My NDE Book Published (Again)
After I received really positive feedback from the few that had the chance to read my book when it was briefly available in January, and on thinking harder on the reasons I am publishing this book, I decided that I want it out there now. There have been some revisions, particularly around the evidence supporting the veracity of OBEs part, and my thoughts on AWARE II. So why have I wobbled back on the side of publishing?
Firstly – on balance I believe we have enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that OBEs are actually the conscious leaving the body, and that they prove other aspects of NDEs. I explain why in the book.
Secondly, it could be a very long period of time before Dr Parnia publishes the data from AWARE II that he presented at AHA, or publishes anything else on this subject. This leads into the main reason.
Thirdly, and in my mind of most importance, I present evidence to support the possibility that the eternal aspect of the consciousness may die in some people during this life. This is not click bait. I currently work in Alzheimer’s research, and I have studied the evidence on changes in memory over time and they do not account for the huge drop off in NDEs from children to elderly adults. I find the prospect that some, maybe the majority, may lose their eternal future, deeply concerning, and something that should be discussed much more widely.
That is why I am publishing now. I feel I have a responsibility to share this last observation because if it is true, there is nothing more important to learn about, and try to avoid. I won’t debate this here now, I would rather people bought the book, internalized what I write, consider the evidence objectively, then come back here. I will create a separate blog post in the future to get into this in more detail.
For forum regulars, I have included the top 10 contributors over the years in the acknowledgements. Also, if you do buy it, and like, please give a really positive review (just to mention, anything less than 4 stars is regarded as negative by potential readers). Please also write something on your local Amazon store.
Lastly, I have obviously read this many times, and while I would obviously be biased, I find it very strange that each time I read, I actually find myself being impacted by what I have written, despite the fact I wrote it in the first place! It has shaken me up to come to an understanding that is of such vital consequence to the whole of humanity. I really cannot think of anything more important.
AwareofAware 
I’ve just read “After” by Dr Bruce Greyson, which I thought was excellent. I’ve just ordered your book and looking forward to reading that too!
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Great, I hope you enjoy it. Yes, After is a great book.
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Good!
Sent from my iPhone
>
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While I can’t challenge the ‘evidence’, I find the notion that most people (unknowingly) will loose their ‘soul’ in this life hugely depressing. But don’t people generally become less good at cognitive reasoning as they get older or even learning new stuff? The ability to experience a NDE is just one aspect of many mental differences between the young and old.
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Steen, welcome…yes, it is a truly disturbing possibility, but it is one that is most definitely in line with the evidence that I discuss. I currently work in Alzheimer’s research, so have become very familiar with the data on cognitive decline with ageing, and while it might account for modest differences in people experiencing NDEs, it does not account for the vast gap between the very young and the very old. The data is the data, and if this observation has any validity, then like I said it is vitally important we try to understand what is going on and if there is anything we can do about it. I have a personal belief system that suggests there is a solution, but I avoid introducing that on this blog or in my book.
For now I ask people to read the book, and then I will host a discussion at a later date on here.
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Great stuff Orson
I hoping to get the paperback version but it currently shown up as unavailable. I guessing it print on demand or something.
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Hi Z, thanks again for your help with editorial remarks, which I have included in the new version. It does take a few days to become available in all markets, but should appear shortly.
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Thank you for the bit in the acknowledgments parts. I found it very cool.
Will keep a lookout so for the paperback so.
Appreciated
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Hi Ben,
The paper book on Amazon. Com but on on .co.UK….not to sure if it an Amazon issue
Thanks
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It is showing on amazon.co.uk when I look…now £4.99. It’s saying In Stock and delivery by Saturday morning.
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Checked up Amazon Germany France and Canada and available on all them and UK not so and it always ships to here as that my local one in Ireland….strange
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Hi Z, can you see the paperback on amazon.co.uk now…it says In Stock when I go on the UK account, for £4.99?
