The Day I Died
A bright light, inviting presence of a tunnel, and calming inner peace are just a few of the remarkably similar experiences that have greeted those who have died and been resurrected. Are these visions merely a trick of the mind, a verifiable cerebral response, or genuinely spiritual in nature? The medical community, which was long been skeptical and dismissive of these claims, has begun to devote more resources to uncovering the truth behind near-death experiences.
The template for our understanding of near-death experiences comes from one of the film's interview subjects - Dr. Bruce Greyson. Beginning in the early 1980s, he recorded the accounts of many patients who had survived death, and placed the shared elements of each of their stories on what was to become known as the Greyson Scale. Subjects offered tales of levitation outside of their physical bodies, awareness of their own demise, and a general feeling of acceptance and peace in response to these profound transitional events.
The prominence of this study empowered others to come out with their own similar stories, and led researchers to a conduct additional investigations in this arena. The filmmakers profile one such study involving cardiac arrest patients who were officially pronounced brain dead prior to their resuscitation. Doctors wanted to pinpoint the precise moment these visions of an afterlife took place. While they were unsuccessful in their ultimate goal, they did receive numerous testimonies that could not be explained or dismissed.
Researchers had better luck in what is by far the most gripping anecdote featured in the film. A young mother underwent an intensive procedure to remove a deadly brain aneurysm, during which she was rendered completely lifeless for over an hour. When the woman awakened, she reported an out-of-body experience during her surgery which allowed her to detail many of the goings-on in the operating room with stunning accuracy. How was this possible when her eyelids were sealed shut and she harbored zero brain activity throughout the duration of her procedure?
The Day I Died touches upon an endlessly fascinating and confounding phenomenon of the human experience.
Directed by: Kate Broome
Back in 2013 I hit a tree stump with my plow truck and hit it hard 20 mph. I watch from out side my window and a little higher as I was looking down and saw my head turn sideways as the seatbelt grabbed immediately . All I saw was the whites of my eyes and my head bounced of my chest.
In 2016 my heart stopped, 26 minutes according to the EMT report. They arrived just in time to feel my faint hearbeat and then feel it stop. I felt the tunnel, like a shiny coal tunnel, and a bright inviting light at the end. I floated down the tunnel and I knew this wasn't a place that I wanted to go. But a difference from what I hear others in this situation say is the sound. Like a huge MRI machine but 1000s time louder pounding your brain. Lie a rock concert that makes your mind go numb. It would have been so easy to just let go and die. But I couldn't. I just said "hell no this isn't my time!!" I reached out, grabbed the side of the tunnel as hard as I could. My hands were hurting, I felt they were bleeding. On the outside I had made it to emergency. My wife had arrived by then and they basically told her there was no hope. But I had said "hell now" and I reached out and grabbed that tunnel wall until my hands hurt. The EMTs said they were giving up and then my hand shot out. I'm sure that is the same. Did I see God? no. Did it change my life? Heck yes. A lot.
Just the brain dying...end of story
You have succumbed to the world view that nature is all there is. The data does not support your assertion. Out of body experiences that verify details of events while the physical brain was incapacitated show that consciousness is more than neuron activity. Rejecting data just because it conflicts with your world view is not science.
Your consciousness contains memories of the pictures and voices of loved ones. Our voices and appearances change as we age. If people that experience OBE hear a voice of their loved ones during near death then what voice are they hearing? Is it a younger voice of the deceased from their prime or is it how their voice was just before they died?
The saying is so true, as sceptical and as boring as it seems; "it's all in the mind."
Correction: NDE not OBE :)
There are some things in this world or your time here, that you are not going to know the answers to.
For the arrogant who demand "scientific proof" of whatever it is that they are unconvinced of. Anyone can just as arrogantly demand scientific proof showing that it doesn't exist and claim that they are unconvinced of your theories. Your chemical and psychological theories that seem to have you convinced of whatever you believe or don't believe are absolutely no better than the theories in support.
Regarding "science". Most science begins with empirical evidence. Observed phenomenon. Example: The apple falls from the tree and hits the ground. Science is lame at best at even explaining why that occurs, and the jury is still out. Does the earth pull it, due to its larger mass? Does mass have an inherent characteristic called "gravity"? Or did the ever present scalar forces throughout the universe push it to the ground? That making "gravity" similar throughout the universe, until shaded by large celestial masses? Meaning the gravity on the moon isn't all that different than on the earth. I'm betting that many things you were indoctrinated to believe is a scientific fact, is untrue. Yet you live in a world where nothing occurs until it is explained to your satisfaction "scientifically". What purpose does this serve? Why is this so necessary for you? So where does a closed mind get you? It gets your ego to claim you are superior in thinking to those who think differently. And where does that get you? And why do you need that? Please explain the benefits scientifically. Is it some biochemical high or just psycho?
You don't have to be convinced or agree but why the vitriol? Why is it necessary to put down those that can truly claim they don't know what is going on but it appears that something is; when science can't explain much of anything very well. Just keep asking "why" after you get a scientific answer to anything and it won't be long before they can't answer. Why do atoms exist, if they exist?
Here is the "fact" about science: All science ever does is postulate theories. "This is what [some or several] in the scientific community think but certainly not all of them, until some better theory comes along. It is based on what we believe to be evidence but it doesn't mean we interpret the evidence correctly.
Am I against science? Not at all. Just wondering why it is so important to hang one's hat on something when it has proved itself to be so unreliable. It can be a useful tool. But certainly is lagging way behind in its ability to explain.
How does a boy in a hospital in Houston, fully blinded by a large tumor, lead the doctor who comes to visit him, around the hall and into the room of someone he thinks the doc should visit with? The doc asks how he is able to do this and know what the doc had been doing earlier and that this person needed attention? The doc said the boy simply stated his angels told him and showed him. The doc said he has had some very unique patients over the years which science cannot explain how they can do what they do. The more rare thing is the doc willing to speak about it. Far too many cannot handle things which science cannot explain. It wipes out their "world view" of chemistry and biology being the reason for everything, so they tamp it down and don't talk about it if they cannot prescribe a big pharma drug to mask the symptoms.
At least a chemistry professor of mine had the honesty to state: "This is how we think things work, until a better explanation..." These same words should be uttered by all teachers and professors so the kiddos won't be so mistaken in thinking they know everything having gone to a bit of school.
God? Some scientists deny God. Some scientists are convinced there must be one. Which ones are the arrogant ones and the more humble? And what does that tell you about science? Not much. Tells plenty about people though.
dust up "God? Some scientists deny God. Some scientists are convinced there must be one. Which ones are the arrogant ones and the more humble? And what does that tell you about science? Not much. Tells plenty about people though." basically this section of your comment means you believe the scientists (arrogant) don't believe in god, and (humble) are ones that ignore facts and testable, logical practice when it objects against god, and or their belief system. what it tells you about science is you can't handle it under some circumstances, so your better off with faith and prayer... just stay there until you grow up a bit and face the reality of our existence and how things actually work.
