What after death? Where does the soul go after a person dies? Is there life after death? Life after death - myth or reality? The Unknown Life after death is what you expect
However, as Natalya Bekhtereva, a famous scientist who has studied the activity of the brain all her life, said, our consciousness is such matter that it seems that the keys to the secret door have already been selected. But behind it there are ten more... What is behind the door of life? Nothingness? Another life? This is what AiF journalists and experts are trying to find out.
“She sees right through everything...”
Galina Lagoda was returning with her husband in a Zhiguli car from a country trip. Trying to pass an oncoming truck on a narrow highway, the husband sharply pulled to the right... The car was crushed by a tree standing by the road.
Intravision
Galina was brought to the Kaliningrad regional hospital with severe brain damage, ruptured kidneys, lungs, spleen and liver, and many fractures. The heart stopped, the pressure was at zero.
Having flown through black space, I found myself in a shining space filled with light,” Galina Semyonovna tells me twenty years later. “In front of me stood a huge man in dazzling white clothes. I couldn’t see his face because of the light beam directed at me. “Why did you come here?” - he asked sternly. “I’m very tired, let me rest a little.” - “Rest and come back - you still have a lot to do.”
Having regained consciousness after two weeks, during which she balanced between life and death, the patient told the head of the intensive care department, Evgeniy Zatovka, how the operations were carried out, which of the doctors stood where and what they did, what equipment they brought, from which cabinets they took what.
After another operation on a shattered arm, Galina, during her morning medical rounds, asked the orthopedic doctor: “How is your stomach?” From amazement, he did not know what to answer - indeed, the doctor was tormented by abdominal pain.
Then the woman healed the sick. She was especially successful in healing fractures and ulcers in just two sessions. Galina Semyonovna lives in harmony with herself, believes in God and is not at all afraid of death.
"Flying like a cloud"
Yuri Burkov, a reserve major, does not like to remember the past. His wife Lyudmila told his story:
- Yura fell from a great height, broke his spine and received a traumatic brain injury, and lost consciousness. After cardiac arrest, he lay in a coma for a long time.
I was under terrible stress. During one of my hospital visits I lost my keys. And the husband, having finally regained consciousness, first of all asked: “Did you find the keys?” I shook my head in fear. “They are under the stairs,” he said.
Only many years later did he confess to me: while he was in a coma, he saw my every step and heard every word - no matter how far I was from him. He flew in the form of a cloud, including to where his deceased parents and brother live. The mother tried to persuade her son to return, and the brother explained that they were all alive, only they no longer had bodies.
Years later, sitting at the bedside of his seriously ill son, he reassured his wife: “Lyudochka, don’t cry, I know for sure that he won’t leave now. He will be with us for another year." And a year later, at the wake of his deceased son, he admonished his wife: “He did not die, but only moved to another world before you and me. Trust me, I’ve been there.”
Savely KASHNITSKY, Kaliningrad - Moscow
Childbirth under the ceiling
“While the doctors were trying to pump me out, I observed an interesting thing: a bright white light (there is nothing like that on Earth!) and a long corridor. And so I seem to be waiting to enter this corridor. But then the doctors resuscitated me. During this time I felt that it was very cool THERE. I didn’t even want to leave!”
These are the memories of 19-year-old Anna R., who survived clinical death. Such stories can be found in abundance on Internet forums where the topic of “life after death” is discussed.
Light in the tunnel
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, pictures of life flashing before your eyes, a feeling of love and peace, meetings with deceased relatives and some luminous creature - patients who returned from the other world talk about this. True, not all, but only 10-15% of them. The rest did not see or remember anything at all. The dying brain does not have enough oxygen, which is why it is “glitchy,” say skeptics.
Disagreements among scientists have reached the point that the start of a new experiment was recently announced. For three years, American and British doctors will study the testimony of patients whose hearts stopped or their brains turned off. Among other things, the researchers are going to put various pictures on the shelves in the intensive care wards. You can only see them if you soar right up to the ceiling. If patients who have experienced clinical death retell their contents, it means that consciousness is really capable of leaving the body.
One of the first who tried to explain the phenomenon of near-death experiences was academician Vladimir Negovsky. He founded the world's first Institute of General Reanimatology. Negovsky believed (and the scientific view has not changed since then) that the “light at the end of the tunnel” was explained by the so-called tube vision. The cortex of the occipital lobes of the brain dies off gradually, the field of vision narrows to a narrow strip, creating the impression of a tunnel.
In a similar way, doctors explain the vision of pictures of a past life flashing before the gaze of a dying person. Brain structures fade and then recover unevenly. Therefore, a person has time to remember the most vivid events deposited in his memory. And the illusion of leaving the body, according to doctors, is the result of a failure of nerve signals. However, skeptics reach a dead end when it comes to answering trickier questions. Why do people who are blind from birth, at the moment of clinical death, see and then describe in detail what is happening in the operating room around them? And there is such evidence.
Leaving the body is a defensive reaction
It is curious, but many scientists do not see anything mystical in the fact that consciousness can leave the body. The only question is what conclusion to draw from this. Leading researcher at the Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dmitry Spivak, who is a member of the International Association for the Study of Near-Death Experiences, assures that clinical death is only one of the options for an altered state of consciousness. “There are a lot of them: these are dreams, and drug experience, and a stressful situation, and the consequence of illness,” he says. “According to statistics, up to 30% of people at least once in their lives have felt leaving the body and observed themselves from the outside.”
Dmitry Spivak himself examined the mental state of women in labor and found that about 9% of women experience “leaving the body” during childbirth! Here is the testimony of 33-year-old S.: “During childbirth, I had a lot of blood loss. Suddenly I began to see myself from under the ceiling. The pain has disappeared. And about a minute later she also unexpectedly returned to her place in the room and again began to experience severe pain.” It turns out that “leaving the body” is a normal phenomenon during childbirth. Some kind of mechanism embedded in the psyche, a program that works in extreme situations.