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Hi Ben. Still saying unavailable for €5.73. Changed it to sterling but still saying currently unavailable. I might contact customer service on Amazon if possible
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Z, does this link work for you? https://www.amazon.co.uk/NDE-Death-Experience-AWARE-studies/dp/1838363114/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=orson+wedgwood&qid=1620043751&sr=8-1
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Hi anglosvizzera
Unfortunately not but sourced it via amazon Spain.
But much appreciation for checking anyhow
Z
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Do you live in the UK?
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Ireland and our “local” Amazon is the UK one
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Yes, that link works for me in the UK. If you email me your address, I will send you a copy in the post when I get a chance if you still can’t source one.
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Thanks Orson. Got it sorted anyhow. You might need to get a smoke signal version of the book to just in case hahaha
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I just read After and Consciousness Unbound. Good reads. I really enjoyed reading your book as well.
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Glad you enjoyed it, You were one of the few who got to read my book in January…I would be most grateful if you put a review on line please.
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I’ve been a long time lurker on your blog and always enjoyed the discussions here on NDEs having rejected materialism all my life. Having just read your book, if a lot of people cease to nothingness I don’t see how this is really any different from the materialistic perspective. It’s not a win to me anyways if this is true.
To be perfectly honest I felt sad and depressed after reading your book that most people will just cease to exist like any other materialist said would be the inevitable outcome.
And they’ll probably argue if you can accept that people disappear to nothingness why do you need the metaphysical for this to happen?
Anyways, thank you for your time in writing the book. I’ll add a review tomorrow to help boost your book.
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Hi Zeke, I am sorry that you felt sad and depressed after reading the book. I admit that on reading the book myself, I become concerned, and the absolute truth is that I believe we need to be…and while I don’t want to get int the finer details now, this is where I believe the evidence points. However, I also believe that the truth is of vital importance…in the book I discuss how the Being Of Light suggests we should behave…maybe if people really woke up to the reality that their behaviour and their focus will determine their spiritual outcome, then they have the opportunity to change…what if people read my book, become scared at first, then reread and look at the solutions I touch on towards the end and impliment them and have the positive outcome…if enough read it, and changed, then maybe the percentage would change. That is why I am so passionate about the book, and why I believe it so important.
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Actually I had a bit of answer to this, I was talking to an NDE’r whose had to NDE’S both containing OBE’s on why this happens. A couple reasons as to why some people don’t have NDEs she mentioned the ‘entities’ on the other side put a bit of a cap on whether or not you can have an NDE, depending on how much it shocks the person. As some people have also reported having parts of their memory blocked. A lot of NDErs I’ve been in contact with have said 2 things everytime. 1. An NDE is dependant on how well you can handle it, and seeing that children’s worldview haven’t been set its easier for them to handle it than an adult. Second its a ‘choice’ to be in earth, because while your theory is thought provoking. Two things it might miss why NDErs meet dead relatives, and the issue of death bed visions.
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Furthermore I actually wanted to get unto death bed visions, lets say this soul death was possible something doesn’t make sense to me with it when you factor in other research branching of NDEs. While its an interesting food for thought when you factor in other evidence it the hyothesis becomes quite fragile.
2nd I am sure you have heard by now the ‘collective consciousness’ hypothesis since a good amount of NDErs report this. For soul death what is being destroyed, our conciousness? Or is it simply losing its abilities to remember. While the drop off in age doesn’t make sense, from a purely evidential standpoint there are a good number of reasons that would explain as I have stated before.
So all in all I think the clashing of worldviews hypothesis makes the most sense. So people can remember it depending on how well they can handle it. And the older you are the more set in your worldview is, compared to being a child.
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Some interesting ideas Josh. Not sure I believe they explain the disparities… I recommend reading my book, and then I intend to have a discussion on here later in the spring, maybe revisit your interesting thoughts then.