Hello all,
I am a 53 year old agnostic from Europe, who's been living in America for 25 years. I had a NDE when I was six. I had been hit by the ice cream truck. I remember the truck coming at me when crossing the street and hitting me, then everything went black. I don't remember any pain from being hit nor do I remember the hospital. This could be due to the fact that I was so young. Last year, I was induced into a coma at the hospital for an operation. I remember the doctor asking me to count backwards and then I drifted into the darkness. Everything was black and peaceful. No pain, no fear, no vision of a bright light or a tunnel or floating over my body, just complete, total darkness. But this was an enjoyable darkness. I wasn't afraid at all, actually, it was very peaceful and soothing. You just close your eyes, it's dark and there's no one waiting for you. When I woke up, I felt a little tired still, but felt very refreshed at the same time. I quite enjoyed it and wished that I could have stayed there longer. I had no vision or feeling of evil, either. Like I said, it was pitch black, soothing, liberating, and so peaceful. I never did any drugs in my life, not even smoke pot. I only drink alcohol when at a social gathering. I am not on any meds, just a daily multi vitamin. I wouldn't say that I am evil or have an evil nature. I've been married to the same man for 22 years, have a 12 year old daughter, and life is quite peaceful and nice. I don't go out there do evil things and torment people, I just mind my own business, maybe that's why my life is so peaceful. So to recap, all I saw was darkness, but I would call it a nice experience, regardless. Also, I am not afraid of death because I know that I don't have a choice and that's the cycle of life. Some of family members and coworkers of mine who have had NDE, whether it was from an accident or coma induced at a hospital, all went through the same darkness experience that I did, even though some of them are Roman Catholic and Protestant.
Wonderful documentary.
Why was Susan Blackmore cut out of this version of the documentary? Not that I particularly fancy her point of view but she does stress the issue of timing: it is very hard to determine when the experiences occur in time which puts a big question mark as to the issue of objective verification which should really be investigated thoroughly. Thank otherwise for publishing this very nice film
Offerings here from some insightful individuals ... Until you actually get there yourself though, NDE's are just amusing stories for the benefit of our spacesuits (They're not supposed to know about what goes on after their death)
What an absolutely Fantastic documentary, But always remember no matter how painful life can be Life is a gift and we all have our journeys for very good reasons. So live it to the fullest!
Really amazing documentary. What I don't think anyone pointed out yet, was all of the stories of the overwhelming "feeling of being loved" I feel is almost like having another sense opened up at that moment. Think about it. How do we feel loved now, someone may tell you they love you, and you hear it and you feel it, or someone may do a kind gesture for you that made you "feel loved". But how are these people just suddenly "Feeling loved" with no words or anything done? They just start to "feel it". I believe that to be another sense opened at that time. Truly amazing, proving God is there and will always be there in heaven.
Very interesting documentary, however it leaves more unanswered questions then answered. I think there should be a part 2 addressing some of the good comments here.
In death everything becomes clear , We all exist inside the memory of the particle , Souls can't escape the surge
"You don't seem to understand that the near-death experience itself
doesn't even happen when the brain has no detectable activity. "
There is evidence to the contrary.
"According to the actual brain evidence, the experience most likely happens before
AND after brain activity ceases."
You just said ndes "dont even happen when the brain has no detectable activity." Now youre saying they happen after "brain activity ceases." Which means when there is "no detectible activity." Which is it? lol
"There are plenty of cases of brains shutting down and then coming back online again. Are you going to tell me that someone remembers information while they're dead?"
Thats what a NDE. Many of these occur when the person was found to be dead by the medical staff who was taking care of them at the time of their death.
"Because I have a list of dead people who can't even start to agree with you."
Doesnt change reality.
"People sure do justify some crazy beliefs in miraculous fraud."
I have no idea what youre referring to here, but okay.
What I notice on here is most the atheists and the skeptics of nde's, are all very rude and cocky. What's that tell you?
I wanted to watch this... but then I made a mistake of reading the comment section and got turned off by all the religious loonies.
Look up ndeaccounts on youtube there are 100's of videos like these!
anyone have a link to better copy?
it is only us, humans, that have the Will... the freedom to choose what we claim for ourselves... the path in life we WILL take for ourselves. it isn't "religion" as many would call it. it is, rather, the Choice to BE worldly For Myself and my Own Benefit Primarily and Mainly to the exclusion or near exclusion of others in this same world ...Or ... for Myself With and connected to Others' benefit...others that come along in my life. that Will is where, imho, Consciousness, Spirit, Soul resides.
It's all in the brain. Near death is not the same as Death experience. Near death means still alive and brain is active. People can hear while under and do fall into some internal spiritual flow led by the subconscious, but it is not a true death experience.
Actually, according to the MD in the beginning, the research parameters included no brain function, which is why he chose people who had gone through cardiac arrest only for this study.
I do agree though that Death Esp. is not the same as NDE.
Wrong! People have had NDEs while their brains were fully DEAD, transmitting NO signs of life on equipment. So, youre wrong.
You don't seem to understand that the near-death experience itself doesn't even happen when the brain has no detectable activity. According to the actual brain evidence, the experience most likely happens before AND after brain activity ceases. There are plenty of cases of brains shutting down and then coming back online again. Are you going to tell me that someone remembers information while they're dead? Because I have a list of dead people who can't even start to agree with you.
People sure do justify some crazy beliefs in miraculous fraud.
"You don't seem to understand that the near-death experience itself
doesn't even happen when the brain has no detectable activity. "
There is evidence to the contrary.
"According to the actual brain evidence, the experience most likely happens before
AND after brain activity ceases."
You just said ndes "dont even happen when the brain has no detectable activity." Now youre saying they happen after "brain activity ceases." Which means when there is "no detectible activity." Which is it? lol
"There are plenty of cases of brains shutting down and then coming back online again. Are you going to tell me that someone remembers information while they're dead?"
Thats what a NDE. Many of these occur when the person was found to be dead by the medical staff who was taking care of them at the time of their death.
"Because I have a list of dead people who can't even start to agree with you."
Doesnt change reality.
"People sure do justify some crazy beliefs in miraculous fraud."
I have no idea what youre referring to here, but okay.
pz meyers calls it BS in a recent Salon article, in rebuttal to a "believer" article in the same mag.
PZ calls most things he doesn't agree with BS. Lately, fellow atheists left, right and center. Whatever you may think of NDEs, PZ is no longer a voice of reason. Just MO.
it seems there is enough evidence to say something is happening that warrants further and in depth research. to assume anything more would be a disrespect to the scientific process and the progress it can achieve. these type of phenomenon are difficult to fit into a materialist worldview.
There is also enough evidence to say that NDEs are the result of brain activity. The scientific/skeptic community has no problem hearing the religious side's views with an open mind, it's the religious side that systematically dismisses the scientific side's theory because it does not fit into their dogmatic narrative.
This is just like the UFO phenomenon. Despite the fact that there are planets in the universe that can technically support liquid water (and therefor possibly life), there is enough evidence to prove that we have not been "visited" even once, let alone abducted, yet UFO enthusiasts will not even begin to contemplate they might be wrong because it does not correlate with what they want to believe.
Skeptics are really the only ones with an open mind.
there is enough evidence to prove that we have not been 'visited' ?? wow did you think that through? > that's quite the assumption...are you suggesting if we have been visited that we have the necessary means to detect such a visitation? why in the world's (pun intended) would you assume such a thing? If we have been visited, it would be logical to assume the visiting civilization would be far more advanced than ours....so why would you assume our current (let alone past) capability to detect any such visitation (if there was one..) as a reliable indicator? why would you use the term 'we' as if you have the authority to speak for the collective 7 billion of us...and the billions before us? does 'we' include NSA & CIA? from what insight could you make such an abominable assumption? what if we are the 'visitors'? left here as an experiment?...or if we have had visitation's and have been 'left alone'? I like that one...hey its never too late to keep working on that 'open mind'...
Look, I'm a skeptic and an atheist. Your woo doesn't do anything for me. If you want to prove me wrong, lets see some hard scientific evidence.