Undoubtedly, childbirth is an extreme situation. But what could be more extreme than death itself?! It is possible that “flying in a tunnel” is also a protective program that is activated at a fatal moment for a person. But what will happen to his consciousness (soul) next?
“I asked one dying woman: if there really is something THERE, try to give me a sign,” recalls Doctor of Medical Sciences Andrei Gnezdilov, who works at the St. Petersburg hospice. - And on the 40th day after death, I saw her in a dream. The woman said: “This is not death.” Many years of working in a hospice have convinced me and my colleagues: death is not the end, not the destruction of everything. The soul continues to live."
Dmitry PISARENKO
Cup and polka dot dress
This story was told by Andrey Gnezdilov, Doctor of Medical Sciences: “During the operation, the patient’s heart stopped. The doctors were able to start it, and when the woman was transferred to intensive care, I visited her. She complained that she was not operated on by the same surgeon who promised. But she could not see the doctor, being in an unconscious state all the time. The patient said that during the operation some force pushed her out of her body. She calmly looked at the doctors, but then she was overcome by horror: what if I die before I can say goodbye to my mother and daughter? And her consciousness instantly moved home. She saw that the mother was sitting, knitting, and her daughter was playing with a doll. Then a neighbor came in and brought a polka dot dress for her daughter. The girl rushed towards her, but touched the cup - it fell and broke. The neighbor said: “Well, that’s good. Apparently, Yulia will be discharged soon.” And then the patient again found herself at the operating table and heard: “Everything is fine, she is saved.” Consciousness returned to the body.
I went to visit this woman’s relatives. And it turned out that during the operation... a neighbor came in with a polka dot dress for a girl and the cup was broken.”
This is not the only mysterious case in the practice of Gnezdilov and other workers of the St. Petersburg hospice. They are not surprised when a doctor dreams of his patient and thanks him for his care and touching attitude. And in the morning, upon arriving at work, the doctor finds out that the patient died during the night...
What happens to the brain
The occipital lobe of the brain is responsible for vision. When its cortex has already suffered from lack of oxygen and began to die, the central zone still lives. This explains the vision of light at the end of the tunnel.
The main signs of clinical death:
- no breathing
- no heartbeat
- general pallor
- no reaction of pupils to light
When the temporal cortex is irritated, a feeling of leaving the body appears. The point of perception of your body rises several meters higher.
Restoration of the brain during revitalization proceeds from its ancient parts to the young ones. Memories of life events emerge, starting from early ones and ending with later ones.
During agony, the reflex to light may short-circuit in the brain stem. This makes the visual perception more vivid, “unearthly”.
The duration of clinical death depends on how long the subcortex and cerebral cortex remain viable in the absence of oxygen. Scientists distinguish two periods:
1)
5-6 minutes. If this period is exceeded, it is possible to “turn off” the cerebral cortex.
2)
Tens of minutes. They are observed in special conditions - with electric shock, drowning, the use of certain medications, donor blood transfusions, etc. The death of the higher parts of the brain slows down.
Skeptic's opinion
Viktor Moroz, director of the Institute of General Reanimatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, chief anesthesiologist and resuscitator of Russia, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, professor, doctor of medical sciences:
The problem of the patient’s visions and experiences during the period of clinical death is far-fetched and fictitious. 99.9% of what paramedics talk about has nothing to do with medical practice.
Church opinion
Priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate:
Orthodox people believe in an afterlife and immortality. There is much confirmation and evidence of this in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We consider the very concept of death only in connection with the coming resurrection, and this mystery ceases to be such if we live with Christ and for Christ’s sake. “Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die,” says the Lord (John 11:26).
According to legend, in the first days the soul of the deceased walks through those places in which it worked the truth, and on the third day it ascends to heaven to the throne of God, where until the ninth day it is shown the abodes of saints and the beauty of paradise. On the ninth day, the soul again comes to God, and it is sent to hell, where wicked sinners reside and where the soul undergoes thirty days of ordeal (tests). On the fortieth day, the soul again comes to the Throne of God, where it appears naked before the judgment of its own conscience: has it passed these tests or not? And even in the case when some trials convict the soul of its sins, we hope for the mercy of God, in whom all deeds of sacrificial love and compassion will not go in vain.
Incredible facts
Disappointing news: scientists insist that there is no life after death.
The famous physicist believes that humanity needs to stop believing in the afterlife and focus on the existing laws of the Universe.
Sean Carroll, cosmologist and professor of physics at California Institute of Technology put an end to the question of life after death.
He stated that "the laws of physics that dictate our daily lives have been fully understood" and everything is happening within the realm of possibility.
Is there life after death
The scientist explained that for the existence of life after death consciousness must be completely separated from our physical body, which does not happen.
Rather, consciousness at its most basic level is a series of atoms and electrons that are responsible for our minds.
The laws of the Universe do not allow these particles to exist after we physically pass away, Dr. Carroll said.
Claims that some form of consciousness remains after the body has died and disintegrated into atoms faces one insurmountable obstacle. The laws of physics prevent the information stored in our brains from remaining after we die.
As an example, Dr. Carroll cites quantum field theory. Simply put, according to this theory, there is a field for every type of particle. For example, all photons in the Universe are at the same level, all electrons have their own field, and so on for each type of particle.
The scientist explains that if life continued after death, they would detect "spirit particles" or "spirit forces" in quantum field tests.
However, the researchers did not find anything like this.
How does a person feel before death?
Of course, there are not many ways to find out what happens to a person after death. On the other hand, many people wonder how a person feels when the end approaches.