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Also another point
One last thought, and the reason I’ve never found “Maybe people who don’t have NDEs don’t get an afterlife” convincing:
There are people with medical conditions who have had multiple cardiac arrests, and who have NDEs during some of them, and no experience to report during others. Are their immortal souls blinking in and out of existence? Hardly likely.
While having had an NDE in the past makes you statistically more likely to have one in the future (correlation, not causation, we have no idea why this is), the same person can go into cardiac arrest or otherwise face death on two separate occasions, have nothing during one, and an NDE in another. Even if those occasions are just days or hours apart. So an NDE’s mere existence can’t indicate anything about the ongoing state of your soul.
And some words from an NDEr
‘I was given the information that they only happen when people need them. From the other side, these are not important experiences because the soul “visits” over there every night during deep sleep.
There’s no need, in their minds, to being souls over unless it’s important to their personal journey here.
It’s far and away more interesting to us than to them.
I had so many experiences because I could not survive without them. They didn’t think I would survive even with them, only that I’d hold out longer.
The information that is hidden from us is given because knowing that we knew and we’re content tells us something in and of itself. If we were told something and we remembered being terrified, that would tell us something. The opposite is true, as well. “I don’t remember what they said, but I remember it made me feel joyful” is peaceful in and of itself.
The vast majority of people do fine without having an NDE. If everyone had them, they would mean less or be too obvious. Who would doubt if everyone knew for certain?
How would this world feel real if we knew for sure it isn’t?’
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I think I read in Dr Bruce Greyson’s book “After” that he thinks many people don’t recall any NDEs these days as they more often are given drugs during their “death” state than previously
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It’s depressing because that viewpoint to me gives way to materialism in a backended way. If we accept that people’s consciousness can cease to exist due to metaphysical reasons, you can also give your own explanation if you’re a materialist.
In my view it’s all or nothing. Either everybody has NDE’s (and they just don’t remember or some other reason) in which materialism completely falls apart for having no explanation at all but if only some are capable of having NDE’s then materialists have an opening to explain this all away as a biological process and we just don’t simply know everything yet.
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So the colon ( : ) will stay on the cover (NDE 🙂 ?
I am excited to finally read your book!
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It wasnt suppose to be a emoji. I just meant the : after NDE in the title ^^
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Actually, I forgot about that! I could change it, but it would cost me about £70…if it bothers enough people, then I will do it! I remember having the discussion with my graphic designer at the time, and the colon felt like it belonged.
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Oh meant to point that out Check out Isiaha 66. You rediscovered a rather ancient idea.. In Egypt too.
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Ouch.
10 / 20% of people ‘carry on’ after death but the rest cease to be. Worrying stuff for me Ben.
I’ll have a read of your book for sure.
Zeke wrote.
“To be perfectly honest I felt sad and depressed after reading your book that most people will just cease to exist like any other materialist said would be the inevitable outcome”
Do I take a materialist view ? Nope I’m on the fence. I don’t know and can’t give an answer.
Best.
Paul
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Just to reiterate – just going with the data and thinking what could explain it. As Josh has said, there are other potential explanations…some more appealing than others. It would be really good to get feedback and discuss other ideas once everyone has had a chance to read it all…I also go into genetic predisposition as an explanation as well.
I have reduced the paperback price on Amazon and for the moment it won’t be available in other on line bookstores as I had to untick the expanded distribution to lower the price, and it is a bit of a pain to now get Ingram to distribute it to other bookstores. I will post updates when these issues have been ironed out. Please let me know if you have any problems with either the paperback or Kindle on amazon.
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Hi Orson, I just wonder comparing with what you said with David Bentley-Hart (Christian theologian) who just wrote a book That All Shall Be Saved (and quite a deep one on consciousness just a few years back). I guess about a loving God who’ll make sure no one gets “lost”. Also it disturbs me that many will get a brain deteriorating condition through no fault morally of their own (maybe bad eating and other lifestyle) and are you then saying they too will get “lost”? Why should they?
If I believe in a perfectly loving God, as I think I do, then nobody will get lost forever. And doesn’t this tie in with what consciousness is and how and if we connect to a loving God?