If there was ONE shred of actual evidence, the entire scientific community would be all over this.
What do you say about the blind woman's experience as being able to actually see first time ever!
Hearsay
I like your reasoning...everything in the universe must be tangible, measurable by humans. If not, it does not exist, pretty backwards stuff hahaha. How does such a mentality stand with for eg, the advent of Quantum theory? Classical scientific evidence has been shattered by the advent of quantum...it has set aside what we thought we knew about our environment, causality, determinism - the phenomenon observed in the 'double slit' experiment and observer effect...scientific evidence has emerged that a particle will change its behavior just by the act of being observed. Reality is not in fact 'out there' - where does that leave you? science has only touched the quantum tip of the iceberg - and does not understand most of it, its revolutionizing what we once thought about the universe. Are dreams scientifically verifiable? Limiting the universe to what we currently know is...short sighted to say the least, just saying
While I respect your skepticism, it has been my experience that the materialists are just as unyielding as the spiritualists regarding what they believe. The black or white mindset ( A or Z, - one or the other, nothing in between) paradigm is the ultimate symptom of closed mindedness, regardless of which side you find yourself on. (Science denying theists are equal to faith denying atheists)
I don't have to see an 'alien' to know that intelligent extra-terrestrial life exists elsewhere in the universe. (the law of averages) To ask for 'proof' or evidence for things that are beyond scientific explanation is a self imposed limitation. True intellectual skepticism doesn't confuse 'faith' with 'blind faith'!
P.S: It is acceptable to say 'anything is possible' or state 'nothing is impossible', but we can never say anything is impossible, or nothing is possible. (the universe and it's existence is the proof) Note: if nothing is impossible, then the concept of death is a lie. (Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transformed - 1st law of thermodynamics)
if time as we know it suddenly ends when you physically die and suddenly find yourself slip into a realm of eternal time, on this side of this event it may seem somebody breathes their last and expires but what if a second of that last moment was actually them slipping into forever and for them the moment exist forever even thou their body has ceased to function ? what if this was nothing but a physiological process that is programmed to occur at the cliff ledge of leaving this world ? and in fact the whole experience was just as valid as religion has being trying to say ? like a horizontal line representing passing time and at the moment of your death the line shoots vertical and continues in that direction.
Fantastic documentary, a real spell binder! I have no fear whatsoever of death now and before too as I have been studying this phenomena for some time now.
I have been seeing all these sites. People who have come back to life from their near death always say that they have seen heaven. This 100% accountability / confirmation is most absurd thing. No one ever seen Hell. These are all lies and their imaginations. No one on this earth can ever experience any thing of those they are saying or said, they are all imaginations . We know a micro dot of this space how is it possible for some one who faced a near death to know about the heaven.
I watched a documentary a long time ago where some had one of these experiences and claimed he had seen hell. He (of course lol) became a devout christian. I am guessing the ones that see hell keep quiet about it since talking about angels doesn't have the same stigma as talking about devils chewing on your liver or they block it out due to the traumatic memories it causes them.
there are quiet a few Hell NDE testimonies on youtube. keep looking
Wow I guess I did die.Good Documentary.
I suffered a Brain Aneurysm which caused 3 strokes. They had told my wife to take me off life support the Neurologist said I was gone. If I lived I would be a vegetable and not know who I was. I remember being in the dark and I asked where was I? A voice said I was dead but I needed to go back to save them. I am not sure who I am suppose to save. When I went back it was not like I was in another place but in another time. I also had a out of body experience. When I was in intensive care in a coma. I was looking down like from the ceiling at my feet could only see my legs and feet. There was a little boy playing with my cell phone and the phone would start ringing and the nurse would say there goes that phone again quick find it before it stops ring. I told the little boy it was OK he could play with my phone I wouldn't tell them where he was. He was running, hiding behind the curtains. I told my family about 4 months after about my dream. They told me my phone was at home and that there was curtains dividing the beds. They told me about a little girl next to me she had short hair because she had a Brain Tumor. I told them I thought it was a boy in my dream because of the short hair he never said anything to me it could of been a girl. I was paralyzed from the neck down. Must of been 2-3 weeks I could not talk because of the life support but when I was able to think I told God thank you for letting me live than I asked him if he would help me walk again. It took me 3 1/2 months to walk with a walker, 6 months to walk 3 miles and jog the last mile, ride 4 miles on a bicycle. Only thing my legs are not as strong as they were but I am working on that God willing I will regain that. I never gave up I felt God there giving me strength. P.S. I do know who I am ;^ )> I have not watched the Documentary yet. I will make another comment after I watch it.
Sounds like what my brain showed me after ingesting too much Ketamine.
It should be remembered that in the U.K. Physicists and others with Scientific evidence of survival are banned from presenting it on British TV. The only reason it is allowed on British Radio is because the C.F.P.F. (Campaign for Philosophical Freedom ) threatened to take the BBC to the court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,the BBC backed down.But the campaign continues to overturn this INJUSTICE( on British TV.)continues.The real reason the BBC have refused to replay it and have put a stop to the DVD is because it slipped through the net,they do not want you to know about this...SOME DEMOCRACY.
That was a really good documentary!
Powerful documentary.
Many researchers and surgeons have confirmed the phenomenon of consciousness existing after brain death.
Given so many of these experiences exhibit similarities such as bright light, angelic beings, etc.... does this constitute evidence or proof of the existence of an afterlife?
Even atheists have become spiritual after the experience.
That's really saying something.
The debate between the theists and atheists has been going on for a very long time, this is a fact. While science has given us many discoveries and laws, it still cannot answer the "why" and "how" that life and outer space exist itself? To really answer this question we would have to been witnesses with recording equipment to see the so called "big bang" that is a theory of how the universe and all in it started. Well we know this in not possible and never will be.
So the next possibility open to humans its to travel the far distances into space to see for ourselves if something is really out there. Maybe in time this will happen, but with the great distances needed to travel out there,and given humans short life span we would truly need a stasis type hibernation to make the trip and then a reasonable fast space ship to do so. This is very hard so far to even come up with a safe trip to the moon these days, at least with guaranteed results of the safety issue.
So we are left with once again truly wondering what all this life and outer space really means as to how and why it is all here.
Because of this lack of really knowing or truly understanding the why and how, all of us have to honestly state to ourselves that we simply do not know for sure whether we become a resurrected or reconstituted life after we leave this one. Since we do not have this knowledge, all possibilities are open.
Personally I feel that it would make sense to take what we learned in this life and somehow be recreated or reformed to dwell in the outer space worlds as a new life form, but still being us much as the butterfly emerges after being the caterpillar. Again this is against the evidence we have so far that no one has come back to talk to us about this new stage, but maybe you have to die to experience this different dimension. Again who really knows?
All we have is what we see and experience and while it is good enough for life on earth, it still seems there is something far greater then us humans responsible for it all.
A beautiful refreshing documentary. Pity there are so many disbelievers because NDE can't be scientifically proven. F science.
Some people treat science as if it is religion, and some misunderstand what it can do. My understanding is that research and testing based science never really "proves" anything. It can gather evidence, and it can disprove things. The idea that consciousness survives death has never been disproven. And my understanding is that some NDE remote viewing events have been corroborated. So those who say that NDEs somehow go against "science" are simply wrong.