According to scientists, a lot depends on how a person dies. So, for example, a person dying of illness may be too weak and ill and unconscious to describe his feelings.
For this reason, much of what is known has been gathered from observation rather than the inner experiences of man. There are also testimonies of those who experienced clinical death, but returned and spoke about what they experienced.
1. You lose your feelings
According to the testimony of specialists caring for hopelessly ill people, a dying person loses feelings in a certain sequence.
First of all, the feeling of hunger and thirst disappears, then the ability to speak and then see is lost. Hearing and touch usually last longer, but they also disappear later.
2. You may feel like you are dreaming.
People who had near-death experiences were asked to describe how they felt, and their responses surprisingly matched the results of research in this area.
In 2014, scientists studied the dreams of people near death, and the majority of them (about 88 percent) reported very vivid dreams that often seemed real to them. In most dreams, people saw loved ones of deceased people and at the same time experienced peace rather than fear.
3. Life flashes before your eyes
You may also see a light that you are moving towards or a feeling of being separated from your body.
Scientists have found that just before death, there is a surge of activity in the human brain, which may explain near-death experiences and the feeling that life is flashing before our eyes.
4. You can be aware of what is happening around you
When researchers studied what a person felt during the period when he was considered officially dead, they found that the brain was still functioning for some time, and this was enough to hear conversations or see events happening around, which was confirmed by those who were nearby.
5. You may feel pain
If you are physically injured, you may experience pain. One of the most painful experiences in this sense is considered to be strangulation. Cancer often causes pain because the growth of cancer cells affects many organs.
Some diseases may not be as painful as, for example, respiratory diseases, but cause great discomfort and difficulty breathing.
6. You may feel normal
In 1957, a herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt was bitten by a poisonous snake. He didn't know that the bite would kill him within a day, and he wrote down all the symptoms he experienced.
He wrote that he initially felt “severe chills and trembling,” “bleeding in the lining of the mouth,” and “light bleeding in the intestines,” but that his condition was otherwise normal. He even called work and said he would come the next day, but this did not happen and he died shortly after.
7. Dizziness
In 2012, footballer Fabrice Muamba suffered a heart attack in the middle of a match. For some time he was in a state of clinical death, but was later resuscitated. When asked to describe that moment, he said he felt dizzy and that's all he remembers.
8. Feel nothing
After footballer Muamba felt dizzy, he said he didn't feel anything. He had neither positive nor negative emotions. And if your senses are turned off, what can you feel?
Nikolai Viktorovich Levashov in the early 90s of the 20th century described in detail and accurately what Life (living matter) is, how and where it appears; what conditions must be on planets for the origin of life; what is memory; how and where it functions; what is Reason; what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence of Reason in living matter; what emotions are and what their role is in the evolutionary development of Man, and much more. He proved inevitability and pattern appearance of Life on any planet on which the corresponding conditions simultaneously occur. For the first time, he accurately and clearly showed what Man really is, how and why he is embodied in a physical body, and what happens to him after the inevitable death of this body. has long given comprehensive answers to the questions posed by the author in this article. Nevertheless, quite sufficient arguments have been collected here indicating that modern science knows practically nothing about either Man or real the structure of the World in which we all live...
There is life after death!
The view of modern science: does the soul exist, and is Consciousness immortal?
Every person who has encountered the death of a loved one asks the question: is there life after death? Nowadays, this issue is of particular relevance. If several centuries ago the answer to this question was obvious to everyone, now, after a period of atheism, its solution is more difficult. We cannot simply believe hundreds of generations of our ancestors, who, through personal experience, century after century, were convinced that man has an immortal soul. We want to have facts. Moreover, the facts are scientific. From school they tried to convince us that there is no God, there is no immortal soul. At the same time, we were told that this is what he says. And we believed... Note that exactly believed that there is no immortal soul, believed that this is supposedly proven by science, believed that there is no God. None of us has ever tried to figure out what impartial science says about the soul. We simply trusted certain authorities, without particularly going into the details of their worldview, objectivity and interpretation of scientific facts.
And now, when the tragedy happened, there is a conflict within us. We feel that the soul of the deceased is eternal, that it is alive, but on the other hand, the old stereotypes instilled in us that there is no soul drag us into the abyss of despair. This struggle within us is very difficult and very exhausting. We want the truth!
So let's look at the question of the existence of the soul through real, non-ideologized, objective science. Let's hear the opinions of real scientists on this issue and personally evaluate the logical calculations. It is not our FAITH in the existence or non-existence of the soul, but only KNOWLEDGE that can extinguish this internal conflict, preserve our strength, give confidence, and look at the tragedy from a different, real point of view.
The article will talk about Consciousness. We will analyze the question of Consciousness from the point of view of science: where is Consciousness located in our body and can it cease its life?
What is Consciousness?
First, about what Consciousness is in general. People have thought about this question throughout the history of mankind, but still cannot come to a final decision. We know only some of the properties and possibilities of consciousness. Consciousness is awareness of oneself, one’s personality, it is a great analyzer of all our feelings, emotions, desires, plans. Consciousness is what sets us apart, what makes us feel that we are not objects, but individuals. In other words, Consciousness miraculously reveals our fundamental existence. Consciousness is our awareness of our “I”, but at the same time Consciousness is a great mystery. Consciousness has no dimensions, no form, no color, no smell, no taste; it cannot be touched or turned in your hands. Even though we know very little about consciousness, we know with absolute certainty that we have it.
One of the main questions of humanity is the question of the nature of this very Consciousness (soul, “I”, ego). Materialism and idealism have diametrically opposed views on this issue. From point of view materialism human Consciousness is the substrate of the brain, a product of matter, a product of biochemical processes, a special fusion of nerve cells. From point of view idealism Consciousness is the ego, “I”, spirit, soul - an immaterial, invisible, eternally existing, non-dying energy that spiritualizes the body. Acts of consciousness always involve a subject who is actually aware of everything.
