www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Near Death Experience

Show me heaven

By Amanda Hancox
Producer, BBC Radio 4

As more and more people come forward with accounts of near-death experiences, new research is about to examine the out of body experience to see whether mind and body really do separate at the point of death.

It is only 30 years ago that the term near-death experience was coined. An American researcher, Raymond Moody, used it to describe the reports of a large number of people who, whilst apparently dead, had seen deceased relatives, tunnels of light, life reviews and felt an overwhelming sense of peace, before being resuscitated.

Recent studies have shown that one in 10 people who have had a cardiac arrest report an near-death experience (NDE). These experiences are reported across many cultures and religions. Some believe they offer a glimpse of an afterlife while others see them as the result of a dying brain.

In March Dr Sam Parnia and Professor Peter Fenwick will begin a year-long study, looking at patients who have had cardiac arrests to find out if they have had any experiences or memories whilst their heart stopped beating.


It seems to me many of the ingredients of a belief in heaven are present in the near-death experience and confirmed by it
Professor Paul Badham
In particular they are interested in those who report an out-of-body experience (OBE), when the "experiencer" looks down on their body and surroundings from a height.

At Hammersmith Hospital and 12 other hospitals across the UK, symbols will be placed in strategic places so that only those who have an OBE will be able to see them.

"If these claims are verified" says Dr Sam Parnia, "then this will have a huge implication for science because what it would indicate for us is that our current understanding of mind, body and brain isn't sufficient and that it is possible for the mind/consciousness to separate from the brain at the end of life."

However, a similar but small scale study at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, last year was inconclusive. Over a five-year period eight out of 39 cardiac arrest patients had a NDE and of those only two had an OBE. Unfortunately, neither of them was in the right place to spot the symbols.

Evidence of the 'other side'

Penny Sartori, who conducted the research at Morriston Hospital, believes it is very easy for people to dismiss NDE as hallucinations.

Northern Lights
NDEs are described as beatific visions
"I documented 12 cases of people who had had hallucinations and I found that the hallucinations were very different from the NDE." Hallucinations tend to be random and non-specific whereas the NDEs follow a definite pattern and the reports are very clear and precise.

Professor Paul Badham, from the University of Wales, Lampeter, who helped oversee this study, believes these experiences are evidential for believing in heaven.

"People do describe a paradise or kind of environment, they do describe being met by a being of light who seems to know them, they often have a review of their past life. They often have a sense of passing self judgement on that kind of life that they have lived. So it does seem to me that many of the ingredients of a belief in heaven are present in the NDE and confirmed by it."

However, Professor Christopher French, who looks into paranormal experiences at Goldsmith College, London, is more sceptical. "Virtually all the aspects of the NDE have been reported in other contexts," he says.


THE NEW STUDY
13 hospitals taking part
Symbols to be placed in strategic places
Will only be seen by those having an out-of-body experience
The life review can be caused by the brain firing in unusual ways as a result of a lack of oxygen or too much carbon dioxide in the blood stream. Endorphins released during times of stress can create a sense of peace and the tunnel of light could reflect abnormal patterns of firing in the visual cortex.

"I think it will be a long time before we fully understand the NDE," says Professor French, "but it's an incredibly fascinating and profound experience for the people that have it and it would certainly be a mistake for science to close its eyes towards those kinds of experience.

"Potentially they can tell us an awful lot, not only about how the brain may operate at the kind of extremes but also about normal everyday consciousness and so, definitely, we ought to carry on studying these experiences and taking them seriously."

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I've lways found this topic fascinating. it seems that the Mystery is stil ongping. I favour the explanation that includes the viability of seperation at Death form the body, but thats just me I suppose.

I've done a significant amount of reading on the topic, and I have a few friends who have had such experiences. One of them is now an RCIA instructor in a large RC parish in NJ. A few of the books I have read on the topic relate experiences where patients undergoing resuscitation efforts are able to recount, "blow by blow" every action taken by the medical staff while the patient was evidently "out of it". One patient talked about watching the staff administer CPR to his body while his soul was hovering near the ceiling. Upon resuscitation, he was able to recount to the doctor and staff virtually every movement that they had taken. Obviously, this account astounded the doctor and staff. On a personal level, having read a lot on the topic was the thing which began the process of my being drawn back to life in the Church, some years ago. The idea of the soul surviving, and living forever, was very consoling at that point in my life. Interestingly, I did pick up a book by an MD (a cardiologist) from Tennessee who related some of his experiences with NDE patients. Some of them had had "Hell" experiences in addition to those who had consoling ones. It was the latter book which encouraged me to dig much deeper into the Christian message.

Dn. Robert

I've read a great deal about these experiences in the literature and they come in both good and bad forms. I've read that about a quarter of them are not of the best kind or variety.

I was on retreat with a priest who told us he had had two such experiences in his lifetime. He wasn't into anything New Age, nor did he claim to be anything but a simple, humble servant of God.

I just don't know about the whole thing. To me it's a place that can be an opening for the counterfeit that the Enemy is always looking to snare souls with. So I'll stick to the greatest miracle of all that happens each Sunday in the Liturgy where Christ comes to us and we can not only embrace Him but have Him absorb Himself into every fiber of our being. And with the Eastern saints, I'll continue to pray to be delivered from all visions and extraordinary experiences because I'm a sinful man and unworthy of visions, revelations, and extraordinary experiences.

In Christ,

BOB

I think the thing that stikes me most about them, is the way the person's life changes afterwards. From most articles I have read - the cares of this world seem to past - the person's desire is to help people and make a better life for those around them.