F science... as you type it out on a computer which sends electrical impulses through either space or cables for billions of miles and someone like me... reads it thousands or miles away. Yup... F science
If anyone wants to know much more about after-death reality, read this amazing book: The Soul After Death by fr. Seraphim Rose
ive had the out of body experiene once before when i was approximately 9-10yrs old wen i decided to let go of the edges of the swimming pool's deep end and try to swim, unsuccessfully, which after a few moments, I expereinced the phenom of seen my self drowning in slow motion and then I came back up to the edge spitting out pool water non stop lol
And get this, It happened at my classmates parents house who ran the bible club at our school that I believe I was attending for the 1st and last time.
A big thanks to Kate Broome for producing this fair and open minded documentary. Sorry that there are still so many narrow minded viewpoints opposing the work of Heaven. Hasn't that been the case and still is. Shame on you BBC for blocking this video. Shame on you 'christians' for trying to oppose the will of Heaven and having the affrontory to hide behind your miss understanding of Jesus. Love takes time and will never give up on us. Thank you Heavenly Father for all your patience with us silly children !! :)
So sad and pathetic. So many people desperately WANT this silly tripe to be true, but want, hope, and wish will never make fantasy into reality. If you really believe the ridiculous nonsense in this film, then you need to have a thorough psychiatric evaluation, maybe get on some anti-psychotic meds, or get yourself fully committed to a hospital where you can get some help.
You do not know what people feel... You have NO way of knowing. Some may be far- fetched but you try dealing with a near death experience. Its easy to say its crazy, but go through it and see what your reaction is then.
I don't know what people feel, correct. But what people feel doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what is actually going on outside their head. NDEs may be a life-changing experience for some (like taking LSD can be) but that doesn't mean that your mind or soul is actually perceiving the real world outside of your head.
What is so bad about thinking about your NDE as a very vivid, meaningful dream? Is it finding out that the only evidence for life after death has been disproven?
Much of the "remote viewing" has been corroborated by doctors and family members. One (in the 1960s) occurred in a controlled experiment about out of body experiences.
John, you do not know anything above or beyond what anyone else knows with regards to NDE so why try to make it appear otherwise? Are you afraid of something? Do you fear death and what awaits you? Is your soul at risk?
"The BBC has refused to replay this documentary, and has stopped it from being sold as a dvd. They don’t want to get accused of supporting ‘fringe’ theories."
Proof that deceiving demons control this world, and doesn't want people to see this documentary being aired on tv. It's so obvious!! There is good and evil people, we need to follow Jesus. Jesus is the light!!!!
@itssome2011:
You are all over the place pushing your Jesus, devils and demons stuff, I do not think anybody is even interested, go to a religious doc to spout your stuff.
She is so wrong about it being illusional. People who have had NDE have gone to hell, and not heaven in some cases. Then God bought them back!
Could the next person who has a near death experience PLEASE ask who was responsible for 9/11?
I love falling asleep to this doc
Exactly why I "watched" it today. Nice nap.
I remember a tv show a long time ago about NDE. A doctor put a note on top of a cabinet in the operating room that no one could see unless they were standing on something or out of body. No one ever reported it.
All scientists want is some one to die and bring a video camera get gods autograph and maybe an inteview and then maybe they would be convinced.
That's what every theist fear, the day they will get in front of GOD with a fish eye lense.
az
When I was 8 years old, I drowned in a pool in Santa Cruz, California. My grandmother, a non swimmer, and my brother were on vacation from Canada. I was hugging the pool's gutter, but got bored, and wondered what would happen if I pushed off. I sank to the bottom of the pool and blacked out. I remember watching the chaos of people screaming, my grandmother crying and a woman, a stranger to me, pumping my chest and giving me CPR. I watched everything from above. While I felt great sympathy for my grandmother and brother, who were in terror of losing me, I felt great peace.
I'm an atheist, a Thelemite, and a cranky adult woman today. But I'll never forget this experience. What to make of it? Is what I experienced an artifact of trauma? What accounts for watching others in action while I was "out"?
In a word: imagination. There are myriad subjective mental states, dreams, "visions," hallucinations, even memories that are a normal part of being human. It's hard to make a case, though, for actually processing sensory data without any sensory apparatus. That is, if you didn't need eyes to see, why would you have them? So I'd say watching yourself from above is a product of your imagination, a neurological phenomenon. Perhaps you had lots of aural data coming in and your imagination came up with the visuals.
Really...Imagination??? How the f..... could she have watched from above! I've read countless replicas of this same experience, and I know someone personally who this happened to. And my friend is someone who in a million years, one would never think about something like that coming out of his mouth, ever!
Well, I've seen myself from above three times and it was rather accurate in details but it wasn't a NDE but in fact the effect of psycadelic mushrooms. The experience under psilocybin are often explained by something spiritual, universal and a perspective of clearity but even if it feels so very real for you doesn't mean it's by an external source. All our senses gets distorded:
We start to dislocate our sense of body placement which feels like floating, accelerating, pulling, distortion of limbs and no body experience.
Our sense of space dimensions get distorted which feels like adding more dimensions or subtract.
Our perception of time gets distorted that feels like eternally, gaps, fast and so on.
Our senses might overlap eachother and bind together to give you a very real distorted experience.
Could these phenomenas happen to an oxygen starved brain, a dying brain?
Can you tell me imagination are too weak to summarize all these sensorical distortions to make an experience that feels so real to you even thou you dream and rarely question the fact that you're dreaming?
The BBC "has stopped it from being sold as a dvd. They don’t want to get accused of supporting ‘fringe’ theories".
To be fair, the BBC don't release every documentary they produce on DVD, particularly when it's a one-off and under 1 hour running time.
There were times also when at night i would go to sleep and i would wake up literally experiencing my Self as if blowing very very very large in an increasing box and then very very very small in a shrinking small box. These sensations would scare the heck out of me, as i grew older i got to like this feeling...
Totally know what you are talking about. I used to experience that too! It still happens sometimes though not as often as when I was a child.
You are not alone in that feeling of growing very large, had the same when I was very young, but not in a box. Imagine a lot of people do.
I believe it is because when you are very young a person is not that focused in physical reality as yet and wanders back into "all that is" from whence we sprung I suppose. Don't really know, just my take.
A little mix-up here but Hancock's views on marijuana is spot-on.
@Vlatko...is the Bruce Lipton part at the end supposed to be it's own film or did you intend to add it to this movie?
az
@Az
Probably the guy who made the playlist on YT added the second film at the end.
i got to think what if.......2012 was the onset of a very "weird" event that could bring all people to experience simultanously near death...it is a comforting thought to think that our world could then wake up to the love felt for those moments...the way the business man in part 6/6 experienced and used to change his life direction.
Watch Bruce Lipton, The Power of Conciousness at the end of the film...7/6...50 minutes long! Most of you might have missed it!
az
I had the same thought. How miraculously better we would be to each other, the planet, and all living things if we could all be filled with the love and awareness.
In my youth i experienced fainting monthly or sometimes weekly. I was afraid of blood, i reacted strongly to people talking about physical medical operation and i often times specially in school would faint if i was standing in a crowd.
These fainting episodes were very troubling but they had a sort of magical outcome. I knew for sure that they weren't dreams, at least not like the dreams i had at night. It would start with a very uneasy feeling, i could tell 25-40 seconds before the occurence that i was about to faint and it would make me feel horrible but once i fainted i entered a dimension that was absolutely extraordinary and supernatural, and it started with a white light tunnel.
I don't remember these events from an adult stand, i remember these events from a very young child experience way, they are still vivid in my memory.
Although i rarely or never faint anymore i still wonder what dimension i was accessing in those years. I am talking about dozens and dozens of times entering something that to this day i do not explain.