BTW, my background is in astrophysics and particle physics (degrees) so, like others, I certainly know how violent the universe is out there! Stars exploding, planets forming etc. But amidst this violence, intelligence seems to thrive and gets looked after (if a spiritual nature exists too).
On a quick search I also found this on NDEs in the elderly, which seem to be as common as for others.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8228140/
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Hi Alan,
I am not saying the “soul death theory” is the answer as to why you see this rapid drop off, I am saying it is a possible explanation as to why it happens…one of a number. In my mind it is worth considering it as a possibility and then seeing if there is something we need to do to avoid this happening to us. Also, that is the first time I have heard that old people do not get a life review, and I am not convinced that observation is repeated in other studies.
I believe in a loving God too, but if you believe the teachings of Jesus, it is pretty clear that most people will not make it. Jesus is very very very clear about this. Anyway, I don’t want to get into religious doctrine (although my next book will…if this book sells enough).
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Old people do get a life review but it can depend on sample size. As some studies show elderly dont havw a life review while some elderly do.
Although the sample size was too small to be able to draw any conclusions from, a greater percentage of non-elderly people experienced a life review (75%) than non-elderly people (50%). This is in agreement with the hypothesis. Yet, it may be of even greater interest that two of the elderly NDEers did experience a life review. This runs contrary to the findings of Olson & Dulaney (1993) who found that none of the elderly NDEers had experienced a life review. They also indicated that through personal communication with them in 1986, NDE researcher Bruce Greyson also did not find the life review to be present among any of his elderly NDEers (Olson & Dulaney, 1993).
The life review occurs more in the aged during life because of an older person’s actual nearness to death, because an older person is retired and has more time for self-reflection, and ‘the customary defensive operation provided by work has been removed’ (Butler, 1963).
In this study, I will attempt to determine whether a difference exists in the NDEs of the elderly and the non-elderly. Olson and Dulaney (1993) found that none of their elderly NDEers encountered a life review. This finding was surprising, as other research has shown that there appeared to be no distinct differences in the incidence of the NDE according to such categories as age, area of residence, size of home community, religious background, or frequency of church attendance (Sabom, 1982).
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So I guess you are saying to live a good and moral life to be kind of “saved”, but I cannot really square a loving God with retribution. Just an aside wrt reincarnation and maybe related, I remember something Prof. Ian Stevenson found in all his work on this was that he didn’t find any evidence for karma, so no retribution there (from an article by sociologist Jesse Bering on Stevenson). Just saying! 🙂
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oops, emoji at the end there
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It has been argued many times, among people who consider that near-death experiences are proofs of the afterlife, that the brain is the antenna that receives the field of consciousness, and that although that filter is damaged, the data and the recorded experiences continue on the other side. In the end I believe that “all roads lead to Rome”, and finally near death experiences, among other phenomena, will be understood as biological processes. There is still much to learn about the brain
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I think it is highly unlikely your beliefs will be proven true given the current evidence we have…but who knows.
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I’ve followed this group for sometime (call me a lurker). I’ve always found the views balanced and interesting. Your view seems to be shifting a little Ben – may I ask why ? Is it due to your current research on alzheimers.
Best,
Paul
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Hi Paul, glad you have enjoyed the blog, and found it balanced. Just curious as to how my views have shifted though? Also, concerned if I come across as not balanced…that is important to me.
I think at various times over the years I have expressed pretty much what I say in my book. I have always been convinced that OBEs and NDEs are real, but that we lacked strong scientific evidence to support that view. I now believe that the AWARE II study abstract from 2019 suggests that we have a scientifically verified hit (this does need to be confirmed in a peer reviewed journal though). When you combine that with all the anecdotal reports, many verified by health care professionals, and the lack of evidence against NDEs, it is not scientific or rational to make statements that categorically state that the brain produces consciousness. Yes, if people provide good quality arguments with supporting evidence, then such contributions are welcome, but I have always been pretty short with those who just lob out their subjective viewpoint without substantiating it.