If you are interested in purely religious ideas about the soul, then it will not provide any evidence of the existence of the soul. The doctrine of the soul is a dogma and is not subject to scientific proof. There are absolutely no explanations, much less evidence, for materialists who believe that they are impartial scientists (although this is far from the case).
But how do most people, who are equally far from religion, from philosophy, and from science too, imagine this Consciousness, soul, “I”? Let's ask ourselves, what is “I”?
Gender, name, profession and other role functions
The first thing that comes to mind for most is: “I am a person”, “I am a woman (man)”, “I am a businessman (turner, baker)”, “I am Tanya (Katya, Alexey)”, “I am a wife ( husband, daughter)”, etc. These are certainly funny answers. Your individual, unique “I” cannot be defined in general terms. There are a huge number of people in the world with the same characteristics, but they are not your “I”. Half of them are women (men), but they are not “I” either, people with the same professions seem to have their own “I”, not yours, the same can be said about wives (husbands), people of different professions, social status , nationalities, religion, etc. No affiliation with any group will explain to you what your individual “I” represents, because Consciousness is always personal. I am not qualities (qualities only belong to our “I”), because the qualities of the same person can change, but his “I” will remain unchanged.
Mental and physiological characteristics
Some say that their "I" are their reflexes, their behavior, their individual ideas and preferences, their psychological characteristics, etc. In fact, this cannot be the core of the personality, which is called “I”. Why? Because throughout life, behavior, ideas, preferences, and, especially, psychological characteristics change. It cannot be said that if these features were different before, then it was not my “I”.
Realizing this, some people make the following argument: “I am my individual body”. This is already more interesting. Let's examine this assumption as well. Everyone knows from a school anatomy course that the cells of our body are gradually renewed throughout life. Old ones die (apoptosis), and new ones are born. Some cells (the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract) are completely renewed almost every day, but there are cells that go through their life cycle much longer. On average, every 5 years all the cells of the body are renewed. If we consider the “I” to be a simple collection of human cells, then the result will be absurd. It turns out that if a person lives, for example, 70 years, during this time all the cells in his body will change at least 10 times (i.e. 10 generations). Could this mean that not one person, but 10 different people lived their 70-year life? Isn't it quite stupid? We conclude that “I” cannot be a body, because the body is not permanent, but “I” is permanent. This means that the “I” cannot be either the qualities of cells or their totality.
But here the particularly erudite give a counterargument: “Okay, with bones and muscles it’s clear, this really cannot be “I,” but there are nerve cells! And they are alone for the rest of their lives. Maybe “I” is the sum of nerve cells?”
Let's think about this question together...
Does consciousness consist of nerve cells? Materialism is accustomed to decomposing the entire multidimensional world into mechanical components, “testing harmony with algebra” (A.S. Pushkin). The most naive misconception of militant materialism regarding personality is the idea that personality is a set of biological qualities. However, the combination of impersonal objects, be they even neurons, cannot give rise to a personality and its core - the “I”.
How can this most complex “I”, feeling, capable of experiences, love, be simply the sum of specific cells of the body, along with the ongoing biochemical and bioelectric processes? How might these processes shape the self? Provided that nerve cells constituted our “I”, then we would lose part of our “I” every day. With each dead cell, with each neuron, the “I” would become smaller and smaller. With cell restoration, it would increase in size.
Scientific research conducted in different countries of the world proves that nerve cells, like all other cells of the human body, are capable of regeneration (restoration). This is what the most serious international biological journal writes: Nature: “Employees of the Californian Institute for Biological Research. Salk discovered that in the brains of adult mammals, fully functional young cells are born that function on a par with existing neurons. Professor Frederick Gage and his colleagues also concluded that brain tissue renews itself most rapidly in physically active animals...”
This is confirmed by publication in another authoritative, peer-reviewed biological journal Science: “Over the past two years, researchers have discovered that nerve and brain cells renew themselves, just like the rest of the human body. The body is capable of repairing disorders related to the nervous tract itself.”, says scientist Helen M. Blon."
Thus, even with a complete change of all (including nerve) cells of the body, the “I” of a person remains the same, therefore, it does not belong to the constantly changing material body.
For some reason, in our time it is so difficult to prove what was obvious and understandable to the ancients. The Roman Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus, who lived in the 3rd century, wrote: “It is absurd to assume that, since not one of the parts has life, then life can be created by their totality... moreover, it is completely impossible for life to be produced by an accumulation of parts, and that the mind was generated by that which is devoid of mind. If anyone objects that this is not so, but that in fact the soul is formed by atoms coming together, that is, bodies indivisible into parts, then he will be refuted by the fact that the atoms themselves only lie one next to the other, not forming a living whole, for unity and joint feeling cannot be obtained from bodies that are insensitive and incapable of unification; but the soul feels itself” (1).
“I” is the unchanging core of personality, which includes many variables but is not itself a variable.
A skeptic can put forward a last desperate argument: “Maybe “I” is the brain?” Is Consciousness a product of brain activity? What does he say?
Many people heard the fairy tale about the fact that our Consciousness is the activity of the brain in school. The idea that the brain is essentially a person with his “I” is extremely widespread. Most people think that it is the brain that perceives information from the world around us, processes it and decides how to act in each specific case; they think that it is the brain that makes us alive and gives us personality. And the body is nothing more than a spacesuit that ensures the activity of the central nervous system.
But this tale has nothing to do with science. The brain is now being studied in depth. The chemical composition, parts of the brain, and the connections of these parts with human functions have been well studied for a long time. The brain organization of perception, attention, memory, and speech has been studied. Functional blocks of the brain have been studied. A huge number of clinics and research centers have been studying the human brain for more than a hundred years, for which expensive, effective equipment has been developed. But, opening any textbooks, monographs, scientific journals on neurophysiology or neuropsychology, you will not find scientific data about the connection of the brain with Consciousness.