There were times also when at night i would go to sleep and i would wake up literally experiencing my Self as if blowing very very very large in an increasing box and then very very very small in a shrinking small box. These sensations would scare the heck out of me, as i grew older i got to like this feeling...it was as if my body was a lump of bread dough.
Is it all created by our mind, or is it picked up by our mind?
That i don't claim to be able to answer....may be one day!
az
"There were times also when at night i would go to sleep and i would wake up literally experiencing my Self as if blowing very very very large in an increasing box and then very very very small in a shrinking small box. These sensations would scare the heck out of me, as i grew older i got to like this feeling..."
Totally know what you are talking about. I used to experience that too! It still happens sometimes though not as often as when I was a child.
hi az,
you are describing similar experiences that my good friend had. 5 years ago he fainted in his room and he told me he knew that he had entered a different dimension. he was absolutely convinced that it was not a dream. he described seeing the gates of heaven, angels voices singing and getting louder, and a place of complete peace and serenity. i asked him if he would rather be there or here, and he replied "no doubt i would rather be there". btw, he wasn't doing drugs when this happened.
My nan died a while ago, its strange, when we heard she had cancer the first time i wasn't upset at all neither was she, no fear. she then went on to fight off cancer another 2 times. the 4th time we found out it was back I worried greatly n she broke down into tears saying she didn't want to die. a few months went by n she told me as long as she sees christmas it was fine. she died boxing day. personly i'v always believed that at very least u cant trust mans word in a god. maybe the fact that no1 has an experience of hell is proof of why.
also since about the age of 14 i'v not really enjoyed life not just my life, life in general. the things that people can do to each other sickens so much that at times my thoughts can be disgustin leavin me with the conclusion that this evil is as inherent as the miniscule good. so my standing on this matter is i hope its not true i take solice in the idea that 1 day i will die n the lights turn off forever coz if there is no hell where do the bad people go?
i would love to know if there is a relationship between near death experience and the experience of taking ayahuasca (DMT) i have watched and research about this two topics extensively and i have found a relation .
I just would like to know if someone else had experience this thoughts.
I do believe that there is a relationship between DMT and NDE. Did not research a lot but watched DMT: the science molecule and then this documental and I was shock with the similarity of both experiences.
Very interesting subject which has been very well presented in this documentary. Its quite convincing to see that almost all the people who have gone through NDE have seen or heard the same things. I guess its like finding a completely new sense organ in ones body which is much more sensitive to some subtle things around us which we do mot perceive through our ordinary senses.
nevr thought abt life so seriously untill i watched this documentary, but if the peace exist after death then whats the peace we are trying to get in this human body....many questions arising in my mind...
Amazing insight into a subject close to my heart, i think i have had such an experience personally and will follow this science closely,new things are being discovered all over the world with a modern diversity that modern technology can provide us with at super fast speed, new galaxys discovered, more red dwarfs than recently thought, more stars than we ever imagined before,breakthrough in medicine and biology, we truly live in an enlighten time, if only we could find a cure for war, just think what we could all do and the life we could have.
Hmmm. Rather simple documentary, yet obviously gets people thinking. And I am all for thinking. I have been agnostic since at least age 3 (when I began to disagree with the catechism/doctrine I was hearing). I have had a couple NDE's, one major at 23, some similarities, some difference, a couple surprises. The point is these 'experiences' aren't likely to convince anyone of anything; they are individual and personal. One huge thing that science has given me is a more open mind and fascination with the possibilities. Fact, in my opinion is a ridiculous certainty; we know what we know today only for today, based on current understanding. There is a great deal of room for maybe and 'we don't know yet'. Consider - if we are capable in this (let's say incarnation) to vibrate at precise enough harmonies to hold our atoms together, why couldn't we 'choose' to do so on another (lets say plane, higher or lower or parallel dimension?) or perhaps, again 'choose' to dissipate our energy, or become 'one' with the Universe or whatever? It's not that far fetched from the spectacular choices we have in this dimension... I felt/knew/sensed, my son's spirit 6 days after he died, at his memorial service. Everyone felt (Him); the energy in a very large room changed, people began laughing (even giggling) and I 'knew' his atoms were both present and pleased. Is that proof of life (of some kind) after death? I don't know or care - what it proved to me ( and a few hundred others who were present) is that 'he' could move through space and time and make his presence felt at a time when people he loved were honoring him and in need of some lightness... We (the people) like to fit knowledge into boxes and pretend that we know 'so much'. Indeed, the last 200 years have shed a lot of light in the darkness, however, one certain thing the wisest know, is that we do not, in fact, know... much. When pain comes, intellectual pandering does not bring comfort - kindness, gentleness, warm hands, simple acts of compassion, do. Here's hoping you (and I in my time) decide for yourself where and how you'll be vibrating your energy, today and tomorrow...Peace
I am 3 years late :) But your comment is well written. I am truly sorry for your son! We have the same tragedy in my family and the pain has been immense...
Nothing really new, at least for people meditating for coule of years. It is good that people open their eyes to something else than material illusion
microtubules have no stable structure, they're dynamic. they assemble and disassemble in tiny fractions of a second. So that doc's imagination is wrong.
The one thing that really made this doc for me was the blind woman. How could she see? Sight was something she never experienced but she saw light, herself and other things. How does science explain that?
I am thrilled that quantum theories are being used to explain our consciousness. I've been curious about "life-after-death" for years and have always been skeptical of any sort of religious beliefs. I believe we are simply pinned down to this specific dimension while we live in these bodies then once we leave we return to being one again. Call it heaven if you'd like but I'd prefer to think of it as being one with God, meaning the all encompassing consciousness of everything at once.
I'm not, because without an exact mechanism of action, most of it's quackery, let alone a testable theory.
@ Philosophocles
.... well said .... :D
Can science prove why gravity works? Why rely on science when they are just as bad as church? (Believe my theory/doctrine cuz I HAVE PROOF!!) The best quote I've heard thus far is ... "Seek and ye shall find" Personally I analyze every possibility I can imagine.
My point? What doesn't make sense now, could in the future. And what does make sense now, could be completely the wrong assumption. People who ignore possibilities hinder their own understanding.
As for NDE's why can't they exist?
Who said?
What is their motive?
If they can exist, why?
How?
And why is it important to YOU?
Ask yourself these questions and more. Post your assumptions or questions, so others can be provoked to think even more too.
If you wish to PUSH a BELIEF however, it is your freedom of choice. And everyone else's freedom of choice to ignore you.
Happy Hunting :)
These events have intrigued me very much over the years. Personally, I have been "dead" on three different occasions from diabetic complications. I did not have these insightful, beautiful, or even frightening experiences. It was a definite fact I was dead on all three occasions, for the record.
My family and friends had speculated that maybe I didn't have any near-death experience phenomenon or cognitive reaction because it has not been my time to go. Maybe I still have things to do in this existence. If that were the case, I wondered why that was not conveyed to me when I was "dead" and before I was brought back? As with so many things, it is mysterious and we won't really know until it's really the final dance.
I can say that I have not been able to express what the events were like. There has not been any way for me to describe what I felt or better yet, did NOT feel. In short, I can tell all of you I have experienced what I think was oblivion. The problem is...I can't explain well enough what "oblivion" felt like or was as an experience. I simply "was NOT". There was no "me" or "feeling", or "observing", or "fear, joy, rapture, love, hate". I simply no longer existed. Sort of like my consciousness had simply been absorbed back into the Big Everything. I have definite memories before I passed out and even vague clips and blips of the times I was "out".