On the subject of 10%…I have been saying this for ages. I find the memory explanation very inadequate, and yes that is supported by my recent work in Alzheimer’s research from which I know that while memory declines with age, those declines don’t even come to close to accounting for the difference between young and old – I provide comprehensive supporting evidence from studies to support that finding in my book. I like Josh’s contribution…not sure there is enough evidence along these lines, but it is interesting, and may have truth in it.
Where my bias definitely, and unavoidably comes in on is this issue is my faith, which has remained unchanged since I started this blog, and that I generally keep out of the blog, and indeed my book, although considering we are discussing the afterlife, it is impossible not to have some reference to this. People are objecting to the hypothesis that the soul might die, and I admit that this position is coloured by my understanding of the teachings of the prophet I follow, who made his mission to tell everyone their souls were destined to destruction (and at the same time provide a solution). From a human knowledge perspective, this is only a hypothesis though, and I am interested in what others have to say. I would much prefer that all get to experience “heaven” if that is what we can expect at the end. I also suspect that some, even a fair chunk, of the difference between young and old is accounted for by loss of memory, so I do not believe that only 10% make it in the end…but still, there is a lot that aren’t accounted for…maybe as much as 50%.
Having said all that, please make suggestions to keep me on track…I want people to continue to enjoy coming here. I may have been a bit more animated in this post than normal because of my book, which I have put a lot of effort (and spent money in), and people have dismissed one hypothesis, albeit controversial, out of hand, without considering how I came to generate that hypothesis. I am a scientist, and don’t just spout nonsense to get attention. Neither would I make such a potentially “outrageous” claim if I didn’t feel it was backed up. It is precisely because I think that there may be something in it that I bring it up, and therefore it is of significant concern to everyone.
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Thank you for your answer Ben – I appreciate that.
I will try to respond and read through your points. It won’t be today as work calls (nightmare I know!)
Please leave it with me when I have a little more time.
Have a great weekend.
Paul
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All the evidence that there is does not go beyond anecdotes, exactly the same as 40 years ago. Very little has changed since then, and I am sure that in the near future it will not change, and in the long term everything will be explained perfectly from a physiological and materialistic point of view
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Anthony, the case in AWARE I is more than anecdotal, it was recorded in a trial looking out for this effect…it was observed in a study, very different. However, it was not scientifically validated either (I explain the difference in my book). However, I believe that the cryptic abstract of AHA 2019 does include at least one scientifically verified auditory OBE. This needs to be confirmed in a peer reviewed journal, but I believe that is what the abstract alludes to.
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Hi Ben, longtime lurker here and fan of the blog. Although we don’t agree on everything, given that we all have our own cultural impacts on our interpretation of what NDE’s say, i think this blog is one of the only neutral discussion forums on the subject, and by far the most evidence based.
I am curious as to what in the 2019 abstract would give you this confidence…what specifically makes you suppose this time ( aware II ) will be different? Do you think the evidence will be enough to at least encourage further study/funding? I suppose I am worried that provided this study doesn’t pull solid results, Parnia won’t receive the necessary funding for further areas he wishes to study.
Take care and congratulations on the new book.
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Hi, I just wanted to let you know the new version is not downloading for me at present from amazon.ca and still shows the old version on my kindle. I had bought it previously so have tried deleting it from my device and computer, rebuying it and then downloading it again but it is still the old version. I can tell because it doesn’t have the forward you see in the preview. Hopefully this is a temporary problem but wanted to let you know in case others might be having the same problem.
Thanks and very much look forward to reading the new version when its available!
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Thanks Anna, it may just be a Canadian thing as I downloaded it in the UK on Thursday and it was fine. I will keep an eye on it.
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Just to add, the foreword does come after the contents and acknowledgements.