For people far from this field of knowledge, this seems surprising. In fact, there is nothing surprising about this. Just no one ever didn't find it connections between the brain and the very center of our personality, our “I”. Of course, materialist scientists have always wanted this. Thousands of studies and millions of experiments have been conducted, many billions of dollars have been spent on this. The efforts of scientists were not in vain. Thanks to these studies, the parts of the brain themselves were discovered and studied, their connection with physiological processes was established, a lot was done to understand neurophysiological processes and phenomena, but the most important thing was not achieved. It was not possible to find the place in the brain that is our “I”. It was not even possible, despite extremely active work in this direction, to make a serious assumption about how the brain can be connected with our Consciousness?..
There is life after death!
English researchers Peter Fenwick from the London Institute of Psychiatry and Sam Parnia from Southampton Central Clinic came to the same conclusions. They examined patients who returned to life after cardiac arrest and found that some of them exactly recounted the contents of conversations conducted by medical personnel while they were in a state of clinical death. Others gave exact a description of the events that occurred during this time period.
Sam Parnia argues that the brain, like any other organ of the human body, is composed of cells and is not capable of thinking. However, it can work as a thought detecting device, i.e. like an antenna, with the help of which it becomes possible to receive a signal from the outside. Scientists have suggested that during clinical death, Consciousness, acting independently of the brain, uses it as a screen. Like a television receiver, which first receives the waves entering it, and then converts them into sound and image.
If we turn off the radio, this does not mean that the radio station stops broadcasting. That is, after the death of the physical body, Consciousness continues to live.
The fact of the continuation of the life of Consciousness after the death of the body is confirmed by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Director of the Research Institute of the Human Brain, Professor N.P. Bekhterev in her book “The Magic of the Brain and the Labyrinths of Life.” In addition to discussing purely scientific issues, in this book the author also cites his personal experience of encountering posthumous phenomena.
At some point in life, often from a certain age, when relatives and friends pass away, a person tends to ask questions about death and about possible life after death. We have already written materials on this topic, and you can read the answers to some questions.
But it seems that the number of questions is only growing and we want to explore this topic a little deeper.
Life is eternal
In this article we will not give arguments for and against the existence of life after death. We will proceed from the fact that life exists after the death of the body.
Over the past 50–70 years, medicine and psychology have accumulated tens of thousands of written evidence and research results that make it possible to lift the veil from this mystery.
It is worth noting that, on the one hand, all recorded cases of post-death experiences or travel differ from each other. But, on the other hand, they all coincide in key points.
Such as
- death is simply a transition from one form of life to another;
- when consciousness leaves the body, it simply goes to other worlds and universes;
- the soul, freed from physical experiences, experiences extraordinary lightness, bliss and heightened all senses;
- feeling of flight;
- spiritual worlds are saturated with light and love;
- in the posthumous world, time and space familiar to humans do not exist;
- consciousness works differently than when living in the body, everything is perceived and grasped almost instantly;
- the eternity of life is realized.
Life after death: recorded real cases and recorded facts
The number of recorded accounts of eyewitnesses who have experienced out-of-body experiences is so great today that they could form a large encyclopedia. And perhaps a small library.
Perhaps the largest number of described cases about life after death can be read in the books of Michael Newton, Ian Stevenson, Raymond Moody, Robert Monroe and Edgar Cayce.
Several thousand transcribed audio recordings of regressive hypnosis sessions about the life of the soul between incarnations can only be found in the books of Michael Newton.
Michael Newton began using regression hypnosis to treat his patients, especially those for whom traditional medicine and psychology could no longer help.
At first, he was surprised to discover that many serious problems in life, including patients’ health, had their causes in past lives.
After several decades of research, Newton not only developed a mechanism for treating complex physical and psychological injuries that began in past incarnations, but also collected the largest amount of evidence to date for the existence of life after death.
Michael Newton's first book, Journeys of the Soul, was released in 1994, followed by several more books dealing with life in the spirit worlds.
These books describe not only the mechanism of the soul’s transition from one life to another, but also how we choose our birth, our parents, loved ones, friends, trials and circumstances of life.
In one of the forewords to his book, Michael Newton wrote: “We are all about to return home. Where only pure, unconditional love, compassion and harmony exist side by side. You need to understand that you are currently in school, the Earth school, and when the training is over, this loving harmony is waiting for you. It is important to remember that every experience you have during your current life contributes to your personal, spiritual growth. No matter when or how your training ends, you will return home to the unconditional love that is always available and waiting for us all.”
But the main thing is that Newton not only collected the largest amount of detailed evidence, he also developed a tool that allows anyone to gain their own experience.
Today, regressive hypnosis is also represented in Russia, and if you want to resolve your doubts about the existence of an immortal soul, now you have the opportunity to check it for yourself.
To do this, just find the contacts of a specialist in regressive hypnosis on the Internet. However, take the time to read the reviews to avoid unpleasant disappointment.
Today, books are not the only source of information about life after death. Films and TV series are being made on this topic.
One of the most famous films on this topic, based on real events, “Heaven is for Real” 2014. The film was based on the book “Heaven is Real” by Todd Burpo.
Still from the film “Heaven is for Real” A book about the story of a 4-year-old boy who experienced clinical death during surgery, went to heaven and returned back, written by his father.
This story is amazing in its details. While out of body, 4-year-old baby Kilton clearly saw what the doctors and his parents were doing. Which was exactly what was actually happening.
Kilton describes the heavens and their inhabitants in great detail, although his heart only stopped for a few minutes. During his stay in heaven, the boy learns such details about the life of the family that, according to his father’s assurances, he could not have known, if only because of his age.