There are those three separate points in my existence in this reality (or whatever you need to call this consciousness) where I have absolutely no recollection, feeling, memory, or anything resembling consciousness. I have been through more surgeries than most people and been under heavy anesthesia and drugs frequently, but I STILL had some kind of consciousness during those supposedly blacked out and incoherent times. I still KNEW I "was" and I existed. The three times I died, I "was not". See why it's so hard to explain oblivion? :)
I don't feel bad about how it worked out for me. I don't fell cheated because I didn't have a NDE. Actually it is somewhat of a comfort to know that possibly I might just not be feeling or experiencing anything at all when I finally die. I've sort of felt it was rather arrogant of humans as a species to feel that we were so special and deserving above everything else in existence in this great, huge, endless universe that we should HAVE to have an afterlife or anything else once we've run our course. So many religions condemn other religions to hell because they don't believe in the same representation of their version of a God/Gods. Hell should have been full a long time ago considering the potential for sentient beings somewhere else in the universe or even parallel universes.
The can of worms can be enormous for things of this nature! :)
Just be good to each other and be satisfied.
@ Bartholomew.
I know the feelings you describe are similar to a D.M.T. trip but not every one taking D.M.T has the same trip I have had a few trips with D.M.T and here's how it went suddenly the wall's start to become one and then the hyrogliph's start to appear then the floating sensation and the presance of some peacful being beside you and then the breakthrough the space bunnie's looking at you as if to say where did you come from. No one who has had a N.D.E. has ever came back and said the met the space bunnie's I am a nurse and deal with death on a daily basis we dont know what happens when we die but it is the one thing we all have in commen it is going to happen to us all one day as for the space bunnie's that is my name for them as they look starteled when they see you as if to say it is not your time why are you here have you enjoyed a trip yourself if so I would love to hear your experiance.
Linda ;-*
All of these experiences are merely chemical reactions occurring in the brain. Imagine all of these people are explaining an intense drug trip. All of these claims suddenly sound ridiculous don't they? These sort of "visions" of heaven and holiness and warmth and comfort can all be replicated by taking some DMT. I understand it's difficult to approach this without a longing for it to prove to you once and for all that God really is there watching your every action and just waiting for you to join him in eternal bliss, but, for a moment, attempt to do it.
@ Life.Is.The.Alien
I don't think you understand how a deist really feels, alot of deitst feel like they have a personal connection to this being, supper intelligence or god. A personal connection that might be similar to that which most people have with their mother, hardly anyone who has grown up with their mother could call her (and actually think of her) as just another female human. Maybe you can denounce her, but she'll never be a random person in the eyes of the kid.
People who have never known their mothers (born atheists in this analogy), are ofcourse a different kind, they will see other mothers, and even their own mother (if they happened to meet her without realising) as just another women. There is no personal connection there.
A big part of the inabilty of both atheists and creationists to understand each other is caused by this. Someone will never be able to tell you that someone is your mother, or that someone isn't your mother, no matter how many facts or arguments you use, you can't create or destroy such a bond with arguments.
Ontopic:
Is there any data on what kind of NDE's non-christians get? Do atheists have random visions of light and warmth, or do they also see things commonly associated with christianity?
What do buddhists see? Do people in remote regions who have never heard of christianity see?
Questions like that seem to be very important to me, to possibly eliminate some options: Do they come from what the one experiencing it wants to see? expects to see? gets to see? (from some outer source) Or if they are simply random impulses which are later on interpretated.
When detached limbs may be successfully reattached after 6 hours of no blood circulation... and bone, tendon, and skin can survive as long as 8 to 12 hours without blood... it would be grossly incorrect to say that the whole of brain stops functioning just after a few seconds of no blood circulation (~ clinical death or cardiac arrest).
Occam's principle seem to have been forgotten in the concluding remarks. Besides the one stated (that we might have to study mind and brain separately), the simplest future course of study would be to have a better understanding of the definition of death itself. In all these NDE, "clinical death" is what is used. But, we do know that a lot of our bodily functions continue to carry-on for upto several minutes (even hour) after clinical death (otherwise, there would have been no revival of the people who experienced NDE). So, this assumption that brain is completely dead at the time of (or a couple of seconds after) clinical death is very very shaky! This is the assumption that lead to the separation of mind and brain.
"All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration – that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."- Bill Hicks
@ Intbel:
I have said this on other posts. There is no "oblivion". It is not a thing.
Try to imagine a state where nothing exists. Such a state is impossible, even contradictory, since the concept of existence is necessary to apprehend it. Therefore existence exists necessarily, even if nothing else exists. That means life is eternal.
It is our concept of linear time, that makes us think there is nothing after.
From Randy, quote: "Grow up, people! You are gonna die! And that is the end!"
That is just a belief and not a proven fact so please do not state it as if it is true.
There is no proof that anyone ever died. There is circumstantial evidence of course in the fact of a Life-less body. However, all that is proof of is a Life-less body. It proves that the Life which animated the body no longer does so. It is proof that Life has left the body.
It is not evidence, let alone proof, that the Life ceases to exist.
Randy, as you promote a belief of death rather than the fact of Life, I ask, in all seriousness - are you a member of some death cult?
I'm just askin' ...
Absolute tripe!
There is nothing waiting for you after death. You are all alone in a cold, dark universe!
Allow me to copy one of my posts about death here:
"If I am my brain, an organized collection of bio-mechanical energy, then when I die, my brain, (almost immediately), will go from order to chaos. Disintegrating into a dis-organized mess, incapable of being me anymore.
TO those that say “energy never dies so your soul never dies--- science,--- the laws of thermodynamics…” etc. I say, that is true, but there is a difference between energy organized by neurons and synapsis, and free-range (for a silly but not inaccurate term), dis-organized energy.
My computer uses electricity to perform amzingly complex tasks, (like play Dragon Age: Origins!), but if I smash it, the energy remains- out there- but with no organizing principle it can no longer play games and calculate numbers.
The energy can be re-used by ANOTHER computer, but there is no memory of when it was “my electricity”."
---------------
Also, allow me to quote the mortician that buried my parents having just come back from a huge symposium of international morticians:
"Americans are the only people in the history of the world to think that death is optional..."
Grow up, people! You are gonna die! And that is the end!
Bull. All Bull. Nothing but Bull. (and I'm being kind)
I agree with the lady who said "Death is an illusion. Death is a downright lie."
Again even if there is a unique spirit/soul that makes us at the deepest level 'who we are.' This does not prove any religion. True faith is the opposite of true knowledge, and science is the best way of knowing. If there is anything to be known about NDE then science will state what we know, and continually refine it's self through skeptical/critical thinking - something religion has only does every couple hundred (or thousand?) years via bloody revolution. So if you say I must believe something, anything I will say I believe in the power of experimentalism, free thought, logic, science, the struggle for truth and it's refinement...
So when you talk about 'God' existing or not you should really ditch all the cultural connotations and talk about the divine, mind, spirit, soul, emotion, empathy... Even deists should ditch the word 'God' as the monopoly for higher experience and use words like omega or supreme intelligence. Free thinkers should differentiate themselves from the insane who think they have a special 'birth right' or connection to the divine as revealed in thousand year old writings which contain stories that in any 'non divine book' would be considered disgusting or horror.
Most organized religion will use such phenomena to enforce an authoritarian hierarchy, and close the minds of people who then silence each other through group dynamic peer pressure. So the 'Spiritual aspect' is best experienced not alone with a text or in large groups but one on one in a discussion between two people who have a relatively equal balance of power. Online anonymous of artificial identify may actually be the best place for true discussion of important issues because the weak are protected by a veil and the truth will emerge rather than be silenced.