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Thanks for your reply Ben. Maybe it is just Canada. There is no forward or acknowledgements after the contents so a bit of a mystery, but hopefully will update at some point. Thanks again for all your work on the book! It will be interesting to see the updates : )
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I have now read y0ur book which I’ve found very informative, especially with regard to the AWARE studies.
Although I was christened in the Church of England and educated in C of E schools, at 63 I have now developed a more general view of spirituality than a named religion, so it occurred to me to ask whether you’ve read any of the late Robert A Monroe’s books about his OBE experiences?
He wrote his first book after a spontaneous OBE, which led to laboratory research being performed on him to investigate the phenomenon. Two more books followed, each after a decade or so, the final one being written as his wife was battling with cancer and was close to death.
The reason I ask is because he appears to have encountered, in his explorations outside his body, what he terms “Belief System Territories” with regard to organised religion, to which people may be drawn, depending on their “earthly” beliefs, when they die. He felt that these were more or less “side tracks” that many people find themselves following, instead of to the ultimate “reception centre”, as he called it, which is where we are supposed to end up after death. His experiences of the Belief System Territories are that they reinforce the beliefs people have from their religious indoctrination on Earth, but are not the ultimate end points that we are meant to arrive at when we die. In fact, he says, once you are there they are difficult to escape from as the experiences are so concordant with the earthly teachings, that people rarely open their minds enough to be able to leave! I recommend these three books as essential reading, for anyone who claims to be open-minded.
I have been interested in the subject of consciousness as a separate entity from the body for about 35 years now. This was due to my first encounter with the book “The Barbanell Report” which was supposedly based on communication via a medium between Maurice Barbanell and Paul Beard, who were both involved in psychic research. A fascinating read!
Over the years, I have read many books on that, and related, topic/s, including books that were “channeled” describing the afterlife, in various interpretations, depending on one’s earthly interests and beliefs.
Later on, the books written by Dr Michael Newton about his experiences of regressing people to “lives between lives” became a fascination for me.
In essence, whilst I am keen to see scientific verification of consciousness existing outside the material body, I do think it is helpful to look at the subject from a wide variety of angles in order to keep oneself objective and not get drawn into particular belief systems.
Finally, thinking about your idea that older people don’t appear to have NDEs that they recall, perhaps it’s because younger people still have a “life purpose” that they need to be reminded of, and therefore it gives them a reason to return to their physical existence, whereas perhaps the older generation have already completed their life’s purpose and so have little need to experience an NDE?
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Thanks for buying my book, I am glad you enjoyed it.
Certainly an interesting idea you mention. Personally I would not go on what one person like this says though. I do agree that despite what my faith states, it is clear that people from every faith and no faith get to experience NDEs. Having heard these different reports that all sound very similar, it seems to undermine what that OBE guy states…in other words, despite people’s different faith backgrounds they experience very similar themes when they cross over. In my view, these multiple accounts which corroborate each other carry much more weight than one individual’s statement, especially as he doesn’t actually experience death and therefore almost certainly wouldn’t progress to the dimensions that those who are dead do.
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Have you read his books? They are worth looking at. He reached a place he called “the aperture” where he was unable to move any further without losing his connection to his physical body. He also describes what he was told about the origins of the earth, “God” etc.
He founded “The Monroe Institute” and there are many people who have used his “hemi-sync” methods to reach these other “dimensions”, who have also shared their experiences. One of them, Bruce Moen, now deceased, wrote a series of books about his own experiences after training at the Monroe Institute, which I also found fascinating.
Of course, they weren’t experiencing NDEs but had OBEs and, presumably, they existed in a similar kind of place that those who have NDEs find themselves in. If you read the books, you’ll understand what I mean.
One thing Monroe found was that on leaving his body, he passed through “areas” closer to the physical earth where people resided who were, for example, in a comatose state, and then those who didn’t realise they had died and were “clinging on” to life, and resisting the normal passage to the afterlife. Some of these areas, “close” to the earth were inhabited by souls who had such an attachment to the physical that they continued to try and keep themselves somehow connected to it, in various ways.