The child, during his out-of-body journey, saw dead relatives, angels, Jesus and even the Virgin Mary, apparently due to his Catholic upbringing. The boy observed the past and the near future.
The events described in the book forced Father Kilton to completely reconsider his views on life, death and what awaits us after death.
Interesting cases and evidence of eternal life
An interesting incident happened several years ago with our compatriot Vladimir Efremov.
Vladimir Grigorievich had a spontaneous exit from the body due to cardiac arrest. In a word, Vladimir Grigorievich experienced clinical death in February 2014, which he told his relatives and colleagues about in every detail.
And it seemed like there was one more case confirming the presence of an otherworldly life. But the fact is that Vladimir Efremov is not just an ordinary person, not a psychic, but a scientist with an impeccable reputation in his circles.
And according to Vladimir Grigorievich himself, before he experienced clinical death, he considered himself an atheist and perceived stories about the afterlife as the dope of religion. He devoted most of his professional life to the development of rocket systems and space engines.
Therefore, for Efremov himself, the experience of contact with the afterlife was very unexpected, but it largely changed his views on the nature of reality.
It is noteworthy that in his experience there is also light, serenity, extraordinary clarity of perception, a pipe (tunnel) and no sense of time and space.
But, since Vladimir Efremov is a scientist, designer of aircraft and spacecraft, he gives a very interesting description of the world in which his consciousness found itself. He explains it in physical and mathematical concepts, which are unusually far from religious ideas.
He notes that a person in the afterlife sees what he wants to see, which is why there are so many differences in the descriptions. Despite his previous atheism, Vladimir Grigorievich noted that the presence of God was felt everywhere.
There was no visible form of God, but his presence was undeniable. Later, Efremov even gave a presentation on this topic to his colleagues. Listen to the story of the eyewitness himself.
Dalai Lama
One of the greatest proofs of eternal life is known to many, but few have thought about it. Nobel Peace Prize laureate, spiritual leader of Tibet Dalai Lama XIV, is the 14th incarnation of the consciousness (soul) of the 1st Dalai Lama.
But they began the tradition of reincarnation of the main spiritual leader, to preserve the purity of knowledge even earlier. In the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, the highest reincarnated Lama is called Karmapa. And now the Karmapa is experiencing his 17th incarnation.
The famous film “Little Buddha” was made based on the story of the death of the 16th Karmapa and the search for the child into whom he would be reborn.
In the traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism, in general, the practice of repeated incarnations is very widespread. But it is especially widely known in Tibetan Buddhism.
It is not only the supreme Lamas, such as the Dalai Lama or the Karmapa, who are reborn. After death, almost without interruption, their closest disciples also come to a new human body, whose task is to recognize the soul of the Lama in the child.
There is a whole ritual of recognition, including recognition among many personal belongings from a previous incarnation. And everyone is free to decide for themselves whether they believe or not in these stories.
But in the political life of the world, some are inclined to take this seriously.
Thus, the new reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is always recognized by the Pancha Lama, who, in turn, is also reborn after each death. It is the Pancha Lama who finally confirms that the child is the embodiment of the consciousness of the Dalai Lama.
And it so happened that the current Pancha Lama is still a child and lives in China. Moreover, he cannot leave this country, because the Chinese government needs him so that without their participation it would not be possible to determine the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Therefore, in the past few years, the spiritual leader of Tibet sometimes jokes and says that he may no longer incarnate or incarnate in a female body. You can, of course, argue that these are Buddhists and they have such beliefs and this is not evidence. But it seems that some heads of state perceive this differently.
Bali - “Island of the Gods”
Another interesting fact takes place in Indonesia, on the Hindu island of Bali. In Hinduism, the theory of reincarnation is key and the islanders deeply believe in it. They believe so strongly that during the cremation of the body, the relatives of the deceased ask the gods to allow the soul, if it wants to be born again on earth, to be born again in Bali.
Which is quite understandable, the island lives up to its name “Island of the Gods”. Moreover, if the family of the deceased is wealthy, she is asked to return to the family.
When a child reaches 3 years of age, there is a tradition of taking him to a special clergyman who has the ability to determine which soul has come into this body. And sometimes it turns out to be the soul of a great-grandmother or uncle. And the existence of the entire island, practically a small state, is determined by these beliefs.
Modern science's view of life after death
Science's views on death and life have changed greatly over the past 50–70 years, largely due to the development of quantum physics and biology. In recent decades, scientists have come closer than ever to understanding what happens to consciousness after life leaves the body.
If 100 years ago science denied the existence of consciousness or soul, today this is already a generally accepted fact, as is the fact that the consciousness of the experimenter influences the results of the experiment.
So does the soul exist, and is Consciousness immortal from a scientific point of view? - Yes
Neuroscientist Christoph Koch in April 2016, at a meeting of scientists with the 14th Dalai Lama, said that the latest theories in brain science consider consciousness as a property that is inherent in everything that exists.
Consciousness is inherent in everything and is present everywhere, just as gravity acts on all objects without exception.
The theory of “Panpsychism”, the theory of a single universal consciousness, has received a second life these days. This theory is present in Buddhism, Greek philosophy and pagan traditions. But for the first time, Panpsychism is supported by science.
Giulio Tononi, the author of the famous modern theory of consciousness “Integrated Information Theory” states the following: “consciousness exists in physical systems in the form of diverse and multilaterally interconnected pieces of information.”
Christopher Koch and Giulio Tononi made a statement that is astonishing for modern science:
"Consciousness is the fundamental quality inherent in reality."
Based on this hypothesis, Koch and Tononi came up with a unit of measurement for consciousness and called it phi. Scientists have already developed a test that measures phi in the human brain.