No matter what - empathy for people should be put above faith in our value rankings. One of the main reasons my life has been so miserable is because of my parents and then my brain washed brothers putting (faith in their version/interpretation of god and his dictates) above relationships with individuals, even the ideal of love, help and understanding for family members takes second place. This means that there can be no true love, learning, understanding, reciprocity, or joy.
maybe a dose of logic is in order here.
for what it's worth i believe that these experiences are real for the people who have them for they recount things that they ought not be able to recount.
...moving right along though.... you'll notice i just said that 'i believe'. this is a statement that should tell you that its a matter of faith. belief in god is a matter of faith. pure faith at that. this is because god cannot be prooven or disprooven with current scientific knowledge/understanding.
perhaps there is a life-energy that our brains can tap into but our current scientific instruments cannot.
some centuries ago there were only 4 chemical elements but now we know there to be over a hundred of them. perhaps there are more than the types of energy than what we're aware of. how can we know what we know unless we know it. a bit of a circular argument i know.
i think that rather than bully each other into thinking one way or another lets ask and seriously look for answers.
.... seek and ye shall find ..... isn't that how it goes ?
cheers guys :D
Linda--I'm sorry to hear that, my step-dad was going through the same thing, it was very hard on the family. He is in a better place now though. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
The Lady trying to disprove it is such a buzz kill. People are just trying to think maybe there is something after death and she has to butt in and ruin it all, hah. Thanks lady.
Oh, Linda, I missed your post before. I'm so sorry to hear about your son, Raymond. This is Easter Sunday. I will pray for you and your son tonight. No, even terminal cancer is not a death sentence. I've known at least 4 people personally that were healed of cancer (all in different and unique ways), including my own dear mother. Full cancer healings and remissions are becomming more and more common. Keep hope alive.
Hi T-Dog
Thank you so much for your thought's at this very hard time for my son and our family he is going through chemo at the moment wether it work's or not we will not know untill they have finished the course which will be in 7 months if I have learned anything it is to be positive about all this and not treat it as a death sentence thank's again for your kind thought's
Linda
Linda, hoping the best for you and Raymond.
I would love to have a NDE, if I didn't have to nearly die in the process!!! I think all NDE's that support my personal bias and beliefs should be believed, all others should be considered "highly unlikely"! ;-)
But in all seriousness, you have to take each person's experience and weigh it with the reality of demonic influence, God's influence, and just our own human capacity to understand them both.
i recommend NDEs to all arrogant persons, believers or non-believers. they will be good experimental subjects. and if the experiments are inconclusive, they'll change their lives anyway. and the world will be a better place to live in.
A religious experience where you feel enveloped by gods love.
An unsolvable intriguing topic that will always peak the human interest because we all have to face death at some point.
I have not had a near death experience per say, but yet have experienced some of these things and maybe you have too.
The experience of having your life pass before your eyes...freaky how you can remember a series of unrelated chronological events in a short time frame. Extreme sports can bring that on.
Everything going white and having tunnel vision...getting your electolites out of balance will cause that and you find yourself falling on the floor or the flip side of that everything goes black when you faint and when you wake up it's the reverse everything is black and then you have tunnel vision and then perfect vision is restored.
The feeling of being detached or disconnected to ones self.
A religious experience where you feel
I'm not saying people arn't having NDE just that our body/mind 's can react to stress in peculiar ways.
I agree with @Nobodies Right:
According to Quantum Physics, We, the whole Universe come in and out of existence, at Planck time, or Planck speed. Planck time is basically the speed of light broken down into fractions of a second. we are here and than we are not here.
Our collective consciousness holds us bound in this reality at this vibrational level. This is science, not some esoteric paradigm or agenda.
Our reality fluctuates, vibrates if you will, it is not just one unbroken fluid motion.
We envision our progress in time, called our now's approx. 30 times per second.
one last thing the idea that this particular idea 'throws out all of current science' is a gross misinterpretation of what is being said, it is simply looking at certain elements of reality as not having a foundation in physical matter, a view that some scientists already hold. In no way is this trying to debunk gravity or atomic structure.
silktop,
there are more studies that have gone into these and obe's (out of body experiences not ocurring due to a near death state) which give evidence far beyond this doc that brings a paradigm that can look at a human being as being composed of composite elements beyond that of physical and physically derived elements. Many many books have been written on the topic, i suggest you read one.
Also because of the nature of the phenomena, it is to me nearly impossible to go past that of anecdotal evidence, as it is either due to a nearly dying, a natural ability or through long term development of these abilities so how do u expect a blind/double blind type of experiment exactly?
Chris K, the problem is that it's not "WHEN someone can recour", it's "IF someone can recount". There are no documented cases beyond what we've been shown in this doc, and what has been shown is very unconvincing indeed.
Even if we accept the phenomenon as having been observed (and that's quite a leap), then the next step would be to look for plausible alternative explanations that don't require all current science to be thrown into wastebasket. Such as: how likely is it that the patient could have seen the bone saw before/after the op (perhaps on TV?) or has just guessed it? Has the patient reported other information that has turned out dead wrong or ambiguous? Does the patient generally believe in afterlife or accept the (naive) concept of soul-body separation? Does she suffer from psychologic problems that would make her prone to confabulation? And so on and so forth.
The film does a very poor job at discussing these topics. Susan Blackmore appears in the usual "token skeptic" role, while all the rest is trying to push through the incredible hypothesis. It works because lay people can be persuaded into believing incredible things that 1) they want to believe 2) for which they don't realize the ramifications.
However, the reality is uncomfortably interconnected. You can't just flip one bit of it without simultaneously having to flip bits elsewhere. Basically, if there was anything there like mind without body, it would be popping up everywhere (and could be used to make reliable predictions), not just in a few people's anecdotes.
Silkop, I'm fully aware that some NEDs can be explained as hallucinations. Shoot, I hallucinated on a good dose of salmonella once and it was amazing what I thought was occurring. I'll openly admit that NEDs are fraught with hype. I think keeping an open mind means looking past the glitz and considering the possibilities. When someone who was declared dead awakens and can recount an incident that happened in another room, or the next town over, it gives one pause.
Chris K, I'm not talking about hallucinations, mystical feelings, talking to "higher beings" etc. These are easily explainable and you obviously don't need an NDE to experience them (a good dose of shrooms is enough). I'm talking about the "flying out of body and recalling all the facts correctly afterwards" phenomenon, for which there is NO credible evidence from non-believers whatsoever.
your choice whether to believe it or not
I have experienced it and whether it is within me, jesus or ronald mcdonald doing or called NDE, scientific or religious...I know it as real
and no i do believe in UFOs Bigfoot Ghosts Gods....yet
You're totally correct John. There are many people in the world who "think" they know everything when they clearly have never had an NDE themselves. And yes, I've experienced one, and it's nothing to do with religion or any other hairy fairy bollocks - the essence of an NDE is an integral and binding element of the universe we live in which is extremely hard (maybe near impossible - hopefully not though) to validate using pure science alone.
Actually, NEDs do not happen only to "believers." There are many documented cases of atheists who have experienced an NED. That to me is what makes NEDs interesting. The phenomenon seems to stretch over a wide variety of people.
The topic firmly falls into the same category as miracles and UFOs. These things happen to believers only. If you dare look closer into the anecdotes, any objective evidence curiously vanishes. Otherwise, why not bring an atheist on the show to report his or her NDE and startlingly accurate OOBE observations (testified by reliable witnesses, of course). That would make so much more interesting TV than the usual band of fools and hand-waving cranks as shown in this programme.