He advised that when one dies, one must not get drawn into those areas, but must try and remained “detached” and open-minded in order to pass them by and on to the “reception centre” and be careful not get hi-jacked on the way. This was what I recalled when I read your book regarding those who had had a less than positive NDE.
Yes, he was only one individual, but those graduates of the Monroe Institute also corroborated what he found himself.
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Really does sound very intriguing, and I may have to read the books. I am on the third (or 4th, can’t quite remember) draft of a novel in which someone has created a drug that induces OBEs. I know it is not wildly original, but it is a lot of fun and I am messing with all kinds of ideas. I actually started it in 1996!
It also sounds plausible that people might get stuck in “religious pods” on this side of the great divide. Religion is another form of materialism. I am not a religious person at all, but do have absolute faith in Jesus Christ. I grew up in an Anglican environment and detested it, but when I was 17 I had my own “paranormal” experience. It was a dream, but in my experience, like none other I have ever had. At the time I was not an active Christian, and I would describe my belief as very ecumenical. In this dream I woke in my bedroom and everything was normal (which is not like my usual dreams where I find myself in all states of undress in homes I don’t recognise!). For some reason in this dream I felt compelled to get down on my kees and say the Christian prayer of repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord. The moment I finished, the room literally disintegrated before my eyes…like a mirror shattering into a trillion pieces and I was in a place where I couldn’t see anything. It felt like a hall or cavern, and I was standing in front of what I would call God. The feelings that I experienced were identical in the way that I would describe them as people who describe meeting the Being of Light in NDEs…in other words indescribable love, infinite time, complete acceptance. I was conscious of other beings there as well, all looking at me. Then I woke up…same bedroom, but different young man. I didn’t change my outward behaviour immediately, but a few years later I encountered that same loving being in a non establishment church, albeit a slightly less overwhelming sense of his presence.
For me, while unlike many other Christians, I believe that many who do not share my faith will experience heaven and God, I must on the other hand be true to my own personal evidentiary experience, namely that acceptance of Jesus as Lord is the gateway to God. To do anything else would make me false. I do appreciate that might not go down well with some though, which is why I generally avoid getting the specifics of different faiths here.
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“The data is the data, and if this observation has any validity, then like I said it is vitally important we try to understand what is going on and if there is anything we can do about it. I have a personal belief system that suggests there is a solution, but I avoid introducing that on this blog or in my book.”
I may be ahead of time but wanted to say I would be very interested in hearing what you believe the solution is. My own thought is that perhaps the soul gets separated from the body/brain during life and this could possibly cause the results as well.
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The truth is Anna, we have no idea exactly what is going on, but I stand by my conclusion that decline in memory alone cannot explain the difference we see between the young and old, so you can come up with your own ideas, you can contemplate some of the reports from NDEs or you can consult the existing religious models. I find an explanation and solution in the faith that I follow, the teachings of Jesus…but I avoid going on about that here, so if you are curious I recommend doing your own research.
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Thanks Ben, I have no idea either and am just fascinated by the implications of your idea. I also believe in Jesus but in my own way. I wish I knew if there was a specific teaching you are referring to but respect your concerns about discussing it on this blog although I would love to learn more and will do more research as you suggest.
Thank you also for sharing your dream above. It sounds really beautiful and profound in terms of changing your life.
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…both the dream and the encounter with the being in the church.
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I also want to add that I have had a mystical experience in church as a child so want you to know I believe what you experienced was real and from a higher place.
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The munroe information is really interesting. Thanks for sharing!
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I’ve read Monroe’s three books several times now, and always find them fascinating. Bruce Moen’s books are also great, particularly his “Exploring the Afterlife” series.
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Thanks for the heads up about the “Exploring the Afterlife” series. Never heard of it before but will have to check it out!