A magnetic pulse is sent to the human brain and how the signal is measured in the brain's neurons is measured.
The longer and clearer the brain reverberation in response to a magnetic stimulus, the more conscious a person is.
Using this technique, it is possible to determine what state a person is in: awake, asleep or under anesthesia.
This method of measuring consciousness has found widespread use in medicine. The phi level helps to accurately determine whether actual death has occurred or the patient is in a vegetative state.
The test helps to find out at what time consciousness begins to develop in the fetus and how clearly a person is aware of himself in a state of dementia or dementia.
Several proofs of the existence of the soul and its immortality
Here we are again faced with what can be considered proof of the existence of the soul. In court cases, witness testimony is evidence in favor of the innocence and guilt of suspects.
And for most of us, the stories of people, especially loved ones, who have experienced a post-mortem experience or the separation of the soul from the body will be evidence of the presence of a soul. However, it is not a fact that scientists will accept this evidence as such.
Where is the point at which stories and myths become scientifically proven?
Moreover, today we already know that many of the inventions of the human mind that we use now were present exclusively in science fiction works 200–300 years ago.
The simplest example of this is an airplane.
Evidence from psychiatrist Jim Tucker
So let's look at several cases described by psychiatrist Jim B. Tucker as evidence for the existence of the soul. Moreover, what could be a greater proof of the immortality of the soul if not reincarnation or the memory of one’s past incarnations?
Like Ian Stevenson, Jim spent decades researching the issue of reincarnation based on children's memories of past lives.
In his book Life Before Life: A Scientific Study of Children's Memories of Past Lives, he reviewed more than 40 years of reincarnation research at the University of Virginia.
The studies were based on children's exact memories of their past incarnations.
The book, among other things, discusses birthmarks and birth defects that are present in children and correlate with the cause of death in a previous incarnation.
Jim began studying this issue after he encountered quite frequent requests from parents who claimed that their children told very consistent stories about their past lives.
Names, occupations, places of residence and circumstances of death are given. What a surprise it was when some of the stories were confirmed: houses were found in which the children lived in their previous incarnations and graves where they were buried.
There were too many such cases to consider it a coincidence or a hoax. Moreover, in some cases, young children as young as 2-4 years old already possessed skills that they claimed to have mastered in past lives. Here are a few such examples.
Baby Hunter incarnate
Hunter, a 2-year-old boy, told his parents that he was a multiple golf champion. He lived in the United States of America in the mid-30s and his name was Bobby Jones. At the same time, at only two years old, Hunter played golf well.
So good that he was allowed to study in the section, despite the existing age restrictions of 5 years. It is not surprising that the parents decided to have their son checked. They printed out photographs of several competitive golfers and asked the boy to identify himself.
Without hesitation, Hunter pointed to the photograph of Bobby Jones. By the age of seven, memories of his past life began to blur, but the boy still plays golf and has already won several competitions.
Incarnation of James
Another example about the boy James. He was about 2.5 years old when he started talking about his past life and how he died. First, the child began to have nightmares about the plane crash.
But one day James told his mother that he was a military pilot and died in a plane crash during the war with Japan. His plane was shot down near the island of Iota. The boy described in detail how the bomb hit the engine and the plane began to fall into the ocean.
He remembered that in a previous life his name was James Houston, he grew up in Pennsylvania, and his father suffered from alcoholism.
The boy's father turned to the military archives, where it turned out that a pilot named James Houston really existed. He took part in air operations off the islands of Japan during the Second World War. Houston died off the island of Iota, exactly as the child described.
Reincarnation researcher Ian Stevens
The books of another no less famous reincarnation researcher, Ian Stevens, contain about 3 thousand verified and confirmed childhood memories of past incarnations. Unfortunately, his books have not yet been translated into Russian, and are currently only available in English.
His first book was published in 1997 and was entitled "Reincarnation and Stevenson's Biology: Contributions to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects."
In researching this book, two hundred cases of birth defects or birthmarks in children that could not be explained medically or genetically were examined. At the same time, the children themselves explained their origins by events from past lives.
For example, there have been cases of children with irregular or missing fingers. Children with such defects often remembered the circumstances under which these injuries were received, where and at what age. Many of the stories were confirmed by death certificates found later and even stories from living relatives.
There was a boy with moles that were shaped very much like the entry and exit wounds of a bullet wound. The boy himself claimed that he died from a shot in the head. He remembered his name and the house in which he lived.
The deceased's sister was later found and confirmed her brother's name and the fact that he shot himself in the head.
All the thousands and thousands of similar cases recorded today are proof not only of the existence of the soul, but also of its immortality. Moreover, thanks to many years of research by Ian Stevenson, Jim B. Tucker, Michael Newton and others, we know that sometimes no more than 6 years can pass between soul incarnations.
In general, according to the research of Michael Newton, the soul itself chooses how soon and why it wants to incarnate again.
Further proof of the existence of the soul came from the discovery of the atom.
The discovery of the atom and its structure led to the fact that scientists, especially quantum physicists, were forced to admit that at the quantum level everything existing in the universe, absolutely everything, is one.
An atom is 90 percent composed of space (emptiness), which means that all living and nonliving bodies, including the human body, consist of the same space.
It is noteworthy that more and more quantum physicists are now practicing Eastern meditation practices, because, in their opinion, they allow them to experience this fact of unity.
John Hagelin, a famous quantum physicist and popularizer of science, said in one of his interviews that for all quantum physicists, our unity at the subatomic level is a proven fact.
But if you want not just to know this, but to experience it yourself, take up meditation, because it will help you find access to this space of peace and love, which is already present inside everyone, but is simply not realized.
You can call it God, soul or higher mind, the fact of its existence will not change in any way.
Isn’t it possible that mediums, psychics and many creative personalities can connect to this space?