BTW, there was an episode of Penn and Teller's "Bullshit" in which they caused those NDEs on demand by cutting off the blood flow to the brain in a rig used for training jet pilots. In other news, there are some people who asphyxiate themselves in order to experience a (sexual?) high. Also, there is a theory which predicts massive amounts of DMT release from a dying amygdala (I hope I remember the gland name right). Interesting that such down-to-earth experiments were not mentioned here at all, isn't it?
A lovely documentary. Thank you, it could not have come at a better time for me and my family. We only learned yesterday that my 34 year old son has terninal cancer. We as a family are not religious but very spiritual if that makes any sense and have alway's believed that death was the biggest lie ever told it has helped me cope this morning when every one has had to go to work and collage and I am alone for a few hours before I go to the hospital to visit Raymond. Thank you once again
To Platoson
I`m sure they have been expierenced by people of all cultures. The point I was trying to make is that none of these other cultures were explored in this documentary. My guess as to why not is because they present a narrative which goes against the one presented.
@ Platoson:
I agree with what you are saying.
I have read "Moody's Life after Life" and countless publications as such. Over the years.
Have formulated many speculations and theories, concerning said subject.
Have also, if not mastered, at least tried to understand, the latest in scientific research and forthcoming theories.
Totally absorbing as well as fascinating; thanks for posting.
Some people no matter how much evidence there is, just do not want to believe, so no amount of evidence will be able to convince them.
However, from science we know that energy never dies, it only changes form and once the physical body dies and decomposes the core, the real self (consciousness or the soul) is free.
Those who choose to reject all notions of spirituality are denying themselves so much about understanding what life is really about that I feel sorry for them, because they will stumble through life believing life is just about acquiring material things and will put their joy in this. However material things are ephemeral and will not help one live a meaningful or fulfiling life.
These Near Death Experiences are to help people know that this physical life is a very small part of the big picture and without knowing that there is no such thing as death, we will never properly understand why we are on this earth.
To Allan (above) - NDE's have been experienced by people of all cultures, those with religion and those without (read Ray Moody's Life After Life).
Once again Vlatko, another excellent documentary; you are the best!!!
And some people, not matter how much evidence against something, just want to believe it.
I'm not saying that conciseness isn't just a product of the brain, but, on the other hand, it makes no sense to be able to see without eyes, does it? Why did we evolve eyes if we can see so well without them?
The most simple explanation is that our current understanding and technology can't say much about how the brain works when activity is so low as to be very close to dead. But being close to dead and being dead are very different states.
Two questions I have are;
Why are NDE's so selective? If you are going to make the case that they are proof of an afterlife then why does olny such a small percentage actully expierence this?
How come they olny seem to happen to people of a catholic/christian culture? Do hindu's and muslims and toaist expierence the same thing?
Lovely docu, very inspiring, thank you :)
This was great. I've never actually watched anything about this subject, which in itself is odd since my sister reported having a near death experience when she was 5 years old. Due to parental neglect she climbed a tree unobserved and fell from a tree a story and a half to two stories tall, to land on a neighbor's driveway.
I don't know if she validly died that day, if all of her functions actually ceased. I've never asked her because of the nature of her experience; she says that she sat on the lap of Jesus and described a tunnel of light. This was now decades ago and it is not a subject that comes up. Everyone in my family have gone differently ways in terms of religion after having been forced as children and teens to attend church regularly by an emotionally and sometimes physically abusive parent.
The doctors said she would be a vegetable. She would never regain speech. She had plates put in her head to hold her brain and skull in place. She had to wear a helmet for years and see a speech therapist constantly, but she regained full use of her limbs quickly. She stutterer for years and was teased mercilessly, but she's one of the sweetest people you would ever meet despite what she has had to overcome.
She just graduated from a prestigious university with a masters, has a job working with children, and just gave birth to a son with her husband of a year.
What I do remember about what she told me of her NDE is that she experienced an overwhelming sense of warmth and love in it and i think that it helped her cope with the aftermath of the accident, the recovery.
In my own teen years I was in a car accident and was found hanging out the passenger's side window (I had been driving)of my totaled car. After being airlifted in a helicopter (of which I've had a flashback of recall, enough to know that I thought I was in an ambulance at the time)I regained consciousness hours later in a hospital at some point before or after surgery for a short period of time and I just remember the red haze of pain surrounding everything along with an inability to remember anything that had happened. To this day I do not know what caused the accident; could have been anything on a windy country road in the winter at night(in deer country). I received a level 3 concussion which caused total memory loss of the accident and what led up to it, also lacerations all over my body, severe whiplash, my ear was cut mostly off (mind your dangly earrings :) ladies) and my neck was slit to the point that one more millimeter and I would have bled out.
What I learned. Death isn't really something to be feared-your body takes over and at the point that it doesn't, i.e. when you start to not be dying and the medics are on you anyways, that's usually when they start hitting you with the old warm fuzzy friend morphine, who makes the pain not go away but at least seem interesting. In my case when my brain only thought it was dying,I lost the memory of the experience, in my sister's case, when her body knew it was dying, her mind created an experience that drew on everything good to had to use and there she was on Jesus' lap. I think that the Dimethyltryptamine released into her brain at the point that her body thought she was dying caused her to hallucinate. I believe that death is a process of changes in consciousness releasing us into what I like to think of as the over soul or even the Greater consciousness, the energy source , that all life is part of and draws upon. I only came to this conclusion after my car accident. Before that I was a christian baptist. Being exposed to the powers of a person's mind and the possibility of losing it all changes a person. This recount of several person's experiences reaffirmed some of my conclusions. Death is simply another one of the many different exhilarating experiences we get to enjoy in this life. It is not something to be feared or used by the those in power as control. It is a natural process and the only preparation needed is to try and cherish the life you have because its the inner voice that gets you in the end if things aren't agreeable to your own personal conscience. Other than that,if you don't die and you've just suffered a disfiguring accident, good luck because its the recovery process that's a bitch.
wow. Sorry this was so long winded. I got really into it.
The one thing that all these NDE's have in common is that their dying process was slower. It's morbid, but I wonder if people that have a near instant death are able to have this type of conscious awareness outside of their bodies. Of course, the likelihood that they could come back and share with us is pretty slim...
And if cryonics ever reaches fruition? What would those patients recount about the missing years?
Very good doc.
I can see how christians would devour NDE and I only hope they don't practice it like rapture.
@ Charles B:
Howdy, Charles, good to see you back!
How was your holiday?
What truth and genuine insight can you add to this topic?
:D
Yes, I agree. A very good documentary. I'd give it a 9+ for effort.
But, Mr. Razor, why would you think that the "religees" would add anything but more truth and genuine insight to this life after death topic? ;-)
I would have like for this documentary to have gone deeper and had investigated and reported on "resurrections" where people had been dead for extensive time periods and not just near death experiences alone.
Haha, the challenge is on...
Liked this doc especially the quantum view of the brain's link to consciousness.
Some topics that would have added more to the doc would have been: the commonalities of the experiences and what shapes them eg. "western" societies preconceived ideas, studies from various cultures with different attitudes towards death like indiginous tribes or isolated groups of people with less influence from 'western' ideas, children, or atheists vs belivers
They didn't talk to people who had less positive experiences both during and after their NDE. Book: A Farther Shore by Yvonne Cassone(?) looks at some of these experiences.
Another doc that examines these topics would be great.
Good doc.
Scientific and supernatural paradigms.
Nothing to do with religion.
But, waiting for the religee's inevitable comments.