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I actually had a powerful dream of dying like an NDE. I was on a moving train with lots of people and could somehow see forward through the carriages up the track. A light was far ahead and it was another train coming but I’m thinking, OK, it’s two tracks. But it was only one! So it became a head-on with no sound, just bright lights, people tumbling, no pain and the trains destroyed. Then I’m in a car park with minibuses, cars and the passengers. We’re being taken somewhere, each to different destinations. Very detailed. I saw a little boy floating down a river and saved him – then he turned into a moth and flew off.
Another was falling down from the sky onto a beautiful Greek sea village. I landed softly on a street in the sunshine by the harbour on the right and walked on. Ahead and right was a brilliant wall of light which I hesitantly passed through. Lovely really. Then a voice said to me, “Now you have passed your first spiritual test.”
I guess we’ve all had significant dreams. I’ve been reading a little of maybe the greatest 20th century mathematician, Alexander Grothendieck (died a few years back), who said that it is God who (who knows us intimately) dreams our dreams for us as well as dreaming us Himself. He is the “Dreamer” who sends messages to us in dreams we must heed for our development. He came to this conclusion through his own dream experiences.
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Sounds like an amazing dream. Dreams can be very powerful, I have certainly had dreams that I have felt were messages.
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Sure. Makes you wonder.
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That is an amazing dream. Seems more like a real experience than a dream in fact.
I like the idea of dreams being messages from God or our higher self/souls. I’ve read similar theories and there always seemed a logic to it that made sense. I’ve also read that dreams being outside the conscious mind/physical world also operate in a realm beyond time.
I’ve dreamt of future events and had visitations from those on the other side in dreams as well as other deeply profound experiences that are beyond my conscious mind’s abilities.
From a religious point of view dreams also form an important role in religious texts including the bible, so it seems dreams have always played a role in humanity’s pursuit of spiritual understanding.
So much to learn about dreams, a little understood doorway to spiritual wisdom.
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Hi Anna, I couldn’t agree more. Fascinating about your visitations.
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Thanks Alan. I remember a friend who passed away and appeared in a dream. He had a terminal illness and when he found out we spoke a great deal about whether life continued after death and what might happen. One night I had a dream that was different from any other dream I’ve ever had. Everything was completely black space and then my friend kind of floated into the space and gave me a smile and I knew this was him letting me know life continues. At that time I hadn’t heard he had passed away but when I called his family they confirmed he was gone.
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That’s a very powerful dream! Whatever is going on here is to do with love and your relationship as a friend. I wonder how it was facilitated that you entered the black space? Either you, he or something else made it happen and knew of your relationship.
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Thanks, that is really interesting. I hadn’t thought of it that way before. The black space was definitely a unique dream experience I’ve never had since. I like your idea about something else having knowledge and making it happen, perhaps a higher awareness or being. Very fascinating to ponder! Thank you : )
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Hi Ben, just an update I sent in feedback to Amazon about the issue I am having with the old version of your book downloading instead of the new version and also tried deleting and downloading the book again from the US site but still got the old version. I think I will give up now lol. Nevertheless, I did leave a review and five star rating which hopefully will show up on amazon soon. Thanks and take care!
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Hi Anna, thanks for that, look forward to reading the review…usually takes a day or two to appear. How annoying that you keep getting the same version. I really don’t know what to do to change that, but hopefully it will be resolved before long.
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You’re very welcome. I really enjoyed it and hope more people get a chance to read it. I hope you like the review when it shows up. It’s short but sweet : )
That would be great if the kindle issue resolves soon. I have whispersync so am hoping one day I get a surprise update with the new version. I will definitely let you know if it happens. Take care : )
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Thanks for the great review Anna, very helpful!
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Thank you! So glad you liked it : )
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I watched, some time back, I was watching Beyond Death by Morgan Freeman. I found it pretty interesting. Most people who claim of having NDE have witnessed bright lights. As a book reviewer, I am looking forward to your book. It is not everyday one comes across something like this!
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Welcome bookworm. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please leave a review if you enjoy it.
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