Religious opinions on death
The opinion of all religions about death agrees on one thing - when you die in this world, you are born in another. But the descriptions of other worlds in the Bible, Koran, Kabbalah, Vedas and other religious books differ in accordance with the cultural characteristics of the countries where this or that religion was born.
But taking into account the hypothesis that after death the soul sees those worlds that it is inclined and wants to see, we can conclude that all differences in religious views on life after death are explained precisely by differences in faith and beliefs.
Spiritualism: communication with the departed
It seems that humans have always had a desire to communicate with the dead. Because throughout the existence of human culture, there have been people who have been able to communicate with the spirits of deceased ancestors.
In the Middle Ages, this was done by shamans, priests and sorcerers; in our time, people with such abilities are called mediums or psychics.
If you watch television at least occasionally, you may have come across a television show that shows sessions of communication with the spirits of the deceased.
One of the most famous shows in which communication with the departed is a key theme is “Battle of Psychics” on TNT.
It is difficult to say how real what the viewer sees on the screen is. But one thing is for sure - it is now not difficult to find someone who can help you contact your deceased loved one.
But when choosing a medium, you should take care to obtain proven recommendations. At the same time, you can try to set up this connection yourself.
Yes, not everyone has psychic abilities, but many can develop them. There are often cases when communication with the dead occurs spontaneously.
This usually happens up to 40 days after death, until the time has come for the soul to fly away from the earthly plane. During this period, communication can occur on its own, especially if the deceased has something to tell you and you are emotionally open to such communication.
The idea that death is not the end, but life has a continuation, is known from ancient times: primitive man worshiped the spirits of his clan and tribe and performed special burial rituals.
What's behind this? Scientists and psychologists are sure that the reason for this vision is an unconscious fear of death. That is, at the subconscious level there lives an idea: my ancestor did not die, but became a spirit, which means I will not die. Theistic philosophers argue that the idea of immortality is inherent in human nature itself. That the physical body is only a vessel for the eternal soul, unborn and unable to die. Like a suit that is taken off when it is worn out. The “owner” of the suit - that same immortal soul - either receives another “clothes” (reincarnation) or goes to the spiritual worlds (paradise, purgatory, etc.).
The phenomenon of life and death has been studied by scientists and philosophers for hundreds of years, but to date humanity has not been able to obtain all the answers. Although there is certainly progress.
For example, one of the latest discoveries is striking. In February 2017, American scientist Peter Noble gave a sensational report. His team was able to discover that after death, special genes are activated in the body. Moreover, these genes appear only in the fetus in the womb and after death. In addition, it was discovered that while some cells die, others, on the contrary, are born.
Some of the “born” even tried to revive other cells, inhibiting stress and enhancing immune processes. In other words, the scientist has proven that after death the body tries to recover... But it’s too early to draw conclusions. Perhaps this study, like thousands of others, will not open the veil of secrecy about death to us. Or maybe this is the very step towards increasing life expectancy or even immortality.
Life after death. Data
On the other hand, science knows of thousands of cases of human revival after death. After clinical. Its signs are a complete stop of biological processes: breathing, pulse, reaction of the pupils to light. Coma is also a sign of clinical death. This is a state when the body does not react to external stimuli, but biological processes are still occurring.
Only an experienced doctor with special equipment will distinguish between clinical and biological death. By the way, it was precisely because of the insufficient equipment of hospitals and the lack of professional doctors that in the past they could not recognize this condition, and there were cases when patients came to their senses after being buried...
But why do they return “from there”? Because even though breathing and heart rate stop, the brain still retains the ability to work. A patient in a state of clinical death can be “revived” within an average of 3-6 minutes. Rehabilitation measures will be required: chest compressions, an injection of adrenaline or another special drug, a defibrillator discharge.
There are cases when clinical death lasts longer. But this is very rare. As a rule, after 6 minutes oxygen starvation begins in the cells and they die. Unfortunately, this process is irreversible.
Real stories of patients who experienced clinical death
If we talk not about scientists, but about ordinary people, about you and me, then another question is much more interesting than biological processes: is there CONSCIOUSNESS after death?
This cannot be measured with instruments, and the only thing that can be provided as proof of the existence of the other world is the real stories of those who returned from there. Patients who have experienced clinical death tell similar stories. Mostly they say that they saw themselves, the operating room and the doctors from the outside. And the most amazing thing is that most of them repeat phrases with amazing accuracy and describe in detail the actions that took place in the operating room.
These incidents cast doubt even on scientists who strictly separate religious interpretations of the soul from science. US Professor of Cardiology Mikhail Sabom, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Kübler-Ross, Dr. Michael Newton and other famous doctors - they are all united by a radical change in views on human life after communicating with “resurrected” patients.
Dr. Michael Newton.
M. Newton is a psycho- and hypnotherapist who devoted himself to working with people who have experienced clinical death. It turns out that not all patients remember what happened to them, or only partially remember. Hypnosis helps put the puzzle together.
From the archives of Dr. Newton, the story of a patient under hypnosis:
“I see my wife. She stands in the room and cries, pressing her hands to her face. I want to calm her down, but I can't. I saw myself and realized that I had died. There is no fear, on the contrary, I feel calm, but I feel a little sorry for my wife.
I feel like I'm rising off the ground. The higher I go, the colder and darker it gets. I stopped rising and saw the light. I found myself in a dark tunnel, at the end of which there is a bright light, it beckons me. I'm starting to walk towards the light."
This tunnel is described by many; at the end of the path, some see clouds and blinding light, others see heavenly angels. Scientists are trying to explain these phenomena. For example, cold and the feeling of flying are explained by the cessation of physiological processes, and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is explained by a special reaction of the brain. But these are just guesses. Perhaps the material knowledge of mankind, science and technology are not the most suitable tools to unravel this mystery.
