences.” Before we get into that, I’d like to share with you what others call “Near Death Experiences” from a forum gathering of teachers and healers called “Beyond the Veil Summit 2020.”
The first talk was given by a neurosurgeon named Eben Alexander, MD. He talked about his experience of a Near Death Experience (NDE) in the winter of 2008 and the affect it had on his life. I met Dr. Alexander at a retreat at The Monroe Institute a year or so after his NDE, and he told me about his experience over dinner one night. I subsequently read his book Proof of Heaven and found it provocative.
Alexander became very ill one night with a diagnosis of acute bacterial meningoencephalitis. In the next four hours, he fell into a deep coma where he remained for the next seven days. He was on life support and not expected to live. However, on the seventh day of his coma, to everyone’s surprise, he regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and after the ventilator was removed, began to speak.
The extensive tests that he underwent during the coma showed that the neocortex of his brain was non-functioning, essentially destroyed by the illness. As he regained awareness of his environment and was able to speak, he began to remember and relate the events of his NDE experience. As a neurosurgeon and scientist, he was amazed by what he remembered; it was an elaborate and rich odyssey of a spiritual nature. He was advised to record everything he could remember before he read anything about NDEs, physics or cosmology, and he did so.
He noted that during his time in coma, he did not have any recollections whatsoever of his life before coma, including language or any knowledge of humans or this universe. What occurred was a profound spiritual experience that he states took him beyond space and time to what seemed like the origin of all existence.
As a result of his NDE, Alexander’s view of the universe and life were forever changed and vaulted him into a new life of exploration of consciousness. NDEs such as his this one represent the tip of the iceberg in a rapidly growing awareness and acceptance in the scientific community of the body-mind-brain relationship and our understanding of the very nature of reality.
A more complete description of Dr. Alexander’s experience can be found at: http://ebenalexander.com/about/my-experience-in-coma. His first book, Proof of Heaven also describes his NDE in detail, and a second book Living in a Mindful Universe, is an investigation of consciousness.
Experiences near death have been studied by many researchers, primarily Dr. Raymond Moody when he was teaching at the University of Virginia. He has written many books on the subject, in particular Life After Life. Moody describes Near Death Experiences that include one or more of the following: awareness of being out of the body; going through a tunnel into a bright light; being met by a Being of Light who is unconditionally, unbelievably loving; meeting loved ones who have died; moving through a review of their life without blame or judgment; and finally, being advised or deciding themselves to return to their bodies and lives here on earth. Alexander’s NDE is much more colorful, intense, detailed, and mysterious, and his experience has the added the power of coming from a person schooled in scientific skepticism and materialism prior to his experience.
The second talk that I want to share was given by William Peters, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He shared his experience with NDEs as well as his interest in SDEs (Shared Death Experiences.) An SDE is one in which a person voluntarily accompanies a dying person through the dying process and somewhat beyond. It results in providing great comfort to the dying person as well as to the person sharing the dying process, and it lessens the intensity of the grieving process for the survivors.
Peters developed a protocol for sharing the dying process and began to practice it with friends and interested acquaintances. He then began to teach his protocols to individuals and families in his private practice, in both private sessions as well as in small-group formats. Participants reported that the protocols deepened their relationships with loved ones, opened their understanding to the meaningful experiences available during the dying process, and awakened in them a commitment to live their lives more fully in the here and now.
In chapter 28, Stephen Levine reminds us that most people after experiencing an NDE (and I assume this is true for the person sharing an SDE as well) return from such an experience with three very precious insights: an increased appreciation of life, a diminished fear of death, and a new sense of purpose. Their lives are greatly improved by knowing that consciousness continues after the death (or near death) of the body.
I love it when new things, ideas, concepts, come into my life, such as Eben’s NDE and Peters’ SDEs, that relate to things I am already interested in, such as, conscious living conscious dying, and the need to face my fears around death and dying. They enrich my life, awaken my curiosity, and enliven my days. This is especially true now, after months of isolation because of the COVID pandemic. I continue to live and learn and grow in love of Spirit.
Self-inquiry questions:
1. How does reading about Dr. Alexander’s NDE add to you understanding of and interest in NDEs? Have you read his book Proof of Heaven?
2. What did you know about SDEs prior to my blog? Have you had this kind of experience with a loved one? Would you like to have one?
3. Are you as interested in this kind of stuff as I am?
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